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Recognized as an Effective School-to-Work Practice,
November, 2002

Promoting Children’s Reading and Conducting a Principal for a Day Program in Philadelphia

Teamsters Local Union 502
Philadelphia, PA

Overview of the Project

Teamsters Local Union No. 502 developed two unique programs within the Philadelphia Public Schools. The first is designed to promote children’s reading and involves Local 502 in the Philadelphia Reads Initiative. The second focuses on Local 502’s sponsorship of a Principal for a Day program, where corporate executives and community leaders obtain a first hand understanding of the challenges of being a public school principal. Each of these programs has required the extensive involvement and commitment of Local 502 in reaching out to businesses, government, and community-based organizations throughout the Philadelphia area. Local 502 represents the 650 members of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators (CASA) in the city of Philadelphia. Principals, assistant principals, and supervisors of various auxiliary services, i.e., transportation, food service, and others are all members of this Philadelphia local.

As part of its Skills For Tomorrow project, Local 502 participated in the Philadelphia Reads summer program that was initiated by the Office of the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. The program was also part of the celebration of Get Caught Reading Month sponsored by the Association of American Publishers. The goal of Philadelphia Reads is to provide young children of Philadelphia a positive, effective, and motivating experience to promote their interest and enjoyment in reading. For the Get Caught Reading Month (May 2002), Local 502 purchased a copy of Click, Clack Moo – Cows that Type, winner of the prestigious Caldecott award, for every elementary school in Philadelphia. This children’s book conveys the union message of organizing, empowerment, and solidarity. The overall effort by CASA involved 182 elementary school principals who are members of Teamsters Local 502 and more than 6,000 children. The summer program involved 54 different sites throughout the city.

Philadelphia Reads is a collaborative initiative involving community-wide support from educators, community leaders, business leaders, and political figures. The community leaders go into classrooms to read stories to elementary school children. In an important way, these community representatives, by virtue of their community standing, help to reinforce and model positive reading behavior. Books are donated from a wide range of public and private sources including Local 502. Local 502’s contribution was the donation of the children’s book Click, Clack Moo – Cows that Type.

Local 502’s Principal for a Day program also demonstrates the capacity of Teamster local unions to effectively partner with public schools. Now in its second year of operation, the Principal for a Day program provides community leaders an opportunity to observe, first hand, the administrative, academic and career development challenges principals experience in their day-to-day job roles. The program was launched two years ago by the Greater Philadelphia First and its arm, the Philadelphia Education Fund. The program was originally modeled after a similar program operated by the Chicago Public Schools. Since the inception of the program, 237 Philadelphia public schools have participated, with more than 275 community leaders who accepted the invitation to job shadow a principal for a day.

The Need

The Philadelphia Reads initiative was established to ensure that all children read well and independently by the end of the third grade. School district assessment data revealed that far too many elementary school children were not reading at their respective grade levels. The Philadelphia Mayor’s Office responded with a city-wide initiative to improve student reading abilities and test scores. Local 502 also recognized that this was an important and welcome opportunity to support this initiative. According to George DiPilato, President of Teamsters Local Union 502, “This was an opportunity to accomplish several major objectives for Local 502. First, we strongly believed in the importance of the program in improving children’s reading abilities. And, second, we felt that this was also an opportunity to introduce young children to the labor movement and its principles of empowerment and solidarity. The Click, Clack, Moo - Cows that Type was just what was needed and it helped us to accomplish both of these objectives.” Participation in the Philadelphia Reads program also helped promote Local 502’s presence and overall positive role in supporting this city-wide effort.

In an effort to create a positive relationship with leaders in the community and increase public awareness concerning the role of principals, the Philadelphia Cares and its partner the Philadelphia Education Fund established the Principal for a Day program. Because Local 502 represents school administrators in Philadelphia, a natural partnership emerged. The public school principal’s role is complex and often not well understood by many community members. The principal’s role, however, is central within a community, directly touching the lives of children, their families, and the general public. Because of this, their role must be better understood in order to provide principals the support needed to perform their complex duties. The Principal for a Day program emerged from this general understanding and commitment to engage corporate and community leaders in a day long job shadowing program with elementary, middle, and high school principals.

Meeting the Need

Steps taken to initiate the Philadelphia Reads involvement of Local 502 are described in this section. George DiPilato emphasizes, however that, “Most communities throughout the United States conduct city-wide reading programs of some form. In Philadelphia, we view this as an opportunity to demonstrate our local’s ability to get involved and make a contribution. We made a connection to the Philadelphia Reads initiative and offered to purchase books for every elementary school in the city of Philadelphia. It really was as simple as that and our total investment was about $2,000. We derived from this, however, a great deal of good will and positive feedback for our local.”

Local 502 learned about the Click, Clack, Moo – Cows that Type children’s book from Teamsters Local Union 170 in Worcester, MA. Local 170 had been using the book in elementary school classrooms as part of their overall outreach to schools within the Worcester and surrounding communities. Because of the importance of this children’s book, a brief description and information on its availability are provided below:

The plan to initiate the purchase and dissemination of books within the school district was first discussed with union members at a general meeting. Members gave very positive feedback and the books were purchased and distributed to 54 different sites that were participating in a summer school program aimed at getting more children to read.

The Principal for a Day program involved several steps to achieve full implementation. First, corporate and community leaders were identified by Philadelphia Cares to participate in the program. A marketing campaign was developed and introduced community wide. The invitation simply asked a community leader to spend a day “shadowing” an elementary, middle, or high school principal. Second, once the corporate and community leaders conveyed an interest to participate in the program, they were assigned to a principal. The principal then met with the individual at the beginning of the school day to discuss specific activities that they would be involved in during the day. Third, the corporate or community leader spent the entire day with the principal and observed the duties of managing and leading the school. While activities and involvements for the corporate and community leaders varied, the following list identifies some of the most common activities:

• Attend meetings with teachers and related school staff
• Discuss the role of unions, i.e., Teamsters, the teachers union, others
• Deliver the morning announcements over the P.A. system
• Tour the school facilities
• Visit classrooms and participate in class discussions
• Participate in classroom or special activities such as drama, journalism, physical education, debate, and others
• Read books to students (including the Click, Clack, Moo – Cows that Type book to age-appropriate elementary school students)
• Meet with students holding leadership positions (student council members)
• Eat lunch with students and faculty members
• Meet with a representative(s) of the Parents’ Advisory Group
• Speak at an assembly regarding career paths

Finally, the principal and corporate or community leader participated in a debriefing session a week later, typically at a breakfast session, and explored possibilities for a continuing relationship with the school.

The Results

Click, Clack Moo – Cows that Type has now been shared with Philadelphia’s 182 elementary schools and read to over 20,000 children throughout the city. Reactions to the book have been very positive and well received by children, their parents, and elementary school teachers. According to George DiPilato, “This has been an excellent opportunity to get the message across that unions have a significant and important role in educating young people.” Local 502’s involvement in this initiative has also helped to promote good will for the local within Philadelphia schools, the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office, and with a wide range of corporate and community leaders throughout Philadelphia.

The Principal for a Day program has been implemented in each of the 237 Philadelphia public schools. Further, a total of more than 275 high-level corporate and community leaders participated in the program last year establishing a valuable partnership with Local 502’s school administrators. The long list of participants includes Billy King, the general manager of the 76ers; fitness guru, Pat Croce; Mary Dougherty, owner of the Nicole Miller Fashion House; Anna Verna, president of Philadelphia’s City Council; and Bill Marazzo, president of a local media station, WHYY. Further, this relationship with the schools has already resulted in several important developments. For example, one Principal for a Day has offered his company’s support to the school on book drives, computer purchases, and student tutoring. Another Principal for a Day provided tickets to the Nutcracker Ballet to award several of the students for high academic achievement. There has also been an overwhelming positive response from the principals for the program.

Finally, corporate and community leaders will be requested to partner with school principals to offer their insights on future professional development programs designed to further support the school administrator’s role. The insights and perspectives gained by these corporate and community leaders concerning the principal’s role is expected to lead to other types of partnerships and opportunities to become involved with the schools.

Reflections

George DiPilato commented that, “These types of programs with schools can be easily replicated. Reading has become a national priority and there are many new initiatives coming forth from the federal government. Most communities have established a reading initiative and this provides a genuine opportunity for unions to become involved. The Click, Clack, Moo – Cows that Type children’s book is an excellent resource to promote a local’s involvement. Getting union members to volunteer to read in classrooms is another strategy.” Local 502 also stressed the importance of the Principal for a Day program. The union, working in collaboration with school administrators and corporate and community leaders, can produce many valuable opportunities for schools, students and teachers. Bringing these community members closer to the day-to-day operations of public schools and the academic and career needs of students can go a long way in building strong, relevant programs. As emphasized earlier, both the Philadelphia Reads and Principal for a Day programs have also strengthened the overall image perception of the union within the community. Based on the experiences of Local 502, George DiPilato believes that these types of activities that are designed to build positive relations between schools and corporate and community leaders do not require extensive financial resources. For the most part, Local 502 partnered with existing initiatives that offered their support.

In summary, President DiPilato has extended his willingness to assist any local to get involved in these types of activities. In his words, “It is critical that locals move forward to establish their role within these larger initiatives and ultimately have a positive impact on schools, teachers, families, and students.

More Information

For additional information about Promoting Children’s Reading and Conducting a Principal for a Day Program in Philadelphia, contact:

Dr. George DiPilato, President
Teamsters Local Union No. 502
2813 Brown Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Telephone: (215) 236-7222

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