Virginia Journal of Education: June 2021

VIRGINIA JOURNAL of

EDUCATI N The magazine of the Virginia Education Association June 2021

Virginia educators: You rate straight A’s!

As schools emerge from COVID, educators credited with ‘heroic’ response

INSIDE • An effective return to in-person teaching upg. 14 • COVID shows we need public schools more than ever

upg. 16

Editor Tom Allen VEA President Dr. James J. Fedderman VEA Executive Director Dr. Brenda Pike Communications Director John O’Neil Graphic Designer Lisa Sale Editorial Assistant/Advertising Representative Yolanda Morris

COVER STORY

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Virginia Educators Get Straight A’s

Contributors Amit Kapur Kathy Davis Mavis Hendricks Brown

CONTENTS

Courtney Cutright

UP FRONT 4-7 This month: Broadband access, the 10 Most Wanted, and Touching Base with Charlottesville’s Amit Kapur.

FEATURES 12 O2B Conference Preps Members for the Table Keynote speaker calls negotiations opportunity ‘extraordinary win.’

14 A Smooth Welcome Back Making an effective return to in-person teaching.

16 More Than Ever How COVID has shown us that public schools remain indispensable.

19 ESPs to Get Retirement Boost from VRS Health insurance credit will expand this summer.

DEPARTMENTS 20 Membership Matters What happened at VEA’s convention and who took home annual awards.

24 Insight on Instruction Talking about race in school.

30 First Person Mr. Ingram and me.

Cover by Lisa Sale with iStock images.

Vol. 114, No. 6

Copyright © 2021 by the Virginia Education Association

The Virginia Journal of Education (ISSN 0270-837X) is published six times a year (October, November, December, February, April and June) by the Virginia Education Association, 116 South Third Street, Richmond, VA 23219.

Non-member annual subscription rate: $10 ($15 outside the U.S. and Canada). Rights to reproduce any article or portion thereof may be granted upon request to the editor. Periodicals postage paid in Richmond, VA. Postmaster: Send address changes to Virginia Journal of Education, 116 South Third Street, Richmond, VA 23219.

Article proposals, comments or questions may be sent to the editor at tallen@veanea.org or Tom Allen,116 South Third Street, Richmond, VA 23219, 800-552-9554.

Member: State Education Association Communicators VEA Vision: A great public school for every child in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

VEA Mission: The mission of the Virginia Education Association is to unite our members and local communities across the Commonwealth in fulfilling the promise of a high quality public education that successfully prepares every single student to realize his or her full potential. We believe this can be accomplished by advocating for students, education professionals, and support professionals.

UP FRONT

Even before COVID, teachers cited stress as their top reason for leaving the profession. The pandemic didn’t help. Here are some findings from a RAND Corporation survey of about 1,000 former public school teachers:

“I don’t know, Dad. I was in class and I just clicked ‘escape.’”

• Almost half of public school teachers who left teaching in public schools after March 2020 and before their scheduled retirement left because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

•

Many early leavers, though, could be lured back to public school teaching. Over half of those who left primarily because of the pandemic say they’re somewhat or definitely willing to return once most staff and students are vaccinated. Slightly fewer of those would return if there was only regular testing of staff and students for COVID-19.

•

Stress was the most common reason for leaving—almost twice as common as insufficient pay. This is corroborated by the fact that a majority of early leavers went on to take jobs with either less or around equal pay, and 3 in 10 went on to work at a job with no health insurance or retirement benefits.

•

Of the teacher leavers who are now working elsewhere, about 3 in 10 hold a noneducation-related job, another 3 in 10 have a different type of teaching position, and the rest are in nonteaching education jobs.l

We Need Broadband More Broadly “We’re going to have to figure out how every student has the access they need to have a fair shot of succeeding in school. That is what the digital age requires, and we’ve got to make sure our programs can help students succeed. Sometimes I put it this way: I say the goal is to leave no child offline. It’s no longer ‘no child left behind.’ It’s ‘no child left offline.’”

Acting Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel We have a long way to go to reach “No child left offline”: Of Virginia’s 133 public school divisions, 42 report that more than 30 percent of its students don’t have access to the internet at home; 30 say that 20-30 percent of students don’t; and 28 say that their figure is 10-20 percent. (Virginia Department of Education)

Something We Hope the Public Learned this School Year: A newfound respect and understanding of the importance of schools, and the significance of the work that teachers and counselors do as front-line workers, hopefully will be one of the future changes for our schools. I hold this as one of the greatest potential positive changes resulting from the pandemic.l Jane S. Bray, former dean of the Darden College of Education & Professional Studies at Old Dominion University

TOUCHING BASE WITH… AMIT K APUR

CHARLOTTESVILLE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Elementary school teacher What’s something you like about your job?

As someone who switched careers from engineering to teaching just a few years ago, I can say I found my home in education. As a third grade teacher, I get to build meaningful relationships with my scholars, challenge them to grow their brains, and marvel at all their unique ways of thinking about the world. I also feel like I’m a part of a greater community, something bigger than myself. To quote a line from our daily morning meeting message, “I am making the world a better place.”

How has VEA membership been helpful to you?

Being a part of the VEA has given me the confidence to speak up. Traditionally, I would shy away from voicing my opinions and concerns out loud. However, knowing that there is an organization that is willing to speak up for teachers and other educators has really given me the space and confidence to find my own voice. I am volunteering for more opportunities at my school and actively engaging in sharing my thoughts, observations, and feelings with my colleagues as well as the larger school community. l

Illustration page 4 and photo page 5 by iStock

Teacher Attrition and COVID

“I strive for realism.”

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UP FRONT

The 10 Most Wanted

If you want to show your appreciation for a teacher, take time to educate yourself about issues that directly impact education. Learn how education is funded, about candidates who support public education and how collective bargaining benefits students and employees.

Ask a teacher what he or she needs to make every child’s learning experience amazing.

The 10 most critical teaching shortage endorsement areas in Virginia, 2020-2021, according to the Virginia Department of Education:

— Virginia Beach member Dawn Euman, in a published letter to the editor

1. Special education 2. Elementary education (preK-6) 3. Middle education (6-8) 4. Math, grades 6-12

(including Algebra 1) 5. Career and technical education 6. Science (secondary) 7. Foreign language (preK-12) 8. English (secondary) 9. Library media (preK-12) 10. History and social science (secondary)l

Where Do YOU Stand on the Oxford Comma?

“That’s him—number 3! It’s Mr. Nace, our seventh grade English teacher.

He’s the one whose exam contained questions not covered in the assigned reading!”

Homework help platform Brainly surveyed 1,700 American high-schoolers and here’s some of what they found: • Students are solidly behind the Oxford comma, with 66 percent saying they favor it.

• Grammar is a relationship issue.

Just over half of “single” respondents (53 percent) say that poor grammar is a dating deal-breaker.

• Virginia is the national leader in supporting good grammar. More than two-thirds of Virginia students (68 percent) say having good grammar is very important, the highest figure among the states.

Pennsylvania was second at 62 percent.

• The top two most frequent grammatical spelling errors students report seeing their peers make are they’re/their/there and it’s/ its.l

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Another Perspective on ‘Learning Loss’ Students are learning how to reset the rhythms and structures of their days. They are learning different patterns and modes of communication. They may be taking on different roles in their homes and learning how to complete new tasks, engage in new games and develop or sustain new and different activities.

Some are learning from the outdoor world on walks that go slower and last longer than before. Others are watching nature change day-by-day out their window, in their gardens, and along trails and bodies of water. Some are spending more time in their imaginations because it’s the only place to go, but this is not unimportant work.

Students cannot help but learn about themselves, others and the world around them in this time when solitude has steadily increased alongside disconnection and uncertainty. Even those who are too young to verbalize their understandings understand their world has changed, and they’re changing right along with it.l — Rachael Gabriel, an associate professor of literacy education at the University of Connecticut

Help for Your Students with Disabilities COVID is just making things even more difficult for students with learning disabilities, as well as students in other often marginalized groups. In response, the National Center for Learning Disabilities has released a new report called “Promising Practices to Accelerate Learning for Students with Disabilities during COVID-19 and Beyond.”

You can check it out, along with other disabilities topics, by going to ncld.org and then clicking Our Research.l

“Give this to Mom and tell her I can’t be reached for comment.”

What’s Wrong with this Math?

77

%

of teachers who are women

31

%

of school division chiefs Source: Chiefs for Change (chiefsforchange.org)

Photo and illustrations by iStock

You Can Really Help!

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COVER STORY

Virginia educators: You rate straight A’s!

As schools emerge from COVID, educators credited with ‘heroic’ response

Your Union: A Solid Support System In a situation none of us was really prepared for, your Union, just as our members have in their individual situations around Virginia, has risen to the occasion and had your back. Here are just some of VEA’s highlights in the last 15 months:

just wanted to get back to normal, whatever that could mean.

One thing stood out: You. You and your colleagues performed as frontline workers, answering the call, whether in person or via remote instruction. While keeping students and staff safe, you delivered instruction creatively and tirelessly.

And it’s important that you know that the public recognizes how professionally—and heroically—you have acted when students needed you.

“The past year has been challenging for everyone, but most of us have not had to adapt to a complete-

March 13, 2020

Governor Ralph Northam announces that Virginia public schools will close for two weeks. VEA shares a Centers for Disease Control fact sheet with leaders, to be distributed to members; begins revamping website to be a clearinghouse of updated COVID information; and creates a COVID-19 Response Team.

ly new way of doing our jobs like teachers have,” said a Northern Virginia parent participating in VEA-sponsored focus groups this spring. “Maintaining a calm and patient demeanor while also sticking to a lesson plan is tough, and they deserve grace.”

VEA launched focus groups and surveys of the public in spring to capture public mood as the pandemic passed its one-year mark.

That research showed that citizens recognize the amazing work teachers and support professionals accomplished against unprecedented challenges. (In other words,

March 26, 2020

In the aftermath of school closures, VEA launches a series of weekly (often twice-weekly) Facebook Live programs, offering members current information and featuring a wide range of expert guests. The programs run for eight months.

VEA holds a member-led webinar about self-care, helping educators cope with the high levels of stress that came as we adjusted to teaching during an unprecedented health crisis.

don’t believe any haters you may have seen on social media—they’re speaking to themselves.)

A refreshing, positive feeling is starting to take hold for the first time in more than a year. Masks are coming off, people have been getting vaccinated in large numbers, and some schools have been able to hold in-person graduations and other events. This summer is a time to recharge your batteries, because you deserve it!

YOUR STUDENTS’ PARENTS GIVE YOU HIGH GRADES In a time of intense pressure and

April 2020

VEA surveys members to check on everyone and gather information on what your top needs are; begins working to meet them.

May 6, 2020

VEA offers members direct access to statewide decisionmakers and the chance for input through an exclusive tele-town hall meeting with Gov. Northam, Secretary of Education Atif Qarni, and State Superintendent James Lane.

Since March, 2020 As COVID develops, VEA President James J. Fedderman, local presidents, and numerous members begin speaking out in public forums and in the media, demanding proper health protections, including PPE; adequate resources for virtual instruction; stay-athome options for high-risk staff members; and student mental health services to help with recovery from the pandemic.

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Photos by iStock, Photo illustration designby Lisa Sale

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ifteen months ago, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam closed Virginia public school buildings because a virus that would ultimately infect more than 33 million Americans and kill nearly 600,000 had invaded the commonwealth.

Overnight, many of the rituals we associate with our schools disappeared: Lively cafeterias and Friday night football games. Packed school buses. Reading circles with kids’ knees touching one another.

Everything else was transformed.

Instruction went virtual, school buses were used to deliver meals or set up temporary WiFi stations—and everyone

COVER STORY stress, the parents of your students have had your back and appreciated your hard work and commitment to their children.

“Remember that teachers are people, too, with their own circumstances,” said one parent. “We’re all doing the best we can in this pandemic. Offer solutions and support, not criticism.”

In April and May, VEA commissioned a poll of the public, which included a sample of parents of public school students; here are some of the findings from that research: • Three out of four parents said they’re either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the education their children received during this very difficult school year; 70 percent say their children’s education has been either “very” or “somewhat” effective despite COVID’s obstacles. “Despite the

July 30, 2020

VEA brings Senator Mark Warner to our members in a virtual roundtable discussion about COVID and our schools, moderated by VEA President Fedderman.

challenges, my child has received a fantastic and safe education,” said one Virginia Beach parent.

• Parents have favorable impressions regarding teachers and schools: 74 percent strongly or somewhat approve of their school district; 83 percent felt the same way about teachers in their local public schools. Teachers were described by some in the survey as “saints,” “heroes,” and “fairy godmothers.”

• When asked if they felt schools had responded appropriately to the pandemic, 56 percent of parents said the schools have handled things about right, 25 percent felt they were too restrictive, and 19 percent said they believed schools took too many risks.

THE PUBLIC LARGELY BACKED YOUR THINKING, TOO Educators have been specific and adamant about what constitutes safe instruction and the best format for delivering it throughout the pandemic and when schools should reopen, and the public has largely been in agreement.

“With social distancing, they couldn’t fully reopen,” said one parent in a VEA survey this spring. “I wouldn’t want them to right now. Numbers need to be where they need to be.

I’m not in any hurry until things are normal again.”

In the April and May surveys, the general public had this to say about schooling during the pandemic: • When asked how schools should be delivering instruction then, 35 percent opted for fully in-person teaching, 48 percent for a hybrid of

October 2, 2020 VEA initiates General Assembly action making every school division make public its plan for controlling the spread of COVID-19 and its strategies for protecting students and educators. The new law passes unanimously in both the House and Senate, and school divisions are required to post their COVID plans on their websites. In addition, those plans must be consistent with CDC and VDH recommendations.

October 15, 2020

VEA is instrumental in General Assembly budget agreement that preserves school funding endangered by temporary enrollment drops. “Without these provisions, school divisions were headed down the path of layoffs and furloughs of school employees—just as students needed caring and committed educators more than they ever have,” Fedderman says that day.

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in-person and remote instruction, and 16 percent for distance learning only.

• When the same group was asked how they thought schooling should best be done this fall, 60 percent chose fully in-person, 33 percent opted for a hybrid arrangement, and 8 percent want full-time distance learning.

• Teacher vaccinations gave a big boost to survey participants’ confidence in school reopening.

If teachers are vaccinated, 51 percent believe schools should operate pretty much as normal and 49 percent thought schools should reopen, but with distancing requirements.

• Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of the general public were either “very convinced” or “somewhat convinced” that the following is

December 4, 2020

December 10, 2020

VEA launches letter-writing campaign urging Gov. Northam to prioritize educators as vaccines are launched. Governor later recommends educators for Group 1B, just behind first responders and healthcare workers.

As COVID cases spike after Thanksgiving, VEA issues call for all-virtual instruction until at least mid-January.

“We must ensure that our students are learning,” says Fedderman, “but we cannot take actions that put the health and safety of students, or educators, or Virginia families at risk when safer options are available. Learning losses will be made up, but loss of life cannot be.” VEA’s call drew widespread media coverage and spurred debate around the commonwealth.

a “convincing reason to support public school employees during this pandemic”: “There has never been a question about whether educators want to go back into the classroom…We simply want to make sure schools are taking the precautions needed to protect our educators, students, and their families.” Public school parents were slightly higher, at 69 percent.

WE’RE EMERGING, LOOKING AHEAD Make no mistake: COVID remains with us. And while it’s been an exhausting and stressful 15 months (and counting), we’re advancing on a “new normal” with growing speed.

In a survey of VEA members, 76 percent said they were either “very” or “somewhat” confident that it will be safe for their school to open full-time and in-person this fall. In addition, 84 percent said they’re fully vaccinated

now; of those who weren’t yet fully vaccinated, 85 percent had scheduled their second shots.

Some of the most encouraging information to come out of our research and surveys, however, is that adults both inside and outside of our public school systems identify the needs of children as their top priorities in making decisions about opening schools, methods of teaching, and other education issues. While there have been some pushing for school reopening timelines that may have caused unnecessary health risks because of economic or child care concerns, they have been in the minority and have not prevailed.

Perhaps, then, if there’s a “winner” anywhere in this pandemic, it’s been common sense—and, as a result, our young people.l

February 9, 2021

Ongoing

VEA President Fedderman and five other Union members are appointed to the Virginia LEARNS Workgroup formed by the Virginia Department of Education to help guide public schools in the reopening process; group released resources and guidance April 13. As COVID unfolded, members also served on VDOE’s School COVID-19 Recovery Task Force and other statewide groups.

VEA continues to support members with field services, legal help, contract negotiations training, leadership development, local capacity-building, and much more.l

February 22, 2021

VEA helps turn back a misguided effort by some legislators to force school reopening prematurely The measure would have stripped away all decision-making authority from local school divisions while putting Virginia students, their families, and educators at greater risk of harm from the COVID pandemic.

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FEATURE STORY

O2B Conference Readies Members for the Table Keynote speaker calls negotiations opportunity ‘an extraordinary win.’

S

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The evening before the O2B Conference,VEA members gathered for a virtual rally to celebrate Virginia’s new contract negotiations law, which took effect May 1.

“It was an inspiring and empowering day,” says VEA Vice President Carol Bauer, an elementary school teacher in York County. “I was energized and pumped up, and my local sent a team, so I wasn’t alone in my enthusiasm.

Our York team debriefed and started planning right away how to continue to organize, educate, and activate our members with these new insights.”

Conference attendees, in addition to hearing expert speakers, also had classes on developing and sharpening their bargaining skills; creating and communicating a clear and compelling message; and building power within locals to win recognition and the chance to negotiate. In addition,

local presidents attended sessions designed to support them and their leadership in this new landscape.

McAlevey lay out some core concepts for getting negotiations moving and for succeeding in them. To begin, she stressed, high participation is an absolute must, because our negotiating partners will have more money and resources than local unions will.

“One thing we have on our side is numbers,” McAlevey says, “and not just members—we need active members and solid unity, because if we allow anyone to divide us, our position is weakened.” She added that

having a supermajority of potential bargaining unit members, which she defines as at least 70 percent, joined together is vital.

She also walked members through a process local unions can use to map out their support at worksites and to engage in conversations with all workers to build understanding of purpose and unity, an exercise that resonated with Bauer. “The mapping explanation and why it is so important inspired not just York, but the other locals in the Colonial UniServ area, and we are working together to help support each other with our community education and outreach efforts,” she says.

Public employees in Virginia,

including public school educators, were barred from negotiating contracts with their employers following a 1977 decision by the Virginia Supreme Court. That ban ended last year, when VEA members mobilized and helped force a repeal of the ban. The effective date was pushed from last July to this May because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In recent months, VEA has offered multiple training opportunities for members to prepare for contract negotiations, with the O2B Conference the biggest event to date. Additional trainings and other learning opportunities are forthcoming; ask your VEA UniServ Director for details.l

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Photos by Tom Allen

ing 2 Bargain (O2B) Conference in ometimes the perspective of May. an expert observer, even one

What she wanted VEA members from afar, can help us get a to take away is that our histobetter grasp on what’s actually hapry-making opportunity to negotiate pening right in our own hometowns. contracts with school divisions, Here’s a bit of that perspective after a ban on the practice for more from Dr. Jane F. McAlevey, a union than 40 years in Virginia, is indeed a organizer, scholar and author of turning of the tide in our state and a three books about the essential role chance to improve both the learning of workers, including A Collective conditions of our students and the Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and working conditions of our educathe Fight for Democracy: “Achieving tors—which, in bargaining rights in reality, are the same the state of Virginia is thing. an extraordinary win The O2B Conand a major opporference, a one-day tunity. From my vanvirtual event pretage point, having ceded by an online negotiated at nationrally the evening al and local tables before, was VEA’s in many different Union activist and author Jane McAlevey fired up members with latest effort to train kinds of states, the her keynote speech at VEA’s O2B as many educators chance you have to Conference. as possible in the do some rule-maknegotiation process ing around collective and in building local momentum bargaining—which is what you’ll and support to make going to the be doing—is really dynamic and table happen. More than 200 VEA exciting.” members representing 70 local asso McAlevey, who is also a senior ciations attended the May 1 event, fellow at the University of California, scheduled to coincide with the date Berkeley Labor Center, made those that Virginia’s new contract negotiapoints and fired up educators as the tions law went into effect. keynote speaker for VEA’s Organiz-

FEATURE STORY

Welcome Back

Some thoughts for making an effective return to in-person teaching.

By Mavis Hendricks Brown

The last year has brought us collective trauma in the forms of the COVID-19 pandemic and a sharp increase in civil unrest. As we return to in-person instruction, it’s imperative that we understand the impact of the last 12 months on young people and its effect on how we manage our classrooms.

Some students will be coming back to school bearing the burden of toxic stress due to abuse, trauma or grief. According to the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, healthy development can be derailed by the excessive or prolonged activation of stress response systems in the body and brain, leaving damaging effects on learning, behavior, and health for years. Many families have experienced layoffs and furloughs, and a reduction in household income can manifest, says ChildSavers, in ways that result in domestic violence, drug abuse, and child abuse and neglect, which in turn can create absenteeism, learning disabilities, poor health and emotional scars.

With all that in mind, here are some research-based ways you can help your students:

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MIDDLE AND SECONDARY STUDENTS Some students have spent a great deal of time with a lack of structure. This may be something that spills over into a regimented classroom where social distancing will be required and certain acts of compliance with COVID-19 regulations must be enforced. The Schools Committee of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network says you may see some of these behaviors: • Increase in inappropriate activity level • Irritability with friends, teachers, events • Angry outbursts and/or aggression • Change in academic performance • Decreased attention and/or concentration • Absenteeism • Increase in impulsivity, risk-taking

behavior • Heightened difficulty with authority, redirection or criticism • Emotional numbing

Many adolescents, if given support, will recover in a few weeks or months.

However, if these behaviors magnify, contact the parent or caregiver and reach out to the school counselor, psychologist, or school social worker.

Some modifications in the way you interact with students can provide the support needed that will best accommodate the issue with a student: MODIFIED TEACHING STRATEGIES • Balance normal school expectations with flexibility. You might postpone large tests or projects that require extensive energy and concentration for a while until students become more regulated into the demands of school performance.

• Use teaching strategies that promote concentration and retention helps increase a sense of predictability, control, and performance.

• Be sensitive when students are experiencing difficult times. It could be a loss of an after-school job or students who have not been accustomed to under-resourced households may find themselves without necessary income support. Social services may be needed to help students who are experiencing economic difficulty.

• Use behavior specific praise for both academic skills and behavior.

• Provide frequent breaks that could include movement, mindful calming, energizing, or refocusing activities as well as opportunities to connect socially with peers.

The National Education Association offers some overall helpful reminders for teachers: • Take charge of your class---get everyone’s attention before beginning class.

• Review expectations daily, be specific, provide a visual.

• Focus on disruptive students: if students are not paying attention or busy doing other things, get them focused by using nonverbal signals or quick error corrections in private.

• Actively supervise your students: class goes so much better when you can see your students.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS Teaching today is increasingly complex, and unexpected events cause us to rethink how we’re managing our classrooms. Reach out to fellow teachers. We’re constantly learning from each other about how to best provide stability and preparedness for our students and helping them function and thrive during a time of adversity and uncertainty.l Brown, PhD, is an associate professor of education at the University of Richmond.

Six Key Principles of a Trauma-Informed Approach 1. Safety. Is the setting physically safe? Do interpersonal interactions promote a sense of psychological safety?

2. Trustworthiness and Transparency. Are decisions made transparently, with the goal of building and maintaining trust with students and family members, among staff, and others involved in the school?

3. Peer Support. Is peer support and mutual self-help being used as key vehicles for establishing safety and hope, building trust, enhancing collaboration, and utilizing lived experience to promote recovery and healing?

4. Collaboration and Mutuality. Does your school recognize that everyone has a role to play in a trauma-informed approach? As one expert says, “One does not have to be a therapist to be therapeutic.”

5. Empowerment, Voice, and Choice. Are students and staff both supported in shared decision-making, choice, and goal-setting to determine the plan of action they need to heal and move forward?

Are self-advocacy skills being cultivated? Staff are facilitators rather than controllers of recovery.

6. Cultural, Historical, and Gender Issues. Are school policies, protocols, and processes responsive to the racial, ethnic and cultural needs of students and staff? Is historical trauma being addressed?

Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (samhsa.gov)

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Photo by iStock

A Smooth

ELEMENTARY-AGE CHILDREN • Establish predictable structures and routines. A sense of “normalcy” will give students a feeling of safety and that life will go on.

• Provide choices. Students may have lost a sense of control or uncertainty about the future.

Having choices will perhaps give them a sense of control.

• Increase the level of support and encouragement. Behavior specific positive praise of what has gone well will boost their spirits.

• Set clear and firm limits for inappropriate behavior and develop logical rather than punitive consequences.

• Give simple and realistic answers about recent events. Clarify distortions and misconceptions to the best of your ability. Let children know they’re safe and you’re looking out for their well-being.

FEATURE STORY

How COVID has shown us that our public schools remain indispensable.

O

ur public schools have always been the nation’s goto institutions for not only teaching our young people and readying them for the workforce, but also to prepare the next generation of active, responsible citizens, uniting us, and providing needed social structure and services.

We all benefit from public education. Every day.

That may never have been more true than it is right now, as

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our country begins to bounce back from a devastating pandemic that has forever changed our lives.

We’ve closed school buildings for extended periods and had to find new ways of making public education work. Reopening schools has been and will be challenging, compounded by the fact that students and educators are coming back to those buildings carrying the effects of a difficult, stress-filled time.

Positive aspects arise after

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almost all crises, however, and one of them here may be an increased awareness and appreciation of how much we need our public schools.

Not only are schools and educators coming through with keeping learning alive during COVID-19, they’re providing meals, support, a sense of community, and vital social services.

Here are just a few reasons COVID has shown Americans how much we rely on our public schools,

Public schools must be available to all students, free of charge, and they have continued to be there for all students even in times of trouble.

Public school districts are required to educate any student, regardless of income, race, ethnicity, academic level, disability, immigration status, language proficiency, or other characteristics or needs. Although private schools are important to many families, they are not meant to be a universal system. They are limited by geography, may be expensive, and may have selective policies for admitting and retaining students. Our public schools educate about 90 percent of our elementary and secondary students.

As the nation moves toward an uncertain future in the wake of COVID-19, it will take a greater level of public support to ensure that public schools continue to operate, and that public school teachers and leaders can continue doing their jobs.

Early advocates saw public schools as means not only to develop an educated citizenry, but also to create cohesion among disparate groups and social classes, build economic strength, and eliminate poverty, crime, and other social problems.

While these purposes have not been fully met, they are as relevant as ever.

Public schools have long been considered the primary institution for educating students about our system of government and preparing them to participate in civic life. Civic education is especially

Public schools are the main places that bring together young people from diverse economic, social, racial-ethnic, and religious backgrounds for a major part of the day.

The school-age population and the larger U.S. society have become more racially and ethnically diverse.

Less than half (49 percent) of public elementary and secondary school students are white, 26 percent are Latinx (the fastest-growing group), 15 percent African American, 6 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, 1 percent Native American/Alaska Native, and 4 percent two or more races.

When students from diverse backgrounds learn side-by-side, they have opportunities to find common ground and acquire skills needed for getting along. Although this ideal has been thwarted at various times by practices ranging from outright discrimination to more subtle forms

of student tracking, public schools remain the primary societal institution where children are likely to interact with peers different from themselves.

Public schools help to build and sustain communities.

Public schools are places where community members come together for meetings, recreation, entertainment, voting, and other activities. In some small, rural communities, schools are the only public building suitable for these purposes, and the loss or consolidation of public schools can

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Photos by iStock

More Than Ever

critical in the current context.

Our democracy depends on having educated citizens who understand political and social issues and who will exercise the right to vote, act to protect their rights and freedoms, and resist tyrants and demagogues. Not only are public schools responsible for teaching civics and government, but they are also one of the first places where children form a community with others outside their families and practice skills they will use in civic life, such as making group decisions and handling disagreements.

The pandemic has underscored the importance of civic knowledge and civic mindsets. Americans have been asked to make sacrifices to protect others.

They have watched debates about the responsibilities and powers of different levels of government play out in front of them with serious consequences.

People must sift through conflicting and confusing information to distinguish fact from fallacy. They have seen first-hand the impact of government policies and, in many cases, have gained a new respect for competence in government, expertise in public institutions, and dedication to public service.

from “For the Common Good: Recommitting to Public Education in a Time of Crisis,” a report by the Center for Education Policy (cep-dc.org):

have a negative ripple effect when the community loses this anchor.

When parents send their children to public school, they become part of the larger school community and are more invested in the success of the school system. And when people support their local public schools through their taxes, time, and voluntary efforts, they are exercising a civic responsibility that benefits the whole society. If we let public schools falter, we lose an important source of social glue.

Public schools address a range of family and social service needs.

At the most basic level, COVID-19 policies have made clear how much working parents rely on schools to take care of their children while they do their jobs and how much family schedules are geared to public school schedules. Public schools do

much more than provide a place of learning for children. For example, they also provide lunch to more than 29 million students each day and breakfasts to almost 15 million; these school meals may be the most reliable source of nutrition for some children from low-income families.

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FEATURE STORY Many schools also provide healthcare through school nurses, before- and after-school programs, counseling, recreation, substance abuse prevention, and safety and violence prevention. At some public schools, entire families can access a variety of social and community services. School closures related to the pandemic have made clear just how important these services are, and many school districts have continued distributing meals at pickup points.

Public schools will play a key role in dealing with the long-term effects of the current crisis.

The pandemic has exacerbated already wide disparities in wealth and health. Americans at the lower rungs of the economic ladder have been harder hit by exposure, illness, and layoffs. The nation can expect a long, difficult period that will negatively affect the economic stability of families and the learning and well-being of many children. Public schools must be ready to deal with an increased number of families with serious educational and social needs. To do this, public schools will need support from all Americans, not just parents with children in public schools.

COVID-19 has made the multiple contributions of public schools more visible and has reinforced the need for strong and effective public institutions, but it has also exposed the stubborn inequities that have made public education a target for those who would like to radically change the mission of public schools.

This debate will likely become even more intense when public schools reopen, as local systems try to meet the needs of students and staff with far less funding and far more ongoing

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disruptions.

While the pandemic has unsettled schooling across the nation to an extent unseen since the 1918 flu epidemic, it is important to remember that the U.S. public education system has proved its resilience in overcoming many other unexpected or traumatic events, including the Great Recession of 2008, a spate of tragic school shootings, and a series of natural disasters. Although these occurrences have wreaked havoc on school systems large and small, public schools have managed to adjust and move ahead with the business of educating the vast majority of the nation’s students. Still, helping schools rebound from this crisis will require a deeper public commitment and a stronger political will than has been evident in recent years. Even if people are not yet able to come together physically in a public space, it will be important for them to come together metaphorically.

The public education system that emerges from the crisis will be different from that of the past, but at this critical moment, there is an opportunity for communities to come together and recommit to a better, stronger future for their public schools. If we have learned anything from this period of distancing from each other, it is that communities need to think holistically about how public institutions, like schools, serve and reinforce the nation’s longstanding commitment to the common good. We all have a role to play as the nation moves to recover and rebound from this crisis. If we use this moment to both reflect on the past and innovate toward the future, the result could be a more equitable and effective public education system.l

ESPs to Get Retirement Boost from VRS Health insurance credit will expand this summer.

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f you’re an education support professional and you’re in the Virginia Retirement System, paying for your health insurance in retirement just got a little easier. Beginning July 1, the health insurance credit for all non-teacher school division retirees covered by VRS will expand.

Current and future retirees with at least 15 years of VRS service credit will receive a monthly credit of $1.50 per year of service, or $2.50 if your employer elects an additional $1 enhancement. In addition, there will no longer be a $45 monthly cap on how high the credit can go.

The health insurance credit, which is included in your retirement payments and ends upon your death, is tax-free and helps with health insurance premiums you pay for single coverage, excluding any portion of the premiums covering a spouse or dependents. To receive the credit, you must provide supporting documentation if VRS is not deducting your health insurance premiums or if you have additional premiums to report.

Applying for the health insurance credit at retirement If you have at least 15 years of VRS

service credit and are eligible for the health insurance credit at retirement, complete and send the Request for Health Insurance Credit (VRS-45) to VRS. The form is available at varetire. org/forms. Later this summer, you can update health insurance credit information through your myVRS online account.

Retired and newly eligible for the credit?

In late June, VRS will mail eligible non-teacher school division retirees a letter explaining their new eligibility.

The letter will include instructions on steps to take to begin receiving the benefit. In the meantime, ensure that your address, email and contact information is up to date through your myVRS account at myVRS.varetire.org.

Retired and already receive the credit?

If you are a retired non-teacher school division employee who already receives the health insurance credit, your benefit may increase. The legislation removes the $45 per month cap on the credit. If eligible, you will automatically receive the appropriate higher credit amount beginning with your August 1 payment, provided you are already reporting premium amounts to VRS to support the increase. You will receive a letter in August notating the change in health insurance credit.

If you are eligible for a higher credit but have not reported health insurance premiums to document your eligibility for the credit, you may report those premiums by submitting a VRS-45 or logging into your myVRS account later this summer.

Keep VRS updated on premium changes after you retire Keeping your information current ensures you receive the proper credit amount and are not at risk for receiving an overpayment, which would require you to reimburse VRS. Report a premium change or cancellation through your myVRS account or by submitting the VRS-45.

Stay up to date on the latest VRS news and information— follow Virginia Retirement System on Facebook and subscribe to Member News at varetire.org/newsletter.l

VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | JUNE 2021

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Photo by iStock

FEATURE STORY

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

VEA Convention Delegates Tackle Contract Negotiations, Justice and Equity Issues

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onducting the annual convention in a first-ever virtual format, over 300 VEA members maneuvered through cyberspace to do some important planning for the Union, honor outstanding educators and legislators, and take stock of the havoc wreaked in everyone’s world by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, VEA members will make the Union’s “Organizing 2 Bargain” campaign our top priority for the next two years; actively support the Black Lives Matter in School movement; advocate for legislation creating a public option for broadband access to ensure learning equity; push for increased flexibility and waivers for standardized tests due to the pandemic; and create a toolkit to help educators protect students from hate content on the internet.

Members also approved the budget for the next fiscal year and heard reports from VEA’s Legislative Committee, Resolutions Committee, and Fitz Turner Commission for Human Relations and Civil Rights.

VEA President Dr. James J. Fedderman kicked off the 2021 event with a fiery speech calling for real progress in racial and social justice. “We owe our students a rich and inclusive curriculum and we owe them school systems that are properly funded,” he said.

Executive Director Dr. Brenda Pike also gave the “State of the Union” address, underlining VEA’s current sure footing and our members’ bold aspirations for the future. “We have clearly staked out a leadership position in the public arena on issues that affect our

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VEA Honors Education Advocates in Annual Awards Every year during VEA’s convention, we salute individuals and groups for outstanding work on behalf of public education. Our 2021 honorees include:

Friend of Education Award. This is VEA’s highest honor, and it went to Delegate Elizabeth Guzman, for her advocacy in the General Assembly for students and for contract negotiation rights for public educators.

Award for Teaching Excellence.

Erin Merrill, a Prince William Education Association member and middle school social studies teacher, was honored for, among other things, the innovative ways she uses technology in the classroom and how her students track elections and legislation and then propose their own laws.

Delegate Elizabeth Guzman

Education Support Professional (ESP) of the Year. Brandi Wilder is a school bus driver and Frederick County Education Association member known for pairing older and younger students for Story Time on the Bus to build community and reinforce academic skills.

VEA Executive Director Brenda Pike, President James Fedderman, and Vice President Carol Bauer (from left, top) sported their Red4Ed at the 2021 convention. Members Jennifer Hagler of Washington County, James Freeman of Chesterfield, and Shaniqua Williams of Frederick County (from left, bottom) joined in debate.

Fitz Turner Award for Outstanding Contributions in Intergroup Relations. The Fairfax Education Association is this year’s honoree for responding to a request from an FEA member to organize an “Educators for Black Lives Matter” rally event.

students and members,” she noted.

“We’ve developed excellent working relationships with statewide education decision-makers. To say that we are now recognized as the premier advocates for positive public education policies and contract negotiations in the commonwealth is an understatement.”

Delegates still found time to honor individuals and organizations for extraordinary work on behalf of students and public schools. VEA’s highest honor, the Friend of Education Award, went to Delegate Elizabeth Guzman, who represents parts of Prince William and Fauquier counties, in recognition of her

Robley S. Jones Political Activist Award. Kimberly Adams, president of the Fairfax Education Association and a school librarian, works consistently to elect friends of public education to office, from her local school board to the White House.

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General Assembly leadership.

VEA members also lauded several other legislators for their efforts in the 2021 General Assembly on behalf of students and educators, naming Delegate Lashrecse Aird, Delegate Nancy Guy, and Senator Jennifer McClellan the Legislators of the Year.

Del. Aird and Sen. McClellan were singled out for sponsoring identical bills to address the perennial underfunding of Virginia’s Standards of Quality; Del. Guy was honored for her work to ensure that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our schools are carefully studied and plans are made to counteract them.l

Martha Wood Distinguished Service Award. Sara Jane Knight of Arlington and Lola V. McDowell of Richmond are this year’s co-winners.

A quarter-century ago, Knight was one of the founding members of the Arlington Education Association-Retired and currently serves as recording secretary. In retirement, McDowell has become Richmond’s Read Across America celebration leader, holding annual events that have drawn governors, legislators, mayors, first responders, local television figures, and many others.

A+ Awards for Membership Growth. The Stafford Education Association, Chesterfield/Colonial Heights UniServ Council, the Loudoun UniServ Council, and the Mountain View UniServ Council were honored for membership growth.l

VRS Helps Educate Educators Whether you want to know more about the retirement plan you’re in or you’re looking for personal strategies to improve your overall financial health, VRS Member Education and myVRS Financial Wellness have you covered.

Member Education Webinars. At varetire.org/education, you’ll find a series of webinars on topics such as prioritizing saving for retirement and tracking your retirement goals.

One-on-one retirement counseling appointments are also available to VRS members. Call 888-827-3847 to schedule a phone or virtual meeting.

Hybrid Retirement Plan Learning Channel. If your VRS membership date is on or after January 1, 2014, you’re a member of the Hybrid Retirement Plan.

To find out what this means for you and how your plan’s components work, visit the Hybrid Retirement Plan Learning Channel for a full suite of quick-watch videos, available at varetire.org/hybrid; see Education. myVRS Financial Wellness ‘Start Here’ Guides. By practicing good money habits now, you can help create stability that lasts over time. If you don’t know where to begin with certain financial topics, take your first step with Start Here Guides, available through your myVRS account at myVRS.varetire.org. Navigate to Financial Wellness, then find Start Here Guides under Topics.

You can also investigate the Courses tab for an entire curriculum of interactive mini-courses. Each course allows you to learn at your own pace with video, audio and quiz questions.

To stay up to date on the latest VRS news and information, follow Virginia Retirement System on Facebook and subscribe to Member News at varetire.org/ newsletter.l

VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | JUNE 2021

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MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

VEA-Retired Spotlight

Walton Looks Back in Gratitude

by Kathy Davis Dot Walton learned the importance of Union membership as a beginning teacher in North Dakota when her local went into binding arbitration over salary issues. She ended up with a nice raise which, she notes, was not equaled when she moved back to Virginia despite having two years of experience.

Back in the commonwealth, she became a member of the Fluvanna Education Association, later moving to Charlottesville and eventually becoming CEA’s president and a VEA Board of Directors member, working with five different VEA presidents. Along the way, she met and became fast friends with Princess Moss, then a Louisa County Education Association member, now NEA’s vice president, with whom she’s pictured here.

As a retiree, Dot now serves not only as chair of C-PACE (Charlottesville Political Action Committee for Education) and as a VEA Fund PAC Director, but also as the administrative assistant in the Blue Ridge UniServ office, a position she’s held since 2017.

“I cannot begin to tell you what belonging to the VEA has meant to me,” Dot says. “I have been so fortunate and blessed to have been mentored, supported and surrounded

by VEA leadership, who gave me the opportunity to serve in roles I never imagined I would hold.”l

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Bookin’ It in Henry County Thanks to savvy and committed local association members, kindergartners in Southside Virginia are getting a reading jumpstart. The Henry County Education Association sought and received a NEA Community Partnership Grant for $7,500, applying jointly with Henry County Public Schools, and used the money to purchase a book for every kindergarten student in the county. In this photo, Heather Byrd, HCEA Co-President (r), and Judy Edmonds, principal of Meadow View Elementary School, show off some of the new reading material.l

Fairfax Leaders Speak Out “We must compensate those who continue to drive our county forward…The word ‘pivot’ is used often with nonchalance about what it takes to make that pivot possible. I submit that your public school employees have pivoted more than most, upending our own lives to meet the needs of so many others.”

— Fairfax Education Association President Kimberly Adams, to the county’s board of supervisors “Stand shoulder to shoulder with us on ordinance and resolution language needed for the return of collective bargaining. With additional funds from the federal government, invest in our education workforce, broadband, and work to address our overcrowded facilities.”l — FEA Vice President Carla Okouchi, testifying at the same meeting

Mahendrakar Joins VEA Staff Shweta Mahendrakar has joined VEA as a data analyst and comes to our headquarters staff from the Education Advisory Board. Prior to that, she worked for the Virginia Employment Commission and Virginia Community College Services performing data collection, data management, and visual representation of data for better decision-making.l

KUD

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Pittsylvania, Fairfax Members are Finalists for Presidential Award

Negotiating Contracts is Best Way to Have a Voice

by Dr. James J. Fedderman There’s a long list of reasons that VEA members have fought so long to regain the right to negotiate our contracts. The one I want to talk about here, though, is first and foremost among them: Being at the table with school division leaders is our best way to have an effective voice and help create the vision we have for the kind of great public schools Virginia is capable of having.

The kind of schools our students and educators both deserve.

You know all too well that decisions about how our young people will be taught and how our schools will be run are made, far too often, without sufficient input from the professionals who know best, the educators who are in the school buildings, with children, every day.

Contract negotiations will change that—and that’s why I’m so excited about making them happen.

One of the best ways to get us closer to being at the table, if you’re a local president or in another leadership position, is to make it a priority to listen to your members and find out what their top issues are. Learn what they most want to see happen, and share with them how contract negotiations can help turn wishes into reality.

You don’t have to be a lone wolf

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in these efforts, either. Your UniServ Director stands ready to help support your local’s efforts in a variety of ways— training, pulling together resources, information-gathering, and serving as a sounding board, to name a few.

Everyone can help spread the word that contract negotiations are a win for all of us. A contract isn’t just a binding legal document, it’s a shared set of values that guides us in creating the best learning environment we can for our students and the best working environment we can for our educators. We haven’t had a defined process for that in many years.

Negotiations, because they take place locally, are also our best way to address issues that may be unique to your community and your schools.

For example, before the Virginia Supreme Court decision in 1977 that took away our contract negotiation rights, Virginia educators had used them to accomplish goals such as additional reading, art, and music teachers, the setting of school calendars, fairer discipline policies, and more.

Let’s get back to that kind of bargaining. We’ll all be better for it.l

Two VEA members are finalists for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the nation’s highest honor for math and science teachers.

Tracy Cabacoy, a Fairfax Education Association member and math resource teacher at Providence Elementary School and Cathleen McGarvey, a Pittsylvania Education Association member and science teacher at Stony Mill Elementary School, are finalists, based on their excellence in the classroom.

The Presidential Awards, which alternates each year between K-6 teachers and 7-12 teachers, are overseen by the National Science Foundation on behalf of the White House.

Governor Northam has appointed these three Union members to statewide positions: • Anthony Swann of the Franklin County Education Association, Virginia’s 2021 Teacher of the Year, to the Virginia Board of Education.

• Anita James Price of Roanoke, a VEA Re tired member and former Roanoke vice mayor, to the Virginia Board of Juvenile Justice.

• Former VEA president and current NEA vice president Princess Moss, to the Board of Visitors at the University of Mary Washington.

Kristen Thrower, a high school librarian, and Lisa Signorelli, a middle school reading specialist, both Chesterfield Education Association members, were featured on a Richmond television station for their efforts to keep their students out of a “book desert” during COVID. They collect books through donations and places like Goodwill and then deliver them to students studying virtually.

Prince William Education Association member Bobby Donaldson received the Excellence in the Diploma Programme Award from the Mid-Atlantic Association of IB World Schools. Honored for his work as an anthropology teacher, he was chosen from IB teachers in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.l

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INSIGHT ON INSTRUCTION

Talking About Race in School

Create a welcoming classroom and school Each class has its own culture and learning climate. When you make equity and inclusion prominent priorities in your classroom norms, routines and environment, your students will feel a greater sense of belonging, safety and openness. Balance participation and learning opportunities.

Root out biases and barriers Be willing to examine your own biases. Reflect upon all aspects of your teaching practice. Could your curriculum, pedagogy, grading, classroom management, or disciplinary practices be giving preference to some students while putting others at a disadvantage? Are there any barriers to learning and success that some students may be experiencing? What are the racial impacts of different policies and practices at your school and school division?

Encourage self-expression Give your students the ability and validation to bring their full racial and cultural identities into your classroom so they can be themselves and speak their truths. Trust their wisdom and show deep respect. Discussions can

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begin by giving students an opportunity to share their experiences, perspectives, or stories. Identify and appreciate points of connection, as well as differences.

Be open yourself Be willing to share different dimensions of your own racial identity and cultural background. Be open about your experience with racial inequities and/or racial privilege and any efforts you’ve participated in to advance racial justice.

How has your racial identity been both a strength and a challenge in your life? What have you learned along the way, what were your mistakes, and what are you still learning?

Engage, don’t avoid Racism is perpetuated by silence. Being “colorblind” often serves as a pretense to downplay the significance of race, deny the existence of racism, and erase the experience of students of color. Be willing to lead the uncomfortable conversations and turn them into teachable moments. Learn to break through your own discomfort to embrace the tensions and unknowns.

Process is as important as content If you expect a challenging conversation, take time to get centered and take some deep breaths together. Try to be fully present with each other, without any distractions. Pay attention not only to what is being said (or not being said), but also to how it is being said, and who is saying it (or who is not speaking).

Expect to do more facilitating and process management, with the content of the conversation mostly generated in real time by your students.

Model your values and vision Practice equity, inclusion, empathy and respect in your own classroom. Your actions, more than your words, will have the greatest impact on your students.

They are looking to you for leadership and allyship. You can play a formative role in helping them build critical skills for navigating the complexities of race.l

The National Education Association is one of the 12 organizations that founded the Coalition to Support Grieving Students, which is now 29 organizations strong plus another more than 100 who promote it. The Coalition has created resources for teachers and school support staff, like paraeducators, custodians, bus drivers, and cafeteria workers, who want more information on learning to be there for grieving students, families and

Create opportunities for discussion Use current events, cultural happenings and local angles to spark relevant and meaningful discussions among your students. Pop culture (e.g. music, movies, sports, celebrities) is particularly engaging for young people, supplying continuous fodder for important race conversations. Keep abreast of race-related news sites or social media by people of color to get ideas for hot topics.

colleagues—especially in a time where social distancing has often prevented the human connection and healing power of a hug, a reassuring hand on a shoulder, or even a shared cup of coffee.

Visit the Coalition’s website at

grievingstudents.org. l

Talk about racism and racial equity If you want to get real about race, you have to also be willing to talk about racism and racial equity. To do so effectively, it helps to establish definitions for the terms you’ll be using.

For example, racial equity is not just the absence of discrimination but also the presence of values and systems that ensure fairness and justice. (More definitions are available in NEA’s Racial Justice in Education Resource Guide, available for download at nea.org.)

Illustrations and photo by iStock

The time is long past when educators could sidestep classroom discussions of race issues. Racial justice is front and center in our national consciousness and very much on the radar of our youth. The topic is going to come up. For healthy and constructive ways to handle race-related conversation in class, the National Education Association offers these 10 principles:

establish some agreements before you begin the conversation. Allow your students to generate, agree to, and hold each other accountable to their own norms. Display these agreements and refer back to them, as needed. Decide upfront on the goals and parameters of the conversation — what you are and are not going to address.

If We’ve Ever Needed to Help Grieving Students…

Establish and enforce group norms Since conversations about race can be difficult and divisive,

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INSIGHT ON INSTRUCTION

In a time when educators have dealt with sometimes amazing levels of stress on and off the job, NEA Member Benefits is introducing a new, easy way to help boost emotional health. The NEA Mental Health App is an evidence-based mobile app created by clinical experts that offers members on-demand help for stress, anxiety and depression. And it’s the result of a partnership with Sanvello Healthcare, whose app currently has over 3 million users nationwide.

The NEA Mental Health App is available to members, spouses/domestic partners and eligible dependents. To learn more about the options, both free and discounted, visit neamb. com/mentalhealth.l

Going to the Dogs?

To aid you in your dogged determination to teach your students, the American Kennel Club’s Education Department has come out with “The Canine Corner,” a free online newsletter with resources and teaching tips for K-12 teachers.

Some examples of how activities in the newsletter can help are a science lesson teaching about force and change in mass using AKC Agility, reading comprehension task cards, and creating line graphs using puppy growth data, among others.

You can find out more here: akc.org/ public-education/the-canine-corner.l

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Another Reason We Need CTE Career and technical education students can fill a skills gap in our state. Two quick facts: •

According to the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), 49 percent of jobs in Virginia require skills training—more education than high school but less than a four-year degree.

• However, ACTE also says that only 41 percent of Virginia workers are trained at this level.

CTE programs in the commonwealth could close or eliminate that gap, especially in industries such as information technology, supply chain management, manufacturing, and food and beverage processing.l

Another Reason We Need PE

We Can’t Sugarcoat Our History “I don’t think teaching tolerance means we should run away from controversies or avoid what we might refer to as the ‘ugly side’ of U.S. history. In fact, I think addressing such topics makes history more compelling to students. It is impossible to deny that the United States was founded on slavery and the genocide of indigenous people. The enslavement of African people and the conquest of indigenous lands generated tremendous wealth for landowners, bankers, and others.

Most of the ‘Founding Fathers’ owned human beings that they used as slaves to enrich themselves, and we must recognize that slavery was made possible by extreme violence. Similarly, learning about the systematic violence carried out against Native Americans over centuries forces students to see that indigenous people were not innocent ‘savages’ who graciously helped the Pilgrims (e.g., the myth of Thanksgiving), but rather were (and are) a diverse people whose culture and way of life have been severely damaged as a result of European colonization and territorial expansion. Confronting our history and learning from it is essential for moving forward and creating a more just society.

In short, schools that don’t teach all aspects of history unjustly deprive their students of the important opportunity to grapple with the full story of their country.”l — Pedro A. Noguera, dean of the Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California

Physical education teachers have faced their own particular challenges in the COVID pandemic, attempting to keep their students healthy and active during a long period of home learning. Now, as schools begin to welcome more in-person students, PE can play an important role in social and emotional learning during that transition. In active play and team experiences, students learn resilience, problem-solving skills, collaboration, cooperation, the joy of exploration, and physical and mental wellness.

To help PE teachers make the most of that opportunity, SHAPE (Society of Health and Physical Educators) America is offering resources to help build healthy habits and teach kids to thrive, both physically and emotionally.

Learn more at shapeamerica.org.l

How School Bus Drivers Can Help Students Build Resilience Some suggestions from Dr. Lori Desautels, an instructor in the College of Education at Butler University and former keynote speaker at VEA’s Instruction and Professional Development Conference: Student mentors One of the most effective ways to help students regulate their negative emotions is to provide leadership opportunities.

Bus drivers can show older students how to help younger students redirect negative emotions in healthy ways, such as drawing, coloring, or creating a new solution to a problem.

Catch me!

Drivers can “catch” students doing or saying something kind. Notes of gratitude, messages of noticing, and stickers contribute to students’ feelings of purpose and connection.

Thumbs up, thumbs down Each morning and afternoon, students can check in with drivers to share how they’re feeling through a quick thumbs-up, thumbs-down, or neutral show of emotion.

This is a great way to check in and notice patterns while creating a connection.

Little breaks The driver can play calming music, or the driver or a student can lead call-andresponse songs. Friday celebrations are a nice short break as well.

Bus newsletter, website, or a social media outlet Share news with parents and educators to recognize the familial tribe of connection on the bus in this group of students and transportation leader.l

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Photos and art by iStock

New NEA App Helps Educators Deal with Stress

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FIRST PERSON: NARRATIVES FROM THE CLASSROOM

— Courtney Cutright

As a columnist, I enjoy feedback from readers, though I don’t typically receive much.

However, there is one I can usually count on: my sophomore English teacher and yearbook advisor of four years, Mr. Bruce Ingram.

We first met before I started high school. You see, I wanted to be on his yearbook staff, which was only open to students in the upper grades. There was no newspaper where I could continue my love for journalism (born in middle school). I did not want to fill an elective slot with something meaningless, so I had decided yearbook was meant for me.

It ended up that Ingram needed to grant me special permission to take his yearbook class as a ninth-grader. So, I, at 13 years old, went to meet him for what was essentially my first job interview. Ever. I don’t remember what I said or how I prepared, but he decided to take a chance on me.

More than two decades later, Ingram and I are electronic pen pals and occasional phone gabbers with a shared appreciation for writing and teaching. Ingram, 69, teaches in Botetourt County.

He said he considered retiring but does not want this pandemic-crazed year to be his last.

His teaching career started in 1975, and he recently recounted how he was fired mid-March in his second year of teaching. In a nutshell, a disgruntled parent who conveniently also held one of the county school board seats, deemed fresh-out-of-college, unattached Ingram to be homosexual.

The accusations came after Ingram refused to inflate the failing grade of the school board member’s child. After the board ultimately voted to terminate his contract, more than 100 stu-

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Cutright (courtcut@gmail.com), a member of the Roanoke County Education Association, teaches English at Northside Middle School.

Now you can manage your own professional development—for free!

Ready to take charge of your professional growth?

DO IT WITH VEA VIRTUALED: It’s both an amazing new member benefit and an

opportunity for you to take control of your own growth as an educator!

Through VEA VirtualEd, you can earn micro-credentials in subjects and skills of your choosing—the ones most helpful to you and your students. And if you’re a VEA member, you can do it for free!

Virginia now accepts micro-credentials for re-licensure points, and VEA is working for more general use and acceptance in areas like professional advancement and compensation.

To get started, visit vea.link/VirtualEd!

Photos by iStock

Teachers are Forever: Mr. Ingram and Me

dents walked out of school in protest. The students, who were reprimanded, later sued the principal for violating their First Amendment rights. All the events were covered by the local newspaper, Ingram said.

There are a couple of takeaways: First of all, Ingram was discriminated against because of an incorrectly perceived sexual orientation. (He and wife Elaine became engaged not long after he was dismissed.) But most notably, although he faced adversity and discrimination, he did not abandon the field.

“The firing made it difficult for years to even get job interviews to teach,” Ingram wrote in an email. “Turns out that the school board mom had used the ‘teacher is gay and is failing my son’ gambit the year before I came to get rid of another male teacher. Finally, the school board wised up and two years after firing me, apologized. The damage had already been done, though.”

Nonetheless, Ingram returned to the classroom and devoted his life to education – as well as to writing. He first reached out to me after seeing my column because he wanted to be sure I was getting paid. Ever the advisor, he warned against writing for publication free of charge. He also sagely advises his creative writing students to have day jobs and not to plan on subsisting on print journalism alone.

Ingram is a dual-career man, with more than 2,500 magazine articles and 10 published books. The writing income combined with his and his wife’s teaching salaries have allowed them to have a family and a country home with land.

We had pre-pandemic plans to visit each other’s classrooms during our respective spring breaks. I was going to address his students as an alumnae, ex-reporter, teacher, and freelance writer. Ingram planned to give a book talk about the realistic YA fiction series he penned, as well as play his infamous Bonus Points review game with my middle school students. Maybe those plans will come together next school year.

When I was Ingram’s student, I remember feeling a mix of pride and teenage mortification when he photocopied my handwritten five-paragraph essay and distributed it to my peers as a model. Today, of course, I am grateful to have had a nurturing teacher who praised my work and shared it for me.

Talk about a boost of confidence!

In hindsight, Ingram taught me not only how to be a writer but also how to have the heart of a teacher, and for that I am grateful. This school year has been nothing short of tough. There have been some weaker moments in which I have questioned how long teaching will remain my chosen vocation. But what a reward it would be, if I stick it out long enough, to have students reconnect with me the way Ingram and I keep in touch.l

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