Member News -- October 10, 2017
Materials for Maestros
STOYS and Finalists step up to help students and colleagues in Puerto Rico

Many teachers in Puerto Rico have returned to their classrooms. Although students will not return to school until mid-October, our hard-working colleagues in many areas around the island are working diligently to make their classroom a safe and comfortable place post "Maria." As you can well imagine, many are lacking the basic supplies (and support) to accomplish this important task.

Dorina Sackman (Florida 2014) is leading a charge help equip schools in Puerto Rico for learning again, in an effort we are calling "Materials for Maestros." Sackman aims to galvanize NNSTOY members to start a movement where schools on the US mainland can adopt a school on the island. 

Her first stop is Thomas Alva Edison School (TAESPR), a PreK-12 private school in Caguas, Puerto Rico. TAESPR will also be sharing these supplies with other schools in the area that are in need. They are committed to ensuring all schools are given the opportunity to receive aid. 

  Learn more on what and how to donate.
 
 2017 Louisiana State Teacher of the Year Joni Smith reminded her colleagues in a tweet, "It's only official if you wear the pin."
Dressed for Success
Welcome to the Family!

Last weekend the 2017 State Teachers of the Year gathered for one of their final events as a cohort at the Next Steps conference in Princeton, New Jersey. 

As they transition from their year of recognition and learning, STOYs and Finalists from previous years were on hand to welcome them to the NNSTOY family.

"We are so pleased to have such an amazing and dedicated group as they land in their new professional home," said NNSTOY President and CEO Katherine Bassett (New Jersey 2000).

The Next Steps conference, now in its 11th  year, is organized by CCSSO and generously funded by ETS.  
Equity Meets Education
Film Series Features NC STOY

EdNC has released a series of short films about equity in education through the eyes of North Carolina's Black male leaders. James Ford (North Carolina 2014), a lead teacher in the film series, aims to answer the questions: 
  • What is the difference between equity and equality? 
  • How does race affect education in North Carolina?
  • Why are there so few men of color in the teaching profession?
"We noticed that race is a pernicious and stubborn sort of issue," Ford says, "and working at public schools, the issues are more pervasive." Ford explains that the challenge of issues of race "just beginning to become commonplace in educational discourse," and he emphasizes the need for action to remedy the inequities experienced by young people of color. 

Check back with EdNC frequently this month for video releases.
 
Washington Update
Jane West

Tax reform. In one last push to bring home an accomplishment for President Trump, the House and the Senate both moved forward an FY 2018 budget resolution to pave the way for tax reform.  

What does all this have to do with education?  Here is my answer:
  • If tax reform moves forward and requires big cuts in domestic spending, education will be in the cross hairs;
  • If the State and Local Tax (SALT) is eliminated, state and local funds for education will feel the squeeze;
  • Reduction or elimination of federal student financial aid programs could become a part of the effort to reduce spending and subsidize tax reform.
ESSA Implementation. The Senate HELP Committee assembled a panel  to consider how states are planning to implement ESSA.  Innovations which were highlighted include a "ready graduate indicator" in Tennessee, an expanded focus on career and technical education in Louisiana, and expanded student services in New Mexico. 

New Mexico has prioritized teacher leadership as a strategy for retaining teachers and strengthening the profession. Louisiana requires all seniors in teacher prep programs to serve as "resident educator" in a classroom with a mentor teacher in order to complete their preparation program. Mentors are trained and provided with additional pay.

Despite progress, concerns persist, particularly that many states are lagging in evidence-based requirements, a lack of focus on teacher quality and equity and clear criteria for low performing schools, among others. 

Read Jane West's full update on the NNSTOY Blog. 

What We Are Reading
Interesting and emerging ideas about education

New Ways To Engage 
Plug into teacher leadership outside of your school

Not Your Average Art Project. T he  Inside Out Project  is looking to create portraits  of teachers, schools and community members to help inspire support, recognition and celebration of local high schools. Take a look at last year's work  and one teacher's reflection on participating. Contact Wendy Cohen to take part: [email protected].

Sign up for an NNSTOY conference committee. Planning has already begun for NNSTOY's 2018 national teacher leadership conference. Please sign up to be part of a subcommittee if you are interested in using your leadership to give back to the organization and help create a memorable event, 

New and Noteworthy
Tools and Opportunities for #TeachersLeading

A Sad Passing
Sending Support to One of Our Own

It is with great sadness that we share the news that NEA Vice President Becky Kringle lost her husband Nate last Sunday. As a member of the community, Nate understood the role we all must play in the lives of our children. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a contribution to the Boys and Girls Club of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Donations can be made online . 
 
Checks may be addressed to:
Boys and Girls Club of Harrisburg
1227 Berryhill Street

Kudos, Shout-outs & Accolades
Within the NNSTOY family

Jemelleh Coes (Georgia 2014) has two great, justice-oriented pieces in EdPost! In  "Sometimes You Gotta Check Your Teacher Friends on Their Social Justice Activism,"  she holds the teaching profession accountable for their communication about social justice .  Coes writes, "...  I thought about what accountability looks like between educators. I thought about what I hope other educators will hold me accountable for and what I will commit to holding them accountable for,  a pledge that we all take , in an effort to grow and know better." In her post "A Commitment to Justice: Educator to Educator," Coes dives deeper into specifically what this accountability should look and feel like.  She writes, "I am holding you accountable for calling out injustice. Silence is communication." 

National Teachers of the Year  Jeff Charbonneau (2013), Shanna Peeples (2015), Sarah Brown Wessling (2010) and Sean McComb (2014) with CCSSO's Emily Zevely and Paul Ferrari at the Grounds for Sculpture in Princeton, New Jersey.  
Congratulations to Melody Arabo (Michigan 2015) who has been named the full-time  2017 Washington, D.C. School Ambassador Fellow for the Department of Education! Named by Sec. Betsy Devos, Arabo will advise on the development and implementation of national education policy. 

Rich Ognibene (New York 2008) has a great new piece in  EdPost preparing educators for LGBT History Month. In his post, Here's  "Everything You Should Do for LGBT History Month in Your Classroom,"  Ognibene gives practical advice and suggested applications in each classroom. Ognibene suggests that educators could, " ... use LGBT History month as a way to observe history in the making. While great strides have been made in the last decade for LGBT rights, clearly the fight for acceptance is not over." 

Principals,  Monica Washington (Texas 2014) has some critical advice in
EdWeek. "4 Things Great Principals Don't Do," gives clear and honest directives of what principals should avoid to get the best out of their teachers.  Here's one: "Great principals know not to give teachers the reminder that 'We're here for the kids'." Keep reading on the NNSTOY blog. 

We are not sure which we like better: the fact that Michael Dunlea (New Jersey Finalist 2012)  is running for his local school board or how he owns his professional expertise!

If you haven't checked out  Nate Bowling's (Washington 2016) blog, A Teacher's Evolving Mind , now is the time! He has a great new post called "Stop Berating Black and Brown Parents Over Charters (and Give Your Twitter Fingers a Rest)." Here, Bowling dives deeply into the charter school debate and advocates for students of color: " If you truly oppose charter schools, the most impactful thing you can do is work to make public schools places where students of color, particularly low-income black and Latino students, feel valued, welcomed, and loved."

Michelle Pearson (Colorado 2011) has a meaningful and honest piece on
EdPost this week. In "I'm Trying to Teach My Students That Mass Shootings Aren't Moral, But It's Getting Harder," Pearson shares her reflections and recommendations for what teachers can do now to "... help our students understand that their world doesn't have to be this way."

Brian Curtin (Illinois 2013) and  Sarah Brown Wessling (Teacher of the Year 2010) will be speaking at the Illinois Association of Teachers of English Fall Conference at the end of the month! In their session, Re-Imagine: Our Passion, Our Practice, Our Profession, Curtin and Brown Wessling will, "RE-imagine our teaching-not because the teaching of English is broken, but because we must REimagine continuously to keep pushing our students, and ourselves, further tomorrow than we believed was possible yesterday."