ESP -- [Outreach]
Ready To Wear

Phoenix ESPs provide clothing to students in need.

Thanks to the efforts of support professionals in Arizona, students in Phoenix high schools will always have clothes to wear to school. Now, students who didn't even have socks for their physical education classes are provided for, and those with old, tattered shoes can replace them with newer ones.

"Learning is much harder if they do not have anything to wear to school," says Norma Duran, a member of the Phoenix Union High School District Classified Employees Association. Duran oversees the Clothing Connection, an Association effort that supports students and families who cannot afford to buy clothing. The program keeps in school those students who would otherwise frequently miss class because they do not have anything to wear, Duran says.

Duran, who became chairwoman of the Clothing Connection in November 2001, has expanded the program with help from other members of the Phoenix Association, many of them community liaisons who assist local families and students with their problems. Today, all of the district's high schools have clothing deposits that resemble small stores where students can select the items they need.

Students can go to the clothing deposits on their own or at the request of a school employee. Visiting the Clothing Connection is like visiting the nurse's office to receive a new shirt to replace a ripped one, says Dean Walker, president of the Phoenix Union High School District Classified Employees Association. "But today a student needs more than a shirt," he adds.

School staff, parents, and the community donate clothing for the program. Volunteers then wash the donations, sort the clothing by size, and display it on racks. The local Association also organizes fund-raisers to buy underwear and shoes for the clothing deposits.

Mary Kouts, former president of the Phoenix local, created the Clothing Connection in 1987 at Metro Tech High School.

"The majority of the time the parents just didn't have the money for clothes. Some kids were going to school with no shoes on. It was sad," says Kouts, now the substitute coordinator for the Wilson Elementary School District.

During the first few years of the program, the local Association organized carnivals and pig roasts to raise money for the clothing deposit at Metro Tech. The school's administrators, staff, and students supported the program, Kouts says.

But the program suffered a setback in 1996 when the Metro Tech clothing deposit closed because the school needed the space for other purposes. After the Association lost the clothing bank, the Clothing Connection still received some monetary contributions and provided $150 stipends to students who needed clothing. Students would then go to a store and buy clothing with a school employee.

Unfortunately, the program did not collect enough money to satisfy student demand. So, the program again turned to clothing donations.

Norma Duran began donating her own clothing at Camelback High School two years ago. After a month, Duran's friends and colleagues had donated enough clothing to sustain a clothing deposit. Meanwhile, other ESP members organized a clothing bank at South Mountain High School. These two locations served as models once the Clothing Connection expanded to all of the district's schools in August 2002.

"When we find out a kid needs clothes, we act immediately," says Juanita Tillman, who volunteers in the clothing bank at South Mountain High School.

Students are not the only ones who benefit from the program. In predominantly Hispanic schools such as Camelback, the Clothing Connection has assisted entire Mexican families who had arrived in the United States with no other clothing except what they had been wearing, Duran says.

Since its creation, the Clothing Connection has helped thousands of people in the district.

"Every student who is assisted is a success," says Walker, Phoenix Association President.

--Irene Arce

[Profile]
Union Commitment

Name:
Virginia Benson

Job Title:
Human Resources Assistant, Pasco County School Board Office, Land O'Lakes, Florida

What I Do in My Job:
I take care of the applications for people who want to be employed as teachers and education support professionals in the district.

The Most Rewarding Part of My Job:
Helping people go through the application process.

My Greatest Passions:
My children and my grandchildren.

My Favorite Pastime:
My union activities with the United School Employees of Pasco. I am an ESP vice president. I have served on the union's bargaining team and have dealt with employers and district administrators. I serve on all committees and am involved in political action and membership drives.

I am also a member of the Central Labor Council, which our union is part of. I have not missed more than a handful of meetings in the nearly 14 years that ESPs have been organized.

I have found my work in the union to be fulfilling. I believe strongly in what I do.

My Community Involvement Includes:
I am bound two to three days a week with union activities. When my children were younger, I participated in the Land O'Lakes Little League.

Going the Extra Mile

Alabama Job Finder
In a time when factories in Geneva, Alabama, are closing down and migrant workers are leaving the area, the Geneva County Education Support Association is helping migrant workers stay put and find jobs locally, with the help of an NEA ESP Technology Grant.

The local Association used a $3,500 grant to buy a computer with an Internet connection and a copying machine for the professional support office located in a local elementary school. Community liaisons visit the office with migrant workers and help them search and apply for jobs online. Association members hope the efforts will help stop the out migration of workers, stabilize the lives of students, and keep enrollment and funding levels stable.

"We just want the school system to thrive, and if you have a thriving community, you then have a thriving school system," says Rachel Hicks, president of the local.

Community Outreach
New Jersey's Millville Education Association (MEA) continues to reach out to the community. Most of the local's 750 members volunteer one hour per month on community projects, such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) and the Police Athletic League. The local also collects money for scholarships each year.

By dedicating time and money to causes that benefit the community, MEA members develop stronger bonds with the area's families, says MEA President Jeanie Parkhill, a preschool instructional aide. These ties with the community demonstrate that MEA members help students learn both on and off school grounds.

"I don't ask my members for major commitments of their time. But if we each give a little, it all adds up," Parkhill says.

Membership Tracker
Local leaders in the Lane County Education Association (LCEA) in Eugene, Oregon, now have membership information at their fingertips. The local used a $3,450 NEA ESP Technology Grant to purchase hand-held computers for its executive board. The computers have updated membership lists and information, says Lynn Lary, co-president of LCEA. This information helps the local track current and potential members.

Lane County comprises 16 school districts. Previously, local leaders did not know when new employees were hired because of the large geographic distances between districts. The updated information makes membership recruitment much easier, Lary says.

For more on ESP Technology Grants, visit www.nea.org/esp/espnea/techgrnt.htm.

Resources

Lead Information Center
Exposure to lead is a leading cause of workplace illness and a particular danger for maintenance workers. The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics offers a variety of education materials to help education support professionals protect themselves and children from the dangers of lead. Some of the booklets and brochures are available in both English and Spanish. For more information or to request publications, call the National Lead Information Center at 800/424-LEAD (5323) or visit www.epa.gov/lead/.

News for Nurses
School Health Alert, an independent school health newsletter, sponsors a free website at www.schoolnurse.com/. The site includes health-related articles, research information, and links to other school health publications. At the site, you also can register to receive a free weekly e-mail newsletter, the School Nurse-Zine.

Safe Schools
North Carolina's Center for the Prevention of School Violence offers information and materials for School Resource Officer programs on ways to promote safer schools and positive youth development. The site also includes statistics, research, and grant information. The center is part of the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Visit the center's website at www.ncsu.edu/cpsv/index.htm.