Hinsdale High School Teachers Association

One of the great things about working at Hinsdale Central is the support the community has for what HHSTA’s professional educators do every day in their classrooms. Case in point: Central’s PTO. This year the PTO has gone out of its way to show appreciation for Central’s teachers. This week that appreciation took the form of pumpkin pie. Not a couple of pies in the faculty lunch room, or a few well placed pies, but a pie for every single teacher and staff member. Now that’s a lot of pie!

Below is a portion of the message the PTO distributed to our staff:

On behalf of the PTO, we would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. We hope that you enjoy your pumpkin pie. This is also a thank you to your families. We know that your commitment to our students is sometimes hard on your own families.

Or motto “Where excellence is Central” is because of your commitment and heartfelt concern for the students at Hinsdale Central. The parents are very grateful for your time and efforts that have helped to shape students of character at Hinsdale Central. The character traits that are being reinforced by you will serve our children well in the future.

On behalf of HHSTA-Central, thanks to our PTO for their generous gift, their expression of genuine caring for our members and their families, and their abundant support.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Your HHSTA joint leadership team met over the summer to cover a wide range of topics, including:

• What are the most important issues we anticipate for the 2008-2009 school year?
• How can we better communicate with each other, with Association members, with District Administration, with the School Board?
• What does an “ideal” Association look like?
• How can we maximize the resources available to us through IEA and NEA?

One initial way discussed, then acted upon, for Association members to present a message of unity was to produce lapel pins for each Association member to wear.

The pins will bear our Association brand in antiqued gold finish. They will also have a magnetic back rather than standard sharp pin back, allowing them to be worn without damage to clothing.

We anticipate receiving them in time to be worn on Thursday, August 28th for Meet the Teachers night. We’re also asking Association members to wear their pins every Friday to show your Association sprit.

This simple act of unity is important because:

• It gives a human face to the Association for community members
• It emphasizes that our Association is stronger together than its members are individually
• It shows support for Association leadership as they address issues of long-term impact with district administrators

Your support in this effort will go a long way toward creating the type of Association we all wish to achieve!

Please contact a member of the Executive Team with your questions and comments.

The following are the prepared remarks from the HHSTA-Central membership meeting, Monday August 18th:

I’ve been the new president of HHSTA-Central for not quite three months now, and I’d have to say that the question I get asked the most so far is:

What is the Association going to do about it?

Truth is, when Tom Ludovice came to me last February to start recruiting me as his replacement, it was probably because I had asked him this question fairly often. I think the reason this question gets asked so much is that at its heart resides an understanding of both our role within the Association and the role of the Association as a whole.

What is the Association going to do about it? is therefore a question of great importance for our Association to ask. In order to answer this, first let me share with you what the Association is doing right now.

This year we have two major issues on the horizon as we start the year: Defining what “excellent” means regarding teacher evaluation and per our CBA, evaluating the distribution of our coaching and extra-curricular stipends.

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The following remarks were made at Monday night’s School Board meeting:

Good evening, my name is Kathy Wynn and I am speaking as co-President of the Hinsdale High School Teachers’ Association. As we embark on a new school year, I would like to say that all 366 members of the HHSTA are looking forward to working collaboratively with each other and with our newly expanded Administrative team. We know that there are some issues that we would like to see resolved or implemented in a timely manner, and to do so will take cooperation between the Association and Administration.

We also recognize that last spring’s ECRA report painted a bleak picture when it comes to staff morale, and we would like to take an active role in any efforts that are being made to address that issue.

Open and frequent communication between the Association and the Administration is essential to realizing these goals. Our vision for this District, and more importantly, for its students, does not differ from yours. As education professionals, we would like to continue the “tradition of excellence”, the phrase that is so prominently featured on the redesigned District web site. There is so much potential for our schools, our students, and our communities. On behalf of the HHSTA, I am here to say, together we can make it happen. Thank you.

This past week I stopped by Central to check on some upgrades to the computer lab I teach in as well as to pick up Association mail. The trip was planned to be a quick stop over; just one of several errands for the day. Stopping by the mail room I ran into several teachers getting some copies made or checking their mail. I had conversations in the hall with a couple other teachers, spoke to one of our department chairman, our social worker and several of our counselors. Three hours later, I was still at Central. Then something occurred to me.

It was July.

There are many reasons schools succeed. Key among these is a dedicated staff of professional educators who epitomize leadership in education - even in July in a building with little air conditioning. Beyond the volume of dedicated staff in the sweltering classrooms of Central in the heat of July, evidence of this dedication and professionalism has once again come in the form of national recognition. Central was named as one of the top 1,300 public schools in the nation by Newsweek magazine, as well as one of only eleven National Schools of Character Winners awarded by The Character Education Partnership (CEP) of Washington, D.C.

Read on for details of this recognition… Continue Reading »

Key to understanding what “class size” means is understanding how class size is measured, as the terms used to describe class size are often misleading or misunderstood. For example, what is an “average” class size? Often in response to class sizes concerns the District’s Pupil/Certified Staff ratio is cited as being below state averages. To the layman, this answer may suffice and even impress. But as educators, it is our duty to educate not only the students in our classrooms these figures attempt to quantify, but also ourselves on what these terms mean - especially in light of growing concerns by HHSTA educators over the size of their classes.

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What could your child achieve if they were offered the best educational experience possible? I believe that exposing children to the best teachers and the best resources available increases their chances for success in life. After 21 years of teaching, I have learned that high standardized test scores alone do not guarantee a successful adult life. A good SAT or ACT score will certainly help open the door into a good university, but will it increase your child’s chance of success and happiness later in life? There are many other facets that enter into developing young people for an adult life. Unfortunately here at Hinsdale High School District 86, our school board has the ability to provide the very best in resources to do so, but chooses not to. How will this impact our students in the future?

The school board works very hard, and they hold enough meetings to prove it. And while the school board has made some improvements, they should be doing much more. For more than ten years they have been working in the Era of Fiscal Containment. They feel that they cannot spare the monetary resources needed to improve the educational experience for our students. The reality is that the school district has over 25% of their budget in reserve which is unheard of for most districts nationwide.

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