Episodes
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
ESDs Supporting Rural Schools
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
This week’s episode addresses some of the concerns of educators who seek resources not available at their own schools. Our host, Toni Myers, discusses the support offered to rural educators by Education Service Districts (ESDs) with her guest, Ayla Olson. Ayla is an Instruction Coach with the InterMountain ESD, serving twenty-one school districts in Morrow, Umatilla, Union, and Baker counties. Through ESDs, educators have access to support in four areas: programs for children with special needs, school improvement, technology support, and administrative services.
ESDs are especially designed to meet the needs of educators in rural areas who may have difficulty traveling to distant meetings and workshops. Instruction Coaches in the different areas travel regularly to each school and reach out to educators through newsletters, virtual meetings, and professional development summits. Listeners are encouraged to contact their region’s ESD for support (find your school’s ESD on the map linked below). The website for each ESD will include a calendar for professional development events and lists of free educator resources. Ayla assures us that all ESDs are open to questions and suggestions for future trainings
Resources:
Education Service District map (Find which ESD serves your school)
InterMountain ESD Instructional Coaches website
InterMountain ESD Calendar of Events
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Wednesday Feb 28, 2024
Career and Technical Education (CTE)
Wednesday Feb 28, 2024
Wednesday Feb 28, 2024
Season 12, focusing on Rural Education, begins with a close look at the recent surge of interest in Career and Technical Education (CTE) and its benefits for students in urban and rural areas. Host Toni Myers welcomes Nicole Merchant and Bibiana Gifft, longtime teachers of Agricultural Sciences and Future Farmers of America (FFA) advisors at Baker High School, who explain what CTE can offer all students, not just those planning to enter the work force immediately after high school. They describe the breadth of CTE courses, extending far beyond the four walls of a classroom, into greenhouses, welding shops, construction shops, whatever fits the needs of the surrounding community.
The two educators view CTE courses as a balance for the entire curriculum, showing students the practical applications of what they learn in other classes. The skills and habits they acquire in the CTE curriculum, such as learning how to be good employees, will transfer to any career path they follow. These courses are ideal for students who may not feel comfortable in a traditional classroom by giving them a purpose and building a community of learners. As all three educators this week agree, CTE courses create a sense of family that endures: “You never get rid of your Ag teacher.”
Resources
Nicole Merchant and Bibiana Gifft awarded 2021 Outstanding Middle/Secondary Agricultural Award
Baker FFA Greenhouse Plant Sale will take place on May 10th this year (it sold out in one day last year, so come early!)
The National FFA Organization
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
Season 12 Introduction: The Rural School Experience
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
Season 12 of the OEA Grow podcast takes us to the less populated regions of our state, focusing on the Rural School Experience for Oregon students and educators. Our host, Toni Myers, teaches third through sixth grades at Keating Elementary, a rural two-room school in Baker City. Drawing on her eighteen years of experience in education, Toni will speak with educators around the state who work in rural communities. What are the particular concerns of these rural schools and the families they serve? How can educators state-wide support all our schools?
You may recognize this season’s host, Toni Myers, for her work as president of the Baker Education Association in making Baker School District one of the highest paying districts in the state, raising the salary floor for certified teachers from $38,000 to $60,000. Listeners from both rural and urban school settings will definitely want to hear the ideas and suggestions posed by this long-time advocate for educators and students. She and the other educators of this season have helped change the landscape for the rural school experience.
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Joe Burns- Reviving the Strike
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Joe Burns, “Reviving the Strike”
Conference for Bargaining and Organizing, October 27-28, 2023
Newport, Oregon
In his talk, “Reviving the Strike,” labor lawyer Joe Burns traces the history of union strikes in the U.S. and discusses their impact on current labor negotiations. Based on his thirty years of bargaining experience, Burns feels that today’s public employees are just now rediscovering the power of the strike that was evident in the 1960s and 1970s when strikes played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement as powerful acts of civil disobedience (witness the Memphis Garbage Strike of 1968).
Burns argues that public sector strikes are fundamentally political in nature and therefore must be based on a concern for the public good. If a union is transparent with its demands and concerns, Burns promises that members will support the efforts and show up when needed.
Books by Joe Burns
Joe Burns. Class Struggle Unionism. Haymarket Books, 2022.
Joe Burns. Reviving the Strike: How Working People Can Regain Power and Transform America. Lg Publishing, 2011.
Joe Burns. Strike Back: Using the Militant Tactics of Labor’s Past to Reignite Public Sector Unionism Today. Lg Publishing, 2019.
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Alex Caputo-Pearl- 2023 OEA Conference for Bargaining and Organizing Keynote Remarks
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Keynote Address - Alex Caputo-Pearl
Conference for Bargaining and Organizing, October 27-28, 2023
Newport, Oregon
Alex Caputo-Pearl, practitioner-in-residence at the U.C. Berkeley Labor Center, delivered the keynote address at the Oregon Conference for Bargaining and Organizing. Drawing on his twenty-two years of experience as a teacher and nine years as a full-time elected union leader, Caputo-Pearl traces the hard work and subsequent victories of the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) during his presidency of the organization. His question now - what comes next for the Educator Upsurge and Red for Ed?
In his talk, Caputo-Pearl explains five efforts that he feels are necessary to overcome the adversaries of the labor movement:
1) Broaden involvement in the effort by including parents and students;
2) Ensure lasting ideologies through campaigning, training, and actually doing;
3) Increase the role of rank and file caucuses;
4) Leverage key compression points, such as campaigns and elections; and
5) Build power and expand resources.
Caputo-Pearl applauds his audience for the union accomplishments in Oregon and expresses his confidence for continued success.
Wednesday Feb 07, 2024
Tier 3: Practices & Supports
Wednesday Feb 07, 2024
Wednesday Feb 07, 2024
Our host Dr. Amy Yillik ends this season’s discussion of Culture of Care with a close look at Tier 3 needs and services. Her guest is Ryan Harding, Behavior Specialist with the Redmond School District, who explains that the Tier 3 program is more long-term and individualized than Tier 2, with a focus on providing students with whatever each one needs for success.
Continuing repercussions from the pandemic have made these services even more critical with students’ increased difficulties in socializing and self-regulating, often most evident on the playground, according to Ryan. He stresses the importance of including parents to achieve the goal of integration back into the classroom. This is an episode promoting empathy, trying to understand the needs and perceptions of others engaged in the efforts to support our students.
Resources -
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) - sometimes called a Behavior Plan or a Behavior Support Plan (BSP)
Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI)
Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)
Oregon Senate Bill 819 concerning abbreviated school days
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Wednesday Jan 31, 2024
Tier 2: Supporting Students in Need
Wednesday Jan 31, 2024
Wednesday Jan 31, 2024
Our season on Culture of Care continues this week with a discussion of academic and social/emotional support for students, specifically the Tier Two level of the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) rubric. Tier Two is a particularly difficult level to address, coming between Tier One, which all students receive, and Tier Three, which requires one-on-one help. Host Dr. Amy Yillik’s guest for this conversation is Jamie Gunter, a counselor for LaPine High School and Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the entire Bend/LaPine district, who suggests various approaches for Tier Two support when adequate staffing and funding are lacking.
This episode offers many options for schools who struggle to support these Tier Two students in terms of substance usage, suicide prevention, and other social/emotional and academic needs. Suggestions range from a Graduation Coach who works with students beginning in their freshman year, to a designated Focus Room for any student who needs space and time to self-regulate, learn skills, or talk to a counselor. Schools without these resources could still utilize Youth Truth Surveys and host social/emotional campaigns throughout the year. Individual educators can help students with calming and self-regulating measures, such as grounding and breathing exercises.
Oregon was one of the first states to mandate programs of suicide prevention in schools, but funding is insufficient to implement these programs. This episode is vital listening for educators wanting to support students in need.
Resources -
Jamie Gunter named 2017 Outstanding Support Staff Person of the Year
Sources of Strength
Teen Intervene
Upshift
Youth Truth Surveys
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
Oregon Dept. of Education: Suicide Prevention, Intervention, Postvention (Adi’s Act)
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Family Engagement: Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
This week, Dr. Amy Yillik welcomes Julie Patton, Student Success Coordinator at Elton Gregory Middle School in Redmond and a member of the Family Engagement Team with Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition (BRYT). Their conversation centers around family engagement and the importance of educators establishing solid lines of communication with the families of their students. Children are more successful in school when their teachers work in partnership with their parents or guardians.
In order to develop this relationship, Julie recommends that educators reach out to parents or guardians as soon as possible so that positive connections are already in place if more serious communication is needed in the future. She stresses the need to find the form of communication that each family finds most comfortable and to realize that parents may have varying experience and views of the educational system. The key is to withhold judgment and offer any needed resources. Parenting can be acutely isolating, and educators can help families find support.
Julie also offers information about the BRYT program, designed to partner with schools and families to promote healing, wellness, and academic success for students. The program is currently available in Oregon only in Redmond, Portland, and Bend/LaPine. She suggests that listeners consult the program’s websites for more support in engaging families in their students’ success.
Resources:
BRYT Program in the Redmond School District
BRYT Program for Students in Transition
BRYT Caregiver Events
Wednesday Jan 17, 2024
Equity and Culture of Care Spaces
Wednesday Jan 17, 2024
Wednesday Jan 17, 2024
Dr. Amy Yillik continues Season 11, Culture of Care, with a discussion of the concept of equity. Her guest, Steve Wetherald of Bend High School, defines the term as the assurance that all students have whatever they need to succeed. As a Graduation Coach, Steve works to encourage students, whatever their needs, to graduate and attend college, and as the faculty advisor of the school’s Cross Cultural Club, he supports students in their efforts to build a mutually supportive and inclusive community.
Much of the conversation centers around this Cross Cultural Club at Bend High School that grew out of students’ request for a place where they feel absolutely safe and know that they belong. Steve affirms that all high schools might benefit from similar clubs, just as many colleges do. He offers suggestions for finding allies in this work of empowering students, whatever their needs.
Resources -
Steve Wetherald named 2022 Central Oregon Regional Teacher of the Year
OEA Commitment to Equity
Center for Equity and Inclusion
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Wednesday Jan 10, 2024
Restorative Justice & Practices
Wednesday Jan 10, 2024
Wednesday Jan 10, 2024
Confused about the concept of restorative justice? This week, host Dr. Amy Yillik talks with Sorahi Harati, Program Director of the Restorative Justice and Equity Group (RJE) in Bend. The two educators agree that restorative justice is often mislabeled as a misguided approach to discipline, “giving everyone a lollipop” to solve problems. Sorahi explains that, in reality, efforts of this kind involve peaceful problem-solving techniques to fit each situation. Also helpful are proactive restorative practices that preclude harmful interactions in the first place by building community and a sense of belonging.
This episode offers simple suggestions for building circles of communication and teaching students of all ages how they might handle contentious situations. The message to educators: this is a practice that you’ve probably already begun as a thoughtful, reflective educator. Reach out for support and more information through Culture of Care and the Restorative Justice and Equity Group.
Resources
Restorative Justice & Equity Group
OEA Restorative Practices Solution Circle
Culture of Care recommended reading on Restorative Justice
Katherine Evans and Dorothy Vaandering. The Little Book of Restorative Justice in Education. Good Books, 2016.
Howard Zehr. The Little Book of Restorative Justice. Good Books, 2015.
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network