May-June Advisor 2021 web

MAY – JUNE 2021 CEA ADVISOR 3

News Briefs

IN THIS ISSUE

Hands Across the Green Golf Tournament to Benefit Children in Need

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As we bid farewell to the most challenging school year in recent history, our work as educators must continue in order to ensure a better long-term future for our students and schools. Pandemic trauma has affected students and teachers. Join the effort to ensure schools have the resources they need to recover, from school counselors to social emotional supports and training. At the height of the pandemic, teaching students simultaneously in person and remotely provided a stopgap. With vaccines widely available, full in-person learning is the goal, and CEA is working to make it a reality. A false accusation can turn even a veteran teacher’s personal and professional life upside down, often with long-term consequences. CEA’s Member Legal Services team helps clear teachers’ names and is there for you if you ever need them. ADVOCATING As the legislative session starts winding down, CEA’s efforts to get critical funding for school indoor air quality and other public education resources are ramping up. Work with your fellow members on the final legislative push we need. For months, teachers around the state have made their faces seen and voices heard on issues that would ensure educational equity and a recovery for all. See your colleagues in action and learn how you can get involved. A proposed new public school in Danbury, where teachers and community members continue to push for a better education budget, would reduce overcrowding in classrooms. Educators’ efforts are paying off as NEA Danbury enters the final stretch. At the 173rd CEA RA, held virtually this year, delegates adopted a new budget and business items as well as honored local associations and individuals for education and communication outreach, including Rosa DeLauro and her decades-long effort to help children out of poverty. Meet a teacher who is being honored for her commitment to ending discrimination based on gender identity and sexual discrimination, upholding students’ dignity, and being a voice for civil rights. The pandemic shut down many businesses or changed the way they operate. Fortunately, many of our favorite Member Benefits are stronger than ever, and new ones have come into the fold. From the kitchen table to the ballfield or yoga studio, see all the ways you can save! Busy school schedules have not kept teachers away from rallies, marches, and other demonstrations of their support for more funding and resources for public schools. See story, pages 10-11.

tournament, to help these very students.” While all golf spots are filled for this year’s event, hole sponsors and raffle prize donations are still needed. If you or anyone in your community would like to learn more about being a sponsor or donor, please contact CEA’s Chip Karkos at chipk@cea.org .

CEA staff, teachers, and other education supporters will tee off at the 26th annual Hands Across the Green golf tournament on July 12 to raise money for the Children’s Fund, which benefits some of Connecticut’s neediest students. The annual charity event, which typically draws 200 golfers and volunteers to Glastonbury Hills Country Club, was canceled last summer because of the pandemic and will resume at reduced capacity this year. It is the single largest fundraiser for the Connecticut Education Foundation, CEA’s charitable arm. “The Children’s Fund assists needy students in Connecticut’s public schools by providing for basic necessities their families can’t afford,” says CEF President and CEA Vice President Tom Nicholas. “Our members often find themselves spending their own money to help students who need school supplies, clothing, or medical provisions. The Children’s Fund provides teachers with funds, raised through this

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6-7 IMPROVING

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Join your colleagues from around the state via Zoom for our annual summer conference designed to help you grow in your leadership as a teaching professional and a union member. Register at cea.org/event/2021summerexperience .

Attendance is free, and sessions cover a variety of topics, including • Adjusting to a post-pandemic classroom • Legal issues facing teachers • Engaging students in conversations about race • Negotiations, grievance processing, and bargaining

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Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Gives Connecticut Students a Front-Row Seat to Engaging Education Two years ago, CEA and AFT CT partnered up on an exciting program—TeachRock—that helps rock, rap, hip hop, salsa, and reggaeton, are included. One of the consequences of NCLB legislation and an overemphasis on standardized testing has been the diminishment of arts and music programs.

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educators bring classroom lessons to life with music and the arts. Now, Governor Lamont and the State Department of Education have agreed to make Connecticut the first in the nation to implement the program statewide. “This is a fun, free, high-quality program that many of our teachers have participated in, starting in 2019,” says CEA Teacher Development Specialist Kate Field. “That’s when we first approached TeachRock about offering workshops to our members. We were so impressed with the quality and variety of lessons. Developed by educators, they connect teachers with students, and students with learning.” Founded by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Steven Van Zandt, TeachRock is based on a standards- aligned curriculum that connects history, popular music, and culture in a way that resonates with students and supports their social emotional development. As a young student, Van Zandt did poorly in school until a teacher helped him connect music to various school subjects. Looking at learning through the lens of music, he became far more engaged in academics. A mission of his nonprofit organization is to empower teachers to infuse music into the curriculum as a way of engaging students and building their cultural competency. “Kids come to school with the gifts of imagination, instinct, emotion, and curiosity already in place,” says Van Zandt. “Let’s use what they have and design education around it.” TeachRock curriculum consists of over 140 interactive lessons, curated by subject and theme and aligned with Common Core or NGSS standards. Many different genres of music, including

TeachRock curriculum keeps arts in the DNA of public education, says Van Zandt, adding, “Someday we will realize testing isn’t learning.”

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19 HUMAN & CIVIL RIGHTS

Steven Van Zandt, guitarist with Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band, is a strong advocate for public education.

Van Zandt, a staunch supporter of public education, teachers (whom he describes as

underappreciated and underpaid), and teachers’ unions, praised Connecticut for embodying the passion and priorities inherent in programs like TeachRock. “Let’s do all we can to help our teachers, who are our soldiers on the front lines in the war against ignorance. Boy, do we need them these days, as they continue to stimulate, inspire, and motivate young minds.” The SDE plans to release applications for districts to participate in this partnership. The first cohort will comprise up to 10 districts.

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