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Big News ! Summer is here and that means no school ! It means rest and summer vacation in the U.S. However, the teachers in the U.S. are not on vacation against child labor. No, the teachers are taking action, heated action to educate against child labor. The National Education Association ( NEA ) is the largest teachers' union in the United States of America. 2,500,000 teachers are members ! Wow ! Each year, the NEA presents 11 Human and Civil Rights Awards to teachers in the U.S. who are guiding students and communities to strive for social justice. These prestigious, national awards were presented this week,in front of 1,800 educators in the Chicago Hilton and Towers International Ballroom, in Chicago, Illinois. Over 17,000 delegates and guests attended the NEA annual meeting making this award dinner the hottest ticket of the annual meeting. We are proud to anounce that this year's recipient of one of those awards, the NEA's 2000 Applegate-Dorros Peace and Global Understanding Award, is our very own Mr. Adams, in recognition of his role as teacher-advisor to the "Kids Campaign : A School for Iqbal." As a result, millions of teachers will read all about the "School for Iqbal" project this Fall when they receive their "Back to School" edition of their union's magazine called "NEA Today !" We're sure those teachers will tell their students and their families and their friends and their neighbors. The NEA is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing more than 2.4 million teachers, educational support personnel, and higher education faculty.
You may already know this, but we'll repeat it here ...the other huge teachers' union, known as the American Federation of Teachers ( AFT )
has also recognized the "School for Iqbal" campaign. The AFT has produced an excellent Child Labor curriculum called "Lost Futures."
For $15 teachers can order the curriculum which includes a 15 minute video and a packed three ring binder , filled with activities and
fact sheets. The video concludes with a five minute summary of the "School for Iqbal" campaign. Over 1,500 of the AFT child labor
kits have been sold already. For more information, please go to:
To the two teachers' unions, the NEA and the AFT, we say THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Some issues divide people. Some issues, like protecting children, cross party lines and unite people.
It is clear that the NEA and AFT are united in supporting the efforts of EVERYONE who is part of "The School for Iqbal" campaign.
For more information about the NEA's Human and Civil Rights Award recipients, we have attached this NEA summary for you:
For More Information:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE News Release NEA Honors California's Villaraigosa, Other Leaders at Human and Civil Rights Awards, July 2 Washington, D.C. -- A Latino politician who was responsible for a $9.2 billion bond proposal to build and modernize California's public schools. A gay high school student who battled harassment only to develop his voice by speaking publicly about civil rights protection for gays and lesbians. An educator whose curriculum encouraged his students to raise $147,000 to build a school in honor of a 12-year-old child labor advocate who was murdered for his activism. These are just a few of the outstanding individuals who will be honored by the National Education Association (NEA) for their efforts to advance human and civil rights. The awards are named in honor of outstanding human and civil rights pioneers, NEA activists and leaders in the fight for equality. NEA President Bob Chase will present these honors at the Association's annual Human and Civil Rights Awards Banquet on July 2 in the International Ballroom at the Chicago Hilton and Towers Hotel. The event, held each year during the Association's annual meeting, is expected to attract 2,000 educators and invited guests. The Speaker of the California State Assembly, Antonio Villaraigosa, of Los Angeles, will be presented with the Cesar Chavez Accion Y Compromiso Human and Civil Rights Award for his commitment to the nonviolent philosophy and techniques of the late United Farm Workers leader, Cesar Chavez, and his perseverance toward the achievement of dignity, hope and livable wages and working conditions on behalf of workers and the disadvantaged. Villaraigosa has pursued a legislative agenda that is distinguished by its focus on protecting California's most vulnerable citizens. He gained early attention for his legislation to protect the rights of breast-feeding mothers, to restore adequate funding for the state's juvenile probation camps and to stream-line and improve the state's compassionate release program for terminally ill or physically incapacitated prison inmates. Michael Bisogno of Teaneck, N.J., will be awarded the SuAnne Big Crow Memorial Award for his effort to encourage friendship, tolerance and an end to homophobia in his community. To oppose bias against homosexuals, he became an active member and later co-president of Spectrum, a club for gay and straight students. He founded the Bergen County chapter of GALY (Gay and Lesbian Youth) to provide a safe place for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students to socialize and discuss concerns. For his activism, Bisogno was the recipient of the 1999 Equality Award of the Human Rights Campaign, was profiled by CNN, was invited to a conference at the White House, where he talked to Attorney General Janet Reno about the need for a federal hate crimes law that includes sexual orientation and attended the NEA-AFT reception for conferees at NEA headquarters. The Applegate-Dorros Peace and International Understanding Award will be presented to Ronald Adams of Weymouth, Mass., for promoting understanding in the classroom. Under Adams's tutelage, students at Broad Meadows Middle School have become famous for "Writing Wrongs." They right wrongs by writing letters to people who can help. His students were responsible for the release of a teenager from a Yugoslavian prison and the production of an award-winning video about the forgotten women workers of World War II. Adams's students were praised for their creation of the School for Iqbal in Pakistan, named after a slain child-labor activist, Iqbal Masih. The students raised $147,000 to build the school after he was murdered for his activism. For his work, Adams received the Massachusetts Teachers Association's Civil Rights and Human Rights Award and the National Eisendrath Bearer of Light Award. In 1992, he was named Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. Other recipients of NEA's 2000 Human and Civil Rights awards are: Qadir Aware, Sioux Falls, S.D., will receive the H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Award for improving the lives of immigrants, refugees and minorities in his community. He worked with the YMCA and the United Way to set up outreach programs for elementary and middle school children of different ethnic groups to help them develop physical and social skills. Taj Brown, Downingtown, P.A.,will receive the Carter G. Woodson Memorial Award (presented jointly by the NEA and the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) for his leadership and creativity in promoting Black History Month. Brown, a student at Lock Haven University, delivers one message every year: that Black history should be studied throughout the year and that all will benefit from knowing the history, sacrifices and contributions of Black people. Graciela Italiano-Thomas, Salt Lake City, Utah, will be presented with the George I. S‡nchez Memorial Award for her unending devotion to educating Latino students. She is the director of the Centro de la Familiar de Utah, which increases self-sufficiency among Hispanic families by promoting literacy. Dr. Italiano-Thomas is the founder of "America's Award for Children and Young Adult Literature." Sharron Lewis-Campbell, Morena Valley, Calif., will receive the Mary Hatwood Futrell Award for bringing African American history to life for many students, particularly girls, and members of the community in which she works. She has managed to boost achievement levels of her students by combining academics with the arts with a multi-cultural twist. Dr. John Lucas, Durham, N.C., will be presented with the H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Award for his instrumental leadership at the national and state level. He has been a voice for understanding and an asset to the NEA for more than three decades. He has held many Association positions ranging from a member of NCAE's Board of Directors to NCAE President and serves as a member of the NEA Board of Directors. Cleorah Scruggs, Flint, Mich., will be presented with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Award for her sponsorship of several new business items at NEA Representative Assemblies. One of these new business items, passed at the 1993 Representative Assembly, designated the third Monday in October as National Multicultural Diversity Day. Flossie Thompson-Peters, Los Angeles, Calif., will be presented with the Author-Illustrator Human and Civil Rights Award for her effort to promote recognition of the contributions made by minorities in world history and representing people of color through drawings and illustrations by writing books for children that give examples of how Black Americans helped further the growth of society. Carol Watchler, Roosevelt, N.J., will receive the Virginia Uribe Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights for her role as a founding member and co-chair of the National Education Association Gay and Lesbian Caucus from 1988 through 1994. Watchler was instrumental in ensuring the passage of resolutions that advocate for education about, and ultimately the acceptance of, all people of diverse sexual orientation. Presented for more than 30 years, the NEA awards recognize educators and others from a variety of backgrounds who have fought effectively for human and civil rights advances. NEA's annual meeting, which draws more than 9,000 delegates annually, will be held July 1-6, 2000 at McCormick Place in Chicago. The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing more than 2.5 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support personnel, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers. |
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Broadmeadows Middle School