Resources

Last Chance for The NEA Foundation’s September Grants

There’s still a little time left before The NEA Foundation’s September 15 grant review date. All proposals for Innovation Grants and Learning & Leadership Grants received by September 15 will be reviewed, with notification by February 15, 2006.

Applications for these grants are accepted on an ongoing, year-round basis, so it’s never too late to apply. Proposals received after September 15 will be considered in the next review cycle. Grants fund activities for 12 months from the award date.

Innovation Grants and Learning & Leadership Grants are funded in part by Staples Recycle for Education. Since July 2003, Recycle for Education has helped raise more than $2.5 million for public education!

NEA members just like you have applied for and received over 1,500 grants nationwide over the years in all subjects, including the arts, literacy, science, and technology.  Read about their funded projects on the foundation’s Web site, and then submit your own idea.

All members who are practicing K–12 teachers, education support professionals, and higher education faculty and staff at public colleges and universities are encouraged to apply. Grant amounts are either $2,000 or $5,000. 

Applying for a grant is easy, so why wait? Visit the NEA Foundation website today for more information, including guidelines and a downloadable application. Or call 202-822-7840.

Grants for NEA Student Chapters

Building a strong presence on campus is one of the biggest challenges that NEA Student Program chapters face. NEA provides financial assistance in the form of SOAR (Student Organizing and Assistance Resources) grants to encourage efforts to recruit new members or organize a student chapter.

Chapters may apply for funding to recruit in the following areas:

• urban institutions
• minority populations and historically minority campuses
• community colleges
• high school future teacher programs.

Priority is given to student locals working with UniServ units. Click here more information and an online application.

Read Across America Library Books Awards

The NEA Foundation announces a new award to help public schools serving economically disadvantaged students purchase books for school libraries. The foundation makes these $5,000 awards to practicing preK–12 teachers and education support professionals who are NEA members on behalf of NEA, with support from Warner Brothers, Inc. There are two deadlines to submit an application: September 15, 2005, and February 1, 2006. Click here for more information and an application. Applications will be accepted only as e-mail attachments.

NEA Urban Grants

NEA’s Urban Grants Program supports local affiliates in the development of education reform leadership programs for PreK–12/Graduate School faculty and education support professionals. Each year NEA awards 25 Urban Grants in the amount of $5,000 each to NEA local affiliates to support them with these programs.

The NEA Constituent Relations unit administers the program and looks for proposals that contribute to restoring public confidence in public education by reflecting some aspect of NEA’s Strategic Priorities.

NEA local affiliates of 500 members or more who are listed with the NEA membership office or the largest local NEA affiliate of any state regardless of membership number are eligible to apply. Applicants must submit a proposal postmarked by September 30 to NEA Constituent Relations, 1201 16th Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036. Click here for information on applying, selection criteria, and the review process.

Decisions by the Evaluation Committee are final. Questions should be directed to NEA Constituent Relations/NCUEA at 202-822-7155.

Classroom Project Grants

Kids In Need Teacher Grants provide K–12 educators with funding to help provide innovative learning opportunities for students. Provided by the SHOPA Kids In Need Foundation, the grant awards range from $100 to $500 each and are used to finance creative classroom projects. Typically, 170–200 grants are awarded each year.

The Teacher Grant applications are judged according to a rubric that emphasizes innovativeness and merit, clarity of objectives, replication feasibility, suitability of evaluation methods, and cost effectiveness. Members of the Foundation’s Teacher Grants Committee complete the final round of evaluation of the grant applications in late October. All certified K–12 teachers in the United States are eligible to apply.

To obtain an application, educators can either stop by participating retail sponsors and designated education credit unions or go online.

The application deadline is September 30, 2005. For more information, contact SHOPA Kids In Need Foundation, 3131 Elbee Rd., Dayton, OH 45439; 800-854-7467.

Funding for Seeds

The Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant Program gives small monetary grants to schools, nature centers, or other non-profit educational organizations to establish outdoor learning centers. Projects must emphasize involvement of students and volunteers and increase the educational value of the site. Creativity in design is encouraged, but the project must show complete and thoughtful planning.

Using and teaching about native plants and the native plant community is mandatory, and plants must be appropriate to the local ecoregion and site conditions. Funds are only for the purchase of native plants and seed. Grant applications are due November 15, 2005.

Click here for more.

Siemens Westinghouse Competition

The Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science & Technology allows students to achieve national recognition for science research projects that they complete in high school.

Students may submit research reports either individually or in teams of two or three members. Students whose projects are selected for further competition are invited to give an oral and poster presentation at one of six regional events. At each regional competition an individual and a team are selected as Regional Winners and receive scholarships. Regional winners then advance to the National Competition in New York City.

The top individual and team winners at the national level receive additional scholarships of $100,000. Runners-up receive scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. This year’s deadline is October 3, 2005. Click here for more information.

Turning Green into Gold

If you know an educator who has a particularly outstanding approach to environmental education, consider nominating him or her for the International Paper Environmental Award. 

Given each year by the Conservation Fund and International Paper, and paid for by a grant from the International Paper Company Foundation, this $10,000 grant applauds elementary or secondary school educators or university faculty or staff who have completed a project that teaches students about environmental issues and the link between environmental protection and economic growth. Projects must also exemplify a candidate’s leadership abilities and inspire others to achieve.

The 2005 recipient of the International Paper Environmental Award was NEA member Mike Town, a high school teacher in Redmond, Washington. Redmond has orchestrated a slew of projects in the field of environmental science to encourage his students to become as passionate about the subject as he is. He started an AP environmental science class, created an organic vegetable garden, and received a grant last spring to have solar panels installed at his school. Solar panels make electricity from the Sun without pollution.

Town has no plans to slow down any time soon. He’s working with another teacher at his school to build a local environmental education center.

“It’s a proposed waste water treatment center. If it goes through it will educate students on environmental issues ranging from salmon to waste water to alternative energy and forestry,” said Town, who received his award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in June.

Entries for the 2006 award are due next spring. Candidates must be nominated, and those nominating must complete four essay questions about their candidate’s work and may send any other supporting materials. For more, go to The Conservation Fund website this winter.

Take Note

Funding for IAQ Training

Through a 2005 NEA Representative Assembly new business item (#9) and a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the NEA Health Information Network (NEA HIN) will provide funding to send up to 18 teams of NEA members and UniServ staff to the sixth annual EPA Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools National Symposium and third annual NEA HIN Pre-Symposium training. This year the IAQ Tools for Schools Symposium and Pre-Symposium training will be held January 11–14 in Washington, D.C.

Each year teachers, education support professionals, UniServ staff, school board officials, administrators, and others attend the conference to discuss improving IAQ in our nation’s schools. The conference centers around EPA’s IAQ Tools for Schools program—a nationwide initiative that helps school employees assess, resolve, and prevent IAQ problems and reduce exposure to asthma triggers in schools. Innovative workshops will be offered on conducting school walkthroughs, pest control, radon, material selection, and more. Building on last year’s success, NEA HIN, a co-sponsor of the Symposium, will once again conduct a Pre-Symposium IAQ training to address IAQ issues from the union perspective.

Interested? Applications are due by Monday, September 26. For more information and to find out how to apply, visit www.neahin.org.

Free Educator’s Guide

Check out the free offerings from Walden Media, the film studio that brought you Holes and Because of Winn-Dixie. Educators can download a free educator’s guide to Because of Winn-Dixie, available now on DVD. You can also enter for a chance to win two free tickets to the world premiere of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe this December in London, England. Register at Walden Media to learn more about upcoming film adaptations of young adult books.

Teaching Media Literacy

Students are bombarded by thousands of images and messages every day. Find out how you can help them learn to “read and write” this new media and prepare for the global media culture of the 21st century. Visit the Center for Media Literacy Web site to find background information and teaching materials on media literacy, including the following resources:

• Project SMARTArt—A case study and a “how-to” program for teaching media literacy skills to K–5 students, with replicable structure, tools, and lesson plans.
• Five Key Questions That Can Change the World—An online classroom activity guide with 25 lesson plans for K–12 media literacy.
• Media&Values—More than 350 articles online from this magazine.
• Center for Media Literacy’s MediaLitKit—Materials for free and for sale, in English and in Spanish.

Build a Home of Your Own

Building Homes of Our Own, a teaching tool on CD-ROM for middle and high school classrooms, presents the home building process from site selection to final sale. Students collect information, solve problems, and make choices as they build a 3-D home against a budget, review credit applications, and sell to the buyer of their choice. The program is part of the National Association of Home Builders’ educational outreach initiative, in partnership with the National Housing Endowment, Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters, and Freddie Mac.

The CD-ROM is free to educators serving schools with enrollments of 100 students or more. The new version lets students save more games and access their work from any computer operating on a server network. Click here to request a copy.

Promoting Science Literacy

Developed by Congressman Rubén Hinojosa and University of Texas-Pan American, Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology Week (HESTEC) is a year-round leadership program that emphasizes the importance of science literacy to preK–16 students and educators. This year’s event will take place September 26–October 1 at the University of Texas in Edinburg and will feature professional development workshops, presentations by world class speakers, competitions, and hands-on activities. During HESTEC, participants will interact with engineers and scientists during events such as Educator Day, Latinas in Science, and Community Day. For more, go to www.hestec.org.

Celebrate National Multicultural Diversity Day

For more than a decade, educators around the country have been celebrating National Multicultural Diversity Day (NMDD) in their schools and communities on the third Monday in October. Originally created by Cleorah Scruggs, a fourth-grade teacher in Flint, Michigan, the day was adopted as a national event by the 1993 NEA Representative Assembly to “increase awareness of the tremendous need to celebrate our diversity collectively.”

This year, you can get involved too. Just be creative. Start by sharing cultural information with your class about yourself, then introduce students to multicultural issues and possible solutions by inviting a local expert to talk on diversity. You can also have students sing songs that celebrate diversity and ask them to bring in items or food representative of their ethnic heritage to share with classmates.

To help educators share ways to celebrate diversity both on National Multicultural Diversity Day (October 17) and throughout the year, NEA sponsors an electronic bulletin board (members only).

Diversity Calendar

September

September 5—Labor Day

Signed into legislation more than 100 years ago, Labor Day honors American unions and workers whose achievements are vital to our strength and prosperity. Click here for more information.

September 8—International Literacy Day

Sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and the International Reading Association, this day focuses attention on worldwide literacy issues and needs. Click here for more information.

September 15– October 15— National Hispanic Heritage Month

This celebration honors the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens who trace their ancestry to Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Click here to search for Hispanic Heritage Month for quizzes, games, and more.

September 17–23—Constitution Week

By presidential proclamation, this annual event—which kicks off with Citizenship Day on the 17th—celebrates our Constitution and reaffirms our rights and obligations as citizens. Click here to explore the Constitution, access multi-media archives, and more. Click here for free professional development programming available from Annenberg/CPB.

October

October 4—First Day of Ramadan

This day marks the beginning of the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is a holy time when Muslims fast and honor the revelation of the Koran to the prophet Muhammad.

October 4–5—Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah serves as the Jewish New Year and ushers in the High Holy Days, a time of fasting, reflection, and prayer. They conclude with Yom Kippur on October 10.

October 10–14— National School Lunch Week

A good school lunch is vital to student learning. It’s no wonder, then, that this year’s theme is School Lunch: It’s Instrumental. Visit their website for recipes, activities, and more.

October 16—World Food Day

Established by the United Nations in 1979, World Food Day focuses awareness on the problems of hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Visit their website for materials and lessons to help your students become involved in creating a world where everyone has enough to eat.

In Print

	A Day in the Life Author Karen English assumes the voices of six fictional third graders at a public school in Speak To Me (And I Will Listen Between the Lines). A range of personality types, including the daydreamer and the misfit, are represented in the raw and expressive free verse poems. While the language is simple and the subject matter may seem inconsequential (a pink-inked pen causes a big drama), English’s well-worded pieces verify that children experience the same spectrum of emotions as adults. 32 pp.
	Conquering College Whether it’s the SATs, ACTs, or just the Common Application, Joyce Slayton Mitchell gives good suggestions to applicants and their parents on how to make it into the college of their dreams in Winning the Heart of the College Admissions Dean. Mitchell’s advice on how to research schools and what not to say during interviews is confirmed with excerpts from college admissions directors at schools such as Harvard and Stanford. 170 pp.
	Stopping Bullies Education and family psychologist Kenneth Shore takes a new approach in bullying prevention with his book The ABC’s of Bullying Prevention: A Comprehensive Schoolwide Approach. Instead of focusing on the sometimes devastating effects of bullying, such as depression and school shootings, Shore establishes a clear definition of the word bullying and steps to prevent it. He calls on school administrators, teachers, and parents to focus efforts into controlling and eliminating this growing problem. 79 pp.
	Having Our Say In Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States, renowned Latino poets and literary figures in the United States share their hopes, dreams, and identities. Edited by Lori Marie Carlson, this compilation of moving, vibrant poems expresses the complexity, ethnic variation, linguistic diversity, and the yearning spirit of the Latino community. Written in both Spanish and English, the poems touch on universal themes such as language, neighborhoods, love, family, and victory. 140 pp.
	The Power of Portfolios  Student-Led Conferencing Using Showcase Portfolios, by Barbara Benson and Susan Barnett, reveals how to motivate students to excel and achieve higher standards of learning while increasing parent involvement in the process. With easy-to-use timelines, sample schedules, and guidelines on collecting work samples, this comprehensive text helps transform oft-dreaded parent conferences into productive discussions for all. 192 pp.

Heads Up from NEA Member Benefits

Reap the Benefits of Membership by taking full advantage of all the money-saving programs and services available through NEA Member Benefits. Choose from high-quality insurance, credit, loan, deposit, investment, and discount products designed exclusively for NEA members and their families. 

Plus, a treasure chest of consumer and personal finance information is just a click away at www.neamb.com. Read timely financial articles, download or order useful consumer guides, and use more than 70 financial calculators to help support your financial decision-making. In addition, each month you can enter the Web Site giveaway to win prizes such as a Bose Wave Radio, Staples and Target gift cards, free car rentals, and vacation getaways, to name a few.

Call the toll-free number, 1-800-637-4636, or visit our website today!

Re-Tool Your Retirement Planning with the latest in investment and retirement planning services from Morningstar! Offered by the NEA Valuebuilder® Program, NEA members and their families can now take advantage of:

Learning Station—online education, including general investing and financial articles and interactive tools, for novice and sophisticated investors alike

Guidance Online—investment guidance, providing members with a retirement goal savings target and asset class suggestions for their portfolio to help them meet their goals

Target Portfolios—which allow members to choose among a range of pre-determined portfolios based on an assessment of investor type and time horizon

Managed Accounts—which offer professionally designed portfolios that are personalized based on the member’s individual financial situation, risk tolerance, and investment options

Find out more by calling toll free, 1-800-NEA-VALU.

On TV

Jack’s Big Music Show

NOGN, Daily starting September 12, 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET, check local listings.
This live-action preschool series is hosted by Jack, a music-loving puppet and his melodious cast of friends who play every day at Jack’s clubhouse. The half-hour shows feature videos and live, in-studio performances by popular children’s musicians. Can be taped and used in the classroom for one year.

Foundations of American Government

Discovery Channel, September 13, 5 a.m. ET/P.
This documentary investigates new findings from the night that helped bring America into the Revolutionary War. Watch Thomas Jefferson articulate the ideals of a new and free nation. Witness the struggles faced by the Constitution’s framers. And peruse the first 10 amendments that were made to it. Can be taped and used in the classroom for one year.

American Masters—Ernest Hemingway: Rivers to the Sea

PBS, September 14, 9 p.m. ET, check local listings.
Hemingway wanted to create a picture of the world he knew, but a world that would be described by “boiling it down always” to its essential core, rather than spreading it out thin, as he put it. What he left out, readers must fill in, thus creating a kind of fiction new to the American scene. Like his books, Hemingway’s life was filled with action, adventure, and danger, from driving an ambulance during World War I to reporting from the front during World War II. This hourlong documentary gives viewers a satisfying taste of his prose, with selections from some of his most famous novels and short stories. Within all the writing is an attempt to face fear, and even defeat, as a condition of existence in the 20th century. American Masters has a Web page dedicated to this show with film clips, timeline, resources, and more.

20th Century with Mike Wallace: Hispanics in America

History Channel, September 19, 6 a.m. ET/P.
An hourlong look at Hispanic contributions to American society and the rapid growth of this segment of the U.S. population. Can be taped and used in the classroom for two years.

Biography—Fidel Castro: El Comandante

A&E, September 20, 7 a.m. ET/P, check local listings.
Take in this Spanish-language profile of Cuba’s controversial leader for the past four decades, one of the last great communist dictators. The hourlong program can be taped and used in the classroom for two years with teaching materials available.

At the Western Frontier

Discovery Channel, September 21, 5 a.m. ET.
This documentary of the transcontinental railroad looks at how this new mode of transportation changed the make-up of America’s western lands, explores what happened to boomtowns after the gold and silver were mined, and considers the realities of frontier life and the myths about the Wild West. Can be taped and used in the classroom for one year.

TLC Elementary School: Scientific Inquiry III

The Learning Channel, September 23, 6 a.m. ET/P.
Explore how plants convert a few key elements into all the food they need, how forces deep within Earth continue to change our planet, how the Sun’s inevitable death will affect Earth and the other planets in our solar system, and how the effects of energy transfer and our planet’s constant motion. This 30-minute episode is designed for grades K–6 and consists of segments edited from original documentaries. The show can be taped and used in the classroom for two years.

On TV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., and by Cable in the Classroom’s Access Learning magazine.

Read Across America

Get Ready To Read!

The 2006 Read Across America Resource Kit, filled with posters, event ideas, and an NEA members-only CD-ROM, begins shipping this month. To request your copy and sign up for the Read Across America e-newsletter.

On the Web

Protecting Kids Online

Studies show that 1 in 5 youth using the Internet receive an online sexual solicitation in a one-year period, and 29 percent of children will give out their home address if asked. The Internet Keep Safe Coalition group teaches rules of Internet safety to children and parents, reaching them online and in school. The iKeepSafe.org Web site uses an animated mascot named Faux Paw the Techno Cat to teach children the importance of protecting personal information and avoiding inappropriate places on the Internet. Children safely navigate the Web through a virtual playground, Faux Paw’s adventures in storybooks, and educational games. Educational materials, including worksheets, are available for parents and educators.

Accessing Data on Public Education

SchoolMatters.com provides searchable information about public schools, school districts, and state education systems throughout the nation, including student achievement data, financial information, demographic breakdowns, tax base details, and more. The site is a free public service sponsored by the National Education Data Partnership, a collaboration among the Council of Chief State School Officers, Standard & Poor’s School Evaluation Services, Achieve, Inc., and the CELT Corporation. The service includes powerful analytical tools and objective analyses that provide education leaders with the information they need to make better-informed decisions about schools and school systems.

Freevibe.com Drug Facts

Designed for teens, this interactive, anti-drug site has downloadable drug information resources including articles, books, brochures, banners, postcards, and posters. It also provides information on drugs and addiction and tracks news stories about drugs of interest to teens.

Back to School Drug Prevention Program

NIDA Goes Back to School is a source of free information from the National Institute on Drug Abuse about the latest science-based drug abuse publications and teaching materials. Specific curricula and other teaching aids are available. Hard copies of the materials are free, but curriculum materials are reserved for teachers.

Books by NEA Members

	The Mystery of the Missing Dog By Gwendolyn Hooks When Alex loses his dog, Jet, he frantically checks every nook and cranny to uncover the mystery. Former math teacher Hooks was inspired to write this tale after a three-week search for her own pet, Kitty Kat Hooks. This Level 1 book from the “Just for You! Books” series includes helpful hints and suggestions on how parents can use the story to develop their children’s reading and comprehension skills. Ages 5–6. 32 pp.
	Laughing Matters: Using Humor in Classroom Activities By Rick Shade and Patti Garret Written by longtime educators, this book explores the art of humor and teaches others how to incorporate this art in their curriculum. The book is divided into several chapters that allow readers to diagnose what kind of humor they have and then decide how to best apply it to make learning fun. Complete with a glossary and a list of additional resources, this book helps keep students laughing.
	My Mountain Song By Shutta Crum Author, poet, and children’s librarian Shutta Crum pens this tale of Brenda Gail, who spends her summer in the Kentucky mountains exploring the beauty of nature while picking out memories to put in her special song. Gathering eggs, Big Ma’s breakfasts, and a hen named Morning Glory are just a few ingredients for the mountain song in this book beautifully illustrated by Ted Rand. 32 pp.