CEACEA AdvisorPeriodical postage paid, Hartford, CT

June/July 2009 • Volume 51, Number 7 • Published by the Connecticut Education Association • www.cea.org

CommPACT Successsee pages 6-7

News Briefs

3 ● CEA Advisor ● June/July 2009

This issue in brief

Treks to a Connecticut mountain ridge are more than simple Saturday excursions for an Enfield High School sci-ence teacher. Read why this teacher joined a program that brings together Hartford-area public school students who explore and study various aspects of environmental and geophysical science on the Metacomet Ridge.

The regular session of the Connecticut General Assembly ended June 3 – and legislators immediately went into special session to tackle unfinished business, including passing a state budget. Read why budget negotiations could drag on into the summer as well as the fate of other education-related legislation. For the latest legislative news, go to cea.org.

CommPACT schools – a school-reform experiment in Connecticut’s poorest cities – may be the best hope for solving some of the problems facing urban schools. Read about encouraging reports from teachers, principals, and parents during a recent visit by the NEA president to two Bridgeport schools completing their first year in the CommPACT program.

Nearly 200 retired teachers who attended the annual spring meeting of CEA-Retired in mid-May heard State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal deliver the keynote speech. Read what he had to say – and why retired mem-bers still play a major role in the Association’s efforts to bring about positive support for teachers and public educa-tion.

Speech and language pathologist Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager received her first cancer diagnosis 12 years ago. It was breast cancer. She was 34. Since then, the Region # 4 teacher has had two cancer recurrences and treatments, physical and personal challenges, a journey of healing, an explosion in career and self-development -- and love. Read how it all led to a special memoir she recently pub-lished, Swimming on My Wedding Day: My Cancer Journey Through the Seasons.

A special insert included with this issue provides soon-to-be-retired active members with information about how they can stay connected to the Association after retirement.

On the Web

County vice chairs moving up to fill board vacancies

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CEA’s blog, BlogCEA.org, is a new addition to CEA’s com-munications activities. The blog will keep you up-to-date with recent CEA news and information, as well as state and national education news. Learn about upcoming CEA conferences and discover other CEA members’ challenges and accomplishments.

Stay informed about news that affects your career, and learn more about CEA by subscribing for regular updates to your email account or RSS feed reader. Visit BlogCEA.org.

Vice chairs in Hartford

and Fairfield counties will fill county director vacancies on the CEA

Board of Directors.

Under the CEA

Constitution, eligible vice chairs automatically fill county director vacancies.

Kevin Haddad, a Danbury fourth-grade teacher, now fills the Fairfield County Director position held by Karl Olson. The NEA-Danbury member assumed Olson’s seat at the June Board meeting and will serve the remainder of the three-year term that expires June 30, 2011. Olson, also a Danbury teacher, resigned in May because of his pending retirement after more than two decades of teaching. He was elected in the spring of 2008 after serving as second vice chair for Fairfield County. Second vice chair Haddad filled Olson’s seat since the first vice chair was ineligible to serve. Haddad teaches at the Mill Ridge Intermediate School. He has been a teacher for five years. He has served on CEA’s Commission for Instruction and Professional Development and as co chair of NEA-Danbury’s Instruction and Professional Development committee. Thomas Nicholas, a Manchester teacher who was elected NEA Director at the 2009 CEA RA in May, will serve as a Hartford County Director until his NEA position begins September 1. As first vice chair for Hartford County, Nicholas will fill a vacancy for an additional Hartford County Director seat required because of an increase in membership in the county. The number of Hartford County Directors on the CEA Board increase from five to six representatives on July 1. Nicholas assumes the seat since he was elected first vice chair for the county in late March. When he begins his three-year term on the NEA Board of Directors, his Hartford County Director seat will be filled either by one of the new Hartford County vice chairs or through an appointment. If either of the vice chairs elected at a county council meeting is ineligible to fill the

vacancy, the CEA Board will appoint a member to fill the three-year term that expires June 30, 2012. A second Hartford

County Director seat will be filled by Andrea Yukna, a Newington middle school teacher. Elected second vice

chair for the county this spring, she will replace South Windsor teacher Marcia Lee on July 1. Lee has served two three-year terms as Hartford County Director but is ineligible to serve because of term limits.

Yukna will fill Lee’s seat because no nominations were submitted to fill the open three-year position. She will serve as Hartford County Director until June 30, 2012. A Newington teacher for 30 years, Yukna currently teaches Family and Consumer Science at the Martin Kellogg Middle School. She has served as Newington Teachers Association president for the past 18 years. In addition, she has been a member of the CEA Legislative Commission for nine years and also served as its chair.

Students use physics and some fast tracks to win roller coaster contest Elementary and middle school students from Middlebury and Watertown took top places in a roller coaster model contest recently held at Quassy Amusement Park. Students were charged with building models based on an outline provided by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). Students from the Long Meadow Elementary School in Middlebury took first place in the elementary school division with their model, “The Jurassic Giant.” Second place in this division went to another group of students from the same school that created a model they called “The Matchbox.” Students from the Swift Middle School in Watertown won first place in the middle school division with their model, “The Hills.” Shallon Fingon, science instructional teacher leader from Rochambeau Middle School in Southbury served as one of the judges. Models were judged in various categories including time, theme, technical merit, and rider enjoyment. Total scores on the judging form determined the winners.

Twenty-four newly-elected CEA delegates headed to San Diego for NEA RA Twenty-four new CEA state NEA RA delegates were elected in March in balloting conducted in the CEA Advisor. Delegates were elected for 16 Category 1 At-Large positions, four Category 1 Ethnic Minority Concerns At-Large positions, one membership unit position, and four At-Large Retired positions. The Category 1 At-Large and Category 1 Ethnic Minority At-Large positions are two-year terms. The membership unit and the Retired At-Large positions are one-year terms. All positions begin with the 2009 RA in San Diego. Category 1 At-Large Delegates: Phil Apruzzese, Sheila Cohen, Susan Morris, Tanya Sterba, Kevin Haddad, Cheryl Prevost, William Jacobs, Rae Baczek. Liz Francis, Walter Domeika, Patrice Lundgren, George Flaherty Jr., Franklin May Jr., Brenda Key, James Bradley, Jai Wrighten-Kelly; Category 1 Ethnic Minority Concerns At-Large Delegates: Sherran Davis, Miguel Garcia, Gwen Montgomery, Henry Munoz; Membership Unit J Delegate: Bob Brown; Retired At-Large Delegates: Greta Stanford, Gloria Brown, Vicky Greenberg. Raymond Widziewicz.

CEA Advisor ● June/July 2009 ● 4

On many Saturdays during the school year, Susan Boucher doesn’t retreat to the quiet of her own home. Instead, she ventures

out with teams of students and other teachers onto a steep, fault-block mountain ridge – Metacomet Ridge – that runs from the New Haven area north through the Connecticut River Valley, reaching the edge of Vermont.

Enfield teacher uses mountain treks to

engage students in hands-on science learning

On many Saturdays during the school year, Susan Boucher doesn’t retreat to the quiet of her own home. Instead, she ventures out with teams of students and other teachers onto a steep, fault-block mountain ridge -- Metacomet Ridge—that runs from the New Haven area north through the Connecticut River Valley, reaching the edge of Vermont. Public school students and teachers from Farmington, Hartford, New Britain, Simsbury, Suffield, West Hartford, and Windsor join Boucher to explore and study the ecosystems that thrive in this important natural and recreation resource.

Scenic vistas and hands-on research

Surrounded by scenic vistas, hiking trails, recreational and historic sites, they engage in hands-on research protocols aimed at understanding, documenting, and conserving the rare – and

often endangered – plants and wildlife that inhabit the ridge. The mountain treks are performed under the direction of the Metacomet Ridge Interdistrict Academy, a State Department of Education grant-funded entity. The Academy brings together students from economically, racially, and ethnically diverse urban and suburban school districts for the purpose of science education. For this program, teams go to a site with a study protocol.

Student teams conduct environmental and scientific experiments

Prior to each Saturday excursion, students complete a prestudy reading assignment and discussion on the protocol topic so they understand why they are conducting the experiment. They set up a 30-x-30 foot grid for a field study that can cover any aspect of environmental and geophysical science.

At the site, teams disperse to conduct specific experiments within the overall study protocol. One team uses GPS to determine latitude/longitude and elevation of the grid site. A second team examines the land cover to determine dominant and co-dominant

species of trees; they then calculate the height of trees. Another team tests the soil, and, if water is present, another team engages in a hydrology study. Even weather patterns are studied – cloud coverage,

temperature,

wind direction, precipitation. “All data are collected onsite and brought back to the school for analysis. Results are reported to the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) data base where they will be used by scientists and students from all over the world,” explains Boucher. GLOBE, a worldwide primary and secondary school-based science program, helps teach students how to take scientifically valid measurements, create maps and graphs to analyze data sets, and report data through an Internet-based data archive that scientists and students can access from anywhere in the world.

Students learn more than just science

“Students learn how to collaborate with their peers and with the global science community. They learn about data collection, organization, and analysis in a meaningful way. They use sophisticated technology and scientific equipment to develop many critical-thinking skills, including technology competency and scientific understanding,” adds the Enfield Teachers Association member. There are also psychosocial outcomes attached to student involvement in the program. “Students get to meet their peers from other parts of the state. They learn about each other’s background

and way of life. They discover that, even though they are from diverse backgrounds, they really aren’t so different from one another – from how they feel about school, friends, and what they want for their future.”she says. “We’ve seen leaders emerge

from the groups,

developing confidence in taking risks to answer questions asked by teachers. Students can take ownership of the program and develop a real connection to each other and their teachers.” A testament to the camaraderie that exists between all involved is the fact that the program meets 14 times per year -- when only eight meetings per school year are required by the Academy. Boucher, the head of the science department at Enfield High School, has been a teacher for 28 years, the past 12 in Enfield. She says the program offers kids the opportunity to enjoy real science.

Connecting the classroom to scientific inquiry

“Teachers observe and hear about the connections students make between field work and classroom studies. Students develop a real appreciation and mutual respect for one another as well as for scientific inquiry,” she says. Seeing students develop meaningful friendships is a real joy for this veteran teacher who has been involved with the Academy for the past five years. “I enjoy working with students who are interested in learning about their environment, natural resources, and the beauty of the ridge,” says Boucher. “This program is a place for students of all interests and intellectual abilities who are willing to make the commitment.”

Susan Boucher, the head of the science department at Enfield High School, displays photos of students she works with in the Metacomet Ridge Interdistrict Academy. It gives students the opportunity to regularly explore a Connecticut River Valley mountain ridge.

Students from Enfield and New Britain hike to the top of Talcott Mountain.