MPE Journal Fall 2010 - Vol
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MPE Journal www.mpe.org Fall 2010 - Vol. 22, No.2 Feature Stories: Designing Evaluation • MPE Teachers of theYear Systems to Improve Teacher • STAR Teachers and Leader Effectiveness www.mpe.org PAGE 1 MPE BOARD OF DIRECTORS President President-elect Secretary-Treasurer Past-President Executive Director Dr. Barry Morris Sonya Swafford Dr. Benny J. Hornsby Rhonda Travis Kelly Riley William Carey University 218 N. Bolivar Avenue 62 Shady Lane 2160 Glen Carter Road 205 Woodland Brook 498 Tuscan Ave., Box 3 Cleveland, MS 38732 Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Magnolia, MS 39652-9309 Madison, MS 39110 Hattiesburg, MS 39401 662-402-6885 601-408-4608 601-542-5671 (C) 601-573-6169 601-318-6587 H) 601-765-4396 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] District 1 District 2 District 3 District 4 Walter Moore Sunnie Barkley Angela Towers Amy Ellis 1116 CR 174 6460 Northwood Cove 512 Magnolia Avenue 1366 Oakwood Drive 2 Guntown, MS 38849 Olive Branch, MS 38654-9521 Pace, MS 38764 Starkville, MS 39759 662-316-9258 662-895-3446 662-723-6110 662-324-0067 [email protected] 0 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 1 District 5 District 6 District 7 District 8 Jeanne’ Rowland Donna Robbins Jamie Jackson Nykela Jackson, Ph.D. 0 235 Sharon Moss Road 1002 Cedar Hill Drive 4120 Summit Holmesville Road 79 Cedar Grove Road Laurel, MS 39443 Clinton, MS 39056 McComb, MS 39658 Petal, MS 39465 601-319-3222 601-925-0089 601-730-2381 601-575-6555 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 2 Community College Retirees Rep.-at-large University 0 Lynn Smither Philene Allen Deedre’ Walsh Coll Dr. Levenia Maxwell-Barnes P.O. Box 86 405 S. First Avenue 112 Elm Avenue 510 Highway 3 Booneville, MS 38829 Cleveland, MS 38732 Hattiesburg, MS 39402 Moorhead, MS 38761 1 662-588-1850 662-588-9011 601-297-7220 (H)662-246-5807 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 1 CONTACT MPE OFFICE PERSONNEL Kelly Riley (Executive Director) ......................................................kelly@mpe.org Stephanie Miller (Accounts Manager)[email protected] Betsie Moore (Office Manager)................................................elizabeth@mpe.org Deeanna Hall (Receptionist) ....................................................deeanna@mpe.org toll FREE: 800-523-0269 629 N. JEFFERSON STREET local: 601-355-5517 P.O. BOX 22550 faX: 601-355-5519 Jackson, MS 39225-2550 MPE Area Directors Baird, Bobby Lowe, Jessica Dori 192 Baird Road, Batesville, MS 38606-8343 2594 Old Hwy 27 N., Monticello, MS 39654 Phone: 662-563-8207 email:[email protected] Phone: 601-455-9351 email: [email protected] Bryant, Teresa Pair, James 141 St. Francis Street, Biloxi, MS 39530 10110 Sandalwood Lane, Philadelphia, MS 39350 Phone: 228-432-8336 email: [email protected] Phone: 601-656-9155 email: [email protected] Calhoun, Serena Shirley, Dennis 19 Sylwood Place, Jackson, MS 39209 3000 Patrick Drive, Corinth, MS 38834 Phone: 601-366-4378 Cell: 601-540-1499 email: [email protected] Phone: 662-287-6715 email: [email protected] Hoda, Bryan Sills, Billy D. 133 Shady Grove Moss Rd., Laurel, MS 39443 P.O. Box 53, New Hebron, MS 39140 Phone: 601-428-1935 email: [email protected] Phone: 601-694-2121 toll free: 877-574-2136 email: [email protected] Livingston, Randal Welborn, Paul 247 Livingston Road, Louisville, MS 39339 252 Leroy Hill Rd, Laurel, MS 39443 Phone: 662-773-2577 Cell: 662-803-8393 email: [email protected] Phone:601-319-6353 email: [email protected] PAGE 2 MPE Journal - Fall 2010 Mississippi Professional MPE Journal Educators Executive Director Kelly Riley All articles not otherwise signed are staff written. Permission to reproduce material appearing in MPE Journal must be obtained from MPE headquarters. The Mississippi Professional Educators assumes no responsibility for the opinions or points of view expressed by contributors to MPE Journal unless statements have been authorized by action of the Association. MPE endorses no item or service other than those under the auspices of the Association. MPE Journal is a trademark of MPE. MPE Journal is published three times annually by the Mississippi Professional Educators, Kelly Riley, Publisher. Cover Stories In Every Issue Features MPE Teachers of the Year President’s Message Mel Buckley Scholarship Page 9 Page 4 Awarded MPE recognizes 23 members Dr. Barry Morris Page 7 awarded as Teachers of the Year Executive Director’s Earthwatch Expedition Designing Evaluation Message Page 10 Systems to Improve Teacher Page 5 Ashley Barefoot finds science is dirty and Leader Effectiveness Kelly Riley work during her Costa Rican Page 12 Earthwatch Expedition Dr. Daphe Buckley Message from the MPE Board Retreat Executive Director Emeritus Star Teachers Page 15 Page 6 The MPE Board of Directors meets Page 17 Judy Rhodes at the Eagle Ridge Conference Congratulations to the 47 MPE Center in Raymond members named STAR Teachers Member Spotlight Page 11,14 & 22 From our Board of Directors Page 20 Mississippi Department of Teaching – More Than a Dental Plan Education News Barry Morris, Ph.D. Page 16 MPE Area Directors Community College News Page 23 Page 18 Locate the Area Director for your district Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning News Page 19 www.mpe.org PAGE 3 Message From THE PRESIDENT DR. Barry MORRIS Mississippians have never been defined by the summation of their circumstances, whether it be the one day of Katrina, one hundred days of oil surges into our waters, or the endless months of recession pounding away at our financial security. In one day a disaster named Katrina rewrote the history of the Gulf Coast – but failed to rewrite the history of her schools. Teachers, parents, administrators, school boards, legislators, state leaders, universities and college leaders returned for the sake of the children. Schools came back to life. The deadening effect of hurricane winds and violent storm surges wiped away buildings but could not diminish our people. The one hundred days of oil and the rising tide of recession attempt to define us as Mississippians. These too will fail to change who we are. For the sake of our children, we will not transfer responsibility for their learning to anyone else. A teacher wrote about her grief over the recession and its restrictions on building an effective learning environ- ment. She refuses to define her school year as diminished for the sake of each teenager who arrived in her room in early August. Definitely the recession has the potential of eroding our capacities, but with creative cour- age and a willingness in our towns and cities to join with their schools to build a greater learning community, this capacity will be more than enough to engage our children in a powerful learning experience. Mississippi is a large learning community – when one of our districts suffer, all suffer. We are diminished by the needs of our fellow educators, administrators, children, and families. No region of our state can be ignored or set aside, for within that region grows our future. We treat our children with a sense of their giftedness and potential, rather than settling for just identifying their deficits and their limitations. Mississippians are defined by their children and the great faith they hold in us. Our children come to school every day expecting the very best. We can do no less than to help them dream. There is no greater tragedy than to see children losing their dream of the future. Our state leaders, legislators, department of education, institutions of higher learning, superintendents, school boards, teachers, and community leaders are parents and grandparents. They know their legacy is tied to their children. Mississippians have always built on the potential to see the state as a vast learning community populated by treasures, our children, who are given to us for only a short period of time. Visionaries for our twenty-first cen- tury schoolhouse come in all forms from the early education teacher working with three-year-olds moving onto elementary, middle, and high school educators and administrators, superintendents, school board members, community leaders, community colleges and university faculty and administrators, state legislators and leaders, and deeply caring parents who join together across districts and regions to see our children as one child. We are Mississippians. PAGE 4 MPE Journal - Fall 2010 EXECUTIVE Director’S Message Kelly RILEY It is an honor to serve as the Executive Director of the Mississippi Professional Educators. MPE encourages the highest standards of personal and professional conduct. I attended several events this summer where others expressed to me their respect and high regard for MPE’s principles and professionalism. I am sure you join me in thanking Judy Rhodes for her service to our organization. MPE is what it is today in large part to her leadership and efforts. MPE continues to provide the premium package of benefits and services to our members. Many mem- bers who never expected to face legal problems required legal assistance this past spring regarding non-renewals due to budget cuts or reductions in force. Our attorneys provided assistance to 36 of our members who were non-renewed for either performance or budgetary reasons and who requested hearings. As of August 16th, 21 (58%) of these members were rehired, 4 (11%) were not re-hired, 8 (22%) were still awaiting a final decision by their school board and 3 (8%) had decided to retire. Just as the start of a new school year is full of events and activities, there are several important edu- cation events and initiatives at the state level that I want to make you aware of.