Member News -- April 26, 2017

Meet Sydney Chaffee
2017 National Teacher of the Year

A National Board Certified high school teacher in Boston, Massachusett, has been chosen by CCSSO as the 2017 National Teacher of the Year. 

Sydney Chaffee teaches humanities at Codman Academy Charter Public School, where she focuses on the intersection of history and literature to help her students learn from the past to make change in the world.  Learn more from CCSSO.

"I want my students to understand that they are powerful and that they can make change in the world. That whatever the future is that they want to see, they have the power and they have the agency to make that happen, and so that's at the core of everything that we're doing," Chaffee said on CBS This Morning.

Read Chaffee's article "Teachers Must Be Ready to Read to Engage." Check out  Shanna Peeples's (2015 National and Texas) reaction to the news about Chaffee.
Mark Your Calendar
Upcoming NNSTOY Events

Still on the Right Trajectory. NNSTOY is releasing two of our latest studies about the efficacy of the Smarter Balanced assessment Monday, May 1 at Education Counsel in Washington, D.C. from 9:00-10:30 AM.  Allan Bruner (Oregon 2006), Michael Dunlea (New Jersey Finalist 2012), Margueritte Izzo (New York 2007), and Lee-Ann Stephens (Minnesota 2007) will present. Katherine Bassett (New Jersey 2000) will moderate. Register.

The Flame Still Burns.  Four of our National Teachers of the Year -- S arah Brown Wessling (Iowa 2010), Sean McComb (Maryland 2014)  Rebecca Mieliwocki (California 2012) and Shanna Peeples (Texas 2015) -- will share how they keep their passion for students and the profession in a webinar presented by Walden University and NNSTOY this Tuesday, May 2 from 8:00-9:00 PM ET. Register

Investing in What it Takes to Move From Good to Great.   The next research report in our Good to Great series will be released on Capitol Hill Wednesday, May 3 from 12:00-1:15 PM. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) will make opening remarks. Katherine Bassett, Megan Allen (2010 Florida) and Topher Kandik (District of Columbia 2016) will present. Register

Meeting at the Intersection of Policy and Practice.  David Bosso (Connecticut and Josh Parker (Maryland 2012) will host a webinar discussion during NNSTOY's release of Bosso's research study, "Teacher Morale, Motivation and Professional Identity: Insight for Educational Policymakers from State Teachers of the Year." The webinar will take place Tuesday, May 9 from 8:00-9:00 PM ET. Bosso based his findings on responses he received from State Teachers of the Year. Register
What We Are Reading
Interesting and emerging ideas about education from around the country
New Ways to Engage
Plug into teacher leadership outside of your school.

Call for Applications!   Education First is calling for applications for teacher-led projects that seek to improve systems that foster social and emotional skills in fresh, inventive or innovative ways for grades PK-12. Education First will award up to $5,000 to teachers or groups of teachers. Get your applications in before Friday, April 28 at 11:59 PT. Learn more here

Join NNSTOY's Scaling for Impact Team. If you are interested in helping NNSTOY plan to make a large and positive impact on our country's schools and the profession, join the newly forming Scaling For Impact Committee. Email Lauren Cantell if you are interested: Lauren@nnstoy.org.

Become a State Lead for Day on the Hill. If you are planning to attend NNSTOY's teacher leadership conference in Washington, D.C. this summer, please sign up to be a State Lead for our Day on the Hill. State Leads help to coordinate meetings with members from their state and their of congressional representatives. It's not a hard job, but it is critically important. Learn more

Conference Update

If you haven't checked out the conference webpage recently, you will want to explore. There you can take an early peek at the conference agenda and see who will be presenting. Learn about exciting options for our Day of Service and sign up for one. And sign up for our Day on the Hill, when we will meet with congressional representatives from our state to advocate for policies that benefit our students.

Be sure to register for the conference before the Early Bird rate ends June 1. And book your room at the Westin before our room block rate closes June 6.

New & Noteworthy
Tools and opportunities to support #TeachersLeading


Who Gets Pell Grants and Why it Matters  (Center for American Progress)

The module IV team of the NNSTOY Professional Learning Modules take a break to breathe in spring air in Washington, D.C. 
Kudos, Shout-Outs & Accolades*
News from the NNSTOY community

Members of the team building Module IV of the Teachers Leading Professional Learning Modules met over three days in April in order to craft the module for domain IV, Helping Colleagues Improve Instruction. They include: Jessica Garner (North Carolina 2010), Marguerite Izzo (New York 2007), Jennifer Walker (Ohio 2010), Katherine Bassett (New Jersey 2000), Irene Salom (Texas 2014), Monica Washington (Texas 2014) and Peggy Stewart (New Jersey 2005).

James Ford's ( North Carolina 2015) "Fighting for Dreamers in and Out of the Classroom" was published in EdWeek and the NNSTOY blog.  Ford's article, released shortly after the first Dreamer was deported under the new administration, poses a call to action for teachers to advocate for the rights of all students. He writes,  " Let our voices be counted among the number of those advocating for humane and fair treatment of the many Dreamers and families whose road to success goes through our classroom. Fighting for students is more than just a job, it's a way of life."

This week Educators for High Standards published Beth Maloney's piece (Arizona 2014) aptly titled, "Policymakers need to hear what teachers have to say." She argues, " Teachers play one of the most influential roles in school and student performance. That's why policymakers must listen to and gather feedback from teachers on policies that will affect teaching and learning."

Maryann Woods Murphy (New Jersey 2010) explores the value of questioning in EdWeek's Teacher Leader Voices Blog. In "Who Cares about Questioning Strategies," Maryann suggests, " Questions build intrinsic motivation. They cause us to lean in and look for answers." Read more at EdWeek or on the

Spring is here! It's time to take some "Lessons from the Garden: What Teachers Can Do to Help Vulnerable Students Thrive" .  In this thoughtful EdWeek piece, Nate Bowling (Washington 2016) urges educators to "..  deepen [the] soil, we must make [students] all feel welcomed, loved, and protected--even when much of society is sending a very different signal." Read more here

In January of this year Jemelleh Coes (Georgia 2014) wrote  a provocative piece advising the future teachers of her Black Daughter.  "To the Educators who will teach My Colleague's White Son"   is the follow up to January's post and offers a deep insights into how educators can and should teach strength and self-awareness to young white boys. 

Angie Miller's (New Hampshire 2011) article "When Teachers Believe their Work is Never Enough" was featured in EdWeek  and on the  NNSTOY Blog In her post, Angie recommends, " Recognize what you are good at and be unapologetic about it... Embrace  your strengths with humility and lean into them. Under stand that your weaknesses do not indicate incompetence.

Gary Carmichael's (Montana 2007) led his school to victory in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest with his  authentic, experiential lessons.

Irene Flores  (Texas 2013) is just back from the 2017 Deeper Learning Conference, where she gathered with educators across the country to share best practices in project-based learning.  Flores attended the conference through a full scholarshi p.

Sydney Chaffee's (Massachussetts 2017) "Teachers Must Be Ready to Engage"  was recently published in The Standard, The official Blog of the National Board.  In her  piece, Chaffee discusses the importance of talking about race in the classroom. 

Congratulations to Michelle Pearson (Colorado 2010), winner of the Heart of Broomfield Award in the category of Arts. Michelle was recognized by the city of Broomfield for her countless contributions to her community. Way to go!

*Send us your scoop!  If you have professional information to share in  Member News,
 please connect with laurie@nnstoy.org.