August 2003 Edition

No more coats, jackets or sweaters!! Warm and hot weather is here!! However, school will be opening soon so get in gear!

It’s an ideal time to involve our youth in various types of activities in which they can have fun while learning about different careers in a union setting. 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 information on Labor 2 Youth Education Day and other activities.

We would love to hear from you. To submit information on your organization, or career development curriculum, please email James Beeharilal at jbeeharilal@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

        ~ Labor 2 Youth Education Day
        ~ Local 1150 Invests in the Future

Conferences & Meetings Nationwide

Resources to Build Your Own Education Curriculum

~ Youth Leadership
~ Want to Be an E-Mentor
~ National Center for Education Statistics

Articles of Interest

~ Camp Teaches Teens About Labor
~ Standing With Teachers
~ States Plan Big Tuition Increases
~ Career Planning: Think Before You Act

Get Connected: Web Site Links

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Teamster Updates

~~~~> Teamsters Participate in Labor2Youth Education Day

Teamsters Help Scouts ‘Be Prepared’ For Entry Into Labor Market

(Washington, D.C.) – On Saturday, March 29, 2003 the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Education and Corporate and Strategic Initiatives departments joined forces to guide over 90 Boy and Girl Scouts as they earned their labor union merit badges and patches at a creative labor and youth exchange program at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, in Silver Spring, Maryland.

“Labor 2 Youth Education Day” brought together scouts from troops around the Washington, D.C. area for an innovative day of learning about rights on the job, the role of unions in both the workplace and the community, and how unions function.

IBT Campaign Communications Specialist Roger Newell introduced students to union industries and demonstrated how unions make jobs better and safer.

Representatives from Teamsters Local Union No. 96, which represents workers at Washington Gas, also played a key role in making the program a success.

~~~~> Local 1150 Invests In the Future

Young People Learn Labor History

Teamsters Local 1150 in Stratford, Connecticut makes a big investment in the future by providing work opportunities to young people and teaching them all about labor history.

Local 1150’s School to Career Project is well underway. The local, which represents Sikorsky workers, has 12 student intern placements at Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford and Shelton.

“An integral component for our interns, mentors, educators and management representatives is the Labor History Day,” said Joseph Grabinski, Local 1150’s Chief Environmental, Health and Safety Representative. The event took place Tuesday, July 22 at the Willimantic Thread Mill Museum, where participants learned how 19th century textile workers toiled night and day to produce materials Americans had come to rely on.

Labor History day also featured mock organizing meetings, oral presentations and other hands-on, interactive learning opportunities.

Local 1150 Secretary-Treasurer Rocco Calo believes the School to Career program and events such as the Labor History Day are critical. “We need to educate our young people about labor history and the struggles workers endured in the past. The rights we have today resulted from those workers’ struggles. Our young people are the future, and they are the ones who will continue to struggle for justice in the workplace,” Calo said.

Local 1150 leaders have been working closely with the International Union's Education Department in taking the union message to youth and teaching them about the world of work.

CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS NATIONWIDE

~~~~> IBT Education Department Promotes Labor Studies in the Schools

The IBT Education Department weighed in on the subject of teaching labor in the schools alongside several other organizations at the American Labor Studies Conference held in early July. The American Federation of Teachers sponsored the symposium and specially invited IBT Education Director Mary G. Hardiman and her Department to participate in the event. Hardiman was joined by Education Coordinators James Beeharilal and Sarah Young, and Communications Assistant Sharlene Mentor.

Denise Mitchell of the AFL-CIO Department of Public Affairs kicked off the two-day symposium with a presentation entitled “What America Knows about Organized Labor,” contending that while a majority of Americans have positive attitudes toward unions, less than 50% claim to know much about them. Paul Cole, Secretary-Treasurer, New York State AFL-CIO, a key presenter at the conference, believes that this means a recommitment to labor education in the schools. He recently established an organization, the American Labor Studies Center, which is tackling this issue in two ways: by developing a historic labor park in New York state with support from Senator Hilary Clinton and other politicians and by constructing a national Labor Studies website with teaching materials available for teachers to use in their classrooms.

The IBT Education Department staff had the opportunity to attend several workshops, which offered additional resources useful in the development of Labor Studies Programs. Young attended Mary Ann Awad’s workshop on digitizing hard copy primary sources for the construction of on-line databases. Mentor attended Bill Morgan and Phyllis Chiu’s workshop on the Yummy Pizza Company: Elementary Insights Into Teaching Labor. Beeharilal participated in a “Digital Classroom for the 21st Century” workshop facilitated by Daniel Rulli of the National Archives as well as a “Simulated Collective Bargaining” workshop facilitated by Linda Tubach and Patty Litwin of the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). Beeharilal said that, “This conference is a first step in the positive direction of getting labor education included in the curriculum of schools nationwide. It’s about time that teachers learn all about the importance of unions and be able to impart this vital knowledge to young people at all levels. The American Labor Studies Center’s website will be a very useful source from which teachers and other labor educators can obtain needed lesson plans, etc.” Hardiman learned about using culture to teach labor studies and ways to exhibit labor study material. UMASS Labor Studies Director Tom Juravich demonstrated how to integrate music into labor studies curriculum. Walter Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs Coordinator Mike Smith demonstrated how exhibits may be put together to educate and provoke the visitor. Hardiman applauded the conference, saying “AFT put together a great event and the Teamsters are glad to be a part of it.”

The IBT offers one of the most extensive Education programs of any international union, conducting over 125 field seminars a year in addition to the Teamster Leadership Academies in Washington, DC. Its staff regularly participates in other union’s conferences, acting as liaisons to the greater labor community.

~~~~> 4th Annual Labor 2 Youth Fair

Join the Community Services Agency and the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO on Monday, November 24, 2003 at the 4th annual Labor 2 Youth Fair.

This is a great opportunity to let hundreds of young adults, ages 14-21, discover the value and skills of labor in the workplace. This is your chance to shape tomorrow’s workplace today.

Your organization can:

• Distribute information and goodies
• Display union-made products
• Demonstrate skills or equipment
• Create a hands-on activity
• Host a game show

For more information on this dynamic annual event please contact Futureforce@dc.labor.org or call 202/857-0480.

~~~~> HISPANIC PARTNERSHIP

The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans and some of the nation's leading Hispanic organizations and corporate leaders are coming together to improve education for the country's largest minority group. The new Partners in Hispanic Education consists of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC); USHCC Foundation; MANA, A National Latina Organization; Girl Scouts of the USA; Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU); National Council for Community and Education Partnerships; State Farm Insurance Companies; IQ Solutions; League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC); Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR); United States Army; and National Association of Hispanic Publications. The partners have committed to host education programs in six pilot cities over the next several months. Each will involve town hall meetings; educational workshops for students, parents, educators, and business and community leaders; and seminars on student financial aid and scholarships. The first event is scheduled for October 18, 2003 in San Diego, California. Maybe labor can play a role? Other pilot cities include the Bronx, Detroit, El Paso/Las Cruces (NM), Miami, and Tucson. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE SEE http://www.yesican.gov/releases/partner_july03.html.

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:

~~~~> Youth Leadership

Applications for YouthActionNet Social Change Mini-Grants, sponsored by the International Youth Foundation. YouthActionNet provides small grants to youth leaders to support projects that promote social change and connect youth with local communities. Projects must have clearly defined goals and the potential for growth or further duplication. Award recipients will receive $500, funds for a disposable camera to document their project for an online photo gallery, and an opportunity to participate in an online journal. Who may apply: individuals and groups of individuals between the ages of 18 and 24. Applicants must have a leadership role in a youth-led project designed to create positive change in their community. The deadline to submit applications is October 1, 2003.

For additional information, contact YouthActionNet at (410) 951-1500 or visit http://www.youthactionnet.org/.

~~~~> Want to Be an E-Mentor?

Introducing a new, innovative way for Teamsters to reach out to young people across the nation. E-mentoring through icouldbe.org is your chance to share your time, talent, expertise, and personality to make a difference in the lives of young people all over.

icouldbe.org is an online career mentoring program for high school students. Educators find that students lack access to information on high wage careers in high growth industries. They often bring in speakers or refer students to counselors to obtain information on a limited number of occupations.

Young people make career choices based on inadequate and impersonal information. icouldbe.org provides a rich resource of mentors in high wage, high growth occupations. E-mentoring allows young people to cross geographic and industry lines to learn about a wide variety of possible careers, one-on-one, from the people who do them.

If you would like to share your knowledge about your industry and union, log onto icouldbe.org. Links to icouldbe.org can be found at the Teamsters Education Department website (www.teamster.org) and the Skills For Tomorrow Project website (www.ibtstw.org).

You can help thousands of kids and build our union with a click of the mouse!

• Registration and training take 15 – 30 minutes.
• You commit to at least 20 minutes of mentoring each week for one year.
• Be sure to identify yourself as a Teamster member during registration.

To read more about being a career mentor visit: http://www.ibtstw.org/tools/ementorinfo.html

~~~~> icouldbe.org Success Stories

icouldbe.org just wrapped up the school year and what a great year it was! Here’s a recap.

icouldbe.org has changed the lives of countless mentees! There are many success stories, including this one.

“I’m Marilyn and I am 16 years old. I am the first person from my family to be born in the United States. Now, I will also be the first to attend college…

I had a narrow field of exposure to careers in my life because the women in my family have all been certified home attendants. I saw myself following along in those footsteps.

Logging onto icouldbe.org changed the direction of my future! When I began to log onto icouldbe.org I was not really able to connect with mentors in the field of medical technology. Don’t get me wrong, I found someone to communicate with, but for some reason I found that I didn’t have a lot to say.

Then, I decided to do a [mentor] search and upon completing the [interest survey] I was surprised to find that one of my matches was a stockbroker. Out of curiousity and my love for math I e-mailed this person asking about the work environment.

Before long, I got the response I was waiting for. I immediately e-mailed her more questions like, ‘How does your personality fit into your work?’ ‘What does a work week look like?’ ‘Is it an exciting or stressful job?’ ‘Do you love your work?’…The dialogue just went on and on. I began to daydream about the world of a stockbroker and I was playing the main character.”

For more success stories visit: www.http://icouldbe.org/newsletter/testimonials/index.html

~~~~> Number of College Bound Students Rises

Teamsters Education Department Gets Briefed on National Education 2003

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in Washington, D.C. recently reported a one million student increase over the past ten years in those attending post-secondary institutions. The NCES projects this trend to continue into the next decade as the large number of students now attending high school reach college age. The center’s 2003 Condition of Education report also revealed that Pell Grant recipients, usually from low and middle-income families, are completing their degrees at nearly the same rate as non-financially assisted students.

Education representatives Sarah Young and Sharlene Mentor attended the NCES’ May 11 briefing in an effort to keep abreast of emerging trends within our nation’s schools. The briefing outlined information released from the statistical survey of 44 indicators related to primary, secondary, and post-secondary schooling in the United States.

Young believes the increased post-secondary attendance could have huge implications for the Teamsters’ membership base in coming years. “Education and training levels are key determinants of individuals’ success within their given industries. The Teamsters must consider the relationship of this growing number of college graduates, particularly from lower income brackets, to the future workforce and direction of our union,” Young said. Moreover, these trends reinforce the importance of locally and nationally sponsored scholarship funds, including the expanded James R. Hoffa Scholarship Fund. “Programs such as these are invaluable in assisting Teamster sons and daughters with their post-secondary goals,” she said.

The report also revealed the effect of ethnic diversity on education trends. The percentage of individuals age five to 24 who speak a language other than English has more than doubled in the past 20 years, up from 8 to 17 percent, and the percentage who speak English with difficulty is up from 3 to 6 percent. The report also found that high school dropout rates for Hispanics are the highest of any ethnic group, and unlike the dropout rates for both whites and African-Americans in the past 30 years, have not decreased.

College enrollment rates for African-Americans have increased faster than that of whites throughout the 90s, decreasing the gap between those groups, while college enrollment rates for Hispanics have not shown significant improvement. As individuals who do not have a college education typically work in blue-collar occupations, an increasing number of the Teamsters membership base will most likely be Hispanic. “Such factors will contribute to increasing diversity within the Teamsters in the decades to come,” said Mentor, who co-manages a school-to-careers union project.

The report also revealed that 43 percent of postsecondary students are over the age of 24. One factor producing this large number is the trend toward continuing education via the workplace. Employers are more often assuming the cost of post-secondary education expenses of the employed adults who participated in continuing education in 2001; 87 percent received financial support from their employer for work-related instruction. “If the Teamsters are to continue to persuade workers that it represents their interests, it may require a similar investment in our members’ future learning. That means reaffirming our commitment to providing union-centered educational opportunities,” Mentor said.

“These trends underscore the importance of the Hoffa Administration’s significant investment in labor education and training,” agreed Mary G. Hardiman, Teamsters Education Director. “Life long learning is something the union can provide its members to position them effectively for the future,” she said.

The Teamsters offers one of the most comprehensive labor education and training programs of any union. Education Department staff conduct more than 125 field programs a year. In addition, the Administration has sought and won significant grants to underwrite youth career development, health and safety training, transportation research, and other means of workforce investment and training.

“Teamsters look to the future,” Hardiman said. “Understanding the role of the trends in education is one way we remain responsible to the needs of our workers and their communities.”

For more on this year’s Condition of Education report see: www.http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/.

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

~~~~> Camp Teaches Teens About Labor Unions

By STEVE ROSEN Columnist
Jul. 27, 2003, The Kansas City Star

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/6371619.htm

Youngsters attending the Romeo Corbeil Summer Camp typically play a game that involves a walk into the woods.

Except there's a twist!

The point of this game is to show the income disparity between a corporate chief executive and an everyday laborer. While one camper marks off a few paces to symbolize the laborer’s salary, another camper playing the role of the CEO keeps walking and walking deep into the woods.

Clearly, this is not your traditional recreational summer camp where days are filled with canoe trips, pingpong, games of leap-frog, and even short-sheeting a roommate's bed.

Camp Corbeil, held annually for the last six years at Lake Wappapello near Poplar Bluff in southeast Missouri, is considered the only one in the country where campers join mock labor unions and examine workplace issues in our society. This summer's one-week session started Aug. 2.

The approximately 15 to 18 campers attending the session will ponder the meaning of terms like collective bargaining, shop stewards and human rights in exercises and classroom-like discussions. They'll also learn about the history of the labor movement and participate in role-playing games to gain a broader understanding of the world of work.

The camp, modeled after a program in Saskatchewan, Canada, is named after the late Romeo Corbeil, a French-Canadian and former secretary-treasurer of the Office and Professional Employees International Union. The union sponsors the camp along with the Missouri AFL-CIO, the International Association of Machinists, and the labor education program of the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Campers, generally ages 13 to 17, are a diverse group of Canadian and American boys and girls. They are selected by the Office and Professional Employees union and the other union sponsors, which provide camp scholarships and other financial assistance.

Though campers come from families with union ties, not all the kids have a good understanding of their heritage, said Paul Rainsberger, camp director and head of the labor education program at the university.

Rainsberger starts the week with a basic orientation about the role unions play in society and an overview of union administration and collective bargaining concepts. Part of the opening program is aimed at dispelling the notion that unions are involved only in disruptive strikes and conflicts.

After learning the basics, campers are organized into local unions and select officers and representatives to serve on bargaining, education, recreation (yes, there is free time) and environmental committees.

Rules are negotiated between the campers' bargaining committee and the staff -- everything from recreational games to mealtimes and curfews. "The goal is to keep heavy-handed adult rules out," Rainsberger said.

If problems arise during the week, the bargaining committee "works with the staff to assure that a fair and equitable resolution is achieved," according to a camp brochure.

Instructors cram in exercises throughout the week that deal with child labor laws, problems that young workers may face, and strategies for dealing with working excessive hours, sexism, racism and other human rights issues.

"Some of the kids don't understand that they do have rights and can ask questions without being treated poorly or harassed," said Jan Mammen, a volunteer instructor at the camp and business

manager at Local 320 of the Office and Professional Employees Union in Kansas City.

“Campers also receive instruction on deciphering a paycheck and devise a household budget for a factory worker, Mammen said Rainsberger hopes the kids will go away with a better understanding of "work and the workplace experience." Another goal of the program, he said, is to instill in the campers the importance of being role models "in their city, their neighborhood, their school."

Herb Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer of the Missouri AFL-CIO, said the development of the campers in one week is impressive. "They get just about as good an education in a week that you can ask for," said Johnson.

Have a question or comment? Call Steve Rosen at (816) 234-4879 or send e-mail to srosen@kcstar.com.

~~~~> STANDING WITH TEACHERS

Career Coach

A huge majority of teachers see their unions as giving them an effective voice on the job and better wages and benefits, according to a survey by Public Agenda, a nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion research organization. More than eight out of 10 teachers say without collective bargaining the working conditions and salaries of teachers would be much worse.

Read the full survey, "Stand by Me: What Teachers Really Think About Unions, Merit Pay and Other Professional Matters," at http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/standbyme/standbyme.htm

~~~~> States Plan Big Tuition Increases

By Dale Russakoff and Amy Argetsinger

State colleges and universities in every region of the country are preparing to impose this fall their steepest tuition and fee increases in a decade -- the latest fallout of state fiscal crises in which most governors and legislatures this year sharply reduced aid to higher education.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25763-2003Jul21.html?referrer=emailarticle

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

Leading the Way

In education today, few commodities hold more value than the elusive notion of "leadership." With schools under strong pressure to show improvements—and many of them facing complex challenges—administrators and staff developers are being encouraged to put a premium on traits associated with individuals who solve problems, build teams, and bring about change. This emphasis is increasingly evident in teacher hiring and promotion.

To give one example, the New Teacher Project, a nonprofit consulting firm that develops alternative-certification programs and advises school districts on recruiting and hiring, puts leadership skills at the heart of its selection criteria. The group says it has found that such skills "are the greatest determinants of [teachers'] success."

Among the specific leadership traits the New Teacher Project looks for are:

• a strong record of past achievement
• strong writing, critical thinking, and speaking skills
• an ability to maintain perspective in difficult situations
• sensitivity and respect for others; and
• a commitment to underprivileged communities

“The New Teacher Project keeps an "open mind" about how applicants might show such characteristics,” says Ariela Rozman, the group's vice-president for marketing. In general, according to Rozman and National Director of Selection Fiona Lin, it seeks out candidates who have clearly set high goals for themselves and performed with marked creativity and initiative in past jobs or school work. Community involvement—through volunteer and mentoring programs, for example—and a commitment to "improving systems" are also common threads.

If the New Teacher Project emphasizes the big picture, Steve Bingham, director of the Program on Education Leadership for SERVE—a research and consulting organization devoted to educational improvement in the southeastern United States—identifies some more job-specific ways teachers can exhibit the kind of leadership qualities prized by school administrators. He recommends developing strong networking and computer skills and, if you really want to impress, combining these skills by creating a professional e-mail listserv.

Bingham also points to the rising currency of "instructional leadership," meaning leadership that is specifically built around student learning. In this connection, he advises teachers to work to develop a "profound knowledge of curriculum and pedagogy" and to become active in "collaborative inquiry," through which teachers join together to share and examine instructional practices.

Leadership obviously comes in different forms. The consensus, though, is that it entails active involvement and a quest for improvement.

For more information visit: http://www.edweek.org/jobs/jobstory.cfm?slug=03lead_cc.h02

GET CONNECTED: WEB SITE LINKS

~~~~> Labor Awareness Program

LAP is a 15-lesson curriculum for high school students, apprentices, new entrants into the workforce, union members, etc. It aims to familiarize students with the world of work and the labor organizations that represent workers. Hats off to Judy Ancel and the University of Missouri’s Labor Studies Center for making a difference with this new program.

http://www.umkc.edu/labor-ed/lap/index.htm

End of Issue

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