No Bullying in MED Schools…. That`s Our Goal
Transcription
No Bullying in MED Schools…. That`s Our Goal
June 2011 Volume 46 Number 3 No Bullying in MED Schools…. That’s Our Goal Marie Sainz-Funaro, OFT President Dr. Marie Sainz-Funaro We can all agree on one thing…..kids must feel safe or they can’t learn. That’s simple enough. Getting there is not quite as simple. Schools must be places where students can thrive without fear of any kind. We must all make a special effort to guarantee that our students feel secure, respected, and valued. Anything that gets in the way becomes an education issue! OFT is committed to making our schools safe-havens. OFT is partnering with AFT, the parent organization of OFT, and has officially launched our national program ―See a Bully, Stop a Bully: Make a Difference.‖ At its recently held convention in May 2011 in Tirrenia, Italy, OFT launched its own antibullying campaign by making a commitment to work with the military and other community members on all of our bases in the Med. Early in the fall, a local OFT representative from each school will be visiting with each base commander to ask that they work as partners. As part of this campaign blue wrist bands will be distributed in all of our schools. When students see their teachers or anyone wearing the blue wristband, it will serve as a signal to students that they are not alone, that school is a safe haven, and they can turn to and depend on their educators to deal with bullying and harassment. AFT will bolster the educator training program that has been provided for years with an online collection of resources, downloadable materials, and links to partner organization on the AFT website. AFT President Randi Weingarten sent a very clear message when she declared that, ―Bullying has become a constant reality for our children in this age of the Internet. We must do all we can to work together as parents, school officials, school staff, community leaders, nonprofit and private groups, and especially other students, to make it clear that we will not tolerate bullying and will do everything we can to prevent it.‖ Inside this issue: ExCom Meets 2 LUR Assembly 3-5 2011 OFT Convention 5 School News 6-8 OFT Retirees 9-11 2011 OFT Convention Continued/Shake Shake Shake! 12 Dave and Pam hand over the newsletter to Tina Lake. Page 2 June 2011 ExCom Meets May 12 Pam Cleaverley, Editor professional boundaries between teachers and students and to educate members on possible problems, especially with regard to texting, Facebook, and MySpace. Finally, it was agreed that the Question and Answer session at last year’s LUR Assembly was a great success and should, therefore, be repeated the following day. OFT’s Executive Committee Tom Birch, Virginia Parkinson, Tina Lake, Margie Lally, Colette Grillo, Serra Coruh, Marie Sainz-Funaro, Linda Hogan, and Eileen Kless On May 12, the Executive Committee held the last meeting of the school year at the Golf Hotel, Tirrenia, Italy. After reviewing the current grievances, the members listened to reports from President Marie Sainz-Funaro, European Di- Tom Birch, Rota HS LUR, and Marie hard at work. rector Linda Hogan, and Treasurer, Colette Grillo. Since Dave Wass and Pam Cleaverley, editors of The Overseas Teacher, had regretfully handed in their resignations, Tina Lake, ExCom member and Aviano LUR, graciously agreed to take on the task. The rest of the meeting was spent on a variety of subjects. The ExCom agreed that there are continuing problems with IT and DFAS and that the CSI process requires educators to devote too much time to activities and requirements that have no bearing on student learning. Marie also addressed OFT’s efforts to clarify Linda and Serra study the data. Virginia, Tina, and Eileen reflect on the issues. Margie and Colette enjoy a lighter moment. June 2011 Page 3 LUR Assembly Gathers May13 Pam Cleaverley, Editor on hold. She added that, rather than wasting time trying to find people to help them, LURs should contact Linda and her, who will go directly to Jeff Friedler. The need for professional development was recognized. In fact, Marie and Virginia Parkinson were scheduled to attend the Professional Development Steering Committee immediately after the Convention. Tom Birch asked the group to promote the next GIFT Masters program, which will take place in Rota in 2012. One school mentioned difficulties with using ASPEN for scheduling, and a show of hands revealed that several schools did not have next year’s schedule yet. Another school asked why teachers do not have the rights to install up- Linda, Alicia Bryant-James and Buddy Leavitt, Vicenza positive aspect was the presence of a majority of teachers on the committees. There was a probMarie holds the floor. lem with resurrecting some of them after Shirley Miles left. NevIn her welcome to the LURs ertheless, the Virtual School was and potential leaders, Marie recompleted, and professional degretted the absence of the team velopment and staffing are movfrom Sigonella, who were unable ing ahead. Overall, the program to leave the island because of the was costly, but some good work activity of the volcano. was done. The session began with quesMarie shared a list she is tions on a variety of issues, submitting to the DSO to faand as usual, complaints cilitate the beginning of SY about IT headed the list. 2011-2012. Schools should There are problems in the be clean, well-supplied, with Mediterranean District with functioning Internet, new mabandwidth, fiber optics, terials available, and adelack of permission from the quate substitutes and aides. military to use their OFT should also know who trenches, and MACs. Stuis on duty during the sumdents are not allowed to mer, especially if construcuse USB devices with the COWs and cannot use Tom Birch,Rota , Randy Stumler and Russell Sparks, tion is in progress. Vicenza High School is the next proLajes, and Linda Edwards, Naples Sharepoint to access their ject to be completed. Needs work because of Internet for the 21st century should be indates on their computers. Unconnectivity problems. Marie said that OFT continues to push fortunately, this is a military corporated into all new schools. LURs were reminded of their for solutions to these problems, regulation. When asked about the right to see the school-level but that, despite many promises, there has been little success. status of the DOD task force budget. As a first step, they The Med needs to be treated dif- recommendations, Marie re- should make a dated request. ferently because of its special plied that there was some con- The next step is a formal request problems. Until recently it looked troversy over their effective- under the statute and a message as if the plan to replace contract ness, especially since their to OFT. The next question was a hot employees with GS personnel creation took away financial rewas going ahead, but that is now sources from other training. A C o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 4 Page 4 June 2011 LUR Assembly Continued from Page 3 issue – whether there is a process for improving or removing incompetent principals. Marie replied that OFT does not hire or fire anyone but that we can raise the consciousness of their bosses. The best plan is to raise issues at the Local Union Meetings (LUMMS) and keep accurate minutes to show a pattern of problems. When all else fails, elevate the issue. The power of the grievance process was discussed next. Linda with Elizabeth Mclean and Alicia Bryant-James, Vicenza The duty-free lunch and the resolution of many pay issues are the result of grievances. However, a grievance is not just to prove a point. To go to arbitration, a grievance must show the contravention of a law, regulation, or past practice. An OFT meeting would not be complete without a mention of CSI! We are still waiting for the promised bank of assessments from the DSO. The report on CSI from OFT’s task force is in Marilee Fitzgerald’s hands, and OFT continues to push the issue and to demand proof that CSI and AdvancEd is having an impact on student learning. Marie and Linda reminded the group of the benefits of our association with AFT. Their website is open to AFT cardholders and contains a wealth of information: survey creators, sample letters, etc. The card also entitles holders to a variety of savings on purchases from car hire to flowers. This year’s meetings had no guest speakers from AFT since they are all busy fighting the current attack on teachers in the States. Indeed, the military does not take kindly to unions but can become an advocate of teachers if they see the benefit to their families. OFT is working on partnering with the military. For this reason, it is important for the LUR to meet with base commanders and to raise local or broader issues. The AFT/OFT campaign against bullying is an excellent subject for this partner- Aviano group: Elizabeth Anderson, Geraldine Claahsen, Tina Lake, and Colleen Knight ship and a way to show the union taking the initiative on an important problem. Many teachers have received debt letters from DFAS for exorbitant and unexplained sums. Linda Hogan has been working the problem and has compiled a worrying set of statistics. So far letters containing debts from $100 to $30,000 have been received by 156 people in the Med. Recipients of the first request should submit a debt response letter and a pay inquiry with copies of all documents to Linda. This should halt the process. Unfortunately, some teachers have now received a second letter saying that the debt is correct. If you receive this letter, you Ankara group: Megan Youness, Serra Coruh, and Cheri Gildea can petition for a hearing, and Linda may be part of the phone conversation. Should DFAS begin deducting the supposed debt from your pay, contact OFT right away. Even if you believe that the debt is correct, you can still apply for a waiver. To avoid problems, Linda stressed the importance of doing a reconciliation after the first year, if you move, or if you need to increase payment for your utilities. The session ended with much positive feedback and attendees were ready for the dinner and dancing that followed. June 2011 Page 5 2011 OFT Convention Pam Cleaverley, Editor After welcoming, the LURs, alternates, and potential leaders, Marie reviewed the potential leader program, which she and the ExCom created four or five years ago in an attempt to build leadership and to move members into activism. Bringing so many people together each year is costly, but it is a valuable way of using members’ dues. It is important for the union to have a cadre of strong, well-informed leaders, not just to protect benefits but also to protect democracy. This is especially true right now in the States, where teachers and democratic ideals are under attack. Professional boundaries continue to be an important issue. Teachers must be careful to avoid saying or doing things that might be misinterpreted. We also have an obligation to warn our colleagues if we see them engaging in risky actions. The biggest issues for OFT at the moment are DFAS, partnering with the military, and AdvancEd. On the whole, the relationship between OFT and DODEA is good. This is also true in the schools, although there are pockets where the relationship between the principal and the LUR is not good. Marie can help in these places. Linda endorsed Marie’s re- marks and said that she has completed several site visits and conducted training. She is working the RAT issue and welcomes questions from members. She gave LURs information to take back to their schools to ensure that teachers’ claims are completed and submitted properly. Tina Lake asked why DODEA has no handbook on personnel issues for new teachers. The problem is that the regulations change. This year there are significant cuts in Human Resources, eliminating their ability to send out trainers. The possibility of teleconferences was raised. Pam Cleaverley gave the editor’s report for The Overseas Teacher. There will be one more ―bumper‖ edition this school year. She encouraged teachers to send in articles on their retirees and features on the exciting things that are happening in the schools. This is the last year that David Wass and Pam will be producing the paper. It has been fun, but they are ready to hand over to the new editor, Tina Lake, who, with your support, will do a great job. Treasurer, Colette Grillo, reported that the elimination of one LUR Assembly this year has substantially reduced our debt and that we should break even next year. Since we have not increased dues in several years, an increase was proposed and passed unanimously. Colette reminded members that OFT will pay up to $500 for approved membership drives, depending on the size of the local. She also said that the $5 rebate goes to the local not the individual teachers. All 2011 resolutions were passed unanimously and included the following issues. The JLMC minutes would continue to be printed electronically, but the newspaper would be reduced to 500 printed copies. HR should use technology (e.g. video conferences) to provide personnel information. Payment and training for CHOs should be increased. Orders should be received in a timely fashion. Early release time equal to a day a month should be given for teachers to work as professional leadership teams on teacher-driven, research-based best practices. The CSI process is cumbersome Vicenza OFT officials accept their award. and irrelevant and 70% of what teachers are asked to do does not affect student learning. DODEA, Area, and DSO training should incorporate principles of differentiation for schools and adult learners, by identifying the needs of the teachers on-site and tailoring the training to those needs. All interruptions to the school schedule, such as TerraNova, academic, and sports Continued on page 12 Page 6 June 2011 Million Minute March to Better Reading at Lajes Eileen Kless, LUR, Lajes Unit School We did it! We read 1,724,317 minutes in March! The entire Lajes Field Air Force Base helped us far exceed our goal. Our students, their parents, extended family and friends around the world, teachers, Lajes Base personnel, volunteer readers at the school, and even a partner middle school in Sembach, Germany — all worked together to achieve this goal. Congratulations to the Lajes Elementary High School Information Center for sponsoring this activity. Lajes OFT Art Auction for Charity Eileen Kless, LUR, Lajes Unit School The OFT Art Auction raised over $2000.00 that will be donated to a local underfunded Portuguese primary school. OFT supplied the drinks and members brought hors d’oeuvres. Guests created or donated a piece of art for the auction. Auctioneer Randy Stumler kept the betting lively. In the fall OFT plans to partner with school administration and the local command to repeat the success, donating proceeds to the military, especially for wounded troops. Stay tuned for more news in the fall! Culinary Arts and Spanish Classes Learn to Prepare Paella at Rota HS Maribel Bastidas, Union Member, Rota HS When people think of how to prepare it for their Spain, they think of flamenco, parents. As part of our soccer and paella. As part of learning community, DGF our global awareness, the Culiparent, Mr. Bastidas, spoke nary Arts and Spanish 3 both in Spanish and English classes participated in a mulabout the history of paella, tidisciplinary lesson in which its origins and the region they learned to prepare one of where it comes from as he the most international Spanish prepared this delicious dish dishes: paella. This crosswith the students. For many cultural lesson had many obof the students, this was the jectives: exposing students to Mr. Eduardo Bastidas and student Allana first time they tasted paShelton enjoy their paella. new flavors, learning about the ella. Both classes enjoyed this history and culture of our host multidisciplinary lesson that nation, following a recipe in Span- ish, and ultimately, learning brought them closer to their host country. June 2011 Page 7 Grammar Idol: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone Angela Wilson, OFT Member, Vicenza Middle School We have all experienced those moments of feeling nervous or uncomfortable. Imagine, standing on a stage, in front of all your peers singing and dancing. Welcome to Grammar Idol, presented on the stage of Vicenza Middle School on April 5th. 7th graders in Mrs. Angela Wilson’s Language Arts classroom were the ―bands‖ that sang their hearts out in front of all their peers and teachers. The students studied the 8 parts of speech indepth. The culmination activity was to write their own song lyrics about one of the parts of speech. The students had a defined rubric they had to follow. The song had to teach someone about the part of speech, while being creative and catchy. The 7th graders spent a lot of time creating lyrics, practicing with the instrumental version of their song, working on choreography, and passing through preliminary tryouts. Posters of the students ―bands‖ were placed up and down the hallways. The posters featured the students’ ―band‖ name and the title of their new hit single song. Overall, Grammar Idol was a huge success. The 7th graders, although very apprehensive at first, really stretched themselves and definitely stepped out of their comfort zones. The songs created were extremely creative and catchy. All week, the buzz in the hallways was tunes from the recent hits, songs Band EJ, starring Early Wheeler and Jarod Ganci, won with their rap on pronouns. about grammar! Next year Grammar Idol will In addition to the band posters return to the VMS stage. and the performance of the finalists on the stage, all the bands went ―on tour.‖ They toured through various elementary classrooms singing their songs. The elementary kids loved the bands and many asked for copies of their cd. The elementary teachers would like song lyrics to help reinforce the part of speech in their own classrooms. Many of the elementary students could be heard singing the songs as the Grammar Idol contestants at VMS bands left their rooms. Anti-Bullying Video Produced in Livorno Suzanne Sperl, Union Member, Livorno EMS The middle school students at Livorno have worked hard to create an Anti-Bullying Video to spotlight awareness on this issue. During preparation of their video, Stop Bullying, Make a Difference, students spoke candidly of the importance and need for addressing bullying in schools. Their hope is that this video encourages open conversations within our schools so that we may all do our part in halting bullying. Their video can be v i e w e d h e r e : h t t p : / / w w w. s c h o o l t u b e . c o m / video/15198fb0959e160901da/ STOP-Bullying-MakeA-Difference June 2011 Page 8 Students From El Centro Inglés in Puerto de Santa María Visit Rota HS Maribel Bastidas, Union Member, Rota HS As members of a global society and in our effort to foster communication and understanding between cultures, DGF students invited a group of students from El Centro Inglés to spend a day in our school. Our Spanish guests attended classes and participated as regular ―American stuSchool version of “Speed Dating” dents‖. They painted in art class, tests the language skills at Rota acted in drama and even took a test in Board games help “break the ice” HS. physics. The last period of the day, with our Spanish friends. ish and English. In return, they they joined students in Mrs. Bastidas’ Spanish 4/5 class and participated in Spanish and American table have invited us to visit their a variety of interactive activities includ- games. All activities required prob- school. ing teaching each other how to play lem solving and the use of Span- Livorno Lends an Artistic Helping Hand Suzanne Sperl, Union Member, Livorno EMS The Student Council at Livorno Elementary/Middle School , under the guidance of classroom teacher Mr. Robinson, and with the support and cooperation of our PTSO and the George V. Lottier Lodge #130 at Camp Darby, wished to do something to help relief efforts in Japan. They decided on the idea of a Silent Art Auction which was held Friday, May 20, and raised $600.00. In Ms. Sperl’s art classes, students discussed Japanese culture and art. Knowing they were creating artworks that would be auctioned off to raise monies for relief efforts in Japan, students put their hearts into their work. Each grade level took on several projects from origami cranes to watercolor landscape scrolls. With a school population of approximately 75 students, LEMS created over 200 artworks to be auctioned off in coordination with our community Asian Pacific Heritage Food Tasting event this month. Student Council and Art Club attenMs. Sperl’s art students create works of art for dees have also been earthquake victims in Japan. hard at work creating all Our students have not simof the necessary public relations materials so as to spread the word ply studied a new culture but community wide. Several will be on have gained a better appreciahand the night of the auction to an- tion for how their creations, swer questions as to how works efforts, and hard work can diwere made or the meaning behind rectly benefit another in need. the projects. June 2011 Page 9 Jeff Van Ausdall Retires from Rota HS Jeff Van Ausdall, Union Member Chief Sonar Technician Surface (retired) Jeff Van Ausdall has been teaching Navy Junior ROTC since he retired from the Navy in 1996. DGF is his sixth school in six different districts. He has previously taught in public schools in Houston, Texas and throughout California, but this is his first year with DoDEA. While at Rota MHS this year he taught Naval Science 1, helped with the pilot 9th grade research class, and coached football. He enjoyed his time in Rota, but will be returning to Redding, California at the end of the school year to assist in the care of his father. Le Saupe Retires from Sigonella Le Saupe, Union Member I began my career in Creve Coeur, Illinois, teaching sixth grade and then middle school science. I entered DoDDS in 1970 and went to Clark Air Base in the Philippines. Our school was on double sessions, and I shared my classroom with another teacher, teaching both social studies and science. After that year, I was able to teach just 7th and 8th grade science, and I introduced my students to three weeks of intense jungle survival. From there I transferred in 1980 to Seoul, Korea, first as a high school science teacher and then as a school counselor, and in 1984 I adopted Kathy Clark Retires from Livorno Julie McDonough, Union Member I know I have experienced only one piece of a very colorful, unique yet universal story, but I just want to celebrate what I have seen. Kathy Clark came to DoDDS twenty years ago, and to Livorno in 2008. After ten years in Okinawa, five at Sasebo, and two in Sevilla, she transferred to our ―tiny‖ school in the Med. Already a mentor, she took novice teachers under her wing and was a practical, ―down to earth‖ support for the rest of us. Kathy does not mince words or ―suffer fools lightly,‖ and that is her amazing strength and gift to others. She is tough and smart and her students and everyone else who has had the luck to cross her path, is better tooled for whatever life has to offer. She is retiring to Arkansas and taking her husband Rich with her. They both will be surely missed. my son and daughter. I feel privileged that I had this opportunity. In 1997 I transferred to Sigonella as a third grade teacher and then as the elementary counselor. I also sponsored the Violin Club at our school after taking violin lessons myself. DoDDS has been good to me. I have met many wonderful people and am very thankful for having had the opportunity to serve our country. June 2011 Page 10 Major George Smailes Retires from Vicenza HS Major George Smailes, Union Member Major George Smailes was born overseas in November, 1947, and moved to the States the following year. He became a US citizen in 1964 and enlisted in the US Army shortly thereafter. He was honorably discharged from active duty in May, 1972, and graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1974 with a degree in European History. In 1975 he returned to the Army as an Artillery Lieutenant, and In December 1976, he married Margarete Marie-Josie Gaye of Annecy, France. They have two daughters and two grandchildren. Major Smailes retired from the Army in 1992 and became the Senior Army Instructor, Army Junior Reserve Officer Training C o r p s , Vicenza High S c h o o l , Vicenza, Italy in August, 1996. He earned a Masters Degree in Education in 2005. Major and Mrs Smailes will retire to La Chapelle-Thecle in Burgundy, France. OFT wishes them Bon Voyage and Bonne Chance. Eddie Adams, Vicenza ES Teacher, Retires Eddie Adams, Union Member Eddie Adams will retire this year after a career spanning forty-two years, twenty-four of which have been with DoDDS. While stationed with her army husband in Aschaffenburg, Germany, she accepted a position as a local hire. When that beautiful school closed ten years later in 1995, Eddie moved to La Maddalena, Italy. This was home until that school closed in 2007. Eddie says that the last four years have passed quickly in Vicenza, Italy. She has really enjoyed her involvement with her professional organization since 1969. Her most memorable time was meeting President Carter at the National Convention. We wish Eddie a happy, welldeserved retirement in Columbia, South Carolina. June 2011 Page 11 Gerard Belleville Retires from Vicenza HS Gerard Belleville, Union Member Sergeant Belleville was honorably retired from the military in 1988 and had no idea what would come next; however, a chance meeting with Ms. Mary Florence Betts, a 94-year-old educator, determined his future direction. She started teaching in a one-room classroom at the age of fourteen, ending her career as superintendent of the Tennessee/Kentucky schools. Major Belleville learned from her that it is not what you know but how you teach that makes you a great teacher. After completing the JROTC certification process, he was offered his first educational position in Augsburg Germany, beginning a career in DoDDS , which was to last more than twenty-two some of the most interesting administrators and teachers, but most of all with some of the greatest students. He was twice recognized by his students in Who’s Who Among American Teachers. He will retire after twentytwo years with DODEA , fifteen of which have been spent in sunny Vicenza, Italy. He is leaving a little piece of himself behind with his students. They, in turn, will carry that forward and give a little of themselves to others, just as Ms. Mary Florence Betts did for him way back when. OFT congratulates Mr. and Mrs. Belleville and wishes them years. During these years he was much happiness in their new fortunate enough to work with life. Isaiah Latham Retires from Rota ES Isaiah Latham, Union Member After a 34-year association with DoDEA/DoDDS and the Armed Forces of the United States, I have decided it is time to get off the bus and make room of the 21st century teacher. My bus ride has allowed me to live in many wonderful and interesting places. Places I might not have had the opportunity to live in or even visit, i.e., Germany, Japan, the Philippines, Bahrain, Cuba, Italy and Spain. Additionally, riding the bus allowed me the good fortune to do many things most people only dream of doing, 1.2., going on safari in Kenya and Tanzania, trekking mountain gorillas in Uganda, visiting the Dani people of Irian Jaya, walking the Great Wall of China, seeing the Midnight Sun set and rise in northern Norway, seeing the Huli Wigman of Papua New Guinea during a sing-sing, basking on the beautiful white sand beaches of Puket, Bali and the Seychelles, and much more. The ride has not been without its bumps and potholes, its twists and turns, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for all the tea leaves in my China teapot. But now it’s time for me to begin the next chapter in my life and allow some new 21st century blood to have my seat, and hopefully, the great good fortune I have had. What the future holds for me I cannot say. But I go into that future with the same wideeyed sense of excitement and adventure that I entered DoDDS with in 1977. To all the people in my DoDEA/DoDDS family who and touched my life, THANK YOU and God bless you. winds and following seas! Fair June 2011 Page 12 2011 OFT Convention Continued from page 5 events, should be planned and announced before the school year begins. Margie Lally and Linda brought the Convention to a positive end by handing out membership awards to almost all the schools in the district. Villet Gethers accepts her membership award for Livorno Unit School. Eileen Kless (above) accepts the membership award for Lajes Unit School. Elaine Davis (left) accepts the membership award for Naples. Chad Casciani accepts the membership award for Incirlik Unit School. Shake Shake Shake ! Is that Liza??? Cheri Gildea from Ankara enjoys her birthday serenade. Ah, youth! Randy Stumler shows Tom Birch how it’s done. “You put your right foot in, you take your right foot out…” The musical stylings of Alicia Bryant-James thrilled the members and hotel staff alike.