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Outreach to Teach

NEA Student Program members each year join retired educators, education support professionals, and active teachers to clean up a local school in the host city of NEA's Representative Assembly.

Past sites include New Orleans, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Orlando, Atlanta and Philadelphia.

There are lots of ways your chapter can make a difference in your community year-round. You don't have to wait for the Annual Meeting. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

For more information, contact Kimberly Anderson at 202-822-7163 or kimberlyanderson@nea.org.

Highlights from Past Outreach to Teach Events

2008: Washington, D.C.

NEA members are planning to descend on Wakefield High School June 27

We'll be at this school in the D.C. suburb of Arlington, Virginia all day. Take a look at these photos and you'll see that we have our work cut out for us. Additionally, be sure to come back for "before and after."

2007: Philadelphia

Hundreds of NEA Volunteers Revitalize Philadelphia Area Elementary School in Annual ‘Outreach to Teach’

More than 300 college students, teachers, retired educators, higher education faculty, and education support professionals picked up shovels and dug in June 26 to give Gotwals Elementary School a much needed facelift. Students from as far away as Hawaii  participated. Outreach to Teach gives a free makeover to a needy school in the host city of NEA's annual meeting. This is our 12th year.

SLIDESHOW | VIDEO | NEWS ARTICLE

2006: Orlando

NEA Members Granted Wishes for Needy School

'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' had nothing on our annual pre-Representative Assembly ‘Outreach to Teach’ event. See for yourself how this school beautification project transformed Orlando's Eccleston Elementary School. Every shrub planted and each stroke of paint  made ‘Outreach’ remarkable and heartwarming for school staff and their students.

Nearly all the children who attend Eccleston receive free or reduced-priced lunches. Many are from one-parent families or are being raised by grandparents. Principal Ruth Haniff says that for many students, the school is the safest and nicest place they'll be all day.

2005: Los Angeles

Hundreds of Members Revitalize Compton Middle School in Ninth Annual
‘Outreach to Teach’
Teachers, retired educators, higher education faculty, students preparing to become teachers, and education support professionals picked up shovels and dug in to give a needy school in our Annual Meeting's host city a much-needed face lift.
Check out our slide show and see us in action! 
 

2004: District of Columbia NEA Student Program and Retired members joined other educators to spruce up Longfields Elementary School in Forestville, Maryland. Volunteers will painted, cleaned, landscaped and made other repairs at this this urban school outside our Nation's Capital.	NEA gave Longfields a bright new sign and our members were on hand to plant colorful flowers around it. Inside, we updated classroom bulletin boards. Click images for larger views.
This is what the school looked like before we arrived. Click images for a larger view.

2003: New Orleans
Student members get down and dirty. More than 250 volunteers last month converged on the St. John Child Development Center, about 30 miles outside of New Orleans, to do landscaping, painting, cleaning, and repairs. The NEA Student Program along with our Retired, Higher Education, and ESP Quality members sponsored the project. The Louisiana Association of Educators and the St. John The Baptist Parish Public Schools also supported the efforts.  

2002: Dallas
Outreach to Teach plants long-term improvements. We sponsored our eighth annual Outreach to Teach Project at the N.W. Harllee Elementary School in Dallas. Volunteers from NEA's Student, Retired, Education Support Professional, and Higher Education programs joined the Texas State Teachers Association, the Dallas Independent School District and the local community to give the school a facelift. Volunteers painted, made repairs, cleaned, gardened, and decorated bulletin boards.
Watch the highlights. Length: 4 min., 37 sec. 56K, Broadband

2001: Los Angeles
More than 200 volunteers repaired, painted, cleaned, swept, landscaped, and re-decorated bulletin boards at the David Starr Jordan High School in Los Angeles. This was a collaborative that involved Retired, ESP, and Higher Education members. The United Teachers of Los Angeles and the California Teachers Association also pitched in. Local press and other media outlets covered the event.

2000: Chicago
Our sixth project was in Chicago at the Calumet Park Elementary School. More than 185 members who represented all facets of NEA, banned together to paint, clean, sweep, landscape, rake leaves, and re-decorate bulletin boards.
Photos: Nan Coulter

States Also Reach Out

Oklahoma: Willowbrook Elementary Gets A Facelift

State student members during their annual spring convention worked inside and outside this Oklahoma City school. By the looks of it, they did a good job. See for yourself.

Wisconsin: Student, Retired Members Fix Up Local School

Here's 2007 Outreach to Teach video from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh student chapter of the Wisconsin Edcuation Association Council. Student members in this state have a long history of supporting Outreach:

About 180 Student Wisconsin Education Association members, on April 13, 2002 painted walls, created murals, and built shelves at Westside Elementary as part of their fifth annual "Outreach" event.  NEA, the Wisconsin Education Association Council, and the Kimberly Education Association supported the event. [more... ]