• Looking for Superman?
• NEA RA delegate elections and nomination forms
• SIUC employees unite, fight, win support of students, fair contracts
• REA funded audit brings truth to financial projections
• An organization that reflects Illinois

Check it out below, or watch for it in your mailbox in the next few weeks.

Video: Josh Stumpenhorst, 2012 Teacher of the Year

Josh Stumpenhorst is recognized by students and colleagues for his innovation inside and outside the classroom. And, now he’s been recognized by the state, as well, as the Illinois State Board of Education has announced he’s the 2012 Teacher of the Year.

Video: 2011 Fall Outreach to Teach

Thanks to the IEA Student Program, 60 volunteers descended upon Lindop Elementary School in Broadview to spruce up the school, both inside and out, in an Outreach to Teach project.

Video: An organization that reflects Illinois

IEA and NEA are committed to achieving ethnic-minority delegate representation at the NEA Representative Assembly (NEA RA) that is at least equal to the proportion of identified ethnic-minority populations within the state.

Jan 2012 Advocate

View the November Advocate – Download PDF

• Reasons to hold your head high as public education employees.
• Advice on how to protect your reputation in this high tech world.
• The story of one local who won a battle in a harsh environment.
• Do you know a great ESP, humanitarian or retiree? Nominate them for an award!
• Ways that you can have input on the IEA budget process.

Check it out below, or watch for it in your mailbox in the next few weeks.

Video: Teamwork saves face

Middle school teacher Heather Todd was the victim of identity theft — on facebook. While Todd maintained her own account. Two of her students created a fake one and posted inappropriate content. They were disciplined and further action could be pending. Check out this video for her story and tips and advice from an IEA attorney on the subject.

Preview the September Advocate

Download a PDF of the September Advocate

Have you ever considered letting your students make a movie about how to accomplish the most basic classroom tasks? We know one teacher who does it regularly and she’s written an article to tell you how.

Not enough excitement in your life? Check out the story about a Mt. Olive ESP who saved his principal’s life in a harrowing hunting accident.

Perhaps you’re looking for information about the upcoming March Representative Assembly and the candidates running for IEA offices.

You’ll find all this and more in the February 2011 Advocate.

Videos:

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February 2011 IEA Advocate

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Download the September 2010 Advocate

Did you know one of your Illinois colleagues helped restore a one-room schoolhouse in Galena and then wrote an historically-based children’s book about it? Or, that the Living Library is getting an overhaul that will make sharing lesson plans and other teaching tips easier? Take a look at this issue of the Advocate to find out about these stories and much, much more, including a look at the document that’s being used as a blueprint for IEA’s future. And, please take a moment to check out several videos that feature IEA members. Our members are, after all, our best feature.  Download the July 2010 Advocate or view it on Scribd

Feature Video Stories

Glen Ellyn teacher brings old school to life for real and in fiction – Six years ago, Patricia Harte-Naus, a teacher at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Glen Ellyn, was handed an assignment in one of her last classes as she was earning her masters degree at Northern Illinois University.

Teacher’s death inspires colleagues, students to create lasting tribute – Ask anyone who knew Dana Hungerford and theyll say three things about him: He was a great teacher; he loved his family immensely; and he had a terrific sense of humor.

Summer no break for award-winning teacher – Kerri Elliott, an Antioch Community High School special education teacher and winner of the 2010 IEA-NEA Human Services and Civil Rights Award, spends hers far from home, spending time in Tanzania helping a village educate its children and work toward a brighter future. And you can help her out, by donating to her cause.

Photos

• IEA Representative Assembly Photos
• Rally Day Photos

Bensenville high risk Pre-K program a big success

The Pre-K program at Tioga Elementary School in Bensenville has been around for more than two decades. Its recipe for success can be credited to many things, including a proven screening method to catch students who are most in need of the help in can provide, and a component that requires that parents be involved in their child’s education.

Fred Kilcullen, bus driver, teacher and friend

Fred Kilcullen has been driving a bus for 45 years, first in college while at Eastern Illinois University, then at Lovington and now in the Chenoa area. He also was a junior high school math and science teacher for 26 years. And, he’s been an IEA member for almost all that time. In this video, he reflects on his job and job that others like him do.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Pekin special education teacher Steve Grys and his family have spent years giving to their community — through his teaching, involvement in special olympics and as their 26 years spent fostering medically-needy infants. Now, their community has given back to them in a BIG way.

MAP Rally – IEA Headquarters, October 15, 2009

Christle Kiely and thousands of her fellow students came to Springfield to demonstrate in support of the Illinois MAP program, which provides cash grants, based on need, to college and university students.

Rep. David Miller addresses super region meeting

State Rep. David Miller, D-Dolton, sponsor of HB 174, the fair funding of education bill, addresses IEA members at a super region meeting in Warrenville on Oct. 6. He also gets a chance to hear from others who have education as their number one concern.

IEA meet and greet in Collinsville

IEA members, grassroots political activists, administrators and legislators met at Ravanelli’s Restaurant in Collinsville on Tuesday night for an evening of open dialogue on education funding.

Intergenerational dinner in Regions 13 and 17

In an effort to learn from newer IEA members what they want from their association, leaders in Regions 13 and 17 held a dinner recently to find out. They asked experienced IEA members to invite the less experienced and then brainstormed over dinner about ways their IEA membership can make a difference.

Unity 205 Rally in Rockford

IEA and AFSCME members rallied for unity in Rockford District 205 at the public schools administration building on the evening of Nov. 10, 2009. Their message was clear; respect at the bargaining table for highly trained, caring, hardworking district staff who have the support of parents and students.

How did they do it? By showing school board members of District 203 their strong ties to the community; by being politically savvy; and by committing themselves to providing fantastic service.

“I told the local that when they go out on the streets, it says Naperville in six-inch letters on the side of your bus and for the next three years you are auditioning for your job. Take care of the kids, the parents and the traffic. Take care that you’re the guy behind the wheel,” said Max Bochmann, a 38-year NTA veteran and its president, as well as an IEA executive committee member.

“We did. We won. And, we’re thrilled.”

In the spring of 2006, the school board decided it wanted to take a look at subcontracting its bus drivers under the guise that the district wouldn’t know whether running its own program was fiscally competitive unless they put it out for bid.

In the initial bid process, the NTA’s numbers were millions below competitors, Bochmann said. But the board wasn’t satisfied and was still considering outsourcing the drivers.

Bochmann said he then circulated a survey among his members that detailed their ages, where they lived, where they shopped, where they went to school, etc. Naperville is an affluent community.

The survey showed that many of the District 203 drivers either bought their homes there years ago, or came to work as an employee of one of the area’s major employers and then retired early and came to drive a bus as a second career.

“The net result was we have a very high ownership percentage in our local of homeowners and community members,” Bochmann said.

Ultimately, the board decided to subcontract less than 20 percent of the jobs. But in making that decision, they also proposed a contract to the existing District 203 drivers that slashed their pay by 20 percent, took away their holidays and made other significant changes.

So, the bus drivers had to decide if they wanted to stay and fight. Bochmann said he told them that while they were taking a cut in pay, they still had their pension and they still had health insurance — two big items. About 75 percent of the association’s members ratified the contract.

“In a sense, they cut the union brotherhood business to the core. But our people stood in and our people stood tall and we continued to meet the need.”

So, the bus drivers set their minds on the future. They put a big emphasis on customer satisfaction.

And, they actively campaigned against the three anti-tax members who were so against keeping the jobs in District 203. The drivers got behind three other candidates and the three candidates the bus drivers supported won the election.

“My local stepped up and did a wonderful job. If you want political action, a near-death experience is a great thing for that.”

Ultimately 15 to 19 percent of the District 203 drivers were subcontracted, first to Laidlaw and then after Laidlaw was sold, to First Student.

The contract expired this year and the board decided to end the subcontracting and let the NTA members have their routes back. That became official July 1.

“I have a functioning, integrated local for the first time ever. These people are pulling together. We have a need, a goal and something we want to achieve,” Bochmann said.

Kathy Fuller, a seventh and eighth grade teacher at Unity Point in Carbondale, has been named the 2009 history teacher of the year by the Illinois State Board of Education, which awarded Fuller the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History prize.

Fuller is a 24-year teaching veteran who prides herself on making history come to life. She has had her students form Native American tribes and build dioramas based on their research. Pupils dressed in Civil War costumes based on biographies they studied of political figures, slaves, spies or soldiers and made presentations to their classes.

They’ve also participated in history fairs, created public service announcement podcasts as if they were promoting President Roosevelt’s programs and did news broadcasts in iMovie that spotlighted their research on important dates in history.

“All of these activities engage and excite the students while teaching them the importance of history,” she said.

In addition, she believes strongly that students learn the positive and negative aspects of history. So, she has made it a personal goal to travel and experience history herself, making to more than 35 states and 10 countries — walking over the Civil War and World War II battle grounds, Native American burial grounds and visiting the gas chambers at a Nazi concentration camp.

“Seeing me in pictures and videos at historical sites and holding artifacts really gets my students excited about history and the world,” she said.

To enter the contest, Fuller submitted a 10-minute video, examples of things her students had done and an outline of how she goes about teaching her charges.

She will now compete in a national contest with teachers across the country who have won the same honor in their states.

In a one-of-a-kind gathering July 30-31, local association presidents got together to help shape the future direction of IEA’s statewide conferences and training.

In March, delegates to the Representative Assembly authorized putting the Summer Leadership Academy and Winter Advocacy Conference on hiatus for one year and funding a study of IEA statewide conferences.

As part of the study, local presidents were invited to the Training Assessment and Development Summit to provide feedback about what members need and are interested in and to brainstorm ideas to help shape the future of statewide conferences.

Local presidents were able to observe and discuss a variety of conferencing ideas at the Training Delivery Fair.

“The theme of the fair was ‘Welcome to the Future of Training,’ and local leaders were eager for hands-on opportunities to try out technology that was new to them,” said Tim Crawford, IEA interim director of program development.

Some items featured at the fair included video calls with Skype, online learning opportunities and examples of how other states are doing their statewide conferences.

“The evaluations from participants indicated that they appreciated the discussions about the types and relevancy of training sessions and they highly valued the opportunity to network with other presidents,” Crawford noted.

The Committee to Review IEA Statewide Conferences is looking at the data collected at the summit, launching a follow-up survey to capture data from local presidents who were unable to attend the summit and continuing to pursue its charge to make recommendations to the IEA Board of Directors this fall.