Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/92845
ESP Conference: Building Respect Through Knowledge DSEA's ESP members are school secretaries, parapro- fessionals, aides, food serv- ice workers, custodians, and bus drivers. Peter Dunbar of Red Clay and Sahirah Hameed of Capital talk about working conditions that rob them of the power to build respect. This was part of Julie Harrington's workshop about "Building Respect." Lily Eskelsen worked as a 'lunch lady' before becoming a teacher. "There are no insignificant positions," she tells them. "You are caring, hard-working and make a positive difference in your students' lives. You know the work you do matters to many students and their families." Lily kicks off annual ESP Conference Lily Eskelsen would have ESP members think about POWER, just as much as RESPECT. ESP Conference, was full of discus- sions and workshops to build knowl- edge. And with knowledge comes confidence, and with confidence – and knowledge - comes power. Eskelsen, vice president of NEA, " B knows about power. "Our Association unity scares people. We have knowledge and con- fidence, yes, but we represent mil- lions of modestly-paid people. Our only power is in our numbers, which means that folks who might not normally talk to us, will. And when they talk to you, if you exhibit knowledge and confidence, then you have the power to make change." She added that things won't get better hoping for a miracle. "Don't ever think that you are in an insignificant position," she uilding Respect Through Knowledge," the name of this year's annual DSEA added. "There are none. You do important work and are part of the Education Team, the Union Team. When we band together to show our numbers, our strength, then we stand in the way of people who look at students and see dividends, prof- its." Our greatness, she told the ESP members, is reflected in you. "You fight for your students every day; you love your communities; you are hard-working, caring. And yet, the work you do has become politicized, almost partisan, and it shouldn't be. Why do Republicans and Democrats look at education differently? They shouldn't," she said, amazed that 'Great public schools for every child' isn't embraced by all policy makers. "As a result, we have stark choices in the Presidential Election,"she says, referencing NEA's endorsement of President Obama for re-election. "Speaking of power," she says, "one out of every 100 American adults is an NEA member! And 500,000 of our 3.2 million members are ESP members." Special needs paras write down what their jobs are and then what, if anything, pre- vents them from doing it. This lively workshop was led by Nicole Markey, a special education diagnostician and president of the Colonial E.A. ESP: Extra Special People DSEA's ESP of the Year, Joan Robinson, fires up the crowd about their political involvement and affecting change for our students. Ted Miller, Capital Custodian, Pam Ingram, president of the Colonial Paras, and Frederika Jenner, president of DSEA, rank various steps in the process towards establishing a well-functioning liaison committee. This workshop was led by Roxie Alexander and Kim Bates, Colonial Paras. Peggy Sommer, a para in Appoquinimink, sports the popular 'Not justa' t-shirt shown above. www.dsea.org October 2012 DSEA ACTION! 5