july advocate

8/9/2019 July Advocate

1/24


2/24

| 2 | Advocate | July 2009

AdvocateIEA Advocate, Volume 5, Issue 4, July 2009

Advocateis published five times annually by the Il

Education Association-NEA. Send correspondenc

[email protected] or IEA Department of Comm

cations, 100 East Edwards Street,Springfield, IL 62

1999. The IEA-NEAAdvocate (ISSN #1540-482X) i

official publication of the Illinois Education Associa

NEA as a benefit of membership. A non-member

scriptionis available at $10 peryear. Periodicals popaid at Springfield, IL.

The Illinois Education Associatio

NEAs mission is to effect excellen

and equity in public education and

be THE advocacy organization for

public education employees.

Ken SwansonPresident

Robert Blade

Vice President

Cinda KlicknaSecretary-Treasurer

Jo AndersonExecutive Director

Charles McBarDirector of Commun

Bonnie BoothInterim Media Relatio

Director

Sarah AntonacCommunications Spe

Mark RitterbusGraphic Designer

Denise WardAdministrative Assis

Linda RiceSecretary

Christina WilliaSecretary

Postmaster:Send address corrections to Illinois Education

Association, attn: membership processing, 100East Edwards, Springfield, IL 62704-1999

Use your membershipcard to save $$

Just log on to the IEA website at

www.ieanea.org , scroll down andclick on the membership card icon

to begin saving today!

Use your membershipcard to save $$

CORRECTION: The Advocateapologizes for i

vertently leavingthe name of Katherine Cumm

of the Wilmette School District off the list in

February Advocate of the teachers who atta

National Board Certification in 2008. Congra

tions, Katherine, on your hard work!

In this issueTechnology in the classroom 4-7

ducators across the state have come up with innovative ways to use todays technology tonspire their students and each other.

New Trier ESP service project 8ducational Support Professionals in New Trier decided to do something different for their serviceroject this year and opted to collect pajamas and flip-flops for U.S. troops and school supplies forneedy school in Chicago.

Collaboration was key 9he Springfield Education Association worked hand-in-hand with both its members and the district to come up

with a plan for a seven-period school day at the high schools, a project that got overwhelming support.

Teacher retires after 55 years 10Arcelia Watson spent more than five decades teaching and now she plans to embark on a new career.Read more about this inspirational woman.

A victory in Hinsdale 11core one for the IEA legal team and retirees of the Hinsdale schools. An arbitrator ruled this spring

hat the district could not reduce, or cut off, retirees insurance benefits.

Lobby Days 12-13ike never before, IEA members turned out in droves not only to the official May 6 Lobby Day inpringfield, but to their legislators offices and e-mail inboxes to make their messages clear.

Jo Anderson bids farewell to IEA 14efore Anderson left his position as executive director of the association to head to Washington to join Obamasducation team, he listened to concerns of some IEA members.

Retirements 15he association is losing decades of experience as of June 30 when several dedicated staff members leave.

Youve got a friend 16

outhern Illinois has a thriving new teacher induction program and is hoping to see it grow.

Mentor/Mentee Program 17he program that pairs future teachers with retirees celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

ts a wrap 20he 155th IEA Representative Assembly was held in March in Rosemont and the 1,500 in attendancelayed host to a variety of homegrown politicians.

Beyond Illinois borders 21or the first time ever, an IEA chapter is starting outside the state. A group of retirees has organized in Floridaroviding a home away from home for IEA members.

In every issueKens Commentary 3EA President Ken Swanson reflects on this years legislative session, how IEA members worked together to makehings happen and contemplates what still may come.

yi 18-19EA sponsors Lincoln hat. Scholarship winners announced. SIUE educator wins award. Illinois teacher wins top

NEA award. Teutopolis ESPs organize. Help for coping with trauma in the classroom. Region 12 holds logo contest.Update on Bloom High School teacher.


3/24

www.ieanea.org |Advocate | 3 |

Colleagues,

Im writing this just days after the con-clusion of the spring legislative session.As I reflect on the last few months I amamazed, appalled and inspired by allthat happened between Gov. Pat Quinnsmid-March budget address and theMay 31 adjournment of the GeneralAssembly.

In the budget address, Quinn an-nouncedthat all State Universities Retire-ment System and Teachers Retirement

System participants would be asked topay 2 percent more of their salaries to-ward pension contributions and futureparticipants would receive lower bene-fits. In addition, he proposed the pen-sion systems be underfunded (again) bybillions of dollars.

IEA went on the offensive immedi-ately to stop those proposals, but weknew our chance for success was slim.After all, in a difficult economy, the pub-lic is unlikely to come out strongly insupport of education employee pen-sions. This was a fight we would have to

wage on our own.What the governor and key legisla-

tors didnt count on was how you, themen and women who are the IEA, wouldrespond. This spring brought about anunprecedented mobilization of mem-bers, leaders and staff in a coordinatedstrategic campaign to achieve clearly ar-ticulated goals which were to:

Prevent additional contributionsfrom active members,

Stop a two-tiered benefit plan,

Ensure full funding for pensions,and

Pass a budget with a tax hikesufficient to fund education andother essential state govern-ment services to prevent anever-ending struggle over toolittle revenue.

Thousands of you lobbied legislatorsat home during their spring break. Youcontinued to make a difference. Youwere getting their attention. Your mes-sages to the governors office were be-ing heard.

VictoriesBy Lobby Day on May 6, IEA mem-

bers had generated sufficient pressureto cause Quinn to announce he waspulling the 2 percent added contributionoff the table.

However, he also restated his com-mitment to a two-tiered pension plan,saying: There will be a two-tiered pen-sion plan. Meanwhile, thousands of youwho could not be in Springfield that daydelivered messages back home.

We then hit the airwaves with astrategically targeted message regard-ing our inability to receive full Social Se-curity benefits and reminding Illinoisansthat we have always made our pensioncontributions. You continued to respondto the call to engage your legislators.The growing numbers of IEA members

answering the call to action were beingheard.

When I testified in committee in op-position to the two-tier proposal, eventhe sponsor acknowledged in subse-quent debate the irresponsible under-funding of pensions which we arehearing about every day on the radio.

Meanwhile, the thousands and thou-sands of messages you sent continuedto impact legislators. It became clear toleaders their caucuses WOULD NOTsupport a two-tier pension bill this

spring. So, the issue was shifted to apension modernization commissionfor further study with recommendationsdue in the fall.

Finally, the budget. The Senate ap-proved HB174 also known as 750. Thiswas an historic move forward for sys-temic school funding reform and ade-quate state revenue. It included propertytax relief in the form of a doubling of the

property tax exemption. Alas, the Housefailed to vote on this bill after rejecting aless comprehensive tax increase pro-posal. This was a great disappointment.

Legislators waited until the finalweekend of regular session on May 30-31 to vote on a budget that has been de-scribed as a disaster for the state. Asbad as that budget is, public educationavoided Draconian cuts and PENSIONSARE FULLY FUNDED.

During the legislative session, IEA,working with IFT and other labor organ-

izations, prevailed in every goal exceptthe tax increase. But, that battle is notover. As I write this to meet our publica-tion deadline, the conversations be-tween the governor and legislativeleaders continue and may yet lead to atax increase and budget that is right forthe state. At this point, it also appearsthat the efforts to impose a two-tieredsystem on future education employeesare still alive.

Regardless of what happens in theclosed door negotiations during the sum-mer, you have rewritten the book on how

IEA responds to a legislative challenge.The cooperation and collaborative ef-forts between and among departments,field and headquarters, governance andstaff, leaders and members, is unprece-dented. And, I believe, its a blueprint forhow we move forward. Ill have more tosay about that in our next edition.

This took the best of all of us work-ing together for our common good,which sounds remarkably like what aunion is supposed to do. If anyone is stillwondering what IEA is doing about these

issues, the answer is pretty clear. YOUare the IEA and YOU made victory pos-sible. I have never been prouder to serveas your president and have never beenmore excited about how we can build onour success.

KensKens CommentaryCommentary


4/24


5/24

We have been working on Aboriginalart and created our own symbols,McGee said of her students. Those samestudents then worked on writing theirown Aboriginal dreamtime story withtheir creative writing teacher. Thedreamtime stories are fables based onnature.

McGees students then create pod-

casts that combine the two.In the computer lab, they pull up the

artwork theyve done on their iMacs andthen use Garage Band to record theirvoices reading their own stories to cre-ate the podcasts.

Jake Lamourie, a fourth grader, saidhe enjoyed seeing his art work and thestory he wrote combine and come to life.

My story was about a blue-tonguedlizard, he said. I learned a lot aboutAboriginal people, a lot about their tradi-tions and stuff pretty cool.

And, he learned how to use GarageBand. While he has it on his home com-puter, he didnt know how to use it cor-rectly until he learned how to use it whilepodcasting.

She also uses iMovie and digital cam-eras with her students to create flip bookanimations. VoiceThread.com was usedto host the movies so parents could thengo and look at the projects and commenton them. Or, parents can go to iTunesand download them.

Her second grade students made pod-casts combining self-portraits inspiredby The Scream which was combinedwith the sounds of students staying in-doors for recess.

Art is a motivator for kids, saidMcGee, who describes herself as a tech-nology lover.

Integration is always a meaningfulexperience for kids and for the regularclassroom teachers its also beneficial.Its full circle.

McGee doesnt limit herlove of technology to the pod-casts, or to her own class-room even.

She also has developedwithcolleagueHillaryAndrilk a blogcalled The Teaching Palette,attheteachingpalette.com inan effort to communicate with

teachers around the world.Thousands have visited it.

It features a ton of useful in-formation for educators fromhow to create your own onlinetests, to obtaining grant money,classroom management skillsand directions on how to useGoogle Earth to teach lessons.

In one, she found environ-mental art from around theworld. Students were able to hover theirmouse over sections of the world andwhen it got to specific countries, photosof the art projects and an explanation ofwhat it was meant to signify popped up.

We started the blog as a follow-up toa classroom management presentationgiven at our state conference, she said.Our goal was to share and collaboratewith art specialists all over the world inthe areas of new technology, classroommanagement, art and music integrationand product reviews.

BLOOMINGTONblackboard gets S M A R T

Technology has even come to the tra-

ditional blackboard.Chelsea Allen, is also an

art teacher at Fairview and Pepper Ridgeelementary schools and building tech-nologist for Pepper Ridge in Normal, andis using a SMART board to help her stu-dents learn more about what life has tooffer.

Allen has her fifth graders use laptopsto research a career, work together todevelop a PowerPoint presentation andthen use a SMART board to present theirwork to their classmates.

The SMART board essentially com-bines a blackboard, dry erase board,computer screen and overhead projec-tor into one device. It is completely in-teractive, allowing Allens students to goup to the SMART board and use it as acomputer touch screen.

There is a much larger push nowto use technology, she said. Itsinteresting and engaging.

She said she was blownaway with her students

work this year, how they asked ques-tions and became totally enthralled withwhat they were doing. The studentslooked at careers in interior design, pho-tography, architecture and other areas.

They found out what kind of educa-tion theyd need, where theyd have tolive, how much theyd make and whattheyd have to do if they wanted to pur-sue a career in any of those fields.

Then they found graphics and devel-oped explanations for each of thosethings and put together individual slidesfor the presentation. Finally, each group

got up in front of their classmates andput their knowledge on display. Class-mates could then ask them questions.

They just touch, click and engage,she said.

Allen also has developed an innova-tive study guide using the SMART board.She set it up like a Jeopardy game showand the students then play the game inclass, learning and not even realizingtheyre doing so.

They love it, she said. They wantto share the things they know with otherkids.

Other teachers use it for things assimple as checking in at the beginning ofthe day. Students come in and mark onthe SMART board whether they are hav-ing cold or hot lunch and the teacher hasimmediately not only taken attendancebut also has lunch counts for the day.

There are lessons that have been de-veloped especially for SMART board

use, software, etc. availableat the SMART board site at

www.smarttech.com.

Monroe fifth grader records his story to podcast.

Normal school teacher Chelsea Allendoes pre-testing with a Jeopardygame that she developed.

See these talented

teachers in the movies at

www.ieanea.org www.ieanea.org |Advocate | 5|

members use it to inspire student


6/24

| 6 | Advocate| July 2009

Educators across the state have been doingamazing things with technology in their classrooms.

The IEA put out a call to local association presidentsearlier this year and asked what kinds of fantastic things

were going on where they live. Following are thoseresponses:

Schiller Park has put a special emphasis on using technology in the class-room and lays claim to one of the 2009 Illinois Computing Educators of theYear, Melissa Gosche, who was also featured in Instructor Magazine.Shes an expert at using the interactive white board and encourages her stu-dents to become technologically savvy by having them partner up through theinternet with children in the same grade at other schools.

And, teachers in Schiller Park also are using the iPod learning lab to assist inreading intervention.Students listen to their stories on iPods, answer questionsand practice their fluency and enjoy taking responsibility for their own learn-ing that way.

Brian Davis at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Parkteaches a course in video game development that educates students inthe business of video games and allows them to build games usingdifferent programs. He integrates planning, problem solving, commu-nity and tenacity in the course.

He also teaches a course in website development and has brought inQuizdom, a hand-held response system that requires participation by re-sponding to questions.

Other teachers at OPRFHS are doing amazing things, too, includingAllisonHennings who uses technology in her AP Biology class andPaul Wright,

a tech in the math department, who co-teaches a special education section ofan Algebra class where they use a Tablet personal computer to display noteson a nine-by-nine-inch screen and uses an online website/textbook in class.

Prairie Hills School District has several teachers who are using podcast-ing, PowerPoint presentations that incorporate video, music clips andother media forms into game show-like lessons and have been workingtoward student-made web pages that will allow eighth graders to postdocumentaries on the internet.

The Abingdon School District has a teacher, Jeff Tyrrell, who hasbeen instrumental in Project Lead the Way, a pre-engineering program that

concentrates on converting theory to hands on projects. And teacher Arthur who incorporates podcasts and news broadcasts into her class

At Bernotas Middle School in Crystal Lake James R. Juliano tesixth graders web design and interactive stories and works with seventeighth graders to create podcasts focusing on scripts they write and fiwell as using Google SketchUp and Lego Robotics. The school also has

several digital storybooks and completed a webquest on how to buy a

Jeff Christopherson at Normal Community High School has doped thousands of pages of animated PowerPoint presentations that coall of his lessons as well as worksheets and labs available for his studto download from his website www.unit5.org/chemistry and has wwith teachers in other departments to develop similar sites sucwww.unit5.org/physics, www.unit5.org/biologyand www.unit5.org/sciIn addition, he has translated his materials into Spanish and those aravailable online.

Grace Finn at Forest Park Schools said technology is used in alevery lesson from visiting a virtual quarry when studying minerausing Google Earth to explore the night sky. She said the schools also a great importance on communicating with the world through a weplication called Twiddla and by using Global Virtual ClassroomThinkquest. She also coached a robotics team and allows kids to pro

their own games as well as create a network novel. Her webshttp://sites.google.com/site/challengeclass.

Chicago Community High School in West Chicago has at least four teawho are putting a hard focus on technology in the classroom. PKozlowski has an advanced clothing class where students run a puterized embroidery business in class. Dave Jennings breaks his clinto teams who are then given seven to eight days to develop a moviebeginning to end and then submit portions for a bi-weekly television s

And, social studies teachers Mitchell McKenna and John Chishhave a website at http://sites.google.com/site/theworldwarsthat they use inWorld Wars class.

Teachers at Field Park Elementary in Western Springs started using S

this year and interactive white boards that students can use to navigatesites. They also this year introduced the idea of partnering with studeanother school in reading a novel and coordinating their lessons toget

Technology is flourishing in Deerfield District 109 with teachers whocast, have class blogs, use digital storytelling, a class server and shareand much more.

Amanda Kreps at Nauvoo Colusa CUSD 325 uses the SMART from the start of class, publishing warm-up problems that students can

is also doing itswebsite at wwwlink to us in a v

The blogs, Newnews and how iIn addition to Fflickr, where yo

And, keep youcoming soon toof new and inte

The IEA wants

advantage!

The Illinois Education Association

Technology in the classroom: How IEA member


7/24

n while waiting for class to start. She also scans the note taking guidesrom textbooks and puts them on the SMART board so students have an

asier time following along.

Linda Godzicki, a fifth grade teacher at Pennoyer School in Norridge,ses technology to bring classroom lessons to life. She has studentsevelop PowerPoint projects to look at subjects like the Holocaust, biomesnd elements. Her class produced an iMovie for the schools D.A.R.E.raduation and allows the students to construct their own roller coasterst the end of the year to demonstrate the motion unit in their scienceurriculum.

At Dryden Elementary in Arlington Heights, art teacher TriciaFuglestad has developed a section called Fugleflicks on the schoolswebsite. These are art-related movies that teach concept. Some are award-winning, student-made movies that have been shown nationally and inter-

ationally. The schools website address is www.drydenart.notlong.comnd the link to the movie page is www.fugleflicks.notlong.com

Errol Magidson, an adjunct faculty member at Roosevelt University,as been conducting technology workshops there for other adjunct fac-lty members on creating effective PowerPoint presentations in an effort

o assist in using features of PowerPoint that can enhance student learn-ng by incorporating art, pictures, short audio and video clips and othertems so that the presentations are not text-heavy.

Its hard to explain but easy tounderstand once you try it.Its a free, social networking site whereyou post updates, questions, comments, tips and links

in 140 characters or less. And, you develop an onlinegroup of friends (real or cyber) that react, comment,

make suggestions or laugh in return, also in 140 char-

acters or less.

One man described it on a radio program as be-

ing in a caf where hes working, surrounded by friends,

and every once in a while someone will make a comment and hell respond.

One of the most well-known education-related Twitterers is Laura Walker.

Walker, known on Twitter as mrslwalker, is director of e-learning at her school

in the United Kingdom and also describes herself as a French teacher, blogger,

Web 2.0 fan, Apple convert and Francophile gourmand.

She wrote an article giving the top nine reasons for educators to Twitter.

They were:

1. Together, were better Teaching can be a lonely business. Ina school where lessons are long and lunchtimes are short, not enough

conversations between teachers I work with are about learning. We sim-

ply dont have the time. Twitter can be a like a virtual (teachers lounge).

2. Global or local: you choose Before using Twitter, I had onlylimited understanding of educational systems and practices in countries

like Australia and the U.S. Its not possible for me to actively compare

whats happening in schools in my country with others on different

continents.

3. Self-awareness and reflective practice Excellent teach-ers reflect on what is going well and what needs improvement. Teach-

ers and Twitter share these reflections, support and challenge each other.

4. Ideas workshop and sounding board Twitter is a greatmedium for sharing ideas and getting instant feedback. You

can get a range of opinions and constructive criticism within minutes.

5. Newsroom and innovative showcase Twitter helps me tostay up to date on news and current affairs, as well as on the latest de-

velopments in my areas of interest; school leadership, technology and

languages.

6. Professional development and critical friends Oneof the best things about training days are the breakout sessions. Twitter

enables me to have that kind of powerful networking capacity with me

all the time.

7. Quality-assured searching I trust the people I follow andhone and develop the list of people whose insights I value.

8. Communicate, communicate, communicate Express-ing yourself in 140 characters is a great discipline. I have become better

at saying what needs to be said (more succinctly).

9. Getting with the times has never been so easy Thereis no good reason why teachers shouldnt stick with the times, engage

with technology and keep up with the kids. Your biggest challenge will

likely be getting twitter.com unblocked on your school network. (She

uses her iPhone.)

What is Twitter?

www.ieanea.org |Advocate | 7 |

h its members and with technology. Check out the IEAull see there are two blogs and a spot where you can

he Ground Up, concentrate on whats going on in thersand unionand organizing-related issues, respectively.d IEA on Twitter at ieanea, on blip.tv, YouTube and onf photos of IEA events and activities.

working on redesigning its web page, which will beou. It will have a more modern look and offer a variety

as accessible to its members as possible. Please, take

it to inspire students


8/24

| 8 | Advocate | July 2009

decided they wanted to stay closer to home

than they had in previous years.

In the past, our projects have taken items

away from the local area, said Reiko Mrozik,

past president of the NTESPA, which has more

than 200 members. We decided we wanted to

be supporting people closer to home.

Assoc iat ion membe rs al so dec ide d they

wanted to do something to support the nations

tro ops. As a res ult, tw o se rv ice proj ect s Project Pajama Pants and Project School

Supplies were born.

Throughout February, association members

collected items for both projects. New pajama

pants, t-shirts and flip-flops were collected to be

sent to soldiers overseas through Operation

Support Our Troops - Illinois, a program run by

then-Lt. Gov. Pat Quinns office.

Mrozik said that many of the T-shirts were left

over from various New Trier events. The associ-

ation also collected letters to the troops that

could be signed or written anonymously.

We are going to have a lot of soldiers wear-

ing New Trier T-shirts, she said.

The association also collected school sup-

plies for the Sabin Magnet School and the

Washington Park Public School in Chicago. The

supplies collected included pencils, crayons,

markers, pens, dry erase markers, tape and

scissors, among other items.

The items were sorted and packed during

two sessions of the support staffs institute day

in late February.The association sent aid to Hurricane Katrina

victims through two previous serv ice projects

and took a hiatus last year, but another hiatus is-

nt expected anytime soon.

We will absolutely do a serv-

i ce p r oj ec t n ex t y ea r, s ai d

Mrozik. It always feels so good

to do something for others.

When the

New Trier

Education Support

Professionals

Association decidedto put together a

p u b li c s e r vi c e p r o je c t t h i s y e ar, t h ey

New Trier ESPs display and pack donations for Project School Supplies.


9/24

www.ieanea.org |Advocate | 9|

between education asso-ciations and management, but over thecourse of the last year, the Springfield Educa-tion Association put that talk into action.

The school board voted May 18 to moveto a seven-period day at all three of the citys

high schools after the education associationworked with the district to come up with adetailed plan of how the schedule would workto benefit both sides.

It was an amazing thing. To me, talk aboutworking in collaboration, said Carolyn Sloan,the Region 11 UniServ Director. It doesntmean one side wins and the other doesnt. Itmeans both sides get something they want.Both sides had a voice in the room and theresult is that we all got what we wanted.

The seven-period day is designed to allowteachers to spend more time to plan acrosscurricular lines, participate in professionaldevelopment and to talk to the families of stu-dents to help those students do better inschool, among a variety of things.

For students, it will allow them to takeseven classes, to even out course offerings atall three high schools, to attend test prepclasses, increase the number of classes forstudents in need, more time to retake classesthey may have failed and some room for thedevelopment of new electives, among otherthings.

Sloan recalled a meeting last year where ateam of people from the central administra-

tive office, each of the high schools, the unionand guidance staff got together to define whatcertain terms meant to them. In the course ofthat meeting Jeff Lightfoot, a teacher atSpringfield High School, stood to say he did-nt want to define terms anymore but wantedto actually do something. So, the meetingwent into free reign mode and the seven-pe-riod day was born.

Dan Ford, SEA president, and Chuck Hoots,the districts managing principal for the threehigh schools, put together a team of peoplethat included Bob Nika, a drivers educationteacher from Southeast High School to studythe plan. Nika was instrumental in its draft-

ing.In order to get the plan in place, the SEAwould have to vote on it. High School SEAmembers would have to pass the measure byan 80 percent vote. When the SEA first pre-sented the plan to its members, Sloan andFord told members that School Superintend-ent Walter Milton wanted to see the plan im-plemented within a year but that Sloan andFord didnt think it could happen that fast.

But the teachers said it needed to changeand that they needed it now. So, Dan and Ibacked off. The teachers really took it, Sloansaid. They looked at a variety of options forday scheduling and focused on the seven-pe-riod day.

Over the course of the next eight weeks,Bob Nika received and answered 1,000 e-mails. It was the most phenomenal thing Iveever seen. He was so good that no one couldquestion it. He was very open, let everyonehave an opinion, hashed out what would andwouldnt work.

When the plan went before the 280 SEAmembers eligible to vote, 226 of them did. Ofthat 226, 216 voted in favor of the plan. Theresult was 94 percent favorable.

It was just amazing. The superintendentlet Bob have his way with it and Bob was aphenomenal leader, Sloan said. It wasteacher driven from beginning to end. It wasso gratifying to watch this process. It was justamazing to watch.

It doesnt

m ea n o ne s id e

wins and the

other doesnt.

I t m ea ns b ot h

sides get some-

thing they want.

Both sides had

a voi ce i n the

r oo m a nd t he

result is that

we all got what

we wanted.

People often talk aboutcollaborative efforts

Carolyn Sloan,Region 11

UniServ Director


10/24

|10| Advocate | July 2009

But she relied through the years on her basic recipe oflove, respect and discipline.

I was very strict, she said. Kids want to bedisciplined.

Another big change has been in the way the teachingprofession has changed.

A longtime member of the Illinois Education Associa-tion, Watson said she believes the IEA and the NationalEducation Association has done very, very many positivethings for the teaching profession, giving educators achance to talk with one voice, not a bunch of voices.

And because of that, she said, the field has improvedand children have received a better education becauseof it.

One of the greatest opportunities the IEA gave us wasto network and find out what other teachers are doing,she said. And weve been informed of our rights, ouropportunities.

She said that when she first started teaching an admin-istrator might tell a teacher that he or she had to work aballgame on a Friday night. There was no choice in thematter. Now, though, teachers tend to know their legalrights.

Weve gone a long way toward becoming a profession,she said.

While Watson wont be in a classroom anymore, shedoesnt really plan to retire. Shes moved from her smalltown of Rankin into Champaign so she can look for a sec-

ond career. Shes not sure what its going to be, but shehas served as a volunteer at various University of Illinoisvenues and she plans to do more of that.

And, she knows, shes going to continue to travel, a habitshe picked up in the last 15 years, or so. This summer, shestaking her family to Europe. Shes also been to China, Aus-tralia, New Zealand, South America and other spots.

Her zest for life is contagious. Dennis Watson, Arceliasson, said his mother is an inspiration.

I think the words I would use for my mother are pas-sion and enthusiasm, he said. My mother is my rolemodel. I look up to her as the right way to live.

He finds it amazing that his mother, at 80, is looking fora second career.

Todays world is so negative and shes so positive, hesaid. To see the sights shes seen. In these trips, the onething Ive learned is that in life there is a greater valueon experience than things. She goes to the Indy 500every year, to a Green Bay game every year. You getout of college and focus on things and suddenly yourealize you cant take things with you.Things arent important. Experiences are.

Take equal parts love, respect and discipline, and mix.Watson retired in early June after 55 years of baking

batches and batches of that mixture, mostly at the juniorhigh school level for Paxton Community Unit 2.

I love what I do. You have to love eighth graders toteach them. Its one of the most difficult ages to teach,she said. Ive touched the future. I made a difference.

A difference, indeed.John Rodden, who was principal at Watsons junior high

school from 2003-06, said her career has been remarkable,partially because shes had such an impact on thousandsof people in a positive way.

Arcelia has always been student focused and loved ed-ucation, he said. One time we had an assembly for herand I said that we tend to count down our days to retire-ment and Arcelia counts down the days to the next schoolyear.

He said all of her classroom dedication is compoundedby the fact that shes so active in her regular life, lively andenergetic.

For many students, shes had their parents and grand-parents. Shes always worked hard to keep up with thetrends, fashions, shes tried and has been willing to learn

new things.And, he said, he knew he could count on her. If Arcelia

sent me a student, I knew shed given them every oppor-tunity in the book to get a problem corrected. It didnthappen often.

Over the course of her career, many things havechanged, Watson said. Kids come into school now withmore knowledge than ever before. They are constantly incommunication with someone or something.

Arcelia Watsonsrecipe for teachingcooks up success.

Arcelia with her son, Dennis Watson

See Arcelia in a movie

at www.ieanea.org


11/24

www.ieanea.org |Advocate |11|

Seated from left to right Bob Haisman, Carol

Stack, Mike Cousineau, Kathy Wynn and TimDavis

Standing left to right Mike Palmquist, Jan Peters,Kay Acklin, Jim Crandell, Feliz Berlanga, KayJones and Cathy Wyzykowski

Almost 200 teacherswho retired from Hinsdale TownshipHigh School District 86 should see theirhealth benefits restored, or an appro-priate remedy, following a recent arbi-trators decision that the district couldnot unilaterally change the retirees ben-efits after they retired.

The teachers, former bargaining unitmembers of the Hinsdale High SchoolTeachers Association (HHSTA), werestunned when the district notified themthat effective February 2007 health in-

surance premiums would be substan-tially increased and that some of themwould lose their health benefits entirely,contrary to the terms of their retirement.Every retiree who received health insur-ance through the district was going tobe affected in some way.

I was a teacher there for 35 years,said Bob Haisman, retiree and former IEApresident. The district had never doneanything like this. It was a new low.

Haisman contacted some fellow re-tirees and they decided they would fightthe districts move. Haisman got the re-tirees organized and moving.

His outrage fueled us at the begin-ning, said retiree Jan Peters.

The retirees contacted the leaders ofthe HHSTA, who were also surprised thedistrict was trying to alter retiree healthbenefits.

Those of us who sat in on the nego-tiating sessions were quite stunned bythe changes, said Kathy Wynn, co-pres-ident HHSTA-South. We knew what we

had bargained, which was not a changein current retirees insurance benefits.

The HHSTA consulted with the IEA le-gal department and was advised to pur-sue the matter to arbitration, which bothpleased and surprised Haisman andother retirees. Haisman was told once

you are a member of the IEA you are al-ways a member of the IEA.

I dont know where else we couldhave come up with that amount of clout,said Haisman. It was the only way wewere able to keep together as a group ofretirees.

The HHSTA filed a grievance on be-half of the retired teachers, which washandled by the IEA Legal Department be-cause of its complexity and significance.

The retirees and the HHSTA helpedwith the leg work, searching for and in-terviewing as many retirees affected bythe change as they could find. They com-piled and sorted twelve boxes of docu-ments, including collective bargainingagreements between the local and theschool district going back to 1990

We really came together as a team,said Feliz Berlanga, IEA associate generalcounsel. Everybody had a piece of thepuzzle.

The IEA backing was particularly im-portant, said Jim Crandell, HHSTA griev-

ance chair. We had countless letters,

history that made no sense at the locallevel. We couldnt have handled it with-out the IEA team. We would never havebeen victorious. It was mind-boggling tosay the least.

The district first argued that the HH-STA could not represent the retirees be-cause the retirees were not coveredunder the current collective bargainingagreement. But the arbitrator ruled thatit was undeniably clear that the schoolboard consented to arbitrate violationsof the current agreement and, as a result,

could be required to arbitrate interpreta-tions of earlier collective bargainingagreements.

The arbitrator went on to rule thatthe language of the previous contractscreated vested rights in those individu-als who retired pursuant to them, al-lowing retirees to receive insurance(including health, dental and life insur-ance) coverage upon payment of thepremium standard set forth in the re-spective collective bargaining agree-ment, until age 70.

The HHSTA and the retirees consid-

ered the IEA involvement key to theirhard-earned victor y. An astoundingamount of energy went into this case andit is appreciated beyond words, saidWynn.

And the retirees continue to savortheir victory.

We proved that we were right, saidHaisman. It felt like a moral victory, inaddition to the reinstatement of benefitsand monetary reimbursement awarded.

Active IEA Retired and currentmembers forge victory in Hinsdale


12/24


It was clear early on in thespring 2009 legislative session that

educators and the states pension

systems were square in the sights

of Illinois lawmakers.Through the

extraordinary efforts of IEA

members, though, many of those

proposals including one that

would have boosted by 2 per-

cent of their salary educators

pension payments and another

that would have created atwo-tier pension system for

new teachers were de-

feated, at least for now.

On the official IEA Lobby Day

on May 6, 3,000 members

showed up in Springfield to

lobby their legislators. It was

there that Gov. Pat Quinn

pulled the 2 percent off the

table.

But in countless other efforts,IEA members came through. In

late April, hundreds of members

lined Rockford streets to greet

Quinn on a visit and to voice their

displeasure. Members across the

state held private meetings with

their state legislators in their

home districts in mid-April. Some

regions organized postcard par-

ties. Tens of thousands of IEA

members took a moment to e-mail

their legislators to make their feel-

ings on the proposals known.

A battle remains to pass an income

tax increase and to change the way

education is funded in Illinois. And,

it appears, at press time the battle

may not be over. But its clear that

speaking with one united voice,

as members of the IEA, made a

difference.

April24 Rockfordprotest

April2009 Region45

postcardparty L

LobbyDay

messagesfor

Quinn


13/24

y memberslawmakers

LobbyDayreacti

Members

swarm

Capitolon

Lobby Da

May22 OrlandPark

demonstration

InvestinExcellencegarnersmemberssupport

www.ieanea.org | Advocate |13|


14/24


The challenges for new teacherswere front and center when someof the younger members of the

Decatur Education Association spentan evening talking with former IEA Ex-ecutive Director Jo Anderson before he

left that post to serve in PresidentObamas Department of Education.

The teachers expressed their hopesand frustrations to Anderson, givinghim a look at the profession through theeyes of those just getting started as heset off in early April to Washington D.C.where he has a hand in setting educa-tion policy.

On the teachers minds studentassessment, teacher performance andthe difficulties of teaching in a districtwhere 68 percent of the student popula-tion is low income. On Andersons mind a request that teachers be open toideas from the Obama administration.

We have to be willing to try newthings, Anderson said. If unions sim-ply say: We arent willing to change.Change will be done to us.

The message resonated with thisgroup of teachers, several of whomwere versed in the ways other statesand school districts are experimentingwith new approaches to these issues.

Anderson acknowledged that theidea of merit pay or pay for perform-

ance makes many educators uneasyand could be a tough sell.

The merit pay term carries suchbaggage for older members, he said.They see it as having no objective stan-dard and being dependent on what theprincipal thinks of you.

The teachers around the tablewerent particularly opposed to somesort of system of merit pay, but theywere clearly concerned about how sucha system would play out.

Jo Anderson talks to Decatur Education Associationmembers over dinner.

IEA exec

xchanges ideas

with members

before heading

to Washington

We have to

be willing to

try new things,

If unions sim-

ply say: We

arent willing

to change.

Change will be

done to us.

The concern about linking merit pay to stan-dardized assessment tests is that you dont takeinto consideration teacher involvement and timecommitment to the building, said Megan Glover,who teaches high school social studies. Good

teachers really devote themselves.Glover also reiterated that standardized test-

ing cant quantify a students achievements. An-derson agreed.

Comparing one years third-graders againstanother years third-graders is just stupid, saidAnderson to a chorus of amens.

The group didnt spend a lot of time dis-cussing No Child Left Behind, in part because itwas already law when they began teaching.

Its all weve ever known, said Courtney Set-tles, a middle school social studies teacher. Thework load weve had as new teachers has been

constant. For older teachers its created a heav-ier work load with more paperwork.

The conversation also encompassed prob-lems these teachers are having on a more per-sonal level.

Jim Forrester, DEA president and school so-cial worker, said that student behavior contin-ues to be one of the biggest challenges forDecaturs teachers.

How much instructional time do you losedealing with issues that are not related to edu-cation? he asked.

It is the time taken away from educating somestudents to discipline the others that most both-ers Jess McCutchen, a high school social stud-ies teacher.

Every student has a right to an education,he said. But what happens when that right startsto infringe on the rights of other students?

Class size and control are also issues.We have to provide a safe learning environ-

ment, said McCutchen.They also stressed the importance of a good

mentoring, either formal or informal, and sup-port from fellow teachers for new ideas.

I had one teacher I really clicked with, saidSarah Pritts, a first grade teacher. She wasnt

paidto be mymentor but I learned so muchfromher in my first three years. However, she said,not all teachers are as supportive.

Some of our worst enemies are ourselves,said Pritts. Some of the other teachers shut youdown when you try to express your ideas.

But Anderson encouraged the young teach-ers not to give up on having their ideas heard.

Allow yourself the space to be yourself, hesaid. That will be your strength, not your weak-ness. Give yourself the space to try differentthings and see if they work.

Jo Anderson


15/24


Two retire, taking 66

years of experience

with them

Tusin was hired bythe IEA in August 1979and has been a UniS-erv Director through-out his career. Hecame on staff just after

the famed lockoutwhere IEA manage-ment locked out his

own staff. His one year anniversary withthe association was spent in Washingtonpicketing NEA for sending in its people tofill IEA staff positions during the strike.

He started before the state passed itslabor law and Tusin was fortunate enoughto see it signed into law by Gov. JamesThompson.

We worked very hard to get (the Col-lective Bargaining Act), he said, notingthat prior to the act the process of getting

fair treatment for employees was cumber-some. At first, the law restricted both theunion and the employer. Over the years,various court rulings have given clarity tocertain portions of the law.

Like baseball there are some rules you have to run to first before you canrun to second. Without it, a lot of peoplewere running to third without ever touch-ing first and second, he said.

After 30 years, there have been somelowlights, most notably when membersget themselves into a jam.

Im always saddened when a memberlets down his profession and colleaguesby doing something he shouldnt do sometimes little things, sometimes big,he said.

Adults have consequences to their ac-tions. Our job is to see to it that the conse-quences are fair and just and uniformlyapplied.

Some may notconsider it an ac-complishment,

but Barry Tusin takesgreat pride in one factthat he feelsroundsout

his long Illinois Educa-tion Association career.In 30 years of bar-

gaining, and I will tell that Ive had as tougha situations as any and more than $2 bil-lion in contracts Ive bargained, but I neveronce had to take a local out on strike, hesaid.

He said he worked strikes 14 ofthem, in fact. And, he came within a hairof several, including one where employ-ees were towalk out at6 a.m.andthe con-tract was settled at 5:30 a.m. But, he neverhad to lead one.

I dont think its a mark of weakness.Im very proud of that. Im not againststrikes. But, Im proud of bargaining everycontract Ive ever been involved in to con-clusion. I prepared for strikes many timesbecause you cannot be effective unlessyou prepare.

Tusin is one of two long-time IEA staffmembers to announce they were leavingthis year. Jo Anderson, IEAs executive di-rector, left April 1 to join the staff of U.S.Education Secretary Arne Duncan (seestory p. 14).

While at the IEA, Anderson was knownas an innovator and booster of schooltransformation, founding the Center forEducational Innovation in 1995 in an effortto facilitate school restructuring and re-form efforts throughout the state. And, healso started the Consortium for Educa-tional Change, a network of 75 Illinoisschool districts and other partners work-ing collaboratively to improve theirschools.

IEA staff who

have retired.

Kay Jones,5 years

Lorena Scott, 15years, April 3

Donna Mavros7 years

Jo Anderson,36 years, March 31

Barry Tusin,30 years, June 30

Congratulatio

Donna Manerin

9 years, Oct. 3

Carolee McGaw,

26 years, Oct. 3


16/24


If Julie Solomon and Nicolle Frickarean example of the Marion IEA offices in-duction and mentoring program, it canbe labeled a success.

Solomon, the mentor, and Frick, thementee, are both teachers at Anna Com-munity Unit School District 37 and saythe relationship theyve built through theprogram has not only been profession-ally beneficial to both, but personally, too.

Frick said shes been able to go toSolomon with everything from how to fillout paperwork to how to handle prob-lems with a particular student. AndSolomon said she gets re-energized by

working so closely with Frick.When I started teaching 14 years ago

. I remember crying at my desk. I waslost, Solomon said.

In contrast, Frick said she has had asounding board in Solomon and a friend.Weve become good friends because ofthis (program).

And, thats a big portion of what theprogram is supposed to do, said MaryJane Morris, instructional professionaldevelopment director for the IEA whoalso works with the induction and men-toring program run out of the Marion IEAoffice.

We work with 17 districts in SouthernIllinois and partner with the Center forEducational Change out of Chicago. Its astate funded program since March 2008and we (recently asked) to add seven dis-tricts to the program for a total of 24,Morris said.

In all, the program currently serves 45on-site administrators, 65 new teachersand 32 mentors.

The ultimate goal of the program isto provide teachers with the resourcesthey need to work in a classroom and pullout whats best for the student and whatsgoing to work best for teaching and learn-ing in their classroom, she said. Wewant to push the quality in the classroomto meet the needs of students and affectstudent achievement.

Each building that participates in theprogram can structure it the way they like,for example, one veteran teacher to onenew teacher or one mentor who thenhelps out a number of teachers. One re-

ally good thing about the

program is that its flexi-ble, Morris said.

Mentors and menteesmust meet with specifiedfrequency and they alsoperiodically meet withsomeone from the MorrisIEA office who then eval-uates how the relation-ship is working. On a separate side, schooladministrators also meet monthly fortraining and reflection. And, all the men-tors and mentees meet with each otherto talk about challenges they are facing

and how to deal with those challenges.It will take the efforts of everyone

teachers, administrators, board members to work together. Hopefully we canhelp provide them with the tools, Mor-ris said, noting that in the end, the hope isthat each individual district will decide toimplement the programs themselves,without state funding.

Mark Laster, principal of Anna CUSD37, said participating in the program hasbeen wonderful for his school.

It benefits us as a district and bene-fits the teachers on multiple levels, hesaid. It helps prevent new teacherburnout, helps new teachers with all thebasics from where to find the copymachine to how to fill out disciplinaryreports.

Theres always an exchange, or flow,of ideas back and forth, he said, whichleads to a strong staff with a sense of ca-maraderie and becomes a morale booster.

Morris said that Southern Illinois ismade up of mostly rural districts whichcan limit the opportunities for training.When training does happen, she said,

teachers often have to miss school, whichthen affects students.This has helped new teachers to stay

in the classrooms where they are soneeded while allowing mentors to providethem with the help they need throughoutthe year.

Brett Detering, principal of Anna-Jones-boro High School, said the programhas helped at his school meld whathe sees as the two-fold prospect of teach-ing, helping teachers blend the presenta-

tion of class materials with classroommanagement.

I think the mentor program helpsteachers in that area, he said. Teachingwithout learning is just talking. If the

environment is not good, it doesntmatter how good a teacher or their con-tent is. Setting up that environment in theearly part of their career and fosteringthat sound learning environment isimportant.

Crystal Houseman is a first-yearteacher at Anna-Jonesboro who is enter-ing teaching as a second career. She saidthere have been challenges but that thementoring program has helped easedsome of them.

More than anything, its a good sup-port system, she said. Teaching is anisolated activity. Youre in a room with 30kids for seven hours a day. You see col-leagues in the lounge or at lunch but youdont get the opportunity very often tomeet on a daily basis. Whenever youhave an opportunity to ask someone foradvice (its good).

Jim Tammen, UniServ director for Re-gion 2 in Southern Illinois, conducts eval-uations of the mentor/mentee pairs. Hesaid the Morris office has had a programsimilar to this one associated with theCEC for four or five years and that itsgrown with time, something he sees as agood thing.

Teachers coming out of the collegeclassroom have a big challenge ahead,he said. If we can reduce thestress level and give a pat on theback, well be successful in re-taining classroom teachers.

Youve gota friend ...

Julie Solomon discusses an issue with a future teacher at aregional meeting of the induction and mentoring program.

See these talented

teachers in the movies

at www.ieanea.org


17/24

Program that pairs the newand experienced celebratesits 10-year anniversaryIt started as a simple idea.

But it has grown into something that has helped hundredsof soon-to-be teachers across the state for the past 10 years.The IEA Student Mentor Program is celebrating its 10th an-

niversary this year and was star of a special presentation at thisyears spring student conference April 17-18 in East Peoria.

I always thought that the retired group and the studentgroup had so many similarities, said Tina Nicpan-Brown, one ofthe founders of the program and now an eight-year teachingveteran working as a teacher in Wenatchee, Wash.

They could help one another, not only with their owninitiatives, but they could help the up and coming with theirexperience.

The program matches students studying to become educa-tors with retirees. Matches are made based on areas of expert-ise, geographic location and other considerations. Pairs canspend 15 minutes a month catching up by e-mail, or hours aweek sharing experiences. The relationship can be whateverthose involved want to make it.

Who better to be a guinea pig for the program in 1998 thanstudent program chair Nicpan-Brown? Her, her mentor, Mari-etta McManus, along with McManus fellow retirees Keith Haugeand Pat Helphinstine, met at a hotel one weekend and helpedput together a plan for the program. Hauge brought a pictureof that initial meeting to the 10-year anniversary celebration.

Nicpan-Brown said the bond she and McManus formedthat year was so strong that she still considers McManus hermentor.

That was the case not only through my first few years ofteaching but she supported me with help on my thesis for mymasters degree, my wedding, struggles for entering the inter-mediate grades and standardized testing, she said. We talkand e-mail and share photos of our vacations. We share storiesand she visits my classroom blog.

Nicpan-Brown said she always hoped the programshe helped form would carry on, butthat she never expected it to be as bigas it is now, with the associated Liv-

Ashley Evett and Janet Kilgus, mentee and mentor.

ing Library and the amountof student members whoare part of the IEA-Studentcontingent.

Its wonderful to see thebaby project I started grow.

Janet Kilgus of IEA-Retiredis the coordinator for thementor program and hasbeen for five years. She saidthe benefits of the programare two-fold.

For students, what betterway to get advice than frompeople who have been there?It costs no money, she said.They can share ideas withone person who doesnt givethem a grade, pay bills orpass judgment on them. Theyare there to be their friend asthey become a teacher.

And, there are benefits forthe retirees, too.

Youre still an educator.You have enthusiasm forteaching and being aroundkids but you dont want to goto work every day. When you

walk out of the classroom forthe last time, you still haveyour bag of tricks. You aresharing your wisdom withpeople who are taking theirturn in the classroom. You still can make a difference but donthave to go to work every day.

Ashley Evett was Kilgus mentee while a student at IllinoisState University. Theyd meet at Avantis and have dinner. She re-called one day when shed taught a math lesson she found par-ticularly frustrating. She and Kilgus discussed it and workedtheir way through it.

Rather than going to a professor who would have judgedme on how I handled the situation, I could take her suggestion

and adapt, she said. And, when school was over, Kilgus helpedEvett through the application and interview process in theBloomington-Normal school system. And, they remain friends.

McManus, a retiree and Nicpan-Browns mentor, said keep-ing involved with students helps rejuvenate her.

They keep me up with the current education world,the love of my life, she said. Education is the rock bot-

tom support for humanity and (the students)are young and energetic and particularly

good for students who dont come into schoolwith a whole lot of goods already. Its a feeling of

life continuing for you. Its very rewarding. It is.

Keith Hauge looks at a photofrom the programs firstplanning meeting.

Student founder Tina Nicpan-Brown and her mentor, MariettaMcManus.

www.ieanea.org | Advocate |17|

See Janet and Ashley

in the movies at

www.ieanea.org


18/24

IEA sponsors Lincoln hat in downtownSpringfield

The Illinois Education As-sociation is sponsoring anentry in the Hats Off to Mr.

Lincoln project in Spring-field this summer.Artist Felicia Olin de-

signed the 3-foot tall, fiber-glass hat based on VachelLindsays poem, Lin-coln. Lindsay, a Spring-field native, wrote ofAbraham Lincoln beingfrom the prairie where the ghosts of buffalo still storm above hisgrave and where the earth and fire once met.

The hat, which features the poem written on a backgroundof blue sky that contains an image of Lincoln, as well as buf-falo and prairie and fire, is now on display outside the Illinois

State Museum at Spring and Edwards streets in Springfield.The hats, all replicas of Lincolns famous stovepipe hat, are

on display in various places around downtown Springfield inhonor of the 200th anniversary of the 16th presidents birth-day. All profits are going to support literacy programs, in partbecause reading was so near and dear to Lincolns heart. Thedisplays are similar to one in Chicago several years ago wherethe city had the Cows on Parade exhibit.

Cinda Klickna, IEA secretary-treasurer, came up with thesponsorship idea and was pleased with what Olin decided todo with the hat.

Its perfect for us because it blends art and science andEnglish, she said. And, perfect for the museum, too, whichfocuses on the history of Illinois as told through its land and

people.

IEA Scholarship winners announced

Each year, the IEA Scholarship Committee awards moneyto the children of IEA members with hopes that those studentswill go on to become teachers and future IEA members.

Last year, 39 scholarships worth $1,250 each were awarded.The winners from the north central part of the state were:

Robert Brodinski, Brittany Calendo, Emily Karavas, DanielleKnaizer, Marjorie Kresse, Julia Lucido, Robert Luse, VincentMiles, Lindsay Nauman, Sarah Roberston, Rachel Sager, MindiTurf, Nicole Vogrin and Jana Williams.

Winners from the south central region of the state were:Samantha Albrecht, Carl J. Anderson, Erika Collier, GraceCrouch, Kaitlin Farley, James Foster, Jaclyn Harrington, JessicaHeiden, Courtney Limestall, Hannah McDowell, Derek Miller,Rebecca Peddicord and Alisha Sudkamp.

Those who won from the suburban Chicago area were: Alli-son Baltimore, Hannah Clark, Catalina Guerrero, Tessie Her-bert, Jessica Hill, Tamara Ladowski, Lauren Mahler, ThomasManjarres, Christina Orengo, Megan Parker Dieschbourg, Hart-ley Tracy and Brian Zawistowski.

Congratulations to all the winners and best wishes on abright future!

SIUE educator wins distinguishedprofessor award

A longtime IEA faculty association leaderat Southern Illinois University Edwardsvillehas been named a recipient of the graduate

schools distinguished professor award inrecognition of her outstanding, long-termcontributions to research.

Leah OBrien, a professor of chemistrysince 2001, has been published on numer-ous occasions, has received researchmoney from the National Science Foundation and the Ameri-can Chemical Society, andhas both reviewed and been reviewedby her peers to much acclaim.

According to SIUE, one colleague who reviewed her worksaid she has become one of the leading experts in the spec-troscopy of small metal containing molecules and has mademany important contributions to the field.

The SIUE Faculty Association was chartered by the IEA/NEA

in 2001 and the IEA continues efforts to represent another 400SIUE tenured and tenure-track faculty on campus.

Fatheree wins NEA top teacher award

Joe Fatheree, a teacher at Effingham High School, wasawarded the National Education Associations top teacheraward Feb. 6.

Fatheree started his career teaching English and historyand now teaches animation, web design and multimediaclasses. He was named Illinois Teacher of the Year by the Illi-nois State Board of Education in 2006-07. This year he wasnamed winner of the NEA Member Benefits Award for Teach-ing Excellence and won not only recognition but also a $25,000cash prize at a Washington, D.C. banquet.

Left to right, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, the NEA Member Benefits

Award for Teaching Excellence winner Joseph Fatheree,Gary Phoebus of

NEA Member Benefits,the NEA Foundations Chair Lauri Fitz-Pegado, the

NEA Foundation CEO and President Harriet Sanford and NEA Executive

Director John Wilson.

|18| Advocate| July 2009


19/24


In his acceptance speech, Fatheree credited his family andothers, but said the most important lesson he ever learned wastaught to him by a group of high school students in his secondyear of teaching, a lesson hes been forever grateful for.

They were reluctant students, hated school, hated writing,hated reading and they hated me, he said to laughter in thecrowd. They taught me the greatest lesson Ill ever learn. You

cant teach standing behind the pulpit teaching out of a text-book. Those kids wanted to touch the world and Ive been help-ing them touch it ever since.

Fatheree also said that hes inspired every day by his stu-dents because every day, they raise the bar.

I have the greatest job on earth. Im a teacher.

Teutopolis ESPs organize under IEANever underestimate the

power of good co-workers.The IllinoisEducation La-

bor Relations Board recog-nized the newly-formed

Teutopolis Educational Sup-port Professionals Associa-tion in February.

Efforts to organize thisunit of 55 aides, bus drivers,cooks and custodians beganbecause of the unfair treat-ment of a bus driver/para-professional. Co-workers in all job titles supported her stronglyas she confronted her employer.

They also followed her into a successful card drive to sendthe message that people should not, and will never again, betreated so badly.

The organizing effort was strongly supported by the Teu-

topolis Education Association (certified unit) and its president,Steve Fritcher. IEAs Region 3 and the Effingham IEA office werehappy to welcome the newly-formed local.

The effort to organize started last fall with the help of for-mer Region 3 UniServ Director Allen Majors and then contin-ued with the assistance of Region 3 interim UniServ DirectorMike Cook, Associate Staff Mary Ann Kocher, Organizer DavidVitoff and current Region 3 UniServ Director Steve Wilquet.

TESPA held its first meeting March 26, adopting bylaws andelecting officers. It is very fitting that the employee who initiatedthis effort, Kathy Ruholl, was elected as the first TESPA presi-dent. A negotiations committee has been established and bar-gaining dates will be set soon.

A first TESPA newsletter was published in April and other

activities are being planned in the local.

Help for coping with traumaticsituations in the classroom

Children who have been through traumatic experiences anything from damaging weather to the loss of a caregiver have different ways of showing their pain.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has developeda toolkit that parents and teachers alike can use to helpstudents cope.

The information is available at the organizations website atwww.nctsnet.org. It will help you recognize the signs of stressand trauma and walk you through the steps of helping the childdeal with it. In addition, there are brochures and other helpfulitems that you can give to parents to help them deal with thestudent at home.

There are age-specific tips and ideas on how to make the

child feel safe, once again.There are also tips for helpers. Teachers, parents and other

caregivers often deal with compassion fatigue when thetrauma is widespread.

Region 12 holds logo contest

If there was one thingthe people serving IEAsRegion 12 were sure of,it was that they neededa new logo.

It was I-dont-know-

how-old, said Dina Ealy,associate staff in theRushville office, addingthat the slogan wasMajor Action Here, aslogan that has the po-tential to elicit a few gig-gles. And, it was on T-shirts and used in newsletters.

It became clear it was time for a change. So, Region 12 de-cided to have a contest. A committee of four region leaderswas appointed to judge and a solicitation was put out to allmembers. An application form was drawn up. The winner wouldreceive $100.

And the winner maybe predictably was an art teacher.

We got a really cute one, Ealy said of Nicole Goodalls de-sign. Goodall is an art teacher from Waverly. The committeedid a lot of work on it and weall wanted the change and we gota good one.

Being green pays off for Bloom teacher

A Bloom High School chemistry andphysics teacher has been awarded a$10,000 grant from BP to work with dieselequipment in the district to prepare it forbiodiesel.

Barry Latham, the subject of a featurestory called Fuel for Thought in the Janu-

ary Advocate, has been given a total of$40,000 by the BP A+ program to developprograms to help students study biodiesel-related subjects.

Lathams classes not only make biodiesel fuel but they alsodeveloped a curriculum for other classes, wrote quizzes, helda seminar to teach other teachers how to do it and developedmarketing plans.

With the new grant money, Lathams class also plans to

upgrade its reactor and purchase some analytical equipment tomove toward certification of the fuel it produces.

Interim President Kathy Ruholl talks tonew members.


20/24


The 155th Illinois Education Association Representative Assemblyproved to be a star-studded event with presentations to the 1,200 del

egatesby Gov. Pat Quinn, thestates constitutional officers andU.S. RepAaron Schock.

And, the IEA officially said goodbye to now-retired Executive Director JoAndersonwho left the associationafter more than 36 years to join thePres

Obamaadministrationin Washington

In his speech, Gov. Quinn told IEAdelegates that he was going to stickhisneck outfor education duringhisbudget address, but no one couldhave foreseenthe firestorm of education and pension-related issuesthat the legislature would be considering this session.

The delegates adopted a budgetset dues, voted on various by-lawsand set the agenda for the futureof the IEA.

And,asusual,a wonderful group o

peoplewere honoredaswinners ovarious awards: Kevin Robinsonteacherof theyear;Carl ChapmanESP of the year; Karen Bieschkethehuman services andcivil rightsaward; and Kathy Helm and the

Freeport CommunityPublicSchoolFund as the Friendof Education award winner.

Carl

Chapman

K

e

vi

n

r

o

bi

n

s

o

n

Ka

ren

Bieschke

Kathy

helm

Gov. PatQuinn greets IEA RA delegates.

IEA President Ken Swanson introduces IL

Constitutional OfficersAlexi Giannoulias,

treasurer; Lisa Madigan, attorney general;

and Dan Hynes, comptroller.


21/24


IEA expands beyondIllinois borders

Tired ofthe cold?The snow?Blustery one day,spring-like the next,

weather of Il linois?

Planning on escaping to Florida

when you retire?

Now, youll have a built-in circle offriends upon your arrival with the recent

formation of an IEA-Retired Chapter in

Florida.

Jack Tucker was talking with our

retired council last year about mapping

and mentioned that we have almost

200 IEA-Retired members living in

Florida, said Barb Gilhaus, one of the

coordinators of the Florida chapter,

who spends much of her time in the St.

Petersburg area, along

with a great number of

other IEA retirees.

Organizers developed a

mailing list and Barb and her

husband, Bob, sent out about 150

cards to everyone they had addresses

for, got on the internet and found

someplace they could all meet. They

settled on Sawgrass Park on Jan. 13.

Normally in Florida, even Jan. 13

would be a relatively warm and sunny

day. Apparently in honor of Illinois,

though, it was cloudy, rainy and cold.

Who wouldnt feel at home?But the group of 10, or so, who met

that day were hot and very enthused.

So, they agreed to have another meet-

ing in March in Sarasota to write a con-

stitution and by-laws. They continue to

look for other IEA-Retired members to

contact in the Florida area to see if they

want to join.

It will be just like Illinois and there

will be a contact person there. So, if

you move there, you can contact that

person and there will already be a

group of people you are affiliated with

who are there to greet you, Gilhaus

said.

Youll already have family there,

even if youre not related by blood.

She said the group intends to be

someone newbies and Florida-veter-

ans can rely upon to show people

around and be able to discuss and act

upon issues that are important to them.

Others involved in the planning have

been Dan and Cherry Ferrari, Tom and

Sharon Giles, Sharon Gantz, Mary LouKiefer, Dorann Yoggerst, Judy Hess

and Velma Crawford, Gilhaus said.

This is the first time weve ex-

panded beyond Illinois, she said. I

knew there were some people down

there from Bloomington, but wed

never gotten together. It was like old

home week when we met.

The chapter expects to be official by

the fall.


22/24


IEA Professional Development Center

3440 Liberty Drive Springfield, Illinois 62704 217-544-0706 ext. 305

When we get reviews like this,its difficult to remain modest about our state-of-the-art professional-develop-ment training, meeting, and virtual conferencing space:

Loved your facility!

You can look forward to working with us again soon!

The staff we dealt with were extremely helpful!

Various guests of the IEA Professional Development Center (PDC)

So, its fitting that our satisfied guests want to speak forus about the PDC

and its ten meeting rooms that have the capacity to host groups from 15

to 250 in a variety of setups and settings.

Probably the best part is that the setting for

participants is superb, with top-of-the line A/V.

We couldnt be happier and highly recommend

this facility.

Susan Helm, Marketing Director, Department of Surgery,

SIU School of Medicine

The PDC was constructed to meet the professional development needsof IEA members. While meeting space is available free of charge for officialAssociation functions, we welcome members, nonprofits, and for-profitorganizations to book the PDC, when there is availability, at our veryreasonable rental rates.

To reserve space contact:

Sue Uzzo, 217-544-0706 ext. 305

or [email protected]


23/24


Help us help youDo you pay for your groceries and then leave them at the checkout?

Do you pre-pay for gas and then drive away without filling up?

No?

Then, why would you pay your IEA dues and not get everything

youve paid for?Its clearer than ever that IEA members need to be informed about

whats going on in state government and in their own organization.

Get what you pay for! Its as easy as 1-2-3!

1) Go to the IEA website at www.ieanea.org

2) Click on the My IEA Profile box on the right-hand side of the

page.

3) Verify your profile information; make sure IEA has your BEST

e-mail address.

Thats it! You are now connected and will be kept informed about:

What your organization is doing to protect your rights and

benefits

IEA member discounts on thousands of goods and services

and much more.

Go to www.ieanea.org today and get what you paid for!

Help us help youDo you pay for your groceries and then leave them at the checkout?

Do you pre-pay for gas and then drive away without filling up?

No?

Then, why would you pay your IEA dues and not get everything

youve paid for?Its clearer than ever that IEA members need to be informed about

whats going on in state government and in their own organization.

Get what you pay for! Its as easy as 1-2-3!

1) Go to the IEA website at www.ieanea.org

2) Click on the My IEA Profile box on the right-hand side of the

page.

3) Verify your profile information; make sure IEA has your BEST

e-mail address.

Thats it! You are now connected and will be kept informed about:

What your organization is doing to protect your rights and

benefits

IEA member discounts on thousands of goods and services

and much more.

Go to www.ieanea.org today and get what you paid for!

Its no news to us that educators are 100 percent dedicated professionals.

You work hard throughout the year. But work doesnt end there. There i s no such thing as a day off andthat dedication continues throughout the summer.

Wed like to hear from you with a new twist on How I Spent My Summer Vacation.

Please send us photos and descriptions, in 150 words or less, of things you do over the summer that willmake you better instructors. E-mail them to [email protected].

Are you traveling to a place that will become part of a classroom discussion? Are you taking a class?Trying an experiment? Branching out with a new hobby that will carry over into lesson plans?

Whatever it is, please send us your note and your photos. We cant wait to hear from you! And, have agreat vacation.

HowI Spent M

y

Vacatio

n


24/24

july advocate

Documents