Inside Scoop

Children's Health Insurance: Available, But Unused

In 1997, Congress created the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to provide coverage to uninsured kids whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. But four years after CHIP's passage, the number of uninsured children in the United States remains at crisis levels. Millions have no insurance, and experts say lack of information about who qualifies for CHIP is the main reason. Recent changes in the law make it possible for public school educators to play a key role in getting insurance coverage for their children.

Why was CHIP created?
In 1997, there were 11 million children in the United States without health insurance.
The federal government estimated that half of these kids came from families who earned too much to qualify for Medicaid, but who nevertheless could not afford private health insurance.
The CHIP legislation's co-sponsors, Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), crafted the program to close this gap, hoping CHIP would cover half of the nation's uninsured kids.

Who's eligible?
Because the program is administered by individual states, eligibility varies. But in most states, families earning up to $35,000 a year (based on a four-member family) can qualify for CHIP. State-by-state information on eligibility and benefits is available online from the Washington, DC-based nonprofit Children's Defense Fund at
www.childrensdefense.org/signthemuphealthy.htm.

Has CHIP been successful?
Partly. During the first three years of the program, 2.5 million children were enrolled. But this is far short of the federal and state governments' goal. Today, 11 million U.S. kids remain uninsured-the same number as in 1997. As fast as children sign up for CHIP, other children lose their health insurance. That's because states are pushing families off welfare, and many people are not told when they leave welfare that they are still eligible for Medicaid. Most of the jobs that former welfare recipients are taking do not provide health insurance. The latest figures say that one in every seven children in America has no health insurance. Those without coverage include 29 percent of American Indian children, 28 percent of Hispanic children, 18 percent of Black children, 17 percent of Asian children, and nine percent of white children.An estimated six million of America's uninsured children are eligible for CHIP or Medicaid.

Why aren't more kids enrolled?
According to Bill England of the Children's Defense Fund, "The number one reason is that their parents don't know they're eligible.

"Through surveys and focus groups, we've found that, nationally, six out of every 10 parents whose children are eligible for either CHIP or Medicaid don't believe that the programs apply to them.
"There is a devastating lack of awareness out there about CHIP."

What's being done to make parents more aware of CHIP?
Last year, there was a big breakthrough in outreach. Congress passed legislation that-with families' consent-allows school lunch programs and the Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) to share information with CHIP and Medicaid, linking up their outreach efforts.

Since the overlap in eligibility for these programs is vast, large numbers of kids who qualify for CHIP can now be identified through this inter-agency sharing of financial data.

How do schools play a part in this effort?
According to Bill England, "Schools now have a vital role in improving outreach to parents eligible for CHIP."
Because income information from applications for free or reduced-cost lunches may now, with consent, be shared with CHIP and Medicaid, school districts across the nation have the potential to direct millions of eligible kids to these programs. And the effort is already under way.

In Minneapolis, for example, if parents apply for free or discounted school lunches for their kids, these kids will automatically be enrolled as well in CHIP-unless a parent specifically declines insurance.

England believes that "schools may become the most important resource we have for getting kids the health coverage they need."

Can individual educators help?
Absolutely. As England points out, "Parents look to school staff, not just for education, but for any help they can get in ensuring the well-being of their children."

NEA members can work to get their own schools, and other schools in their districts, involved in information-sharing and other outreach efforts.

They can also provide invaluable assistance to parents who don't know if they're eligible for insurance.
To assist teachers in such efforts, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration has produced Healthy Kids Are Ready To Learn: Promoting Health Insurance for Your Students, a
comprehensive guide to how schools and school employees can work with agencies, organizations, and families to get kids enrolled in health insurance programs.

It's available online at www.ask.hrsa.gov or toll free from HRSA at 888/ASK-HRSA (888/275-4772). 4
-Matt Simon

For More: Go to www.childrensdefense.org/signthemuphealthy.htm. At the U.S. map, click on your state.

Departments: Resources
Educators Defying the Odds

Taking the non-traditional route to school reform isn't always easy, but the payoff can be worth the trip.

EXCERPT
"All good teaching begins with a respect for children, their innate curiosity and their capacity to learn. Curriculum should be rooted in children's needs and experiences. Whether we're teaching science, mathematics, English, or social studies, ultimately the class has to be about the students' lives as well as about a particular subject. Students should probe the ways their lives connect to the broader society, and are often limited by that society."

Rethinking Our Classrooms: Teaching for Equity and Justice, Vol. 2
Bill Bigelow, Brenda Harvey, Stan Karp, and Larry Miller, editors
A Rethinking Schools Publication 244 pp. $10

If you believe the primary responsibility of a teacher is to teach children how to think, rather than to pencil in the right bubbles on a standardized, multiple-choice test, then you will love this book.

In the most practical and creative pieces in this collection of essays, teachers walk us through how they took on a classroom challenge and used it to teach their students how to question reality and act upon what they have learned.

What does a teacher do when faced with textbooks that are so bland that they drain all life out of the past, even the civil rights struggle, and fail utterly to engage our students?

High School teacher Mark Sweeting tells how he took the textbook headline "Nation Relocates Japanese-Americans," and engaged his students, using the antiseptic word "relocates" as a jumping-off point for a serious discussion of what really happened: The Japanese-Americans were arrested, their property was confiscated, and they were loaded, at gunpoint, onto buses and trains and transported to internment camps far from their homes.
What do you do when the issue of race surfaces in your classroom? Do you pretend it is not there, like the rhinoceros in the living room, and move quickly on to a less emotionally charged subject? Or do you confront it?

Kindergarten teacher Alejandro Segura-Mora details what he did after one of the darkest-skinned students in his class blurted out: "Maestro, my mom is giving me pills to turn me white."

What do you do if a student or a student's parent dies? Do you remain silent? Is death, like racism or poverty, an unfit subject for the classroom?

Elementary school teacher Kate Lyman relates how she ignored her principal's advice and talked directly with her students about the death of their classmate Jessica, eliciting from the children a number of excellent ways to remember her.

Rethinking Our Classrooms is a book which recognizes that creating a classroom of hope, like teaching itself, is a complex and demanding task. And by providing the testimonies of terrific teachers who have succeeded, it inspires and informs us.

-David Sheridan

New from the NEA Professional Library

Let's Team Up: A Checklist for Paraeducators, Teachers and Principals
Kent Gerlach64 pp., $5.50 NEA members $6.95 nonmembers
#2163-0-00-FN

This unique checklist is written to help paraeducators, teachers, and principals understand their roles and responsibilities as they relate to each other. It's filled with helpful tips for teachers on working effectively with paraeducators, practical suggestions for paraeducators on clarifying their jobs and their relationships with students and school staff, and great advice for principals on the administrative supervision of paraeducators.

To order, call 800/229-4200, or check the Web at www.nea.org/books.

EXCERPT
A Winning Team
The interdependent working relationship of today's paraeducators, teachers, and principals is often like a jigsaw puzzle. Unfortunately, they don't have a picture on the front of a box to know what the puzzle is supposed to look like when it's finished. The most successful schools operate as a team. School personnel understand the importance of a good working relationship and are focused on team goals. They form relationships that are built on good communication, trust, respect, and recognition. When paraeducators, teachers, and principals team up to connect the pieces of the puzzle, students are the ultimate beneficiaries.

Books by NEA Members

Class Encounters
By Mark Meuser
Starting with his nerve-racking first day of teaching, Meuser takes us through his 27- year teaching career and shares what he has learned from his students. Some stories are humorous, while others describe the problems faced by students. Meuser shows the importance of good teacher-student relations and how they can lead to real success in schools. $17.95 Order from: Rivercross Publishing, Inc., 6214 Wynfield Court, Orlando, FL 32819, or call 407/876-7720.

By the Neck Until Dead: The Gallows of Nuremberg
By Stanley Tilles with Jeffrey Denhart
Lieutenant Stanley Tilles shares his story for the first time as the last living witness of the executions of German war criminals at Landsberg and Nuremberg. With the help of writer Jeffrey Denhart, his graphic account of this historical event includes previously unknown facts and original pictures. $12.95, plus $2 s&h from JoNa Books, Box 336, Bedford, IN 47421 or check the Web at www.kiva.net/~jonabook.

Leaving This Life Behind
By Howard Levine
Levine, a special education teacher for over 20 years, writes a unique novel exploring life after death through the intricately woven narratives of Sharon, a mother who dies too young; Paul, a father who struggles with life; and their three year-old son Kenny, who is learning disabled. $14.95, available at your local bookstore or call Creative Arts Book Company at 800/848-7789.

Character Kaleidoscope: A Practical, Standards-Based Resource Guide for Character Development
By Mirka Christesen with Susan Wasilewski
This resourceful guide is full of creative ideas that will integrate character development into your middle or high school curriculum. Written by two teachers who helped make the Wake County, North Carolina public school system a National School of Character, the guide includes reproducible worksheets, lesson plans, and lists of resources. $29.95 from National Professional Resources, Inc., 25 South Regent Street, Port Chester, NY, 10573, 800/453-7461.

The Truth Test
By Lori Pollard-Johnson
Teacher and writer Pollard-Johnson brings you a delightful story about the new boy in school who learns the true meaning of friends and how to be a friend, the hard way. 75 pp., $5.90 plus s&h. To order, contact Perfection Learning Corporation Customer Service at 800/831-4190 and ask for Item No. 5902801.

TVTips

Africa
PBS, September 8, check local listings.
PBS and National Geographic present an eight-part series that explores the African continent through the eyes of Africans. From the Rift Valley to the deserts of the north, from the rainforests of Cameroon to rugged Ethiopia, from the coast of Swahili to the changing climate of South Africa, the program examines the diverse people, cultures, religions, art, history, and wildlife of Africa.

Valley of the T-Rex
Discovery Channel
Sunday, September 9, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET, check local listings.
Dr. Jack Horner, renowned paleontologist, travels into Hell Creek in the badlands of Montana in search of the largest complete skeleton of a Tyranno-saurus Rex ever uncovered and discovers the remains of other creatures that once populated the valley, evidence that leads him to question the conventional theories regarding the Tyrannosaurus Rex. With the use of fossil finds and computer animation, the world of the T-Rex is brought to life, explored, and questioned.

Band of Brothers
HBO, Sundays, beginning September 9, 9:00 p.m. ET, check local listings.
Based on Stephen E. Ambrose's nonfiction book about a World War II U.S. Army unit, and drawn from hours of interviews with survivors, along with the letters and journals of the soldiers, this ten-part miniseries tells the story of Easy Company. Beginning with their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942, the series follows the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, which parachuted into France early on D-Day morning, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and captured Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. For support and outreach materials, visit www.hbo.com.

Don Quixote
Hallmark Channel
September 16, check local listings.
Jon Lithgow stars in this adaptation of Cervante's Don Quixote as the passionate, but fool-hearty romantic who loves his books about knighthood and chivalry so much he can't separate them from reality. In an attempt to cling to the old stories that his books tell him, he outfits himself in armor and sets off on an epic journey accompanied by his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, to find his true love, lady Dulcinea. Don Quixote travels the Spanish countryside, fighting both real and imagined enemies, leaving him bruised and battered, but no wiser.

Hispanic Power
CNN, CNN Newsroom
September 17, 4:30-5:00 a.m. ET, check local listings.
According to census projections, Hispanic-Americans will make up the largest minority population in the United States in the very near future. This CNN Newsroom presentation explores the dramatic shift in U.S. population, the effects on both Hispanic and non-Hispanic teenagers, as well as the growing Hispanic power base in the areas of businesses, politics, the arts, and more.

Evolution
PBS
September 24-27, 8:00 p.m. ET, check local listings.
This eight-hour series travels around the world to examine evolutionary science and its profound effect on society and culture. Darwin's theory of natural selection, the vast changes that spawned the tree of life, the role of mass extinction, and the power of sex to drive evolutionary change are examined. This series also addresses the emergence of the consciousness, the success of humans, and the perceived conflict between science and religion in understanding human life. A companion Web site at www.pbs.org/evolution contains links to resources, answers to questions, and interactive online lessons.

English Composition: Writing for an Audience
PBS, check local listings.
Two sequences make up this series of 26 half-hour programs for upper level students. The first sequence, "Thinking/Writing," shows how arguments, narratives, and definitions can be used with critical thinking to improve communication in a variety of genres. "Writing Process" considers the nature of writing as a continuous process, along with the development of a personal voice, reading as a writer and a thinker, and using quotations and citations.

People Like Us: Social Class in America
PBS, September 23, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET, check local listings.
This special takes a direct look at social class, something most Americans never think about, but which can affect their lives more than ethnicity or appearance. The companion Web site at pbs.org/classinamerica provides lesson plans for math, health, and social studies, and links to other resources, along with an opportunity to test preconceptions about who belongs where on the social scale and ideas about how social class works in America.

School
PBS
September 6, 9:00 p.m. ET, check local listings.
Narrated by Meryl Streep, this four-part series examines American education from an historical perspective, beginning with the spread of tax-supported public schooling in the 19th century. Other episodes consider the education of immigrant students, the struggle for equal educational opportunity, and the recent wave of school reform led by politicians, free-marketers, and business leaders.

In the Mix-Steroids
PBS, September, check local listings.
This half-hour television magazine show for young adults explores the dangers involved in the use of steroids by teens, both boys and girls, to enhance athletic performance or physical appearance.

Web Winners

Extreme Adventure
Learn about people and mountains with Nevada teacher Claudia Berryman-Schafer and her team of climbers trekking up a Himalayan mountain. You'll find photos, links and answers to questions from students at www.nde.state.nv.us/ chooyu/.

Learning Teachers
The 21st Century Teachers Network is a nonprofit organization that helps K-12 teachers learn and effectively integrate technology in the curriculum. It connects teachers with resources to assist them in creating teacher-driven professional development programs. http://www.21ct.org.

Black College Data
Finding information and resources for the historically black colleges and universities in the United States comes easily at www.hbcu-central.com. Site includes an alumni, high school and current student registry, extensive HBCU listings and links as well as message boards.

New to the Job?
New Teacher? Here's a Web site just for you. It includes a "Survival Kit for New Teachers" and lots of information for student and substitute teachers. The Texas-based outlet offers an electronic newsletter as well as a catalog. www.inspiringteachers.com.

Paint by Number
Lived long enough to remember the old paint by number kits? "Every Man a Rembrandt" was the assertion. Stroll down memory lane on this site, or discover a curious 1950s phenomenon for the first time at www.americanhistory.si.edu/paint.

Your Magazine
Did the last issue of NEA Today not make it to your mailbox? Or did it get sucked into the black hole in your desk? No problem, look online. May- be you want to submit a letter to the editor, place an ad or check the archives. You can do all those things online, too, at www.nea.org/neatoday/.

Treating the Cold
You can learn how to prevent, treat, or deal with the complications of the common cold. Nuke the bad stuff.

Deep into the night, delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly in Los Angeles debated the issues.

Delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly worked deep into the night to complete business on the final day of the Association's 80th Representative Assembly, July 4-7 in Los Angeles.

From school safety and low-performing schools, to charter schools and high-stakes testing, more than 9,000 delegates took responsibility for ensuring all students receive a quality education in America's public schools, consistent with the RA theme of "Making Every Public School Great"

In his keynote address, NEA President Bob Chase challenged delegates to help students and schools of greatest need: "It is not a question of whether we can lift up low-performing schools, but whether we have the will to do so." Taking the first step, Chase said he would visit low-performing schools across the country during his final year in office. "In every city and town that I visit during my last year as NEA president, I will make it my business to visit those schools that are not showcases," Chase said. "Not to shine a spotlight of shame on these schools, but to offer a small beacon of light."
On the policy front, delegates adopted new charter school guidelines to be used by educators, policymakers and parents in evaluating state charter school laws. The policy, drafted by a special committee made up of NEA officials, educators, and charter school experts, provides principles for ensuring that taxpayer-funded charter schools are held to the same instructional standards as other mainstream public schools.

In addition, NEA delegates approved a historic partnership agreement with the American Federation of Teachers that provides a framework for regular and focused cooperation between the two unions.

At the classroom level, delegates expressed concern about the harmful effects of high-stakes tests that are imposed on students without giving them the extra support required to achieve at higher levels. With overwhelming support, delegates directed NEA to support legislation giving parents the ability to let their children opt-out of high-stakes tests.
Further, delegates embraced several new resolutions addressing teacher quality through compensation innovations. They overwhelmingly approved a resolution that endorses additional compensation to retain experienced educators in the classroom, and approved criteria for additional compensation to education employees beyond the traditional single-salary schedule.

In his first RA address as NEA executive director, John Wilson urged delegates to "wear the union label proudly" and propose solutions that improve education employees' professional standing. "That's why NEA's initiative to make low-performing schools a top priority for our nation is so important," he said.

In a commitment to creating harassment-free and discrimination-free learning environments, NEA delegates also called for the establishment of a task force to look at issues relating to policies on sexual orientation in a thorough and meaningful way. The task force will make its recommendations in February 2002.

Additionally, NEA delegates brought focus to school safety in a presentation titled, "The Strongest Links," which featured individuals taking action to create safer schools and communities.

Providing quality teaching and learning opportunities for all students filled discussions and debates.

National Teacher of the Year Michele Forman, a Vermont world history teacher, challenged delegates to speak out against emergency licenses, waivers, and other practices that lower teaching standards. "Every child deserves a fully certified, licensed teacher. No child's education should be in the hands of someone ill-equipped to meet that child's needs," she urged.

Education Support Professional of the Year Irma Valdespino urged delegates to respect the language and culture of bilingual students and fully recognize their talents and strengths.

In other action, delegates elected new leaders to the NEA Executive Committee including Michael Marks, a high school dramatic arts and debate teacher from Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Rebecca "Becky" Pringle, a physical science teacher from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Mike Billirakis, a high school social studies teacher from Mogadore (Portage County), Ohio.

Where We Stand

Each year, the NEA members elected as delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly adopt Resolutions that spell out exactly where our Association stands on the many different issues that impact education and educators.

The complete text of this year's Resolutions appears on the Web at www.nea.org/resolutions. On this Web site, you can search the Resolutions by keywords to easily find the specific Resolutions on the topics that most interest you. If you don't have Web access and would like a printed copy of the Resolutions, please mail your request to NEA Today.

The Resolutions are organized around 10 basic goals set out in the Preamble to the NEA Constitution. The index below lists these 10 goal categories and the titles of the Resolutions in each category - and indicates all the Resolutions that have been either added or revised since last year.

Beginning below and continuing on the next two pages of this special NEA Today Resolutions section, you'll find the major new added or revised Resolutions highlighted.

Learning:
Journey North

300,000 children bond while tracking nature's ultimate survivor story.

Some of Cathie Plaehn's fifth graders have never seen the Atlantic Ocean, the Appalachian Moun-tains, or Mexico. They've lived their whole lives in Boyceville, Wisconsin, population 900.

But through the Web-based science education project Journey North, these Tiffany Creek Elementary School children have traveled the world, trekking thousands of miles with butterflies, sea turtles, and other migratory animals.

And along the way, they've met other students from Mexico to Canada.

More than 300,000 students and their teachers use Journey North to supplement their textbooks with real life, following animals, chatting with scientists, and comparing notes across the continent as the changing seasons sweep south in autumn and north in the spring.

One important feature of Journey North is that it's not all-or-nothing. "I've adjusted my involvement each year," says Plaehn. "That's the beauty of the program. You choose as much or as little as you want."
While most of the activities are in the spring, teachers say the smaller Journey South program in the fall is a good time to get involved.

The project, funded by Annenberg/CPB, was started in 1994 by Elizabeth Howard, a former Nature Conservancy scientist. "It's the ultimate survivor story," says Howard. "Changing weather and lack of food face migratory species as they travel the globe or pass through our backyards. What better way to engage students in science?"

The first time Cathie Plaehn used Journey North in her rural Wisconsin classroom, she recalls, "We were watching satellite transmissions from sea turtles, and saw that one of them was floating out into the Atlantic.

"We spent days hypothesizing what was wrong and finally figured out that a turtle's transmitter had broken loose. It was incredibly exciting to watch these students turn into scientists. They wouldn't give up without an answer."

At York Middle School in Nebraska, Gayle Kloewer and her seventh graders raise and tag monarch butterflies, and use Journey North to track them as they fly to Mexico for the winter.

The Journey North Web site-named 1999 Best Education Site by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences-links Kloewer's students with scientists. Together, they gather migration data to see how wind and weather affect the monarchs' amazing voyage.

The students also connect with schoolchildren in Mexico, who report when the butterflies arrive at their mountain sanctuaries.

"When one of the monarchs made it to Mexico recently, it was like winning the Super Bowl," says Kloewer.
In Vero Beach, Florida, Allison Bai-ley's third graders at Citrus Elementary School make paper butterflies to send to children in Mexico for safe keeping over the winter.

In March, when the real monarchs head north, the Mexican children return the symbolic butterflies with messages for their American friends.

Journey North also sends students weekly Challenge Questions. "As my students answer the questions, they come up with more questions about why and how," says Bailey.

Holly Cerullo's seventh grade students at the Joyce Middle School in Woburn, Massachusetts are tracking tulips, not butterflies. They plant bulbs in October to investigate the relationship between geography and the arrival of spring.
They also answer their own questions about tulips, such as: Will it grow if I plant it sideways? What if I take off the bulb's skin?

The students report their observations on the Journey North Web site. When the tulips bloom, they announce to the world that spring has arrived in Woburn.

Students across North America use these announcements to follow the green wave of spring sweeping north.
In Mystery Class, another popular Journey North activity, students get weekly clues to the locations of 10 mystery classes-sunrise and sunset times and facts about history, geography, and culture.

"You can't bottle the excitement of Mystery Class," says Wisconsin's Cathie Plaehn.

"You start with nothing more than a sunrise and sunset, and you end up with an exact location. When the students discover where it is, it's as if they are the first explorers there."

"Before, my students learned different science concepts in isolation from each other," says Allison Bailey in Florida. "Now, a unit on how the Earth moves through space prepares us for how the seasons change and why animals migrate."
Nebraska's Gayle Kloewer says Journey North makes science real. "Why wasn't I paying attention to what was happening right outside my window?" she wonders. "Instead of opening the book to this chapter and this topic, I now link it to what's happening outside." 4
-Dina S. Gómez

For more: Explore Journey North at www.learner.org/jnorth.

Dilemma
How do you help a student who has
poor hygiene?

At the beginning of school and in the spring, I make a hygiene speech. I mention the importance of bathing and wearing clean clothes. I say, if anyone has a problem, see me privately. I offer to bring soap and deodorant if a lack of toiletries is an issue, and assure students that anything shared with me is confidential.

Anjanette M. Clark
High school communication arts teacher
St. Louis, Missouri

I attempt to gain the confidence of the student, and then ask if he or she minds if I talk with a parent. If the answer is no, I pursue it tactfully with the student. I let the student know they have a friend in me. That hasn't failed. Attitudes have improved and, in some instances, grades as well.

Jeanne Franklin
Middle school administrative assistant
Richmond, Virginia

I work with elementary special education students and we do a hygiene unit. A dental hygienist visits to discuss brushing habits. We've used trade books on hygiene topics in our reading groups. I also use a workbook on life skills for students with special needs.

Lindy Beckman
Elementary special education teacher
Corunna, Michigan

I used to refer students to the school nurse, who would contact the parents. She occasionally would give that child a bath and a change of clothes. Years ago when I first taught, I helped students by providing clothing from my nieces and nephews. When I see a child wearing a school uniform that needs a wash, I mention it to the classroom teacher.

Jacqueline Shak
Elementary ESL teacher
Honolulu, Hawaii

Before each school year, I go to a discount drug store and raid bins of sample-size deodorant, shampoo, and toothbrushes. Every year, I give a hygiene speech and explain that it's students' responsibility to make being close to others as pleasant as possible. I tell them personal hygiene items aren't inexpensive. If they need these items, I have some. If there's still someone who offends others, I tell that person a better effort is needed. I provide a bag of hygiene items, and tell him or her that more are available if needed.

Nancy J. Compton
Vocal music teacher
Wolcott, New York

Our school nurse talks with individuals or the en-tire class and gives out personal hygiene packets.
When I taught Behavior Disabilities, a committee that included parents put hygiene goals in students' Individual Education Plans. Now, when I deal with hygiene issues in class, I remind students to take baths. They earn play money for completing assignments, which they use to buy prizes. These include toothbrush kits and soap. The children buy these up quickly! I let them pick out another prize if they choose a personal hygiene item.

Tammy Tankersley
Special needs teacher
Hopkinsville, Kentucky

First, I find out if there's a financial issue or abuse that might hinder a child's efforts to be clean. If so, I find a way to provide the child with hygiene items, and we have a private talk.

I use humor, discussing how hot it is and what it would be like with lots of stinky bodies. I say I'm only a teacher and can't afford millions of dollars for air freshener and gas masks. That may sound crude, but the kids laugh and get the point.

Susan Titus
Seventh grade math and science teacher
Jacksonville, North Carolina

For elementary students:
o Read personal hygiene books about children of the same ages, emphasizing social rejection.
o Role play games and songs such as "This is the way I brush my teeth."
o If the problem is really bad, talk to the parent.
For middle and high school:
o Show videos on personal hygiene.
o Hold panel discussions on hygiene and stopping the spread of illnesses. Stress the pain of rejection due to poor hygiene.
o Invite a public health department speaker.

Amy Frost
Education student and substitute teacher
Decatur, Alabama

Got an Answer?
How do you get your students back to work after a holiday?

E-mail your answer to dilemma2@ neatoday.nea.org. Or send by regular mail, or fax to 202/822-7206. Please include your name, city, state, and job title. Published respondents will receive an NEA Today mug!

How I Did It

Bret Baird
Kennedy Middle School
Physical education teacher
Redwood City, California

A school hall of fame gives students role models for their own lives.

Three years ago, I polled my 170 students and asked who their role models were. The winners? Jerry Springer and Dennis Rodman.

This perplexed me. I view these two as entertainers at best, and not the sort of people students should emulate. During this same time, my district passed its first bond measure in 50 years, and my school was to receive a new gymnasium. I suggested naming the gym after our most famous athlete, 1967 Heisman Trophy winner Gary Beban.
When I contacted Beban, now president of a real estate firm, he was flattered but didn't want to be the only one honored. He gave me names of two classmates who he thought should get some recognition. That gave me the idea of starting a school hall of fame.

At first, the hall was to be about athletes, but that discriminated against women, who didn't get the same opportunities as men until the1970s with the passage of Title IX. So our hall of fame vision became:

• Provide models for students.
• Honor all walks of life.
  
• Invite inductees to visit our school and share their life experiences.
  

The inaugural class has 11 role models: a fisherman, bank executive, pilot, coach, singer, software CEO, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer, shoe inventor, professional sports team executive, architect, and Beban. At the gym's opening last March, nine of the 11 came to share their experiences with our students.
Over the past 50 years, Kennedy Middle School has produced 15,000 graduates. They are our greatest achievement. Now, when students enter our gym, walk by the duplicate Heisman Trophy, and see the hall of fame plaques, maybe they too will be inspired to develop their gifts and pursue their dreams.

Experimenting With Success

A gifted and talented program in Maryland launches girls' interest in science.

Space Mission EX-4 sounds like a 1950s sci-fi movie. But for fourth graders in Waugh Chapel Elementary's gifted and talented program, it's a real-life mission exploring the effects of space and future careers in science.
And for two all-girl teams-whose projects were selected for integration on NASA's space shuttle Discovery, March 8, 2001-it was an experiment in success.

Over 14 months, these all-girl teams conducted research, developed protocols, formed hypotheses, and observed the results of two original experiments: one involving sugar, the other, textiles.

"The project was a fantastic opportunity for the girls to witness science curriculum in action and connect its application to the real world," says project sponsor Linda Stoll, language arts and science teacher at Waugh Chapel Elementary in Odenton, Maryland.

"The girls took ownership of their experiments," says co-sponsor Jennifer Unger, a fourth grade science teacher who collaborated with media specialist Mitsn Mitchell on the technology component. "It was as motivating for the teachers and parents as it was for the students."

Developed as a joint venture between the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Gifted and Talented Office, the county's science office, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Space Mission EX-4 is a Maryland-initiated, interdisciplinary program that begins as general exploratory science activities for all county fourth graders. But midway through the unit, classes are broken down into smaller investigative groups, and those students showing advanced aptitude for science are selected for the enrichment program.

"Students self-selected groups by interest, such as botany, physics, medicine, or earth and space science," explains Unger. "Some groups were all boys, some all girls, some mixed gender."

Students worked independently and in small groups to create and conduct scientific trials. They wrote up theories and tracked data in journals. They used a digital camera, scanner, and presentation software to report their findings. And at year's end, some opted to exhibit at a county-wide Space Expo.

Four months later, Stoll and Unger learned that NASA had selected two experiments for inclusion in the space shuttle Discovery mission in March 2001, and that those chosen were created by two different all-girl teams, both from Waugh Elementary. Further, the teams were invited to Wallops Island, Virginia to integrate their experiments into vials and to Florida to witness the Kennedy Space Center launch.

What did the eager young women want to know? Will fibers change shape and size in zero gravity? Will different types of sugar dissolve in the same amount of time after being in space?

Stoll was particularly excited about continuing to help a new generation of young girls develop a love for science.
"I met John Glenn early in my teaching career," says Stoll, "and I remember that in his speech, he gave credit to the women behind the men. The space program has come so far since then. Now we have role models like Barbara Morgan and Christa McAuliffe, and women are giving credit to women."

Funded through a state Department of Education grant, Space Mission EX-4 connects to Maryland's state science curriculum and performance assessment outcomes. Over three years, NASA and county gifted and talented resource teachers have trained teachers in all 78 Anne Arundel County elementary schools in the curriculum.

"Writing in the content area is a big focus," says Stoll. "Students have to record their progress, justify why their experiment should be chosen, and constantly revise for improvement."

And Stoll is quick to point out other skills the girls developed, such as self-confidence, cooperative problem-solving, and achieving success through a long-term commitment.

With the launch date set for Spring 2001, there were plenty of mission-critical tasks to complete. Job One was coordination, especially since half of the girls began attending the new Piney Orchard Elementary in September 2000.
"It was quite a lesson in coordination and collaboration," says Unger, who continued with the project despite her own move to Manor View Elementary. "It took the hard work of everybody working together: students, principals, teachers, GT teachers, parents, and businesses."

Girls met periodically during evening meetings at Waugh Chapel. Teachers started a phone and E-mail tree with NASA. Parents produced a newsletter, initiated fundraisers with area businesses, made flyers, carpooled students to the State House for an awards recognition ceremony, chaperoned the trip, even planned a celebration banquet in Florida.
"Never before have I seen such a level of enthusiasm maintained over such a long time," says Stoll. "It reaffirmed the fact that there's no 'I' in the word 'Teamwork!'"

In May 2001, students, teachers, administrators, and parents assembled to open the test tubes that housed the experiments in space. Student Rachel Pietkiewicz summed it up in scientific fashion: "It was like the whole monarch migration was in my stomach."

Linda Stoll's observation: "It just goes to show that there's no distinction between genders in space." 4
-Michelle Y. Green

For more: Visit www.wff.nasa.gov/~sspp/sem/sem.html.

Dilemma
How do you handle chronic tardiness?

Last year I had a seventh grader who was chronically tardy. Detention didn't work. I started having him call his mom at work every time he was tardy. I figured that if he was going to interrupt my class, he could interrupt his mom at work. She wasn't too happy, but at least she knew how often this was happening. His tardiness didn't end, but it did improve.

Cathie Fenger
Seventh grade language arts
Marshall, Minnesota

At the beginning of each quarter, students in my computer classes create a time card for themselves. Each day, they record their attendance, just as one would at a job. Each class period counts four hours. On Fridays, the information is transferred to a spreadsheet representing a payroll register. Formulas are put into the register to calculate total hours for the week, gross pay, deductions, and net pay. Since part-time workers rarely receive benefits, there's no pay for snow days, vacations, sick days, doctor's appointments.

There's also a deduction of one to four hours for tardiness. At the end of the quarter, students who have earned the most pay receive valuable bonus points. Students quickly learn that being late or absent doesn't pay.

Wanda Samson
Business teacher
Fremont, Nebraska

I've never had a problem with tardies since instituting the singing rule. If you're tardy, you sing a simple song in front of the class. It's amazing to see how fast students run to class. We've had singers from the captain of the football team to a board of education member. I even had to sing once when I was caught up in the hall with another teacher. If you set the rules, you must live by them.

Crissy Lauterbach
History teacher
Kettering, Ohio

I approach chronic tardiness as a family problem and work with parents and the child in a "partner" approach. I record chronic late arrivals and call a conference where I share the data, express my concern, and ask for their help. Many parents aren't aware of how many times their child is late.

I give "I" messages rather than place blame. I detail what we do in the first 30 minutes of school and how that organizational time is important. If there's evidence that the tardiness is negatively impacting grades or learning, I present this as well. As the situation improves, I send notes home expressing the improvement and appreciation for their efforts.

Jan Formisano
Multi-age class, second/third grades
Mercer Island School District, Washington

A student who is late will find my door locked. This leaves the student in the hall for administrators and hall monitors to pick up. It also forces the student to get a pass from other teachers who may be sending them late.

Zeanah Leasure
Science teacher
Hollywood, Florida

To curb tardies, my high school staff created a system based on a graduated set of consequences:
1st occurrence:Teacher writes referral.
2nd: Lunch detention (served within 24 hours).
3rd: Saturday school (served the following Saturday.
4th:"Community" service (after school/in-building chores).
5th: Student suspended for one or more days.
A student's failure to serve any of these consequences automatically results in an acceleration to the next level.

Sherrie McDowell
English teacher
Cheyenne, Wyoming

Got an Answer?
How do you cut a student from a sports team-or any kind of team?

E-mail your answer to dilemma2@ neatoday.nea.org. Or send by regular mail, or fax to 202/822-7206. Please include your name, city, state, and job title. Published respondents will receive an NEA Today mug!

Spelling Test Bingo
My class plays Spelling Test Bingo. I create a blank Bingo board and make copies. Students number the boxes and pick where to write their spelling words.

We exchange papers and correct them. If a word is misspelled, it's rewritten correctly. Then the papers are returned.
I write the spelling words on small pieces of paper, place them in a hat, and pull them out. When a student gets Bingo, he or she must stand up and spell out all the words correctly in order to win a prize.
The class loves this game, and it's great for test review.

Vickie Hugo
Buttonwillow, California

Military Cheer
Just before the holidays, I had students collect and mail generic "Happy Holiday" cards to soldiers. Students signed and wrote a note in the cards but provided no personal information, and we used the school's return address. We then sent a package of cards to "Any Soldier" for the soldier to share with his or her friends. We found the mailing addresses for the Naval fleet on its Web site (www.navy.mil).
Students also took cards to the local VA hospital. It's a great feeling to pass on good cheer to those who protect our freedom.

Christy Goodney
Vancouver, Washington

Updating History
I bypass the argument that specific historical data isn't needed in the everyday workplace by focusing on writing.
I emphasize to students that the knowledge they gain in American history is not simply factual, but broad to help them understand human nature.

I remind students that we are a communication-oriented society. E-mail and faxes need to be written clearly and concisely.
Students report research by using a Power Point presentation or by building a Web page. Through this they learn the information and valuable technological skills.

Mar Van Over
Phoenix, Arizona

We're uniquely qualified to make low-performing schools a top priority.

It was fitting that our 2001Representative Assembly was held in Los Angeles. After all, what Hollywood imagines, public schools actually do.

In movies, poor children go from rags to riches. Ordinary people achieve the impossible. And adults are always heroic-by the end of the film, they've rescued the children and saved the world.

Well, public schools enable poor children to go from rags to riches for real. They're filled with ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And they're staffed by adults who rescue children and save the world in little ways every single day.
Yet so many public school employees never receive any glory or recognition. For this reason, at this year's RA, we applauded the heroic work of seven NEA members.

We gave three cheers for David Bocchichio, a gym teacher in East Hartford, Connecticut who donated a kidney to the mother of three of his students. (Read more about David on page 40 of this issue.)

For Janis Eggert, a school bus driver in Lebanon, Oregon, who helped organize a crucial bond campaign that saved her district schools from collapse.

For Marian Galbraith, a middle school teacher in Groton, Connecticut whose after-school programs help young African-American men succeed.

For Thomas Ibarra of Los Angeles, California, who bravely stepped forward to become one of the first teachers to join an ACLU lawsuit against school funding inequities.

For teachers Sandra Roberts and David Smith, who created the Holocaust Paper Clip Project to teach middle school students in Whitwell, Tennessee about the importance of tolerance.

And for Rhonda Simmons, a guidance counselor in Las Vegas, Nevada whose dance program for inner-city children inspires them to stay in school.

Yet while each and every one of these members is extraordinary, they are not atypical. Of the NEA's 2.6 million members, there's not a soul among us who doesn't know their own David, Sandra, or Marian. In fact, there are untold numbers who have done similar deeds themselves.

As educators, heroism is endemic to our work. Every day, when we walk through that school door, we have the potential to act heroically. And, at the dawn of a new school year, I believe we must harness this potential-and exercise it collectively on behalf of low-performing schools.

Granted, making low-performing schools our Association's top priority will not be easy. It is perhaps the toughest job we will ever face. The problems that plague poor schools are immensely complicated. We cannot give poor children brand new childhoods or neighborhoods. Nor can we work miracles by ourselves.

However, I know the power of our members. I've seen you staying after class to help students with long division … I've seen youcomforting a feverish child whose parent can't pick her up from school … I've seen you coaching the track team and cleaning the auditoriums. I know that our members are a legion of Thomas Ibarras, Rhonda Simmons, and Janice Eggerts.

Nothing gives me more faith than knowing that you are the stewards of future generations. You are my heroes. So this coming year, let us make it our goal to act heroically together-for the sake of those children and schools that need help the most.

Comments? E-mail Bob Chase at BobChase@nea.org. If you would like a response, please be sure to include your name and NEA local affiliate.

Helping Kids Build Their Own Success

Alejandro Lugo spoke no English when he met Irma Valdespino in New Mexico back in the mid-1970s. He was an 11-year-old son of Mexican migrant workers who spent the first part of each school year in New Mexico, and the other part in Arizona. He's now a professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"This," says Lugo, referring to his doctorate from Stanford, his master's from the University of Wisconsin, and his professorship, "never would have happened without Mrs. Valdespino. I wouldn't have survived middle school. She was non-threatening and charming and committed to her students. But the most important thing was she believed in me. She believed I could do the work."

Valdespino has influenced many lives during her 26 years working for Las Cruces schools. This spring, NEA recognized her work on behalf of students when she received the organization's Educational Support Professional of the Year Award.
Valdespino says she was "thrilled and humbled" to be recognized with this award. "I had no idea I'd receive it. There were other people in contention, and to be selected by the NEA is an incredible experience," says Valdespino, who's currently an educational assistant with bilingual programs at Mayfield High School.

Many of Mayfield's students come from Mexico. Valdespino believes it's important for society in general to respect their heritage and for these children to develop pride in their culture.

Accomplishing the latter isn't always easy, given the difficulties many students in Las Cruces-- and elsewhere--face. It can be a struggle to become proficient in English, while maintaining proficiency in their first language.

Many kids face huge additional challenges coming from single parent families, trying to find their particular place in school and the whole society, while maintaining their own cultural identity.

Valdespino believes, "Bilingual children must overcome so much, but they are survivors. They're resilient."

"I love working with children. They're part of my life," Valdespino adds. "I myself was a bilingual student. These kids are special. I can identify with them."

Sometimes life's best lessons are learned outside class. East Hartford, Connecticut, teacher David Bocchichio's selfless act of donating a kidney to the mother of three of his former students was a powerful lesson for his students. Best of all, the mother, Evelyn Arroyo, gained a new lease on life.

Bocchichio, a health and physical education teacher and member of the East Hartford Education Association, volunteered his kidney after he learned that none of Arroyo's relatives was a donor match and her prospects for survival without the transplant were considered grim.

The operation was unusual because most donors are either relatives or people who have died in accidents. Since he is a nonrelative, Bocchichio is considered a Good Samaritan donor.

"It's a heroic thing," surgeon Matthew Brown told the Hartford Courant following the operation. "It's an incredibly charitable thing to do."

Bocchichio and Arroyo gained national attention when they appeared on the Oprah Winfrey and Today shows. Connecticut Governor John Rowland praised Bocchichio's kidney donation, saying it shows that "teachers are mentors, role models, and positive influences in the lives of our children. They remind the rest of us of the goodness of mankind."

While Bocchichio finds this description flattering, he remains modest about the attention he has received. He says he doesn't consider himself a heroic figure, adding that he was unafraid of the six-hour surgery and was ready to make the donation.
"This was something I wanted to do and it was well within my capacity to do," he says. "A lot of people are concerned about the pain during the surgery. I wasn't. I'm young, strong, and in good physical condition. In fact, this was my third surgery in the past year and a half."

During his recovery, Bocchichio received "a ton of support," from his teaching colleagues. "They were thrilled. They gave me 100 percent support, before and after surgery. They made sure I've been comfortable, and they often visited or talked with me to make sure I wasn't pushing myself too hard."
Bocchichio believes character education is a big part of his curriculum and says his operation fits in well with what he tries to teach his students about "helping people and being kind and generous."

Preserving the Trails

Larry Smith hasn't exactly struck gold in Jacksonville, Oregon. But he's hit upon an idea that's reviving what had been a dying gold mine town.

Smith, an NEA Retired member, is a founding member of the Jacksonville Woodlands Association, which since 1989 has purchased and preserved trails surrounding Jacksonville.

This small town, center of what used to be a bustling gold mining trade, was one of the first National Historic Landmark Cities. The mines were abandoned 70 years ago, and like many mining towns, Jacksonville went belly up.

But now, "tourism keeps the town alive," Smith says. The woodland trails "help the town capitalize on what locals call the 'linger longer effect.' You can see the historic part of town in three hours. But we have 17 restaurants here, which isn't bad for a small town, and other businesses." All benefit from the foot traffic that the Jacksonville trails attract.

Smith credits much of the success of the trails, and the adjoining town, to his students.

A 22-acre patch of trees started it all back in the 1980s. Smith and a student, Brian Mulhollen, were walking past an old mine. "Brian's the kind of kid who's constantly coming up with ideas of how to do things," Smith says. "Walking by the mine, I said, 'There's an old mine.' And he says, 'How do we get it?'"

Smith says he was stumped but lamely suggested he go down and talk to the city manager. The 11-year-old Brian did just that. When the purchase came up for discussion at the city council meeting, Brian raised the entire purchase amount of $1,000 right there at the meeting.

Other students soon got involved. The association started looking for other parcels of land, and now it has 19 pieces of property totaling 300 acres, seven miles of trails, and a couple old gold mines, all worth about $10 million.

Dream House = Dream Lesson

Anna Denardi teaches both Spanish and math to middle school children in Guernsey, Wyoming. She enjoys both, but one advantage of her Spanish classes is that all the students are there by choice.

With math, she finds, some students come to class hating the subject.

One of her main goals has been to convince students that math is for real, not just a set of teacher-made hurdles created to trip them up.

So she developed a set of lesson plans in which her students designed and decorated their dream houses on a budget of $100,000.

"One thing they found out is that $100,000 is not a lot of money for a house," she says.

Denardi won a 1999 Presidential Award in Math and Science Teaching. The idea for the home-design project came to her when she and her husband were planning a house for themselves, and she realized that she was using all sorts of middle school math-percentages, ratios, areas, estimation, and more.

Her virtual home-design lessons have hooked many students who started out thinking they couldn't do math and didn't want to. "If this is math, I can put up with this," she recalls one formerly phobic student saying.

Students started asking her for more instruction to help them with the project. "They'd say, 'We're confused. Lecture for a while,'" De-nardi recalls. "Sometime they even said, 'We need homework tonight.'"

Denardi gives away her dream house lesson plans. The whole set takes a year to complete.
For more: Contact Denardi at adenardi@hotmail.com.

Still Teaching After All These (50) Years

Dorothy Grace Boyajian teaches a combined class of 31 fourth and fifth graders in California. Not remarkable, until you learn she's 70 years old and has taught for 50 years. "The years have gone by so fast and wonderfully. It's been super," says the veteran who has no immediate plans to retire.

Boyajian describes herself as an American of Armenian descent. She's proud of her mother who spoke seven languages, including Greek, Russian, French, and Armenian. "She was ahead of her time, a major inspiration to me, and she always valued education," Boyajian says.

Now, many years after her mother landed at Ellis Island from Armenia in 1920, Boyajian has completed 35 years at Sunnybrae School and a total of 50 years in San Mateo, 20 miles from San Francisco. She doesn't drive a car, instead riding to school with friends or finding other means.

How's she kept it up? "I love children," she says. "I love what I do each year. Each group is a new inspiration. Each child is unique in personality and way of learning."

Her best advice to new teachers? "Make sure you love kids, and that you want to do everything possible to help them learn. Find something good in every child, even the naughtiest ones. They come with their minds open, but they need to be active learners and everyone can improve. I always tell them: Good, better, best. Never let it rest."

And what does this thoroughly modern 50-year classroom veteran say about all this testing that's going on? "It's important to test, she says, "but testing's not the ultimate answer. Some kids don't take tests well.''

Boyajian has no idea how many students she's taught. But one of them found her recently. "I was in the car with a friend and a policeman stopped us. He came over to the car and said, 'I'm Brian Anderson, and you're the best teacher I ever had.'"