Get with the Program!

Weekend retreats and online communities keep new teachers in touch with their Association.

As a first-year teacher in Washington, Jessica Upton knew very little about her Association. Faculty at her college had encouraged her to join, but beyond that the organization held little meaning for the beginning teacher. Then she received an invitation to attend a retreat for Sparks, a Washington Education Association (WEA) program created to connect new teachers with their Association.

“At first it was a free weekend away and a day off of work to hang out and have fun with other teachers,” explains Upton. “But I found out more about the union and how you could advocate on behalf of teachers.”

The experience transformed Upton’s views about the Association. When she returned to her school, she became an Association representative in her building and later chairperson for her local’s political action committee. After five years as an Association leader, she decided to focus on Association work exclusively as a member of the WEA staff.

“The way Sparks programs introduce the union to new members makes sense,” say Upton, now an external partnership and educational issues organizer at WEA. “It’s not that you need to join because you need protection. It’s about exposing new members to the opportunities the Association offers for learning new skills.”

While educators still rely on the Association for traditional services, like bargaining support and due process protections, new and prospective teachers want more professional development resources. And the Association is responding to those demands.

“We have to understand that students are not just looking for the services or products the organization has to offer,” explains Student Program Chairperson Anthony Daniels. “They are looking for substance. What is this organization doing to help me professionally?”

Programs like Sparks have such a dynamic impact because organizers tailor each retreat to the needs and concerns of the participants, explains Lisa Lewison, a WEA UniServ director who has organized several sessions. Since the program’s inception in 1998, more than 2,000 Washington teachers have participated. States such as Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Alaska also offer the program.

“Sparks is an organic way for new teachers to come together to express their questions and have their challenges addressed in an informal setting,” says Lewison. “We focus on making them aware of all the resources available through the union: leadership development, professional development, networking, support. If they don’t know about the union, they don’t know what we have to offer.”

But future teachers don’t have to commit to a weekend getaway to connect with their Association. Thanks to technology, the Association is now just a few mouse clicks away.

Online resources like the NEA Teacher Toolkit and Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) put curriculum, assessment tools, and professional development resources at teachers’ fingertips. (For more about GEM see “Teaching in the 21st Century.”) Meanwhile, college students can monitor NEA’s efforts to make college more affordable by visiting pages on Facebook and MySpace.

“If there was ever a good example of strong collective action it is in those online social forums,” explains Don Blake, senior technologist and organizational specialist at NEA. “The notion that I need to collectively work with a group or union still is a foreign concept for some. So we’re taking the idea of one-on-one organizing into a larger online neighborhood, one where the students already are acting collectively.”

In many ways, the online effort builds on the traditional role of unions as social networks. As the Association continues to evolve to meet the needs of the next generation of educators, organizers like Lewison believe the organization may return to that tradition of nurturing both the personal and professional needs of its members.

“In college you had built-in social networks,” explains Lewison. “It can be challenging when you go into a school and it can be isolating. New teachers often go into new communities without family or friends, so the union can be a social outlet too.”

—Kristen Loschert

Jonathan Kozol’s letters to a first-year teacher

‘Dear Francesca,’

Ex-teacher Jonathan Kozol has written a new book, Letters to a Young Teacher, that qualifies for one of his own favorite adjectives: “incandescent.” It’s intended especially for new teachers and is based on letters he wrote to a first-year teacher he got to know in Boston.

The letters move from daily life in elementary school—“the small…world of colored crayons, chalk erasers, pencil sharpeners, and tiny quarrels, sometimes tears and sometimes uncontrollably contagious jubilation,” to great national education battles, and back again.

Also featured: Kozol’s own harrowing days as a first-year teacher, his memories of Mr. Rogers, and a recipe for green slime.

When I visited your class the first time, there was a child who gave you so much trouble that you had to put him at a table in the corner where he could not constantly distract the other children. I knew that you felt bad about this. You said, “I kind of love him for his style, his defiance, but he has no common sense and absolutely no politeness.”

One of the other kids told me, “He is mean!”…

The next time I was there, you had moved him to a desk beside the blackboard where you had a better chance to keep an eye on him and where you could try to bring him in from time to time to join some of the class activities…

In academic terms, the first sign of a breakthrough I would sense was when he started filling up his spiral pad with bits of narrative that opened up some of those angry memories and fears he’d been reluctant to reveal to you before.

The letter that he gave you a few days ago will, I bet, soon earn a place up on your wall. “Dear Lady Marmalade,” he wrote—he had asked you what you liked for breakfast and you said that you loved orange marmalade and butter on your toast—“I think you wunder full, plus also cheesy, plus also good and wunder full. Love, Captin Black.” I liked especially what he squeezed in down at the bottom of the page: “P.S. And you beter tell me Thank You for this leter be kuz I worrkt hard on it!”

The last time I visited your class, I saw a timeline posted on the wall above the reading rug. I know that timelines are a commonplace device that first-grade teachers use to introduce their students to a recognition of progressions from one day or month or season to the next. But this was no commonplace variety of timeline.

It was called a “Tooth Line.” Very convincing-looking teeth, which you had cut out of cardboard, had been placed in little slots along the left side. All the children could find their own teeth in one of those slots. I saw “Shaniqua’s tooth,” “Arturo’s tooth,” Dobie’s tooth,” et cetera.

At the top of the chart you had created “tooth-status” columns.

As children reported on the status of a tooth, their cardboard tooth would be advanced across the chart to “Wiggly Teeth,” then “Wobbly Teeth,” then “Out!”

When I asked one of the children which one was her tooth, she went right up and pointed to it. “This one is my tooth,” she said, then stuck her fingers in her mouth to show me which one of her teeth it was. On the chart, it said that it was “wiggly” but after she had moved it around awhile with her forefinger and thumb, she took the cardboard tooth out of its slot and slipped it into “wobbly.”

Great Reads

The Nitty-Gritty Classroom and Behavior Management Resource

Regardless of experience level, this book helps teachers relate to, understand, and love their jobs. This comprehensive resource offers innovative ideas, practical teaching techniques, and solutions and tips on classroom and behavior management topics. Available to Student members for $22.95.

The Best of Writing Bug

Engage your students in effective writing with this creative resource. These 44 writing prompts spark students’ imaginations, tickle their funny bones, and motivate their pencils. Available to Student members for $7.95.

The Best of Learning Games

Get world-famous lesson plans that blend learning with fun! These lesson plans cover all major subject areas for grades K–12 and inject a healthy dose of fun into the serious business of teaching and learning. Available to Student members at $7.95.

35 Classroom Management Strategies

Do you want real-life strategies for creating a classroom community conducive to learning? The 35 step-by-step strategies in this book will help you create an effective learning environment. An accompanying DVD illustrates 12 strategies from the text. Available to Student members for $19.95.

The First-Year Teacher

Written by experienced teachers, this book offers daily step-by-step plans for the critical first four weeks of school. New teachers will find plenty of tips for communicating with parents, scripts for parent-teacher conferences, time-saving strategies for dealing with mounds of paperwork, solutions to common discipline problems, and much more. Available to Student members for $16.95.

Pitfalls and Potholes: A Checklist for Avoiding Common Mistakes of Beginning Teachers

This handy guide will help you avoid many of the mistakes new teachers say they wish someone had told them about in college. The user-friendly checklist format outlines the nuts and bolts of landing a job, managing student conduct, getting along with administrators, maintaining personal priorities, avoiding lawsuits, and much more. Available to Student members for $4.50.

Quick Clicks

NEA

Check out www.nea.org for Association news; links to NEA publications, state affiliates, and member benefits; information on special events such as NEA’s Read Across America; and sites for and about members. Don’t forget to visit the Student Program  discussion board to chat with your fellow members.

New Teacher Tips

Works4Me

Whether you’re looking for strategies to keep your students on task or just get yourself organized, NEA’s Works4Me  program has the answer. The online library includes more than 400 tips, submitted by fellow educators, offering practical solutions to just about any classroom issue. Be sure to join the mailing list to receive new tips by e-mail each week.

Teachers Network

Teachers Network is a nationwide, nonprofit education organization that identifies and connects innovative teachers exemplifying professionalism and creativity within the public schools. The Web site includes lesson plans, online professional development courses, and information about grants and videos available to teachers. Don’t miss the “Daily Classroom Specials,” which feature project ideas, tips for working with parents, and special advice for new and substitute teachers.

Survival Guide for New Teachers

The U.S. Department of Education brings together the reflections of award-winning first-year teachers in this handy online guide for beginning educators. The guide focuses on teachers’ relationships with their colleagues, university professors, and students’ parents, all of which play crucial roles in their success on the job.

First Years

This Web site, started and maintained by two veteran educators, offers classroom activities, sample letters to parents, tips for classroom management, subject-specific lesson plans, and free classroom posters and school clip art. Visitors can join an e-mail listserv for student and beginning teachers as well.

Yes I Teach

This site, maintained by the Florida Education Association, offers lesson plans, articles on students with special needs, classroom management tips, message boards, and even a little bit of humor for teachers of all levels. Users can submit stories and ideas of their own to the site and link to other useful Web resources.

Education World

Tips for interviews, lesson plans, technology integration, professional development, and educator issues are just some of the topics covered on the Education World Web site. You’ll also find information on communicating with parents, managing your finances, and even handling holidays in the classroom. Don’t miss the icebreaker suggestions and sample worksheets and handouts.

Teachers.net

Teachers.net is all about peer support and there are plenty of offerings for new teachers. Have a burning question you need answered? Go to the Beginning Teachers chatboard. Need inspiration on how to engage kids with a particular topic? Browse the database of more than 3,500 free lesson plans, collected since the Web site’s inception 11 years ago. You can connect with other new teachers in your subject area or grade level and get in on live chats.

Community Outreach

NEA’s Read Across America

Celebrate literacy all year-long with NEA’s Read Across America Web site. You’ll find tips and project ideas for the annual event, free posters and bookmarks to download and print, lists of popular books, and information and resources from NEA’s partners. Be sure to sign up for the monthly e-mail newsletter to receive the latest updates on literacy issues and special discounts on members-only merchandise.

Learn and Serve

Learn and Serve America provides grants to community-oriented school projects. The program helps nearly one million students, from kindergarten through college, meet community needs while they improve their academic skills and learn the habits of good citizenship. Recipients use the grants to create new programs or replicate existing ones and to train staff, faculty, and volunteers. 202-606-5000

National Institute for Literacy

Help expand the social and economic opportunities for individuals with few or no literacy skills by teaching them how to read and write. This federal organization supports the development of high-quality literacy services and compiles data about literacy rates among various population groups in the United States.

Special Education

NEA’s IDEA Web site

Stop by NEA’s site on special education and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for current research, updates on IDEA legislation, and resources for educators working with students with disabilities.

Council for Exceptional Children

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) works with students with disabilities and the gifted. The organization advocates for sound government policies and offers opportunities for professional development to special education teachers.

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) supports special education programs for children, youth, and adults. OSERS also conducts research and publishes information on issues related to special education.

National Clearinghouse for Professions in Special Education

NCPS gathers, organizes, and disseminates information for recruiting, preparing, and retaining individuals interested in serving children with disabilities. The Web site includes information on financial aid available to aspiring special educators, research and statistics on students with special needs, and resources for job seekers.

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities

The center provides a variety of resources on disabilities and disability-related issues for families, educators, and other professionals. The Web site includes information on programs and services for infants, children, and youth with disabilities; IDEA; the No Child Left Behind law; effective practices for children with disabilities; materials for parents; and links to professional associations.

The National Association of Special Education Teachers

(NASET) supports those preparing for or teaching in the field of special education. Members have access to comprehensive databases containing thousands of resources and materials; topics include exceptional students and disability information, special education and the law, and practical resources for special education teachers. The Special Educator e-Journal keeps members informed and a career center offers current job openings, career advice, career fact sheets, and state licensure information.

Political Action

NEA’s Legislative Action Center

Keep up with news from Capitol Hill at NEA’s Legislative Action Center. You’ll find updates on bills designed to improve the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as well as information about other legislation before Congress. You can track your state senator’s or representative’s voting record and even send an e-mail message to your state and federal legislators. Don’t forget to sign up for the e-mail action alerts!

Center on Education Policy

As a national, independent advocate for public education and for more effective public schools, the Center helps Americans better understand the role of public education in a democracy and the need to improve the academic quality of public schools. The Center on Education Policy conducts research and informs the public about topics such as testing, vouchers, and school improvement.

National Association for the Education of Young Children

NAEYC is an organization of early childhood educators and others dedicated to improving the quality of programs for children from birth through third grade. NAEYC works to improve professional practice and working conditions in early childhood education and to build public support for high-quality early childhood programs.

American Association of University Women

Since 1881, AAUW has focused on expanding women’s rights in academia and other areas. Many projects focus on increasing girls’ interest and achievement in math, science, and technology. AAUW staunchly defends civil rights, gender equity, and women’s health and reproductive choices.

American Civil Liberties Union

The ACLU defends the civil rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Some of the ACLU’s focus areas include civil rights in schools, the separation of church and state, and the rights of minorities.

Close Up Foundation

The Close Up Foundation’s programs encourage teachers, students, and young adults to participate in the American democratic process through trips to Washington, D.C., and activities with local and state governments. Close Up uses a hands-on approach to educate people about how the government functions.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

For the past 93 years the NAACP has worked for equity and democracy by opposing discriminatory and unjust policies. The primary focus of the NAACP remains the protection and enhancement of the civil rights of African Americans and other minorities. The NAACP works at the national, regional, and local level to secure civil rights through advocacy for supportive legislation.

Anti-Defamation League

The Anti-Defamation League combats anti-Semitism, bigotry, and intolerance on various fronts. The organization helps the victims of hate crimes, works to protect individual civil rights, lobbies legislators, and educates people about the danger presented by hate groups. The Web site includes programs and resources to help teachers challenge prejudice and discrimination.

Labornet

Labornet compiles online information about labor unions in the United States and abroad. The site highlights workers’ grievances and labor campaigns and offers news to keep workers informed about union activities. Visitors to the Web site will find links to labor news publications; labor, employment, and government statistics; and relevant legislation.

Human Rights Campaign

The Human Rights Campaign defends the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered citizens. HRC effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support to candidates for federal office, and works to educate the public on a wide array of topics, including workplace, family, and discrimination issues, that affect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Americans.

Teaching Tolerance

Founded in 1991 by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Teaching Tolerance provides educators with free educational materials that promote respect for differences and appreciation of diversity in the classroom and beyond. The Web site offers information on classroom activities, tools, grants, and a link to Teaching Tolerance magazine. Visitors to the site also can register for a monthly e-newsletter.

National Dropout Prevention Center

The NDPC provides information for researchers, educators, and policymakers about at-risk students. The NDPC also serves as a clearinghouse on issues related to dropout prevention and offers strategies designed to increase the graduation rate in America’s schools.

Grants

NEA Foundation

The NEA Foundation awards grants to educators who propose innovative and promising ways to help all students experience academic success and reach their full potential, especially those who have been historically underserved by society’s institutions. NEA Student Program members can partner with eligible teachers, education support professionals, and higher education faculty who submit grant applications. Examples of grant-funded work include study groups, action research, lesson study, and innovative project-based learning that helps close the achievement gap. Grant amounts range from $1,000 to $3,000.

The Foundation Center

The Foundation Center collects and organizes the names of hundreds of people and organizations that provide funding for socially significant projects. Visitors to the Web site can search an online database for corporate and foundation funding or request a free CD-ROM full of sources. The Center also provides information and research about grant seeking and philanthropic efforts.

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)

More than 30 federal agencies joined together in 1997 to create the FREE Web site. The site includes information on hundreds of federally supported teaching and learning resources in a variety of subject areas, from the arts to vocational education, and adds new resources monthly.

The National Science Foundation

With an annual budget of about $5.5 billion, the NSF represents the primary funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science, and the social sciences, the NSF is the major source of federal backing. The NSF also offers special funding programs specifically for undergraduate and graduate students.

Education News

NEA Today

Stay up to date on education issues and Association news with NEA Today . The magazine is published eight times a year and is available online.

Education Week

This weekly publication includes local, state, and national education news and covers issues from preschool through grade 12. Education Week also publishes periodic special reports on topics ranging from technology to textbooks. The Web site also includes links to education stories from daily newspapers.

Teachingjobs.com

This Web site maintains information on thousands of available positions in schools in the United States and overseas. Job seekers can receive newsletters and updates by e-mail about the most recent job openings.

ERIC

The Educational Resources Information Center  (ERIC) is a national information system designed to provide ready access to an extensive body of education-related literature. The searchable database contains more than one million documents about education issues.

Job Market

Teachers-Teachers.com

This free service allows applicants to post their résumés and cover letters online, search for jobs by location, receive news about available teaching positions, view school Web sites, and send application materials electronically.

GreatTeacher.net

This Web site offers a free service that allows applicants to search for teaching openings by geographical location. Each ad includes a job description and contact information. Applicants also can post their résumés online at the site.

American Association for Employment in Education

AAEE provides information to college career centers, school districts, and teacher candidates about the education job market. On its Web site, preservice teachers will find helpful job hunt publications, links to online job databases, and information on teacher certification. Check out the annual supply and demand report for information about the need for teachers in your field.

Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, a branch of the U.S. Department of Labor, collects and distributes data about the current job market. In the Bureau’s Occupational Outlook Handbook you’ll find detailed job descriptions, information on working conditions, training and education required, wage estimates, and future job prospects for a variety of occupations. You can search the handbook online for statistical information about education employment.

Fired up for Change!

The great Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said 2,000 years ago, “Each leaf is the tree.” From him we learned that each cell of a leaf contains the genetic pattern for the entire forest.

Like the leaf, you are not just student members of the National Education Association. Each of you is a complete representation of our entire organization. You are Team NEA! And we are all part of one vision: to advance the cause of public education.

We celebrated a major victory last year with the passage of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. This sweeping piece of legislation ensures that low-income students have access to higher education through need-based grants. Because of your passion and vigilant advocacy, you have helped to change age-old policies and open the doors of opportunity for millions of students across the nation. You have also brought considerable attention to the crisis in college costs, student debt, and corruption of the lending process.

While I am grateful to every one of you for all your hard work that has helped us accomplish these things, we cannot rest. There is simply too much important work to be done. This year our nation will choose new leadership at a time when we face unprecedented challenges in national security, foreign affairs, energy, the environment…and a new global economy. The choices we make this year will determine the direction we take on all of these issues, as well as the issue about which we all care so passionately—public education.

We need you to continue to stoke the fire of debate and generate ideas that will help us close the achievement gaps, improve teacher quality, fix No Child Left Behind, and elect a President and a Congress committed to public education. We need you to remain fired up and fed up with the status quo. We need you to continue your advocacy, expand your outreach, and refuel your commitment to great public schools.

We are many voices, but we are committed as one to the principle that great public schools are a basic right of every child. As we work to be a positive force for change, we will encounter times of struggle and adversity. I urge you to embrace the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he said, “The ultimate measure of a man (or woman) is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

The National Education Association is proud of our NEA Student Program , and we look forward to a historic year.

—Reg Weaver
NEA President

On the Hill

Spring 2008

My Debt, My Life

Education majors are struggling with student loan debt, but NEA is working on lowering the bill.

A $28,000 salary and a $15,000 student loan bill adds up to big trouble. Forget advanced trig, that’s the kind of math that a growing number of education majors and young teachers are agonizing over as college costs grow and salaries stagnate.

Increasingly savvy about future income-to-debt ratios, students are making decisions about careers based on the reality of having to repay loans. At a time when there is a great need for qualified teachers, young people are discouraged from entering the profession.

Today, two-thirds of four-year college graduates leave with student loan debt, compared with less than a third just 10 years ago, according to the State Public Interest Research Group’s Higher Education Project. And they carry twice as much debt as they did 10 years ago, too.

“We absolutely see a chilling effect,” on public service professions, says Robert Shireman, director of the Project on Student Debt. “Students are setting their sights on the future and saying ‘I can’t afford to be a teacher or a social worker.’”

After completing his undergraduate career at Alabama A&M University, Anthony Daniels owed more in student loans than he could make as a starting teacher. In part to defer the loans, and hoping to improve his salary prospects, he went to graduate school. Now he’s $58,000 in debt and considering walking away from teaching in favor of a career in law. “Unfortunately my situation is not unique,” says Daniels, the current chair of NEA’s Student Program. “In fact, it is becoming the norm. We are losing too many qualified teachers because of student loans. It’s not just a burden, it’s a barrier.”

How Did We Get Here?

Since 1994, debt levels for graduating seniors more than doubled to $19,200, according to the Public Interest Research Group. (Eight percent of graduates owe more than a whopping $40,000.) Factoring in inflation, the average student debt burden in 2004 was almost 60 percent higher than in 1994.

Black and Hispanic college graduates are hit even harder than their White counterparts, according to the Project on Student Debt. Black graduates have a higher amount of student loan debt and more of them have debt than White graduates. The number of Hispanic students with debt is on par with Whites, but the amount they owe is higher.

Why did this become, as one author dubbed it, “Generation Debt”?

For starters, tuition costs are rising faster than inflation—they’ve ballooned 42 percent in the past five years. And wages have stalled. In 2006, the median household income actually dropped 2 percent. Add in that families are increasingly squeezed by health care and housing costs. Then factor in that the previous Congress hiked interest rates on student loans and cut $12 billion from the Federal Student Aid program.

When it comes time to figure out where the money for college is going to come from, students are increasingly turning to private lenders who loan money freely but often on less-favorable terms than government loans. A decade ago, private lenders were responsible for only 5 percent of the education loan dollars in use. Now they comprise 20 percent and it’s become a $17.3 billion market. Sallie Mae, the largest private lender in operation, reported $1 billion in profits last year. One online retailer sells a T-shirt that states in bold black letters, “Property of Sallie Mae.”

Fighting on the Hill to Lower the Bill

A substantial victory came this past summer with the passage of legislation providing $20 billion to increase grant aid for low-income students and cut subsidies to student loan companies. President Bush signed it in October 2007.

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act is a sweeping piece of legislation being compared to the G.I. Bill. It increases the Pell Grant program to $4,800 next year (and $5,400 by 2012) by replacing the $12 billion cut previously. Also, it slashes in half the interest rates on subsidized student loans.

Predictably, student lenders fought the reform vehemently. Left out of the final law—thanks in part to pressure on legislators by NEA members mobilized by the Association’s “College Affordability Concerns Me” campaign—was a troubling amendment that would have given student loan companies more than $4 billion at the expense of the grant aid to students.

But the work isn’t over. In addition to pushing for a $40,000 starting salary for all teachers, NEA continues to advocate for legislation that will make it easier for students and graduates to consolidate their loans. Leaders promising change must be held accountable, says Daniels.

Despite all the financial obstacles facing those with student loans, they remain staunchly optimistic about the importance of the work they’re doing. At left are some of your fellow NEA Student Program members’ stories.

   —Cynthia Kopkowski

Zoua Xiong, 28
University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee
Early childhood education major

• $25,000 in personal student loan debt
• $75,000 in household student loan debt

My husband and I are both students. He’s been taking a loan out every year. It wasn’t until we got married and had my son that he qualified for financial aid. $75,000. This is how much we’re going to owe. We’re thinking much further along, hoping if we suffer a little now, we’ll be better down the line. The biggest thing for us when we get done with school is to buy a house, but I think we’re going to have problems. With outstanding loans and credit card bills, we might not have that chance.

Anthony Daniels, 25
Student member
Alabama A&M University
Special Education Master’s candidate

• $58,000 in student loan debt

I’m having second thoughts if I want to go into teaching. How am I going to afford to have a family? Buy a house? My federal loan payment is $326 a month. My private loan payment, after I consolidated, is $300. Had I not consolidated, it would have been $600 or $700 a month. That’s on a $34,000 salary. I would be living on the street at that amount. With my car payment and insurance and being dropped from my parents’ health insurance, it all adds up. It’s forcing me to want to go to law school more and more.

Ashley Davis, 26
University of Alabama—Birmingham
Early childhood and elementary education major

• $15,000 in student loan debt

You have to finance your education somehow. I started taking out loans about a year and a half ago. Knowing that you’re going to come out [of school] into a profession that pays so little is very overwhelming. The debt is taking away from money I could be spending on my daughter. I need a new car. Mine has 206,000 miles on it and I don’t know how much longer it will last. I knew from the very beginning I’m not going into teaching for the pay. I enjoy the job. I don’t wake up in the morning and think, “Oh no, I have to go to work.”

Battling Debt

Visit NEA’s College Affordability page to access a collection of valuable resources for handling student debt and making college a possibility for all:

• NEA’s College Affordability Concerns Me campaign on Facebook or MySpace, where you can meet and keep in touch with members across the country who are fighting to curb skyrocketing tuition costs and calling to rebuild federal financial aid.
• Learn about proposals in Congress that will make college affordable and contact your representatives to tell them to take action!

Give Yourself Credit

Your Chance to Make History

Many college students are shielded from the financial demands of living on their own, but that doesn’t mean they can be complacent about their financial futures. One of the most important things the savvy college student can do is establish and maintain a good credit history.

Why does credit history matter? Put simply, it won’t be long before you’re looking for that first job, renting your own place, and possibly buying a car—and your credit history could impact them all! More and more employers are considering applicants’ credit profiles when making hiring decisions, and landlords typically check credit reports to decide if a person is “lease worthy.” And if you want to make a major purchase such as a car, your credit history will determine what level of interest you’re going to pay on a loan—or whether you get a loan at all.

You can establish a credit history by obtaining a credit card in your name and using it responsibly over time. Rules of thumb: Limit your purchases to those you can pay in total when the bill comes each month; make credit card payments on time—no exceptions; and never exceed your credit limit. And don’t succumb to multiple credit card offers. One card is enough right now.

If you already have a credit card, heed the advice above. If you’ve been turned down, try applying

• for a local store credit card;
• for a secured credit card, which requires making a deposit into an account as security for your line of credit; or
• with a cosigner (maybe a relative with good credit).

These types of cards usually have higher interest rates and possibly application and processing fees. Look at them as a temporary measure. Once you establish a positive credit history for a year or more, you should have no trouble qualifying for a major credit card. But remember, the same “usage rules” apply!

Here's more information on how to manage your credit and other financial issues.

Home Sweet Apartment

Dorm life was great as an undergraduate student, but once you get your degree you will need to find your own place to live. Most students don’t have the funds to purchase a home, and many don’t want to go back to Mom and Dad’s. Most likely, your first post-college pad will be an apartment. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offers some helpful tips for renting an apartment:

1. Prepare your paperwork. Bring a completed rental application; written references from landlords, employers, and colleagues; and a current copy of your credit report.
2. Review the lease carefully. You could find a provision that’s unacceptable, for example, restrictions on guests, pets, or interior alterations.
3. Protect your privacy rights. One of the most common misunderstandings arises over a landlord’s right to enter a rental unit and a tenant’s right to be left alone.
4. Protect your security deposit. Make sure your lease or rental agreement is clear on the use and refund of security deposits, including allowable deductions.
5. Purchase renters’ insurance. Your landlord’s insurance policy will not cover your belongings in your apartment, nor will it protect you if you’re sued by someone who claims to have been injured in your apartment due to your carelessness.

NEA

What is it and how can it help you?

What is the NEA?

The National Education Association  (NEA) is the nation’s leading organization committed to advancing the cause of public education. NEA, with its headquarters in Washington, D.C., proudly claims 3.2 million members who work at every level of education, from preschool to university graduate programs. NEA has affiliates in every state and more than 13,000 local communities nationwide.

At the local level, NEA affiliates offer a variety of services from conducting professional development workshops on discipline and other issues to bargaining contracts for school district employees.

At the state level, NEA affiliates lobby legislators for the resources schools need, campaign for higher professional standards for the teaching profession, and file legal actions to protect academic freedom and the rights of school employees.

At the national level, NEA lobbies Congress and federal agencies on behalf of its members and public schools. The Association also supports and coordinates innovative projects, works with other education organizations, and assists its affiliates.

How does it work?

NEA members nationwide set Association policy, most notably through an annual Representative Assembly—called the RA—held every July. NEA members at the state and local level elect some 9,000 RA delegates, who, in turn, elect NEA’s top officers, debate issues, and set NEA policy. Between RAs, NEA’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee serve as the top decision-making bodies. Staff at the local, state, and national levels carry out the policies implemented by the governing bodies.

How can NEA help you?

By joining the NEA Student Program,  you join a network of 60,000 students dedicated to improving teacher education and supporting prospective teachers. As a member of the largest preprofessional Association for future educators, you have the chance to meet practicing teachers and fellow Student members at state and national leadership conferences, workshops, and public forums. You also have the opportunity to become a local, state, or national officer or serve as a delegate to NEA’s annual Representative Assembly—roles guaranteed to enrich your teaching and advocacy skills. Student members also serve on the NEA Board of Directors and NEA Resolutions Committee, as well as numerous other committees that cover everything from human rights to legislation and membership.

The Student Program offers SOAR (Student Organizing Assistance Resources) grants to help with membership recruitment on your campus and CLASS (Community Learning Through America’s Schools) grants for community outreach projects. Students also can apply for the Jack Kinnaman Scholarship, which awards scholarships to Student members each year. Members receive information and assistance with student teaching, certification, and professional development as well.

The NEA Student Program provides many opportunities for you to learn, to share, and to socialize with your peers—and with practicing educators. Your membership in the Association is an investment in your education and your future. So what are you waiting for? Join the Student Program today.

Benefits of Membership Services

NEA Student Program members receive two publications to help you follow education trends: the annual magazine Tomorrow’s Teachers and NEA Today, published eight times a year. You’ll find resources, job information, and links to other NEA Student chapters on the program’s Web site at www.nea.org/student-program. You also qualify for $1 million of insurance coverage through the NEA Educators Employment Liability Program, which covers you every time you step into a classroom. Here are some Student members’ favorite benefits:

• 10% off on textbooks through Barnes and Noble.com
• Need help with Praxis II? Log on to NEA’s online workshop
• Compare notes with fellow future teachers across the country on the Members-Only discussion boards.

Plus get discounts on car rentals, magazines, car insurance, credit card programs, and more. Go to www.neamb.com for details.

Professional Development

The NEA Student Program holds a national leadership and professional development conferences. The Student Leadership Conference, which takes place June 26-29, 2008, in Washington, D.C., features lively sessions and a community outreach project.

Rebate

You’ll also receive a $20 dues credit for each year you spend in the NEA Student Program (up to four years) to apply toward continued Association membership during your first year as a teacher.

For more information, contact the NEA Student Program Office, 1201 16th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036, (202) 822-7130.

Show Me the Benefits!

Don’t let your eyes glaze over—health insurance and retirement plans can make or break a job offer

Helping children learn and making a difference in a young person’s life are two of the greatest benefits of teaching. But educators deserve more in the way of compensation than just the warm and fuzzy feeling they get standing at the front of the classroom. It’s a tough, all-consuming job, after all, and you still have to pay your bills, manage your health, and plan for your retirement.

Like other professionals, educators generally receive health insurance and retirement benefits as part of their compensation packages. But the offerings vary widely by school district and state.

“In a lot of people’s minds the whole health benefits package is as important, if not more important, than salary,” says Carol Malone, senior health care specialist at NEA. “It’s difficult, if not impossible, for an individual to go out and navigate the insurance market. So it’s always best to have coverage through an employer plan.”

While a smaller school district may offer only one health plan, larger ones sometimes offer a choice of plans with different premiums, deductibles, and levels of coverage.

“If you have a vast selection, think long and hard before selecting the cheapest plan. It probably means you’re not going to get the best coverage,” says Malone.

While a cheaper plan may have a lower premium, which means less money out of your paycheck up front, it may require higher co-payments for doctors’ visits and prescriptions—and that can add up quickly. Also, watch out for plans with high deductibles, the amount of money you must pay before the insurance company covers your health expenses. With high-deductible plans, participants can end up paying anywhere from $1,100 to as much as $11,000 out of pocket before the plan provides any benefits, Malone says. Limited-benefit health plans can be equally problematic, she adds, since they cap the amount of money available to participants each year.

In addition to providing health coverage, school districts also offer retirement plans that supply money to employees after they stop working. Most school districts still offer defined-benefit plans, also known as pension plans. These plans provide a guaranteed monthly benefit at a predictable amount for the rest of the retiree’s life, explains Nancy McKenzie, NEA’s senior pension specialist. The benefit amount depends on an employee’s final salary and years of service. Although teachers usually contribute a portion of their salaries to defined-benefit plans, the school district, or in some cases the state, manages and invests the funds, contributing additional money as necessary to cover the amount needed to pay all retirement benefits, she says.

Other districts meanwhile offer defined-contribution plans, either as alternate choices for employees or as supplements to their pension plans. A defined-contribution plan, like a 401k, is an individual tax-

deferred investment account funded primarily by an employee. While an employer may contribute funds to the account, the employee manages the money and decides how to invest it. The benefit available from the plan depends on how much money the account accumulates by the time the individual retires.

“Some people will do very well managing their savings, but most working people have busy lives and family obligations and don’t have time to do it,” says McKenzie. “The traditional defined-benefit pension plan is managed by professionals who monitor it constantly and make adjustments to make sure the funds are diversified and, on average, they outperform defined-contribution plans.”

Alaska currently is the only state that offers only a defined-contribution plan to new teachers. Every other state manages a defined-benefit plan for both new and veteran educators.

“The most important thing is just to be aware that some day everyone will retire and you want to be sure that when you no longer work you can have a decent, secure quality of life,” says McKenzie. “It’s never too early to think about the end of your career.”

—Kristen Loschert

By Mary Ellen Flannery

Let’s be frank.

Some of your future colleagues in schools across America don’t…um, how can I put it nicely?

They don’t like you.

They think you’re difficult to work with! They think that “the kids today” (that’s you…) have a sense of entitlement. They call you the “trophy generation” because you played soccer in 1999 and got a chrome-plated ball, like everybody else, without actually scoring a single goal. They worry that you don’t listen—that you don’t respect their decades of experience.

And the truth is? They’re a little bit right.

You are the Millennial Generation. And let’s be fair, you also are ah-mazing! You are eager, enthusiastic, comfortable with diversity, and much more team-oriented than your predecessors. You’re rah-rah about saving the children, gung-ho about saving the world! And you’re determined to take charge and get it done now.

Give you a computer—nah, that’s old school, isn’t it?! Give you a hand-held, an MP3 player, or a SmartBoard and stand back. You’re the techno-generation, and so much smarter about using the latest gadgets in new, creative ways.

You are ambitious.

You are optimistic.

You are the future of education.

“This is a challenging field, but I love challenges,” says Jennie Levy, a 23-year-old, first-year teacher of autistic children in Aurora, Colorado. “My kids inspire me.”

Who Are the Millennials?

Better than birth order, more reliable than star signs, the new hot predictor of workplace behavior is generational differences. According to popular research published by Harvard University and other academic presses, each generation has its own work style and expectations.

Your mentor, Ms. Baby Boomer, she stays awfully late, doesn’t she? “I do work very long hours,” agrees Evelyn Smith, a 56-year-old Pennsylvania elementary teacher. That generation is known for its work ethic—and its professional loyalty. They’ll stick by your side. (It’s said that a lot of Boomers love the Millennials. They do!)

Now, think about your department colleague, the guy who still hums songs from Reality Bites. (Get over it, buddy!) “We grew up in the 80s, the whole Madonna, techno-time, MTV thing…and we integrate it into part of who we are,” says Yvette Fleming, a 37-year-old teacher. “We’re critical, very skeptical of authority. We look at our principals and think, ‘Hmm. What are you going to take now?’”

And then, there’s you…

Most new teachers are Millennials, born between 1977 and 1998. (Although, of course, there are plenty of career-changers who come to teaching after years of soul-deadening corporate work… .) Also known as Gen Y or The Nexters, this generation has its own set of attributes and quirks—and they don’t always mesh with the old folks.

“Everybody clashes with the Millennials!” says Alexandra Levit, author of They Don’t Teach Corporate in College and a frequent lecturer on generational theory. “The Gen X’ers are clashing, the Boomers are clashing…they all think this generation is narcissistic. But they’re really not.”

“What I tell them is, this generation tends to be entrepreneurial, very ambitious, and determined to change things for the better.”

They’re upbeat, less edgy than the X’ers, close to their parents and families, and optimistic about the future, write Neil Howe and William Strauss, authors of Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation.

They can make absolutely fabulous teachers, Levit suggests. “This generation has the biggest sense of civic responsibility,” she says. “They want to have a hands-on approach to solving some of the problems of the world.”

Consider NEA Student Program Chair Anthony Daniels. After a knee injury sidelined his college basketball career, Daniels sat back and thought, “What can I do to make a difference?” he recalls. And he turned his attention to elementary education, where he knew he could change a child’s life for the better.

“I decided to commit my life to public service,” he says.

Like Daniels, Sheena Royster, an elementary education major at Bowie State University (and the model on the cover of this magazine!) says she just wants to make a difference for kids.

“We’re really passionate about being teachers.”

Of course, every theory has its limitations—and you might be thinking right now, “We’re not all alike!” But the researchers who study generational theory would argue that two 20-year-olds are more alike than a 45-year-old mother and her college-age daughter. While the mother remembers when the Challenger blew up and the AIDS epidemic took off, her daughter grew up with a “Baby on Board” sticker in her car window and “family values” books on her library shelf.

The differences are: How were you raised as children? What public events did you witness in adolescence? And what social missions will you take on as you grow into adulthood?

   “What we have found is that generations shaped by similar early-life experiences often develop similar collective personae and follow similar life trajectories,” write Howe and Strauss in the Harvard Business Review.

Off to Work!

For most Millennials, the green years were all about you, Levit says. Think children’s menus and private tutors, and a very child-centric era. This is the age of the “helicopter parent,” so-called for their habit of hovering over children. Mom and Dad told you again and again that you were wonderful—and you believed them.

“‘Look at me! Look at how fabulous everything is that I do!’” mimics Millennial Amanda Wetzel, a 27-year-old high school teacher in Pennsylvania. “You might have great ideas. But so does everybody else in this building,” she cautions.

On your first day at work, you’re going to meet a whole bunch of gray-hairs whose first car was a VW Rabbit—and, no, they don’t make those anymore. They will think you’re oh-so-terribly young! (Eyes roll.) But if you want to be successful in your professional relationships, say other on-the-job Millennials like Wetzel, you will not think of them as old.

You will think of them as experienced.

   “When you’re trying to find your feet, you can go to them and say, ‘Talk me through this! You’ve been in this situation before…help!’” says Heather Mielke, a 28-year-old high school math teacher in Wisconsin.

Mielke works with 10 other teachers, ranging in age from 20-something to 50-something. They get along better than many multi-generational families because “we accept the fact that we have different styles,” she said. “We’ve made a point of getting to know each other, and discussing problems openly.”

Likewise, at Shady Grove Middle School in Maryland, the seventh-grade team accommodates members of all ages at daily meetings, where the agenda ranges from troubled pre-teens to secret Santas. The youngest is a 26-year-old counselor who says she draws on the experience of her older colleagues. The oldest is a 59-year-old reading specialist who says, “It’s never been like, ‘You’re 24. I’m not.’”

Around a conference table, they work together to raise the student achievement of every seventh-grader at their school. They laugh, they listen, and they respect each other’s input—and that’s exactly the way it should be, says author Levit. “[A good working relationship] requires respect from all sides,” she says.

“Just because we’re younger doesn’t mean we don’t know what we’re talking about,” 22-year-old Royster says. “Keep an open mind,” she urges her future colleagues. “Maintain an open dialogue.”

To her fellow Millennials, 24-year-old Erin Wiggins, a Kentucky social studies teacher, has one big piece of advice: “Listen, truly listen.”

To everybody else: “Be patient!”

Hang in There!

Along with that do-gooder nature, which makes you perfect for the underpaid and often underappreciated profession of teaching, Millennials also are characterized by their eagerness to do it now.

You’re accustomed to innovation. Think about it: Gen X’ers went to schools that pretty much looked like the schools that Boomers went to, which pretty much looked like the same schools that the previous generation (called “The Traditionalists”) attended. But your schools had computers. You had the Internet! You have Facebook and MySpace and all sorts of newfangled things.

You might think change happens like that… .”I know, when I have a kiddo who has a meltdown in class, I want to solve that problem immediately,” Levy says. “I like to work quickly, and I like things to be perfect.”

And so, it can be a little frustrating to work in a school where Mrs. Math has had the same bulletin board for 33 years and wants to know why on God’s Earth she should work collaboratively on thematic lessons that span the departments.

Don’t get frustrated.

Don’t get discouraged.

“It’s not always this peachy-keen atmosphere where everybody gets along. Sometimes people are vindictive. Sometimes people are out to get people,” warns 26-year-old Rachel Levine, a first-grade teacher in Connecticut. (Sounds like dorm life, doesn’t it?) “You have to keep in mind the bigger picture. I tell myself to go into the classroom, that I’m there for my children.”

“With time, you’ll find your place,” she promises.

And, for every stick in the mud that you might meet, you’ll also find a dozen teachers like the ones that Levy has met in Colorado. “I look up to them as mentors, as my mom away from mom. And they’ve been very welcoming and very open to my new ideas.”

Consider Levine’s colleague Cindy Roberson. She might be just a few years from retirement, but says she loves working with younger teachers. They give her the daily juice to keep going.

And you should keep going too!

More than other generations, Millennials have a rep as quitters. They’ll often walk away from jobs out of frustration, sometimes after just days or weeks, Levit says. “Stay at least one year!” she advises.

That’s a completely reasonable goal—especially if you take the advice of your working peers, you’ll find it’s pretty easy to stay much longer, and love (almost) every day.

Mielke, for example, is in her sixth year at Burlington High School. When she started, she hated the geometry book—a little thing, but maybe not so little if you have to use it every day. Rather than throw her hands up in disgust, “I sat down with two of the other teachers and we completely revamped the curriculum so that we don’t even use that book.”

Lesson learned: You can make changes if you show a little initiative and work collaboratively with your colleagues.

Getting involved in the school community and the greater community can help immensely, Mielke advises. She coaches sports and extracurriculars, but also serves as a very active member of her local and state associations.

“I love the fact that I’ve gotten involved—it’s helped me know the community, from the custodial staff to the aides to the members of all the other departments—and it makes me feel like I fit in more,” she says.

Levine agrees: “Being involved can only help—it makes you feel like part of a community. And, when you feel valued and important and needed, that’s when you do your best work.”

It’s a great idea to organize groups of new teachers around issues, Levit advises. Technology adoption is the perfect example. You know how to use technology to connect with kids—and you can easily show your colleagues how to do it right. “Even if you’re feeling frustrated, because it is frustrating to be a new teacher, you’ll feel like you’re making a difference,” she said.

“In my school, there is some of that eye-rolling,” Mielke acknowledges. “But you just have to be happy with what you’re doing, and you don’t have to be the same way that everybody else is.

“You can find your own happiness.”

Feeling unsure about how you’ll fit in with the other generations in the teacher’s lounge? Here are some pointers from second-year teacher (and Millennial) Hannah Sitzman:

• Respect the wisdom of those who have the most experience; try not to get frustrated if they resist change.
• Discover what each person on your team has to offer and call that person into play whenever possible. Know who is great at reaching at-risk kids, who has great management ideas, who is the math genius, and who knows which of the latest reading strategies work best. Ask them for help and talk them up to other people.
• Be willing to share things that you know, too. Some strategies taught in college won't work in your practice, but some are awesome. Don't be afraid to do what you feel is in the best interest of your students.
• Ask lots of questions. Most teachers are willing to help, but they sometimes forget that you are new and need assistance.
• Use a work period to observe another teacher. Not only will you learn by watching, you'll prove you’re dedicated to improving. Talk to the teacher afterwards about specific strategies or activities. The follow-up discussion is often even more beneficial than the actual observation.

Dress to Impress

You’ve gotta look the part to be at the head of the class.

We’ve all heard the phrase “dress for success,” but what does it really mean? And why should you care about it? For an aspiring educator, knowing curriculum and classroom management aren’t the only things that make you a teacher. You also need to dress the part.

“Your attire says so much about you,” says Diana Pemberton-Sikes, an author and personal image consultant. “Too fashionable says you’re superficial. Too sloppy says you’re not into details. A well-groomed, appropriately dressed person will always enjoy more success than their poorly dressed counterparts.”

Dressing professionally also boosts your self-esteem and self-confidence, not to mention your employer’s confidence in your abilities.

“When you dress well…you make a better impression on your clients or students, and you may be looked upon as a better employee by your supervisor,” says Brian Earle, who teaches business etiquette at Cornell University.

But in many schools, dressing professionally isn’t just a smart choice. It’s a requirement under the employee dress codes that districts like New Hanover County School District in North Carolina have adopted.

“By creating a focus on professionalism and modeling high standards of personal conduct, we establish and maintain a more effective and positive learning environment for our students,” says John A. Welmers Jr., the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources. “In essence, we wanted to differentiate the professional staff from the look and actions of the students.”

How can you keep your look professional and avoid a serious fashion faux pas? Here are a few guidelines:

Understand your school dress code, if you have one
“The new hire should ask about the dress code for both the students and the faculty. This will give an indication of the culture and leadership of the institution,” Earle advises. “If there is any question about the definition of the dress code, ask for examples of what is considered appropriate.”

Don’t dress like your students.
“The biggest problem new teachers seem to have, especially at the high school and college levels, is separating themselves from their students,” says Earle. “If you dress exactly like the students it compromises your authority regardless of how well you teach.”

Pemberton-Sikes agrees. “As a teacher, you want to be seen as relatable, but also as the leader of the class,” she says. “To accomplish this, you need a shirt with a collar and/or a third layer, like a vest, a cardigan, or a jacket.” Avoid tight-fitting, revealing, or trendy clothing, Pemberton-Sikes adds, but make sure your grooming is current and consistent. “You want your students to pay attention to you and show courtesy, not make fun of your attire or 1980s hairdo.”

Select clothes that suit your teaching duties
“Dress needs to reflect the activities of the teacher,” says Earle. “I don’t think an elementary school teacher wants her supervisor to stop in while she is sitting on the floor and leading an activity in a short skirt. Likewise, a male gym teacher would probably not want to play soccer in suit pants and wingtips.”

Slacks are a good choice for teachers who spend time on the floor with students, suggests Pemberton-Sikes. Meanwhile, a science teacher, or other educator who works with chemicals, may want to a wear lab coat, she adds. Comfortable, supportive shoes also are a must.

Don’t bust your budget with expensive clothes.

Updating a wardrobe of jeans and T-shirts to suits and ties can be expensive. But find out what your school requires before you invest in pricey threads. Districts like New Hanover County School District, for instance, let teachers wear khakis with polo-type shirts and blouses and other economical options.

Remember, “dress for success” really works.

“Raw talent will get you only so far,” says Pemberton-Sikes. “Cultivated talent polished with appropriate attire and nice manners will take you anywhere in the world you want to go.…Package yourself appropriately and ‘the sky’s the limit,’ as they say.”

—Maren MacIntyre

First, Broaden Horizons—Then Teach

Stepping up to lead a class for the first time can seem like stepping into another world—even if it’s in the elementary school down the street! But one Indiana education program says getting out of your comfort zone is the best way to prepare for full-time teaching. Last May, students from the University of Evansville spent two weeks teaching, and learning, in the schools on the Caribbean island of Trinidad.

“I was really excited about the opportunity to visit another country and it was a complete immersion into an entirely different culture,” says senior Victoria Gohmann, president of the university’s Student chapter. “My favorite part was being able to work in the schools. Their schools are very different from ours, but we learned a lot of ways to implement the teaching strategies we have here with the students there.”

Davies Bellamy, associate professor of education and Student chapter adviser, organized the trip as part of a class he developed on multicultural competence. In past years education students had traveled to Jamaica, but for this trip Bellamy decided to take students to his home country of Trinidad and Tobago. The 12 students, including eight education majors, lived with host families in Bellamy’s home village and worked alongside teachers in Bellamy’s former elementary and secondary schools.

As part of the coursework, Bellamy asked students to evaluate their own preconceived notions about different ethnic groups. Then, through their travel experience he wanted them to gain a greater knowledge and awareness about a different culture.

“The literature shows that the immersion experience is life transforming to a greater degree than experiential learning,” Bellamy explains. “We hope that when they get to know people individually, they will see that the values, beliefs, and assumptions they make about groups do not categorically apply to individuals and that would help them interact with individuals more openly, caringly, and effectively.”

Students say the trip definitely pushed them outside of their comfort zones, but for the better.

“The first few days it was overwhelming. It was like no place I’d ever been,” says junior Lauren Johnson, an elementary education major. “But it was eye opening to find out all that I had in common with these people even though they were so seemingly different at first.”

In addition to acclimating to the hot and humid weather, students had to adjust to the relaxed pace of their new environment. Instead of individual classrooms, the schools had open layouts where chalkboards divided different grade levels. The teachers also had fewer resources and supplies to use with their students. Knowing this, members of the Student chapter used a CLASS grant to make classroom manipulatives and purchase art supplies and athletic equipment that they delivered to the teachers in Trinidad.

“You can’t help but realize how little these kids had, but they were so excited to have us as their guests,” says junior Dana Hagmann, an elementary education major. “I realized how important it is to teach students about their differences and how that makes them unique. If we were all the same, school would be boring.”

Ultimately, Bellamy hopes the students apply the lessons they learned on their trip in their own classrooms and that the experience makes them better teachers.

“When these students come back here and get further along in their teaching experience, they can begin to see students who are from minority populations through a new lens, a lens that will help them teach them effectively,” he says.

—Kristen Loschert

Time to Raise Our Collective Voice

When we chose to become educators, we made a commitment to serve others. Right now, you’re preparing yourselves individually—taking care of coursework and going the extra mile in your student teaching, for example—so that you can excel as educators and truly make a difference in the classroom. But to make a difference beyond the classroom, “tomorrow’s teachers” must also join together as a collective force—there is truly strength in numbers. And that’s where your NEA membership comes in.

With 3.2 million members, NEA lobbies for pro-education legislation, protects the rights of teachers and students, and enriches educators’ careers with professional training and assistance. Why join now while you’re still a student? Because the NEA Student Program provides you with tools, resources, and connections so you can become a better teacher, as well as an effective advocate for education. Our community outreach extends to popular programs such as Read Across America, Outreach to Teach, and Get Out the Vote drives. Just listen to student member Averill Kelley of the University of Nevada, Reno: “NEA keeps me informed on important issues and taught me a very valuable lesson: If you push hard enough your voice will be heard.”

Our voices were heard loud and clear during our college affordability campaign. In September 2007, Congress passed the College Cost Reduction Act, a bill that increases Pell Grant scholarships and decreases interest rates on need-based federal student loans. In addition to exhaustive letter-writing and petition drives by our members, we maximized the use of today’s technologies—text messaging to student members’ cell phones, communities on Facebook and MySpace, and blogs—to be efficient and connected. We will continue to be innovative in keeping our members active and engaged in issues that affect them on a local, state, or national level.

As I close out my two-year term as Student Program Chair I want to thank sincerely all the future educators who have been the engine behind our accomplishments. The children of America need us to be excellent teachers in the classroom, but they also need us to stand together for public education. The stronger we are collectively, the greater opportunities we’ll have to help our students perform beyond even their own expectations.

Anthony Daniels Jr.
NEA Student Program Chairperson

Outreach to Teach: The Grass is Greener

A honeymoon cruise to the Grand Cayman Islands or resurfacing asphalt at an elementary school—which would you choose? For newlywed Erica Jarmon, a first-grade teacher at Gotwals Elementary School in Norristown, Pennsylvania, it was a no-brainer. “I got married two days ago,” Jarmon said, “but when I heard Outreach to Teach was coming to our school, I had to stay.”

“I’m so proud that a fellow teacher and NEA member postponed her honeymoon to give her students a better school,” said Clemson University junior Kelly Bowers. The South Carolina student was one of an army of volunteers who turned out for Outreach to Teach, the school renovation program that has been a popular RA event for more than a decade.

This year, more than 300 NEA members—including Student, Retired, Higher Education, and Education Support Professionals—worked together to transform Gotwals inside and out. Volunteers grabbed mops, paintbrushes, hammers, and shovels to clean the school, paint murals, decorate bulletin boards, and put up retaining walls. Meanwhile, Yvette Rios, set designer for the hit daytime show Rachael Ray, turned a lackluster teacher’s lounge into a stunning retreat. But for Gotwals principal Maryanne Hoskins, the most critical renovation was the landscaping that transformed 20,000 square feet of hard asphalt into a soft, verdant lawn.

“The thing that first struck me when I came to this school was the concrete playground with weeds growing through the cracks. Now the children have a safe place to play and learn,” said a grateful Hoskins, who has future plans to add outdoor weather and music stations.

“Grass is safer,” echoed Clayton Schrader, a senior at Washburn University in Kansas who volunteered to haul dirt and lay sod in 90-degree weather. “I heard that the kids kick balls over the fence so they have an excuse to touch the grass on the other side.”

This kind of landscaping doesn’t come cheap—$100,000 was spent, compared with the $60,000 to $80,000 Outreach usually averages per school. A sizeable contribution from Volkswagen of America and serious fundraising by the Pennsylvania State Education Association helped provide the funds to make Gotwals safer and brighter.

“We’re here today,” said NEA President Reg Weaver, “because students and school employees deserve to learn and work in clean, cheerful surroundings.” They’ll be able to do just that thanks to the hard work of all the volunteers, said NEA Student Chairperson Anthony Daniels. “They’re creating an environment where students can learn—in and outside of the classroom.”

At the end of a hot, sweaty day, after Outreach volunteers had put down their paintbrushes and parked their wheelbarrows, Erica Jarmon didn’t regret trading a tropical sunset for the smiles of the neighborhood students exploring their new playground. It was worth it, she said, for the looks on their faces.

—Sabrina Holcomb

A Proud Tradition of Reaching Out

Student members at Michigan State University understand the value of helping their community. Each year the university’s Student Program conducts a local version of Outreach to Teach, organizing student volunteers who fix up a local school in Lansing. This spring the chapter will celebrate the project’s fifth anniversary.

“It’s become something that MSU takes a lot of pride in doing,” says Tracy Szutkowski, MSU Student chapter president. “We want our members to know there is more to life. . . .You have to go into the schools and learn about them. We’ve developed this as an opportunity for them to see what it is like to work in an urban school.”

What started as a project solely of MSU now draws Student members from multiple universities in the state, says Szutkowski, who also serves as the Student Michigan Education Association chairperson. MSU’s efforts inspired Central Michigan University and Saginaw Valley State University to organize their own Outreach projects last year. 

“Those that do not have an Outreach program feel they do not have the manpower to do it on their own, so they help out with other chapters’ events,” says Szutkowski. “If several chapters worked together on a similar project the results would be immense.” Last year, 130 Student volunteers spent nearly eight hours cleaning, painting, and decorating Fairview Elementary School. Maintaining open lines of communication between the planning board and the volunteers became the greatest challenge, Szutkowski says, and admits that the group also waited too long to begin its fundraising efforts.

This year, Szutkowski and her team contacted area businesses for donations early. Szutkowski also has worked to create a stronger bond between the Student chapter and its partner school, Bingham Elementary. The MSU students worked with representatives from the elementary school to identify community partners to involve in the project and even organized a family fun night so teachers, students, and their families could meet the MSU volunteers.

“Any chapter considering doing something like this should give it a try,” says Szutkowski. “The feeling you get when all is said and done significantly outweighs the stress you felt during the process.”

—Kristen Loschert

Soaring High

Your chapter probably already has great ideas for member recruitment. Next step: get them funded! NEA SOAR grants (Student Organizing Assistance and Resources) support projects in four areas: urban institutions, minority populations and historically minority campuses, community colleges, and future high school teachers. Application deadlines are August 31 and January 31. Student chapters working with local UniServ units receive priority.