One woman's journey to fight HIV/AIDS

For much of her life, Christin Norris has been making strides to end the disease that took her uncle’s life.

When she was eight years old, Norris lost her uncle to HIV/AIDs. Even then, she recognized the need for advocacy and support.

“My grandmother and Uncle John walked in the Boston AIDS Walk together in 1993. The very next year, he was taken from our family,” said Norris.

When Norris was in middle school, she found her own voice in the fight against HIV/AIDS when she struggled with finding a topic for a writing assignment.

“I finally thought of my uncle and the words began to flow onto a tear-stained paper. After that poem, I began to write more and speak more about my family’s loss,” said Norris.

Norris eventually grew up to become a language arts teacher at Mayport Middle School, where she is sharing her own passion for reading, writing and understanding.

“I tend to surprise myself with the passion I have for promoting awareness,” said Norris, who each year presents an age-appropriate lesson for World AIDS Day on December 1.

“I want my students to be aware of the epidemic. Yet, I don’t want to scare or astound their parents with a full-blown lesson,” she explained in light of varying sensitivities to the subject. In another annual ritual, Norris has taken up her uncle’s torch in raising funds through Boston’s AIDS Walk. Her goal this year is to raise $1,000 in advance of her taking part in this year’s event on Sunday, June 2.

For Norris, this work continues to be a family affair.

“My grandmother, who is now 79, has been busy with her advocacy efforts for 20 years and does an amazing job organizing ‘John’s Team’ and getting an incredible outpouring of support from friends and family,” said Norris.

As for Norris’ late uncle and best friend, she said, “I know he’s laughing his big and hearty laugh with a smile that spreads ear to ear as he watches my friends and family fight in his memory.”

To contribute to Norris’ team effort, please visit the following web page: John's Team

RACE: Are We So Different?

We are different, but only on the surface.

I applaud MOSH for their exhibit that takes an honest and earnest look at the manmade racial categories that overshadow our God-made humanity. It is called "Race: Are We So Different?"

If we are to close our eyes and listen to our brothers and sisters around us, we might have a greater perspective to what they are saying.

Instead, it is impractical to expect us to go about our lives blind to the amount of melanin that defines our individual existence. Reality demands that we see our world in terms of colors and hues that force us to face stereotypes and perceptions each and every day of our lives.

Although I grew up in Orange Park and was sheltered from the crucible of busing and desegregation that defined much of Jacksonville’s local history, I faced the subtleties of race when I attended public schools in Clay County.

As a black student in a majority-white school system, I was fortunate to be staffed into the gifted program. I had the opportunities to take advanced and honors classes that I knew were not enjoyed by my peers of color.

It was a challenge for me to find students or teachers who looked like me. To their credit, Clay County’s public schools were focused on my education regardless of what color my skin happened to be. The fact that I am a productive member of society could be credited to the dedicated men and women who mentored me along my search for knowledge.

This, in my opinion, is the essence of what a color blind society should be. All that I knew was that I had the chance that generations of families risked their lives to attain – a free, quality education for every student. Surely, there were times when I witnessed racism but my youthful optimism permitted me to believe that these incidents were manifestations of the dying gasps of a truly lost cause. This is a mindset that I understand was a luxury that could be afforded to a young suburban upbringing. I am grateful that I did not have to endure the reprisals, recriminations and retaliation that marked the education of many in my generation.

Even when race riots erupted at my high school in the early 1990s, I had the perspective to know that good and bad in our world were not as simplistic as racial lines and stereotypes. This was a defining point for me because I was exposed to the dangers of race matters when they are not addressed in a healthy way.

Today, I am glad to know that our city is taking an honest look into the issue of race to help us come together and learn something new about ourselves and our community.

Perhaps, one day, we will all be able to list ‘human’ when we see ‘race’ on a form or document to complete.

The dream as envisioned by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for a society that sees character over color does not have to be impossible.

See you at MOSH!

A day in the life

In my opinion, teachers are misunderstood by those who seek to reform education because they believe that we are an army of Miss Halseys (Like in 'Bad Teacher') who slumber while their young charges muddle through yet another video with nothing to truly learn. This ugly misconception of the teaching profession has ruled the day and has allowed politicians and bureaucrats to exact whatever punishment they saw fit on men and women who serve our students in ways that would shatter the awful stereotypes that hold educators in such low esteem.

In a way, I do not mind the scrutiny that I receive because I indeed am earning a living from taxpayers' dollars and I have decided that I would account for what I do in the classroom for the sake of transparency and truth.

On March 7, 2013, I decided to keep a log of what I do in the classroom to illustrate the time, talent and treasure that I invest for the sake of teaching my sixth grade students.

Let's begin at 08:09 when I park in the parking lot at my workplace and sign in at the front office. I pick up a stack of Beaches Leaders newspapers that are central to my Newspapers in Education program. The Beaches Leader has been gracious to donate copies of their paper to promote literacy in my classroom. Many students have used articles from this paper to read and complete current events assignments. I agree with the 50-year-old institution when they say that readers can be leaders.

Once I am settled into my classroom at 08:14, I log into my school-issued laptop computer to check my email. I send an email to administration and guidance about a student who is having disciplinary issues. I include the student's parent/guardian and other teachers to ensure that we have a positive and proactive solution to his impulsive outbursts in the classroom.

After I finish with my email, I turn to some housekeeping in the classroom. I have work areas to which I provide pencils, crayons, markers, colored pencils, tape, staples and facial tissue. Each work group can work freely without having to trek across the room for their supplies. I can also thank my students and their families for their donation of supplies as needed.

At 08:33, I convert documents into PDF format using the scanner/printer that I purchased out of my own pocket. It has been a mission of mine to share materials electronically with my colleagues by placing documents on the share drive for retrieval instead of being a slave to a file cabinet that seems to be like the Bermuda Triangle for finding activities and assignments. In this case, I am scanning a reading passage about the four forms of government (monarchy, tyranny, oligarchy and democracy) in ancient Greece. It is helpful for me to be able to click on one document and make them readily available to my classes.

I scramble to the copy room at 08:39 to make copies of my rubric for my ancient Greek government foldable activity. The copier is out of order, so I go back to my room and print a set from my classroom printer. Along the way, I donate $5 to our softball coach who is selling doughnuts. I grab a doughnut for a quick breakfast and then, after completing my printing, I go back to cleaning up my classroom, which is littered with stray papers here and there and misplaced pencils and pens. I do not blame the custodian as much as I blame students who do not take more pride in our classroom. At 09:01, I answer my telephone. It is a parent who informs me that her daughter is under the weather and cannot make it to school today. With the parent's permission, I send an email to the student's other teachers and the guidance secretary asking them to provide make up work for the ill student.

Almost ten minutes later, at 09:10, I mentor with a student who is going through a bad patch. This revelation is encouraging because I previously believed that he was simply being lazy in the classroom. His explanation of his personal situation helps me to empathize with him. He promises to do his best in class in spite of his issues at home and he tells me that he trusts me as someone who can listen and support him. I explain to my mentee student that we should at least inform his ESE teacher that he is going through a bad patch so we can best help him along the way this year. We share the same explanation with the student's paraprofessional who visits him in class on a regular basis.

At 09:28, it is my chance to make last minute preparations for my school day. I collate the printed work, I set up foldable graphic organizers with my mentee's help and I go to the gym at 09:45 to retrieve my first class of students. Our school uses guided movement where teachers are responsible or escorting their students to and from each of their classes.

At 09:50, I pass out materials and supplies for the students to review in the time before the pledge of allegiance and the morning announcements and I take attendance on the computer's online gradebook. One student comes in late to class again and I send him to the school counselor because I am concerned about his repeated, albeit excused tardiness to school. After the 09:55 pledge of allegiance and announcements, I give a lesson on what we will be doing next.

The students, while I finish up prepping their supplies, read silently from the Beaches Leader newspaper. Some students needed constant reminding to stay silent. One student was relocated to another part of the classroom for failure to comply.

To begin each class, I explain the evolution of ancient Greek government. We have a brief dialogue about how Greeks eventually found democracy to be the right form of government. For ten minutes, my students then read supplemental information on the four forms of government that existed in ancient Greece. They used the information from the text to create a foldable activity that classifies each form of ancient Greek government and describes who they led the Greeks into Democracy. I wrote two 'Happy Grams' for two students who were reading their background material and working hard to stay on task.

While they worked, I worked with individual students who needed clarification on what to do with their work. I also fielded an email from a family who wanted me to send make-up work to their absent child and I obliged. I admitted another late student into the classroom at 11:00 and asked him to work in the hallway with two students who earlier asked to work in an area where they could focus.

At 11:13, I announced that it was time for clean up CHAMPS. CHAMPS is an initiative from something called Foundations - designed to teach students rituals and routines in the classroom and to teach how to create safe and civil schools. The students cleaned up while I distributed copies of our class newsletter to take home. I dismiss the students based on what groups were the quietest and were following the rules. I pass out cookies as positive reinforcement for those who exited the classroom with the least problems.

During the transition period between classes, I speak briefly to a teacher who is having disciplinary issues with a mutual student of ours. Shortly afterward, I verbally reprimand a student for shoving a classmate in the hallway. At 11:25, my next class of students enters the classroom and I assign the reading lesson that will help them prepare for the foldable work. Five minutes later, I admit two students who were finishing work in their previous class. At 11:45, I clarify the instructions for one student.

Before we leave for lunch at 11:50, I take attendance on the computer. I was disappointed in the class because, at 11:52, there were some students who cut in line and would not comply with my request to walk to lunch in an orderly fashion. We returned to my classroom and I admonished them for not knowing how to transition to the lunch room like they were supposed to. We arrive late to lunch and I pick up a phone message from the office and needed to return that call. I missed lunch because a telemarketer left me a message. At 12:09, I took a water and restroom break. I went back to the classroom to continue my work until it was time to retrieve my students from the lunch room.

At 12:20 we left the cafeteria and the students made a visit to the restrooms. The students behaved much better upon their return from lunch. At 12:26, we were back to work. I took one student aside and asked how she was doing because she was having a family issue that was distracting her from her work.

At 12:28, I emailed the school counselor for help with another disciplinary issue. Minutes later, my assistant scholar bowl coach needed to drop in my classroom to help prepare for the district championship game that will be at our school on Monday. At 12:38, I referred a student to the school counselor due to a sensitive issue. I redirected students who were off-task at 12:42 and also helped other students who needed my help.

After circulating around the classroom for ten minutes, I began to prep for the next class.

At 13:16, the assistant scholar bowl coach returned for additional work. At 13:19, I announced time to clean up and distributed copies of our class newsletter. After ten minutes, we transitioned to the next class. I accompanied the students to their next class and met briefly with a colleague about one student from my next class who was not behaving and received a completed book report from a student whom I assigned a biography of Ronald Reagan because the student expressed an interest. At 13:34, I verbally reprimanded one student for not lining up with the rest of the class before admitting the students into the classroom.

At 13:36, I distributed the reading material that would serve as the source material for the foldable activity. Two minutes later, a student asked for a witness statement to complete regarding an incident that occurred in his previous class.

The next 20 minutes are spent handing out supplies to complete the foldable, redirecting students who were off-task, loaning a pencil to a student and offering help where needed. At 14:14, I wrote a hall pass for a student who needed water. I then had to ask students to refrain from eating sunflower seeds in my classroom and to put away their sunflower seeds.

At 14:20, I helped a student with defining key terms and then helped a student start the project over again after making an error on the first draft. I wrote another hall pass for a student to go to the restroom, but cautioned the class that we would have to have a group restroom break at the end of class to prevent me from having to write too many hall passes.

At 14:25, I handed out positive reinforcement cookies while I prepped the materials for the next class.

Because the clock was out of order, I checked my cell phone to monitor the time before clean up and dismissal.

At 14:40, it was time to clean the classroom and prepare for my promised group bathroom break.

At 14:42, I distributed the class newsletter, gave positive reinforcement cookies to student who helped with passing out the class newsletter.

At 14:50, we went downstairs to the restroom and get water. A group of students was so disruptive in this class that I had to remind them eight times to stay in line. I explained that this group bathroom break would not continue as a practice. At 15:02, the students lined up an transitioned to their last class of the day. I spoke briefly with the assistant principal and handed her the student statement that was written during the previous class.

At 15:06, I returned upstairs to greet my last class of the day. I asked a member of the scholar bowl team to come to my classroom as well. The last class of the day is quite rowdy and took a few minutes for them to settle down and for me to distribute their work to be done I gave the scholar bowl team member a letter written by our state representative in honor of our team's season.

At 15:18, I received peanut butter cookies made by a student's family.

At 15:20, I continued to pass out supplies and had to redirect some students to stay on task.

During the next ten minutes, I read an email from a concerned parent and sent a reply and also took attendance for the remaining two class periods on my laptop computer. 15:41 came around and I discussed the assassination of President Lincoln with a student. I shared an article about the last living witness to the assassination. At 15:45, it was time to clean up the classroom. Some students were not following the rules. I took extra time to explain that I would not be sharing positive reinforcement (e.g. cookies) if students chose to be loud and not remain in their seats at the end of class. I spoke with two students at the end of class who explained that another student was making offensive jokes. I verbally reprimanded the student and asked him to refrain from that behavior again. I released the students and told them that they would get cookies on Friday.

Busy day.

After school, I then attended a district level meeting that ran from 16:30 until 18:30.

I hope that I provided a glimpse into what I do each day...

A matter of principals and principles

There is one question that I dread receiving as an educator.

“Why don’t you look into becoming an administrator?”

Thankfully, I am usually not sipping from the coffee that provides me with the sweet nectar of wakefulness for the day as I would surely be spitting it out in a random state of incredulity. Why do many good teachers refuse to cross over into the ‘dark side?’ There are quite a few Jedi knights in the classroom who would indeed make lovely principals and assistant principals, especially considering the increase in pay.

While the pay jumps a bit, the stresses and responsibilities make an even larger jump for already beleaguered educators.

When I am asked this question, I immediately think of the study in which college students were asked to play prisoners and wardens. In an experiment that made Lord of the Flies look like an Outward Bound romp in the wilderness, these students devolved into madness and depravity that destroyed the spirits of those who participated.

In this study, which needless to say, will never be conducted again, the randomly appointed wardens became drunk with power and took on a sadistic role that degraded the dignity of those who were once their peers in the classroom.

Egads, my friends! This Stanford experiment was all too real as the guards exacted psychological torture that were all too real to the same classmates who were their study partners a few weeks before. All it took was six days to teach us that this study was all too real a study in human depravity. Guards assaulted prisoners with fire extinguishers. Prisoners were forced to use buckets for toilets. Prisoners were forced to sleep naked on the cold, concrete floors of their simulated cells. When the experiment was called off, protests arose from the guards who liked their jobs a bit too much. Society learned that the roles that we play can sometimes take us over and make us forget our own humanity or the humanity of those around us.

But, I digress. The reason why I would never be caught dead lording over my colleagues is not because of a personal vendetta against any administrator in particular. The reason why I would never in a million years desert the classroom is because I wish to keep doing what I do best – nurture young minds and enrich learning to the best of my ability. I would never wish to get the amnesia that many folks get when they earn that much-envied promotion to what is considered the next logical step of their career. Most importantly, I do not want to be the good teacher who becomes a rotten principal.

I know that many people will ask me why a principal or any other administrator would take leave of their senses when they are working in the same schools with the same children as their subordinates. Allow me to provide some insights, with some help from One Mean MFA’s blog (http://onemeanmfa.wordpress.com/) and from colleagues who would like to speak up but either can’t or won’t for obvious reasons.

• The best educational leaders never forget that they were once followers. Once we get that office, it is tempting to cloister ourselves in an echo chamber that leads us to believe that we were specially ordained to command from on high. Unlike teachers, for whom it takes an act of Congress to be able to relieve themselves in a timely manner, administrators take for granted the simple dignities of having unlimited restroom privileges. While us humble teachers would be strung up for denying a restroom pass to a student, we face serious health problems that arise from putting our bladders on hold for the lion’s share of the school day. Furthermore, administrators have the luxury of closing the door to the world when they are overworked or overwhelmed. In this ivory tower, they can actually do their work in peace. The average teacher, however, must stay on his or her toes throughout the school day – balancing the duties of taking attendance, passing out graded work, delivering lessons, collecting work, disciplining students, cleaning up the room for the next class, setting up electronic equipment, writing hall passes, loaning supplies, grading papers, helping students, redirecting students, and a slew of other actions that go unnoticed by the people who once did the same but now are oblivious of. The insular trappings of an administrator’s office also come with a cliquishness that permits them to choose favorites and dish out perks and privileges that betray the equality and fairness that is supposed to exist on campus. Either we are all in this to accomplish a common goal or we are not.

• The best educational leaders never forget that they were once children. It should be obvious that none of us were born directly into adulthood, but there are many administrators who behave as if they have no earthly idea of how a child actually behaves. They treat every character, behavior and social aspect of the child as something that is directly connected to the teacher’s success or failure as a person. I admit that I was not the most attentive student in the classroom and was not the most ideal student to have in the classroom if the teacher was being observed by a person with a clipboard and that institutional amnesia that allows them to judge the teacher on the merits of a few supposedly bad apples. Perhaps I have failed as a teacher if the commissars and inspectors from administration grill my students on their lessons using the jargon that would trip up even the most gifted of children. We, as educators, know of the gotcha tactics that are used to trip us up. For example, it seems like administrators take a secret course in how to select the most out of it student and ask him or her which state standard he or she is learning. If the student fails this impromptu quiz, it is apparent that the teacher is a slacker who is dooming the class to a life of either a succession of probation officers or a menial living working at a half-empty strip mall. Please do not misunderstand me; I believe that standards are important as we should communicate what lessons need to be taught. I also am a firm believer in the Understanding by Design methods that create lessons and learning by identifying the goals of what is to be taught and working to meet those goals. What offends and outrages me is that a generation of educators is learning how to game the system by coaching their students on what to say when the clipboard wielding men and women walk in and start asking questions. There is no more fun in learning when the education Gestapo takes a more active interest in the aesthetics of a classroom that seem to be designed for their approval as opposed to the actual needs of the students. In my decade plus of teaching public schools, I have yet to encounter a student who can adeptly say to me, “Mr. Meeks, I am learning NGSSS SS.A.2.3.1, the essential question is ‘how has geography affected the way people live?’ and I am developing a word wall that includes the following terms: scribe, famine, empire and exile.” It would a lie for any teacher to claim that they are able to corral malleable young minds into a mindset that reeks of a Stepford community instead of a true laboratory of learning. The behaviors in the classroom that we once accepted as part of our youth are now openly condemned. There was a time when students had down time for the sake of giving their brains a rest. Today, any break in learning is seen as a demerit for teachers. I understand that classes must never be seminars in coloring and playing around, but we are raising a hardened and harried generation of students who associate school with non-stop work and no joy.

• The best educational leaders always practice what they preach. Only a heartless tyrant would run a classroom that is filled with constant condemnation and criticism. The same, in my opinion, applies to an administrator who believes that the beatings should continue until morale improves among the faculty. In my classroom, I have created incentives that regularly recognize students for their accomplishments. It is healthy to balance negative with positive feedback to create an atmosphere in which students are not afraid to make mistakes. Similarly, if we work in a school where the administration is always on the warpath about something and all of the teachers and staff are walking on eggshells, we are not working in an environment that is conducive to learning. For every educator who loses his or her cool and yells at or snaps at a student, there is an educator who toils away in fear that their work is constantly being criticized with no pat on the back from upstairs. These teachers are not manic depressive or bipolar but perhaps may be lashing out because they are being subject to the kind of workplace abuses from their superiors that manifests itself in unhealthy communications with students. While it is inexcusable for a teacher to verbally abuse a child, it is equally inexcusable for an administrator to create a climate of fear and loathing that affords subordinates with no real help or assistance. Speaking of communication, teachers are now on call every hour of the day. There is no escape from email messages asking about grades, classwork or homework as parents and families have access to their children’s grades online. Teachers must juggle their daily schedules around parent conferences which they are required to attend and address. The teachers have an open door policy that necessitates good listening skills and being responsive to the needs of their charges. Many administrators, however, claim to have an ‘open door’ policy but are far too eager to use that open door as an avenue to shut down dialogue, retaliate against outspoken teachers and ignore legitimate needs of their faculty and staff.

• The best educational leaders always understand the big picture. While students spend most of their waking hours inside the school house, there indeed are factors that are beyond the control of the teachers. Thanks to Response to Intervention (RtI), we are beginning to craft teaching to meet the needs of students who all were not raised by June Cleaver. The factors of poverty, abuse, hunger and neglect must be factored into the work that we do for our students. These circumstances are directly connected to the inability to create perfect children as the government demands. The budgetary limitations that restrict how we aid students, however, allows bad administrators to oversimplify problems and make scapegoats of the very teachers how have worked to comfort students who lost a parent, spend money from their own pockets to buy lunch for a child, lend school supplies to students who do not have a permanent home of their own, or wince when they see a child come to school with bruises from a beating from a parent who decided to take out their anger on the nearest person. Many administrators are willfully ignorant of the teachers who deal with situations that were unimaginable even a decade ago. Teachers have to work in an atmosphere in which students are coming out as gay, students are being bullied on the Internet, students are witnessing their parents wrestling with the demons of drug abuse, students are missing school to take care of their siblings. The solutions that educators seek, develop and implement will never be included on their respective evaluations because this is the kind of work that, although it is ignored, still needs to be done by someone.

• The best educational leaders believe that putting students first does not mean putting teachers last. Every idea that comes down the pike might look great on the surface, but that does not mean that we must jump on every passing trend and fad like a fickle socialite who changes wardrobes with every issue of Vogue. The justification for spending massive amounts of tax dollars is just as silly. We are told that, if we do not blindly drink the Kool-Aid of the latest administrative fancy, we do not care about the children. While it may work for totalitarian regimes to hide behind the children to push their twisted agendas, it is counterproductive to demand that educators jump on the bandwagon to adopt the next big thing only to see it discarded the following year. This, in my opinion, is why so many veteran educators look at these whims with a jaundiced eye. A bad administrator does not listen to experience, but yearns to purge the learned hands in the classroom and replace them with more obedient rookies in this anti-tenure environment. Thankfully for other professions, they are not subject to the same instability in their respective fields. The clergy have been working with sacred texts that are older than time. Attorneys study laws that have descended from the same codes in place since the time of Robin Hood. Physicians, although medicine has made leaps and bounds over the centuries, are still faithful to the same fundamentals that the ancient Greeks pioneered. The same cannot be said for teachers, who witness the creation of program after program, attend training and professional development, spend their precious time executing these fabulous plans and then bide their time until something better comes along. Do they rebel? Do they mutiny? Do they strike? No, the keep doing what is right for the students.

At the end of the day, the main reason why I cannot move into that comfortable office is that I cherish my freedoms too much. I can take the time to express myself about what troubles me in public education. I can advocate for issues in which I believe. I can look myself in the mirror every morning and say with pride that I have done something for the betterment of society. It’s not that administrators are useful idiots or cowards who dare not do the same, but they agreed to take on the duty of leading at a price. If I was a principal, I would not take the risks that I do by speaking out. Yes, there is retribution exacted on loud mouths like me, but I would get beaten down no matter what I did if someone really had a mind to take me down a notch. I only fail if I do not bother to try. This is why I continue to work alongside my comrades in the trenches and why I continue to speak up on our behalf.

Solidarity!

Why I teach and why I fight

I am a teacher because I want your children to succeed.

This is why I maintain a transparent grading process for students and their families to completely understand how I arrived at my grades and how we can work to remedy these grades if indeed we are all trying to make a good faith effort to improve their learning.

I am a teacher because I want your children to make real progress.

This is why I stay up late at night grading papers in my pajamas and this is why I accept late work even if it means that I have to alter my home, family and private life to help your children make the grade. This is why I will often drop everything to even help former students who need letters of recommendation for scholarships, for admission to college and even when they need a job reference.

The politicians and administrators cannot say the same for educators.

This is why I work under a system that uses an evaluation tool that, when it is completed, is written in stone. There is no changing or altering teacher evaluations to include our own efforts to improve ourselves. There is nothing in this instrument that addresses what we do beyond preparing our students for the test that drives everything that we do in the classroom.

The politicians and administrators use the ‘bad’ teachers to justify their witch hunt against all teachers, good and bad. What they do not understand is that the bad teachers may be more effective at coloring between the lines and putting together a show that impresses the right people while the good teachers are forced to spend their own time, treasure and talent on efforts that ultimately get absolutely no recognition.

The politicians and administrators are not interested in teachers who do the right thing.

If they indeed really cared about helping good teachers become better, they would be as swift with the praise as they are with the condemnation. Why is school recognition money distributed at a snail’s pace while the negative news of school grades and teacher growth plans arrives faster than a delivery boy can bring a pizza to my doorstep? I have learned in my professional development classes that it is important for educators to give praise to their students often and efficiently. This is why it makes me and my students happy when we celebrate our successes publicly. I also learned to keep my criticism of student work private as I know that they can do their best when they are not under the pressure of knowing that I will broadcast their failings and challenges. So, why do we treat educators any differently? The main reason why teacher morale is so low in this time of testing and evaluations based on testing is that every day is judgment day for us and the powers that be are much more interested in proving their point that the teaching profession is populated by men and women who rank down there with horse thieves and convicted felons. The system is rigged to punish more than help.

This is why our state legislature and Department of Education are scrambling right now to adjust the teacher evaluation that they created – because there were too many ‘good’ teachers. Surely, there has to be something wrong with this evaluation system, right? There are too many C, D and F school grades and too many teachers who are graded as ‘effective.’ Don’t worry, there will be changes made to make sure that this never happens again. You can take my word for it when I say that next year’s evaluations will present a more ‘realistic’ picture of how awful our teachers ‘really’ are.

The politicians and administrators cannot handle the truth.

This is why we have educators who attempt to present their side of the story and are rebuffed in their efforts. I have a colleague in Florida’s public schools; she sent a portfolio of data and anecdotal evidence of her work to the human resources department of the school system because of the poison pen evaluations that she received from her administrators. They made it a sport to walk into her classroom and degrade her teaching in front of her students.

They took an almost sadistic joy in telling her that, in spite of being a National Board certified, she was not making the grade for her students. They ignored the fact that a former student of hers went on to win the Emmy award for the writing skills that he learned in her classroom. None of what we really do in the classroom matters when politicians and administrators have made up their minds that we need to be taught a lesson. The politicians and administrators do not care what we say or do.

This is why I had a private meeting with some influential people and said that I would be quiet and let the system fix itself. This is why I decided to be polite and back away from being such a loud mouthed activist for a while. What came of this? Some of my fellow union members accused me of selling out because the same shenanigans continued to come from politicians and administrators regardless of what I said or did not say. I learned how to play along and get along and go nothing in return. I extended an olive branch and ended up with a knife in my back.

I will use whatever constructive and legal means that I can to advocate for my profession and for my students. I will use whatever constructive and legal means to exercise my First Amendment rights to challenge the system that attempts to use the tired and trite platitudes that they are putting children first – while insisting that they must put educators and education support professionals last.

This is not a partisan crusade that I am launching today. The late Senator Jim King happened to be a Republican but also happened to be a friend of our state’s public schools. Former governor Charlie Crist was a Republican at the time that he vetoed legislation that I believe was designed to harm our educators. I believe that the leaders in Tallahassee happen to be misguided because of my silence and because of our collective silence. If we do not speak up, they will assume that we approve of everything that they do. There are men and women in our state leadership, beginning with Governor Rick Scott, who are making long overdue overtures to us. They are extending a hand to us that I want to accept in earnest as it takes us all to create a better education system for Floridians that works for all Floridians. That is why I wrote this message, and I approve this message.

Viola Liuzzo and our comfort zones

As we observe Black History Month, we remember the heroes of the movement that expanded rights and freedoms for us all, regardless of race or ethnicity. Hidden among the legendary figures of that turbulent time is the name of someone who is nearly as obscure as the life that she lived and lost.

The 1960s were the decade of Donna Stone and June Cleaver, so we don't normally give much currency or credit to the 'average' housewife of that era. The women of that time were supposedly mopping floors while wearing a fabulous mink stole, cleaning toilets with a string of pearls around their neck or fussing over a fixing dinner for a surprise visit from her husband's boss.

These indeed were comfortable times for many suburban Americans who watched helplessly while young people from all walks of life risked their lives in the killing fields of the Deep South. So, why did Viola Liuzzo, a white woman from the Wolverine State, take it upon herself to leave her domestic life to get entangled in the bloody civil rights movement?

She saw the injustices being committed against her fellow human being. The flickering images of Selma inspired her to stop viewing life from the sidelines and she took a stand; she was already attending her local Unitarian church in Michigan and joined the NAACP. This however, was not enough.

Mrs. Liuzzo believed that she was fighting everyone's fight when she decided to go south to do what she believed was the right thing. She marched from Selma to Montgomery to show the voices of hatred and intolerance that the voices of love and peace are louder than any bigot.

Mrs. Liuzzo, tragically, was killed by four klansmen for committing the unforgivable sin of ferrying protesters in her family car. She left her comfort zone, as many Americans dared not do, so future generations could enjoy the freedoms and liberties that we take for granted today.

Mrs. Liuzzo's death did not end injustice or prejudice, but opened the eyes of a nation to what can be done for others. If only we would leave our own comfort zones to take the brave step toward building a better nation that works for all. We are Mrs. Liuzzo's legacy if only we speak out wherever and whenever we can.

Thank you, Viola Liuzzo (1925-1965)

One by One, we can help our students and our future

We are the brain trust for improving our public schools for all of our children.

During the years of depression and war, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt assembled some of the greatest minds of his time to coordinate efforts to create a better nation. Today, our elected and appointed leaders have a broad and deep reservoir of ideas and solutions in our community.

Mayor Alvin Brown was right when he said that the key to reducing crime lies in our efforts to transform education to prepare us for the future. Our economy and our quality of life depend on the students of today who will be entering careers and jobs that will form the foundation of our community.

This is why I support the Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF). They are working with the best existing resources in our community to seek consensus for constructive change in how we educate our children. We can either take a greater interest in building strong minds or we can continue to squabble and argue while more of our youngest citizens fall behind.

I know that we can all agree that we can passively lament the crime and poverty that plague Duval County. I, too, have been guilty of turning the channel when the latest tragedy unfolds on the evening news. In our provincialism, we tend to relegate these incidents to the back of our minds as they are supposedly limited to one neighborhood or section of town.

What JPEF accomplishes in their work is to open our eyes to the fact that we can only save a generation by addressing the needs of all of our children, one by one. On a personal level, I took great interest in JPEF as I observed their outreach to all stakeholders in our education system. The school board, educators, education support professionals, parents, students and businesses each have a voice, but we have been weakened by the lack of a unified mission. Through their community meetings, JPEF has succeeded in creating an honest and positive environment for all to be part of the change we sorely need.

I recently ratified the One by One Community Agreement, drafted by a convention of concerned citizens because I endorse their goals, drafted by the grassroots and the foot soldiers in our war against poverty and ignorance. The fact that JPEF actively and openly solicited buy-in from all comers is why I support their consensus-based goals.

Educate the whole child: It is essential that we foster a love for learning in all of our students. The problem with today’s education system is that we have become one dimensional in our zeal to make the basics (e.g. reading, writing and arithmetic) the central theme of educating our students. I believe that we should balance the cognitive and the affective needs of our children in a way that encourages them to appreciate the kind of creativity that fostered a spirit of invention and innovation that led the world in culture, technology and commerce. The whole child requires that we move away from one-size-fits-all learning that neglects the beauty of the world that we want to instill in our students. We also wish not to relegate education to merely bubbling in Scantron sheets and teaching them how to be better test takers.

Great teachers and leaders: The trouble with attracting men and women into the field of education has been that we have been focused on filling vacancies and positions. The gravity of the work that educators do requires a change in our consciousness. More than just mere parts of a large machine, educators are integral parts of an education system that should inspire the best and the brightest citizens to become teachers. Not only is learning a lifelong process, so is teaching. The recruiting of good teachers is only half the battle. It is necessary for us to continually train and develop strong teachers after they are hired. It is also necessary for us to treat these professionals with respect and dignity that we would afford to any other career field.

Policy and political reform: For as long as I remember, politics has been a battlefield that has left many good men and women scarred. The rough and tumble of the political debate has discouraged the very people to whom we should turn for support and solutions. I am grateful that JPEF is encouraging us to take a united front on behalf of our children and to let our elected and appointed leaders know that we will not give up until they listen to our concerns.

Family and caregiver involvement: At a recent town hall meeting with the new superintendent of schools, I heard Dr. Nikolai Vitti talk about the creation of programs to involve families in the education of their children. The bureaucracy and jargon of education speak is enough to scare away the most hardened of administrators and faculty. Imagine how a single parent might feel about having to deal with a labyrinth of paperwork and meetings that confound their attempts to do right by their sons and daughters. We cannot be afraid to adapt our schools and their norms to include more families rather than alienate them.

In closing, I dedicate my heart and my mind to helping to make these priorities a reality. I invite all interested parties to join me in doing so. Thank you, JPEF, for all that you do!