Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/371467
ISEA Communiqué • isea.org September 2014 OPINION 3 It takes a creative person to stand in front of a group of fresh faces each year and rethink through old materials to make them new again. It takes a thoughtful person to bring content and concepts to life. We know we must take charge, control, and steer, all while letting our students take charge, control, and steer their way through the learning process. September 2014 – Vol. 52, No. 1 the ISEA Communiqué (iSSn 0019-0624) is published seven times a year (monthly except July & August; plus combined in october/ november, december/January, and April/ May) by the iowa State education Association, 777 third St., des Moines, iA 50309, 515- 471-8000 or 1-800-445-9358. $3.87 of membership dues is for a year's subscription; for nonmembers, the annual subscription is $10. periodical postage is paid at des Moines and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address corrections to iSeA Membership Records, 777 third St., des Moines, iA 50309. Advertising: to advertise, contact charles lapham at 515-471-8000 or email clapham@isea.org. iSeA makes no representations regarding advertised products or services that are not endorsed by iSeA or neA Member benefits. Duplicate mailings? to stop duplicate mailings to the same household, contact Kimberly hupp at 515-471-8000 or email khupp@isea.org. President: tammy wawro Vice President: Mike beranek Treasurer: tom Mclaughlin NEA Directors: Ray feuss, Joshua brown Executive Director: Mary Jane cobb Editor: Mike wiser Editorial Assistant: charles lapham Visit us on the Web at isea.org davis, my-soon-to-be 4th grader, and i went on our back to school pilgrimage recently. one hundred and fifty dollars later, my son was ready to begin his year. it meant a new teacher, in a new classroom, with some old and new friends. oh, how i love this time of year -- notably, much more than he does! i'm hooked on the routine leading up to the first day of school: backpacks, pencils, notebooks, markers, crayons, and new erasers. Still, i can do without the annual search for the correct texas instruments calculator, which we lose every year anyway. it all signals the start of something grand about to begin. As a classroom teacher, i remember how nervous i was the night before the first day of school. what would my class be like? was i prepared? would i have enough energy and imagination to lead them to where i knew they needed to go? would they stay interested and focused on the lessons and activities i had prepared? i knew my students were nervous and excited too. they wondered who i was and what lie in store for them, just like my own kids were nervous and excited about their new year. what a gift our profession gives to us. we get to begin again each August. we get to start fresh with new hopes and dreams. we come up with new ideas, map out new plans and explore new thoughts about what might work. we have new faces to lead every year. we meet new young people who depend on us to steer them through new ideas and concepts many may not have even considered. And, what a gift education professionals are to the classroom. we know it takes a special type of person to be able to do what we do. it takes a creative person to stand in front of a group of fresh faces each year and rethink through old materials to make them new again. it takes a thoughtful person to bring content and concepts to life. we know we must take charge, control, and steer, all while letting our students take charge, control, and steer their way through the learning process. it is a delicate balance and we are the right people to do what we do. i sorted through the piles of supplies, when davis and i got home from our shopping trip. it reminded me that many iowa State education Association members have children in school. You also purchase supplies for your own children and for your classrooms. So, while our profession can be extremely rewarding, it also can be very expensive. to that end, the national education Association recently asked that we join in a national boycott of Staples stores in support of our brothers and sisters in the uS postal workers union. the dispute centers on wages paid to uS postal Service employees working in Staples stores at the postal service counters. Staples privatized these positions – much like the privatized bus driver positions in some of our school districts across the state. in an effort to cancel these workers' rights to bargain a contract for a fair living wage, Staples simply privatized their jobs. the iSeA is standing behind this boycott because we strongly support a fair living wage and the collective bargaining process. we oppose efforts to privatize positions held by union employees and we support our brothers and sisters in labor. we know you will purchase school supplies for your families and your classrooms over the next month and beyond. we ask that you consider an option other than Staples this fall or until the dispute can be settled. the collective voice of our 34,000 members sends a strong message to any corporation trying to harm the livelihoods of American workers. the beauty of our profession is that we begin again each year. the beauty of the iSeA is that we are your professional association. together, we are a strong voice that can make great things happen both inside and out of our classrooms. The value of a profession by Tammy Wawro, ISEA president, twawro@isea.org - 9 - 9 - 9 Untitled-2 1 11/16/09 7:33:41 PM - 9