April 2003 Edition

Spring has sprung!!! Educate! Educate! Educate!

It’s the perfect time weather and opportunity to participate in outdoor school activities such as career fairs and workplace visits. Check out the Skills for Tomorrow website for ideas and additional information on how you can become involved with young people in your area.

In this edition we will share more information on Groundhog Job Shadow Day and other activities from the past few months as well as upcoming ones.

Keep in mind: we would love to hear from you. To submit information on your organization, or career development curriculum, please email Sharlene Mentor at SMentor@teamster.org.

If you missed previous issues, check it out at: http://www.ibtstw.org/listsubscribe.asp

Thank you!

IBT Education Staff

http://www.ibtstw.org

What's in This Edition

Teamster Updates

Conferences & Meetings Nationwide

Resources to Build Your Own Education Curriculum

~ Career Skills Library

          ~ Education News Parents Can Use

~ Ground Hog Job Shadow Day 2003
~ AFL-CIO Family Fun

          ~ Teachers Guide for Mediating a Strike

Articles of Interest

~ The Great Divide

~ Career Planning: Think Before You Act

Get Connected: Web Site Links

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Teamster Updates

~~~~> Teamsters Participate in the 3rd Annual Labor2Youth Fair

Teamsters Education Department Reaches Out to Youth in Washington, D.C.

More than 1000 High School students from Washington, D.C. and the surrounding areas took the opportunity to visit with representatives from America’s leading labor unions to learn about the different career opportunities that make a difference to working families.

On November 26, 2002, the AFL-CIO, Metropolitan Council hosted the Third Annual Labor2Youth Fair (formerly Future Force) at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C. The day began with a breakfast for the unions that participated in bringing the fair to fruition. The Teamsters Union, American Postal Workers Union, The Sheet Metal Workers, Hotel and Restaurant Workers (HERE) were among them. At the fair itself, students were given information about career opportunities in a hands-on approach.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Education Department staff members, Myron Sharp, Sharlene Mentor, and Nayhema Fitzworme staffed the Teamsters’ exhibit booth. Teamsters Local Union No. 96 President Bill Gibson and Vice-President Phil Alter staffed the Washington Gas Booth. They brought along a representative from Washington Gas to talk about the job application process.

“This year’s Union Fair was a resounding success” said Sharlene Mentor of the Teamsters Education Department. “As a result of our participation, we have already received three invitations to do outreach in the D.C. Metropolitan Area. The very week after the youth fair, I did a presentation at The Foundation High School in Prince George’s County, Maryland. I met their coordinator at the fair, who was very interested in what we had to say. The following week she received a cancellation for a scheduled program and remembered that the Teamsters Union is always willing to talk to students about rights on the job and making wise career choices so that people can make a decent, human living wage. This is what we hope to achieve by participating in community programs. We will benefit by preparing young people to enter the workforce knowing that a union exists to help and guide them along the way,” said Mentor.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters donated a $100 gift certificate to be redeemed at Barnes and Noble bookstore as a fair prize. This gift was used as an incentive to get visiting youth to participate in a survey to help us analyze the fair’s effectiveness. We received a 67% response rate, more than double that of the previous year!

CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS NATIONWIDE

~~~~> AFL-CIO Union Summer Program

What are you doing this summer? Catching a ballgame? Lying in the sun? Going to the beach? How about signing up for the AFL-CIO’s Union Summer Internship Program?

Created in 1996, Union Summer is a five-week educational internship program for college students where participants develop union organizing skills through firsthand experience. Union Summer is committed to uniting workers, students and activists to bring social justice to the community of work.

The deadline for applications is April 30, 2003 so get your information now at: http://www.teamster.org/03news/hn_030328_4.htm

~~~~> Empowering Parents, Creating Change: The 1st Anniversary of No Child Left Behind

The U.S. Department of Education presents a television series about ways to ensure children’s educational success. (If you would like to view any of these broadcasts, please click on the links provided for instructions.)

Upcoming Broadcasts

Educational Technology
May 20, 2003 - 8:00 PM ET

http://registerevent.ed.gov/downlink/event-flyer.asp?intEventID=167

Summer Reading
Jun 17, 2003 - 8:00 PM ET

http://registerevent.ed.gov/downlink/event-flyer.asp?intEventID=168

RESOURCES TO BUILD YOUR OWN EDUCATION CURRICULUM

What to include in your youth outreach programs and activities to educate young people about unions, workers rights, solidarity and child labor. Here are some ideas:

~~~~> Education News Parents Can Use

A television series about ways to ensure children’s educational success.

Here's your chance to join an exciting program with parents and educators who are doing what it takes to improve American education...

The Series... September 2002 marked the beginning of the first full school year under the No Child Left Behind Act and signifies the start of a historic, new era in education. To help parents understand the new law and all the important changes it will bring, the U.S. Department of Education launched a new monthly television series entitled Education News Parents Can Use.

The Format... The new program takes the place of the Department's Satellite Town Meeting and keeps many of its predecessor's signature features—the live format, viewer call-ins, and lively discussion. What is different about Education News is its focus on information and resources of value to parents and families. The program features brief segments, including one-on-one interviews, "how-to" demonstrations, more video and graphics, and brief conversations with parents, educators, community, business and religious leaders, and education experts.

The Schedule... On the third Tuesday of each month during the school year, Education News provides parents with the tools and information they need to be effectively involved in their children's learning. This is your opportunity to ask a question of the experts and the other participants—drawn from communities like yours—on what works to improve teaching and learning in schools and in the home.

The Audience... Education News' target audience is an informed citizenry—parents and educators with a general knowledge of but strong interest in education. In many communities, parents, teachers, business leaders and others may watch together and have their own discussions. Other registrants are actually local television outlets that broadcast the program live on cable access, including school board and other educational channels. The program is also rebroadcast on the Discovery Networks' TLC (The Learning Channel), the Channel One Network, and some Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations.

Questions... If you have any comments or questions, feel free to send a message to E-MAIL event box at, Education.TV@ed.gov or call us at 1-800-USA-LEARN.

~~~~> Groundhog Shadow Day 2003

In January and February Job shadowing took place around the country. More than one million students from all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, got busy shining their shoes, pressing their shirts and looking forward to spending a day with adults in a workplace setting making their classrooms come to life in a way that provides meaning and impact.

Students Need Exposure to New Career Fields

According to a Junior Achievement poll released in April 2003, more than 75 percent of students participating in the survey stated they did not want to follow the career path of either parent, creating the need for exposure to new career fields. And how would they like to be exposed to new career fields? Almost 40 percent selected job shadowing in response to the question, "Where would you go to find out about different career options?" This was a greater than 17 percent increase over a year ago. In response, Executive Director of the Job Shadowing Coalition Stuart Shapiro stated: "As students veer away from more familiar career options, Job Shadowing provides an opportunity for students to gain hands-on workplace experience in hundreds of different professions."

If students cannot visit workplace mentors, teachers and young people can visit www.jobshadow.monster.com/resources where they can check-out job profiles, career information and articles; play career-oriented games; and take fun quizzes designed to help students learn about job opportunities that light their inner passion. This year, Monster has created several new web-based virtual shadowing programs to inspire, inform and help motivate students to put their dreams into action!

~~~~> AFL-CIO Family Fun Site

Union Games

Step right up, ladies, gentlemen and children of all ages!

You want games? We’ve got games—plus crossword puzzles and special features just for kids. Have fun!

Coal in Tom Delays Stocking
Put coal in House Republican Leader Tom Delay's stocking for cutting off unemployment benefits. To play please click: http://www.aflcio.org/familyfunresources/games/game_tomstocking.cfm

Bet the Farm
Social Security is America's most important, most secure family protection program. It delivers a lifeline of monthly benefits to 46 million retirees, people with disabilities, dependents and survivors. Ready to gamble on financial security for the rest of your life? To play please click: http://www.aflcio.org/familyfunresources/games/game_farm.cfm

Build a Pill
What does it take to make the life-saving prescription drugs on which many of us rely? And why are prescription drug costs going through the roof? To play please click: http://www.aflcio.org/familyfunresources/games/game_sspill.cfm

Big Fish, Little Fish
What happens to the big fish when the little ones decide to work together? See how well you can “organize” the little fish into a powerful force. To play please click: http://www.aflcio.org/familyfunresources/games/game_bigfish.cfm

For more fun and games please visit:
http://www.aflcio.org/familyfunresources/games/

~~~~> Teachers Guide for Mediating a Strike

George Meany Center for Labor Studies

Let your students role play at negotiating a settlement to the Paterson, New Jersey, silk manufacturing strike of 1913. Leading representatives of management and workers meets to attempt to reach a compromise and end the conflict. Students assume roles of actual individuals involved in the strike. Historically, the mediation effort was unsuccessful, but students, by using the conference as a starting point, can create their own scenario of the outcome and obtain an understanding of:

• the working conditions for silk workers and the problems of mill owners in Paterson
• the reasons the workers were striking and how they unified to try and achieve their goals
• ideological conflicts within the national labor movement at the turn of the twentieth century

Several historical topics are touched upon:

• the rights of workers to protest
• the role of women in the workforce
• the changing demographics of immigration
• the evolution of technology in the workplace

Specific objectives are:

• to describe the concerns of workers and the position of management in a historical context
• to understand mediation as a means of reaching compromise

To view Teachers Guide in its entirety please visit: http://www.georgemeany.org/archives/strike.html

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

~~~~> Career Coach

The Great Divide

"The Spanish teacher, Mr. Miller, I don't feel was qualified to teach Spanish at all because he didn't seem to know too much Spanish himself. He was also absent from class. And when I say absent, I mean I would see him there, but he wouldn't come to my actual period. ... We had a numerous amount of substitutes in that classroom for a while. And during those times we had those substitutes, we watched movies in class. We played games in class. We basically had a free period where we did whatever we wanted to. We had different substitutes almost every day. And then we had a final at the end of that. And I don't understand how they could have given us a final in Spanish when we did not learn a lick of Spanish. I think they really should have tested me on the movies I was sitting there watching."

—Alondra Jones, former student, Balboa High School, San Francisco

Across the nation, states are raising their expectations for what students should know and be able to do. Increasingly, students must meet those expectations to graduate from high school or move on to the next grade. But states have not been as rigorous in ensuring that students have teachers who know their subjects and can teach. To the contrary, the deck is often stacked against those children who need help the most.

Quality Counts 2003 focuses on this "teacher gap"—the fact that students in high-poverty, high-minority, and low-achieving schools have the least access to skilled instructors. Consider:

To read full article: http://www.youclick.net/GoNow/a15864a69405a117976248a3

~~~~> Career Planning: Think Before You Act

By Scott Lederman*

I remember my first job fair. The New York City Board of Education desperately needed special education teachers, and I was one of hundreds waiting to get into a huge high school gym and find that first job. I had a particular school in mind and was supposed to meet a certain person. But the person never showed. In the heat of the moment, I jumped at the first offer I got.

So started my career in education. I was naive, unprepared, and unknowledgeable about the job I had taken. But I was young and (fortunately) loved the profession.

Recently, after twenty-two years in teaching, I completed my certificate of advanced study in educational administration. This time, in looking at career opportunities, I have done my homework and researched my options. Almost every class in my administration degree program had at least one discussion about job-searching and what you needed to do before you accepted a job. Strange, I don't remember ever having that type of conversation in my teacher-education classes.

Things apparently haven't changed much. My daughter recently graduated with a teaching degree in history. She spent time on her portfolio, her resume, and her attire. But in all of our conversations, she never indicated that she spent any time on how to look for a job, what to ask, or what sort of compensation she should be looking for.

This is unfortunate. As someone who has seen a lot of teachers come and go, I can tell you: You need to examine what you want in a teaching job and what sort of compensation you need and can command. And be ready to express these things in an interview.

Just because an offer is made doesn't mean that you have to accept it. Take time to consider what you are accepting. There are a few things you can do to figure whether a position is right for you. First, look at the school's Web site. Many school and district sites now include substantive information on their goals and performance. Next, try to talk to teachers who work in the school.

Also, be direct about salaries and benefits. This might be a little tricky, since some districts don't like to talk about such issues during the initial interview. But ask anyway. You are an adult, and deserve to know what your contract would include and whether it will suit you.

Another good option is to call the district teachers' union. Ask for a copy of the district's contract and a referral to a teacher you could talk to.

The point is, take time to consider what you want and where you might see yourself ten years from today. Do your homework and be ready to ask questions at a job interview. Stand up for yourself. A portfolio is good to have at an interview, but how you handle yourself and whether you obtain the information you need are more important.

At least know what you want. Getting it is the challenge.

*Scott Ledermen has been a special education teacher in New York State for over 20 years. He is currently dean of students at Fallsburg High School in Fallsburg, N.Y.

Responses to this article can be sent to arebora@epe.org.

GET CONNECTED: WEB SITE LINKS

~~~~> T&G Membership Education in International Development

There is an urgent need to connect the daily concerns of trade union members to the global issues which are having an ever-increasing impact on local domestic agendas: pay and conditions, job security, health and safety, trade union rights. The “core standards” of the International Labor Organization have not been relevant for workers in Britain and other industrialized societies for generations, compared to their relevance today.

This website provides an opportunity for T&G members (and others in the trade union movement) to learn more about globalization, international trade unionism, and questions of international development. It is also intended to assist T&G lay tutors to develop course components that address questions of globalization and international development.

http://www.tgwu.org.uk/TGWUInternatEd/index.htm

~~~~> American Labor Studies Center

The American Labor Studies Center (ALSC) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Their mission is to collect, analyze, evaluate, create and disseminate labor history and labor studies curricula and related materials, aligned to the various state and national standards, to kindergarten through 12th grade teachers nationwide. They will include such areas as the history, organization, activities, and issues affecting the labor movement and the political, economic, and cultural aspects of workers and their unions.

There are a wide variety of curriculum materials for teachers of virtually every subject and grade level including historical events, music, art, literature, biographies and contemporary issues, among others, that will be accessible on the web site through direct downloads and dozens of links.

The ALSC will also sponsor workshops, courses, conferences and other events to acquaint teachers with the curriculum and related materials.

The goal of the ALSC is not to indoctrinate or proselytize, but provide students with an opportunity to explore the many facets of a very complex and important part of out nation's history and contemporary life. Teachers are encouraged to use a variety of research and inquiry approaches as they select their pedagogical strategies.

http://www.labor-studies.org/

~~~~> A Social Studies Unit on the Industrial Revolution For Middle School Students and Their Teachers

This site offers curriculum to cover actual whole quarters of the school term. Some of the topics include Horrors at the Workplace, Big Business and Labor and Production. The sight is easy to navigate and comes complete with a teacher resource section.

This site was created for a dual purpose:

• as an online resource for middle school teachers, specifically, one of the creators Cindee Carns
• as a project for a graduate class at the University of Houston, in which the other creator, Sandra McCubbin, is enrolled: Electronic Document Design, taught by Dr. Sara McNeil.

This site is a collaborative effort between two educators. The uniqueness of this partnership lies in the fact that the educators are sisters, and although they live a vast distance apart, were able to complete the project through the use of technology.

Graphics

The graphics came from Art Today, their URL is http://www.arttoday.com/PD-0025185/letter.html

Resources

Content Resources came from all the active links on these pages, and the Electric Library. http://www.elibrary.com/.

End of Issue

To find out more about the Teamsters Union--a vital part of your community in the U.S. and Canada--and our School-to-Work network, visit http://edu.teamster.org/edu.asp and http://www.ibtstw.org.

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