Welcome to the new Quest – revamped for the 21st
Century! There are some things about the
e-publication you should know:
¨ You
can quickly navigate the issue using the links below.
At the end of each article click on Back
to take you to the menu.
¨ To
facilitate reading on the computer screen, I’ve chosen a larger font than a printed
edition would use. Therefore, if you wish to
print a selection, you should first save it to your computer and then edit the font of the
article down to 12 pt.
¨ Quest
will now come out once a quarter. It is
distributed via e-mail (except to the locations without District e-mail) to OCEA members. If you do not wish to receive future editions,
please e-mail the address below.
¨ If
you wish to contribute, we welcome your efforts. If
we use your article, you’ll receive an honorarium of $5 to $10 depending upon the
length of the article. (Note: the amount of
each honorarium is determined solely by the editor, as is the decision whether or not a
particular article will be used.) Submit all
articles to the e-mail address below in Microsoft Word.
¨ There
is a new quarterly contest feature. Click to
the contest for more information.
We
welcome your comments, suggestions, story ideas, etc.
You can contact the editor at: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us
I
hope you enjoy our new look!
Jeffery Greb, editor
In
this issue (click on the links below):
OCEA Building Reps & Committees
Discount Tickets
9-11 Fundraiser
NSEA Goals for 2001-2002
New Benefit from NSEA
Spotlight: Katie
Pollock
My First Year
Negotiation Survey Comments
Contest
Web Links
OCEA applauds all of its members who
donated time, money, and services during this time of national crisis. We at Quest
would like to encourage OCEA members to continue this effort now that the immediate crisis
has passed. Please make blood donations at
regular intervals. While there are many
legitimate reasons why you may not be able to donate, squeamishness is not one of them. Donating blood is a public service most of us can
perform regularly and it saves lives locally. They
also give you cookies.
OCEA Building Reps & Committees
OCEA Building Reps are vital to the
success of the Association. They are the
direct line of contact between the Executive Board and the general membership. For OCEA members to enjoy all the benefits to
which they are entitled, Building Reps need to conscientiously fulfill the duties they
have accepted.
q Attend
meetings. Building Reps need to attend
the monthly meetings of the Executive Board. At
these meetings the business of the Association is conducted. The Building Rep is the voice of the members at
their site when decisions are made regarding the Association budget, policies, and overall
direction.
q Communication. While minutes of Executive Board meetings are
available to every member, a summary cannot always answer member questions about how and
why a particular decision was reached. Building
Reps act as an intermediary between the Board and the membership; a vital link of
communication necessary for the Board to reflect the will of the members.
q Facilitator. Building Reps are there to serve the members when
they have questions and/or problems about everything from Association policy to dealing
with administration to good teaching practices in the classroom. Ideally, Building Reps should be able to help
members directly, whether simply providing accurate information or representing a member
during a meeting with an administrator. If
the matter is too complex or the Building Rep does not feel qualified to address a certain
issue, the Rep needs to put the member in touch with someone who can help. Finally, the Rep needs to follow up with a member
and make certain the problem was addressed.
q Interpreting
the contract. Building Reps need to be
familiar with the contract so that they can provide interpretations to members as
necessary. They should understand the
rationale of a particular section, and when applicable its history and the Association’s
current plan for revision during contract negotiations.
q Recruitment. Building Reps are responsible for recruiting
non-members at their site. No one should be
more familiar with the conditions and attitudes at every site than the Rep. Each non-member needs to be contacted annually,
and the conversation needs to be documented so that the Association can plan effective
recruitment strategies.
Representing your work site can be an
extremely rewarding experience. Please
consider become a Building Representative to help with the work of the Association that
benefits all of us.
If you feel like the time commitment of a
Building Rep is too much, consider becoming a member of one of OCEA’s many
committees.
STANDING COMMITTEES: committees
that remain active throughout the year. There
are peaks of activity at various times throughout the year.
Legislative/Political Action: Assist political
friends of education through contributions made by members.
Interview candidates for various political offices and make recommendations
for endorsement/support to OCEA and/or NSEA.
Public Relations: Plan and implement positive
public relations/media coverage for teachers and education.
OCEA liaison to the Coalition for Carson City Public Education.
Negotiations: Attend training workshops and work
on Bargaining Team to negotiate and improve contract.
Membership: Promote and track membership
Grievance: Assist members in maintaining due
process and other contractual and legal rights. Training
is provided.
Member Services: Locate and enlist sponsors from
the business community for member services. Forward
information regarding services to members.
Instructional and Professional
Development: Develop
and coordinate OCEA-sponsored inservice and training programs.
Professional Library: Maintain professional
education resource library for members’ use.
Health and Wellness: Promote fitness or health
issues among members. Provide sunshine
reports.
SEASONAL COMMITTEES: committees
that are needed for specific activities or events. They
are generally active for a short period of time, but will meet frequently during the
active period.
Elections: Organize contract ratification
voting; solicit nominations and run election of officers and assembly delegates.
Light of Education Banquet: Plan and coordinate the awards
banquet. Work closely with the awards
committee.
Awards: Review applications/nominations and make
recommendations to OCEA Executive Board for recipients of awards.
Scholarship: Screens and selects OCEA
scholarship recipients.
Calendar: Designs calendar alternatives for
Christmas and Spring vacations and presents them to teachers for approval.
If you are interested in one of the
committees listed above, contact the appropriate chairperson listed below or
Administration Vice-President Jeffery Greb (JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us).
Legislative/Political Action: Jeffery
Greb (JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us)
Public Relations: Dan Brown (DBROWN@carson.k12.nv.us)
Membership: Sharon Lane (SLANE@carson.12.nv.us)
Grievance: Warren Wish (WWISH@carson.k12.nv.us)
Member Services: Shawn Schneider (SSCHNEIDER@carson.k12.nv.us)
IPD: No chair (Volunteers?)
Health & Wellness: Dan Brown (DBROWN@carson.k12.nv.us)
Professional Library: No chair
(Volunteers?)
Elections: Warren Wish (WWISH@carson.k12.nv.us)
Light of Education
Banquet: Chris Whitcome (CWHITCOM@carson.k12.nv.us)
Awards: Dan Brown (DBROWN@carson.k12.nv.us)
Scholarship: Penny Reynolds (PREYNOLDS@carson.k12.nv.us)
Calendar: Steve Fargan (SFARGAN@carson.k12.nv.us)
Good Ideas Grants: Steve Fargan (SFARGAN@carson.k12.nv.us)
Contact
Quest at: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us
Back
Discount Tickets
OCEA already offers discount
ski tickets through a popular and continuing program (for more information go to the OCEA
website http://home.pyramid.net/ocea/index.html). Communication Vice-President Dan Brown is
currently investigating other possible discount ticket options for members. Most places require discount tickets be purchased
in advance, so the OCEA Executive Board is curious as to the appetite for such tickets
among the membership.
OCEA has investigated
purchasing discount movie tickets at the Northgate Theaters for members. The tickets will cost the same as a matinee. They will not be accepted for the initial
run of a newly released film. (In other
words, a movie needs to be a couple of weeks old before any passes are accepted.)
Marine World also offers
discounts to groups of ten or more. The
discount price is $16.99 per ticket as opposed to the regular price of $42.99. OCEA would need a commitment for at least ten
tickets to make a purchase. (OCEA would be
the group; the actual persons using the tickets would not have to go to the park
together.)
Please e-mail Dan Brown (DBROWN@carson.k12.nv.us)
with ideas for other discount tickets, questions, and/or concerns. If the interest is there, OCEA would like to make
tickets available for the coming holiday season.
Contact
Quest at: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us
Back
9-11 Fundraiser
Following the tragic events of
September 11th, NEA and AFT have banded together to create the NEAFT September
11 Fund. This fund will aid the children of
victims, including money to provide for post-secondary education. Members of NSEA are invited to participate through
purchasing special shirts reflecting not only patriotism, but pride in Nevada’s
public education system.
There are two types of shirts. “Polo shirts” come only in men’s
sizes (so women should order a size smaller) and cost $28 ($30 for XXL and larger). “T-shirts” are sizes are unisex and cost
$18 ($20 for XXL and larger). Both shirts
come in white with a high vision embossed American flag surrounded by one of two mottos. On polo shirts the logo appears on the front left
chest; on t-shirts the logo is in the center of the chest.
Logo #1 reads “Strengthening America Through Public Education”;
logo #2 reads “Proud to be an American Educator.”
Under both logos appears “Nevada State Education Association.”
Please order shirts by school site. It will help reduce the cost printing the shirts
and consequently allow more money to be contributed to the fund. Your Building Representatives can help to organize
a school order. Make certain to specify
number of shirts, type of shirts, size of shirts, and logo #1 or #2. Checks should be made payable to NSEA/September 11
Fund. Orders can be mailed to: 3511 E.
Harmon Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89121. Expect
delivery 2-3 weeks from order date.
If you have questions, please contact
Barbara Young at (800) 248-6732 or byoung@nea.org.
Contact
Quest at: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us
Back
NSEA Goals for 2001-2002
At the UCN Fall Leadership Conference,
NSEA President Terry Hickman outlined the goals of NSEA for this school year. There are as follows:
Ø Change the way education is funded in
Nevada. Although this is a year in which the
Legislature does not meet, much work needs to be done during the interim to make the next
session as productive for Nevada’s public schools as possible.
Ø Change health insurance funding. The healthcare crisis is national; however, it is
felt even more acutely in rural areas.
Ø Change the candidate endorsement
procedures. Candidates seeking NSEA’s
endorsement for the fall 2002 election will need to sign a pledge that they will work to
resolve the funding crisis effect our schools.
Ø Create a positive PR campaign. This has already begun; you may have seen TV ads
about Nevada’s teachers featuring OCEA’s own Steve Fargan.
Ø Increase minority activities.
Ø Increase parental involvement.
Ø Increase member awareness. Many members are simply unaware of all that NSEA
does. The NSEA Rep program will increase involvement
and create a grassroots network throughout the state.
Ø Develop coalitions with other groups. NSEA is working with Assembly Speaker Perkins and
union and business leaders to increase awareness about public education.
Ø Increase member benefits. (See next article.)
Ø Retain and recruit new membership. This task falls on every one of NSEA’s
members.
Contact
Quest at: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us
Back
New Benefit from NSEA
At the UCN Fall Leadership Conference,
NSEA President Terry Hickman announced a new benefit for NSEA members slated to begin in
December. NSEA members will receive a card
with a special code which will allow them to access a “members only” section of
the NSEA website. From there members have
access to a list of businesses, both locally and regionally, that have promised discounts
to NSEA members. For those worried about
electronic junk mail, NSEA has pledged not to provide their e-mail list to any business
for advertising purposes.
Visit the NSEA website (go to the
“Web Links” section of Quest) for more
information as we get closer to December.
Contact
Quest at: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us
Back
Spotlight: Katie
Pollock
Each
quarter Quest will feature an article on a
teacher who has been in the CCSD ten years or more.
If you have someone you’d like to see in “Spotlight,” email
your suggestions to the address below.
Katie Pollock has been a stalwart
member of the Carson City community for many years. She
has taught elementary school locally since 1972 and been in education since 1962. Unfortunately for the children of Carson City, she’ll
be retiring at the end of this academic year.
Katie has received many awards and held
many positions over her stellar career. Among
her honors are the 1982 National Council for Geographic Educators’ Distinguished
Teaching Award (awarded to only 24 teachers nationally), the NSEA Distinguished Teacher of
the Year in 1986, and OCEA’s Light of Education.
She has held numerous offices in both OCEA and NSEA, most recently
Chairperson of the Elections Committee for the state organization.
While she has being a model of
excellence in the classroom, she has remained very active in the community as well. “I am proud to say that I am the most senior
Carson City Tour Guide for the Chamber of Commerce,” she said, “not only in age
but also in the number of years served.” She
is also proud of being selected by Babe Ruth Baseball as the top volunteer at Governor’s
Field.
“Education is a number one
priority to me,” Katie said recently. “Against
all odds I have continued in my quest for excellence in education.” This task has not always been easy. Over her forty years in public education, Katie
has seen dramatic change, not always for the better.
“Educational philosophies have drastically changed . . . to a dumbing
down of America.” In the pursuit of
egalitarianism America has lost the motivation for excellence we once held to be so
sacred.
Contact
Quest at: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us
Back
My First Year
Remember the trials and tribulations
you struggled through during your first year teaching?
Each quarter Quest will check in on Kora Dagemajian, a first year
teacher at CHS.
One quarter of the way through her
first year, Kora is beginning to feel some strain and some real rewards. She heard from another teacher that studies show
that “November is the hardest month on new teachers,” and she agrees. Some of the planning for the first quarter takes
place before the school year actually begins. There
is no such luxury for the second quarter. New
units never taught before must be planned while teaching.
This experience is completely new for a neophyte teacher.
She has run into a few discipline
problems as students have grown accustomed to the school year. Some unruly students have had their parents
called. Fortunately, these parents have been
supportive as have Kora’s colleagues. It
seems that “the learning curve is so steep,” she said, that “streamlining
the curriculum” becomes all the more imperative as the school year flies by.
This is not to say that the job has
been nothing but stress and strain for Kora. When
Language Arts Department Chair Mary Jean Lang resigned, Kora pounced on the opportunity to
move to one of the classrooms in the Tech Center. (She
learned fast that one needs to speak up to get noticed!)
Consequently, she feels she is “enjoying [teaching] more than the first
nine weeks.” The new location and
possibilities for integrating technology into her lessons is energizing as well as the
change of subject matter brought by the new quarter.
Kora feels the challenge now is to find
a comfortable balance between work and the rest of her life. The danger to be consumed by work is ever present. The stresses offered by preparing lessons and the
classroom itself need to be weighed with maintaining a healthful lifestyle. “Exercise kept me sane,” she said of the
first quarter. Regular exercise gives her a
chance to concentrate on the events of the day without interruption, as well as offering a
physical release for the build up of that stress.
Contact
Quest at: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us
Back
Negotiation Survey Comments
The negotiation survey conducted last
spring had a place for people to write comments and ask questions. Most of these comments dealt directly with
negotiations, but some of them were more general issues about our Association.
Unfortunately, since the survey was anonymous, these remarks
could not be answered directly. Some of these
comments may be of general interest, so Quest will address a couple of them in each issue.
A number of people made various
comments about our substitute teacher problems; specifically, there were comments about
the need for more and better quality subs. Unfortunately,
under the laws which cover collective bargaining in Nevada (NRS 288), we cannot bargain
directly for the conditions of our substitutes since they are not members of our
bargaining group. In other words, the
contract does not (and can not) cover substitute teachers.
This does not mean that OCEA is ignoring the issue; it does mean that it is
being addressed outside the contract negotiation process.
OCEA is proposing a number of innovative options to attract more and better
substitutes. (We should note that this is
not simply a local dilemma; the lack of qualified subs is creating problems nationwide.) It is not a simple matter of offering subs more
money. For one thing, the money to which we
refer would come out of the same pot any possible raises to all teachers may come. For another, surrounding counties, like Washoe,
that offer a slightly higher daily rate are experiencing the same shortage. If you should have any ideas for providing
substitutes with better training and/or options that might make our District more
appealing than our neighbors to a potential subs, please e-mail Gaylea Manning.
An individual commented on the survey
under the section about teacher protection that “sometimes there is too much
[protection] for the wrong people.” This
is an important comment because protecting members’ rights is one of the primary
functions of OCEA. Most of us can empathize
with the teacher who made this comment. OCEA
officers and building reps frequently find themselves called into administrators’
offices regarding a teacher at their site who has committed a vile or stupid action where
the teacher was clearly at fault. Many times
these teachers are repeat offenders. It is
the OCEA rep’s duty to defend these teachers’ rights, and this is the way it
should be. OCEA’s position is that it is
imperative that we ensure that administrators follow the procedures mandated by our
contract and District policy. To allow the
rights we have doggedly negotiated over many years to be gradually eroded through neglect
would prove disastrous. Even if a teacher is
at fault, the administration must move on the incident according to procedure, and an OCEA
rep is there to ensure the rights that protect all of us are maintained. If an individual repeatedly has problems, it is
the administrator’s job to document the offence and enforce the punishment. While the OCEA rep may feel the teacher in
question is unprofessional and/or wrong, the sanctity of the contract must be maintain to
protect those innocent teachers who are wrongly accused or persecuted by an administrator. OCEA strongly supports quality teaching, but not
at the expense of our contract. If a teacher’s
errors are numerous and egregious and the administrator does a proper job, then
that teacher will eventually pay a price for their behavior. The alternative (OCEA choosing whom to defend)
would be wrong. All of our members are
entitled to the same protections; to have the power to decide who is or is not worthy of
assistance would be an abuse of trust. Therefore,
OCEA is there to protect the contract, not the individual, and it is the administrator’s
responsibility to take the proper punitive action when warranted.
We’ll address more questions in
future issues of Quest.
Contact
Quest at: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us
Back
Contest
Each addition of Quest will have an exciting new feature: a CCSD
trivia contest. The first person to e-mail Quest with the correct answer will win a $10 gift
certificate. Also, if you’d like to
submit a possible contest question, you could be eligible for the same prize.
Contest rules:
¨
Only OCEA members are eligible.
¨
Current OCEA officers are not eligible.
¨
Answers must be submitted by e-mail to the
address below. On the subject line type
“Contest.”
¨
The winner will be the first e-mail received
by the editor with the correct answer. (E-mails
are automatically date and time stamped upon receipt by the computer.)
¨ The
editor shall be the sole arbiter of what constitutes a correct answer.
Last issue’s question and answer:
Q.
How did Quest get its name? What is the origin of the name of this newsletter?
A.
Quest began during a tumultuous
period as a way of communicating to members about the progress of a particularly difficult
contract negotiation. It was meant to recall
a knight’s quest, and it originally carried the image of a lancer in the masthead.
No one even attempted an answer last
quarter, so the prize money carries over to this quarter.
The first member with a correct answer to this issue’s question will
receive a $20 gift certificate.
This issue’s question:
What do the names of Associate
Superintendent of Human Resources Richard Stokes’s children have in common? (Hint: look in the article in last quarter’s Quest.)
Send your answers to: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us
Back
Web Links
¨
OCEA – local information; e-mail
officers; education links http://home.pyramid.net/ocea/index.html
¨
NSEA – statewide information;
legislative updates http://www.nsea-nv.org
¨
NEA – national information;
numerous links to many education sites http://www.nea.org
¨
NEA Member Benefits – lots of
connections and free stuff http://www.neamb.com
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