Dear Slate Readers,

A couple of Fridays ago, I interviewed

DCTA Outreach Manager Zach Rupp (see
page 3) for this issue of the Slate. Itll only
take, like, 15 minutes or so, I said.
Almost three hours later, we wrapped
up our conversation. (Dont worry, the arti-
cle isnt three hours long!)
One of my favorite things about teach-
ers is that were just bursting with ideas
about how to improve education. If you
give a teacher the opportunity to talk about
teaching, youd better be ready for a long
conversation! By nature, educators are peo-
ple who see possibilities and want to make
a difference. And of course, we love to
share our knowledge and ideas with others.
Above all else, thats what makes a teacher
a teacher (and what makes for those long
conversations!). Yes, teachers are always
teaching, whether inside or outside of the
classroom.
For folks who dont know me yet, Im
Sabrina, and I used to teach here in Denver
Public Schools (shout-out to the Far North-
east!). Among the many roles I now play,
Im proud to serve you in my role as a com-
munications specialist & organizer at
DCTA. I spent my summer vacation, and
the months preceding it, helping to organize
the Save Our Schools March & National
Call to Action events in Washington, DC
and around the country. Working together
with so many teachers, parents, and stu-
dents who are working to change national
trends in education policy was both chal-
lenging and energizing. Theres nothing like
coming together with people who care
enough about our children, our profession,
and our country to volunteer long hours in
addition to working other jobs, teaching the
public about the real-world impact of edu-
cation policy and then rallying and march-
ing in the sweltering heat. (Theres also
nothing like hanging out with people like
Matt Damon, Linda Darling-Hammond,
and Diane Ravitch all on the same day. But
thats a story for another time!)
As important as national issues are,
though, many of the biggest changes that
affect us will happen right here, in our class-
rooms, schools, district, and community.
Thats why Im so excited to be back here
in Denver. With a closely-watched school
board election and a changing evaluation
system, among other things, were in a
unique position to make local changes that
will reverberate throughout our city, state,
and country. If those changes are to be pos-
itive ones, its imperative that we take seri-
ously our responsibility to Be the Change
we want to see in the world.
In that spirit, Im excited to present to
you this new version of the Slate (For more
on these changes, read Communications
Committee Chair Amber Wilsons article on
this page, lower left). In it, youll find ex-
amples of members who are taking initia-
tive to create positive change in various as-
pects of our professional livesfrom Den-
vers evaluation system to DCTA itself.
Weve also included resources from educa-
tors around the country to help you Be the
Change in your classrooms.
In addition to changing the Slate, we
will also be updating our website (to re-
launch September 1) and other communi-
cations tools in our efforts to better serve
you and support you to become more ac-
tively engaged in our collective efforts to
improve education in Denver (and be-
yond!). Stay tunedthings are about to get
interesting!
Please enjoy this new issue, and please
please get in touch with any thoughts, opin-
ions, and ideas youd like to share with your
fellow members.
Looking forward to changing the world
with you,
Sabrina
By Sabrina
Stevens Shupe,
Editor
sstevens@-
coloradoea.org




DCTA Slate
Journal of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association
Dedicated to serving Denver students, parents and the Denver community www.denverclassroom.org
the




















































Yes,
I















































































































































August 2011 Volume 44, Number 1
From the Editor:
Heres to a Year of Positive Change!
By Amber Wilson,
DCTA Communications Chair
Another year is upon us, and while the last wisps of summer are quickly depart-
ing, the reality of the immense changes coming to DPS loom on the horizon. LEAP
and Common Core State Standards are just a couple of the new initiatives that will
impact every classroom in the district. Indeed, it will be a year of change.
But with change, comes opportunity. Realizing that the DCTA needed to move from
a reactionary position, to a proactive one, the DCTA Communications Committee worked
last year to evaluate the effectiveness of our member communications. The changes im-
pacting our profession are moving at a dizzying pace, and often the timeliness of impor-
tant information reaching members was not adequate. So, we too are embracing change
and the opportunities it brings to DCTAs communication structures.
The Slate:
After much discussion, the committee recommended changing the publication of
The Slate from a monthly newspaper to a seasonal, themed news magazine.
1. August: Membership Season getting back into the swing of school and the
power of belonging. This magazine will offer practical suggestions and tips for the
classroom, as well as member stories of belonging. The magazine is also a kick-off to
the season of listening. Building representatives will begin listening campaigns in
their buildings.
2. November: Reporting Season a chance for the Association to tell members
what we heard in the listening campaign.
3. January: Bargaining Season, Part 1 The Issues & Time to Organize the
issues coming up in bargaining as well as practical tips on how to engage and orga-
nize ourselves.
4. March: Bargaining Season, Part 2 Time for Action!
Were also planning for a supplemental Election Season, a smaller edition that
will coincide with elections, recommendations, and other political information in Sep-
tember/October.
The E-Slate:
Already in production, the E-Slate replaced the DCTA Action and is emailed on
Fridays. Information in the E-Slate will be timely, as well as concise with links to
more detailed information on the DCTA website. It is in this publication, that mem-
bers will look to find critical, need-to-know information, dates, and events.
Hey, What Happened
to My Slate??
By Jennifer Perea
This year I am beginning my third
year of teaching. I have been lucky
enough to be surrounded by wonderful
people who answered any questions I
may have had about what it means to be
a teacher, how to manage my classroom,
and DCTA. Unfortunately, I felt that a lot
of the young teachers around me werent
as lucky. This inspired me, with the help
of my friend Guillermo, to create a club
in which this community could ask ques-
tions, become involved and create a
more relevant agenda.
This year, DCTA is excited to launch
our new Club 30. Club 30 is a caucus ded-
icated to providing a current and relevant
platform for new and younger teachers.
Our current purpose states that, The pur-
pose of Club 30 shall be to provide oppor-
tunities for new DCTA teachers to become
involved in building social networks, ser-
vicing the educational community, and
providing a platform for self-advocacy.
We recognize that teaching is a forev-
er changing, dynamic field. Club 30 is an
opportunity for us to get together and
share successes and challenges in the
classroom. We are also here to help sup-
port the growth of new education profes-
sionals by creating a collaborative agen-
da. Please like our page on Facebook
(look for Club 30 DCTA in the search
box), and be on the lookout for the Club
30 page on the soon-to-be-relaunched
DCTA website.
Youre also invited to our first event
on Friday, September 16th, 4:00 pm at the
Funky Buddha Lounge (776 Lincoln
Street). Contact me, Jennifer Perea, at
303-887-6569 or Guillermo Reyes at 607-
267-0413 with any questions about Club
30. Join us and help shape the face of ed-
ucation in the Denver Public Schools!
Whats Club 30?
Jennifer Perea, Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College and Guillermo Reyes,
McMeen Elementary organizers for Club 30
Many times, when someone gets in-
volved in a legal action, it is a defensive
act to protect themselves or their proper-
ty from change. In these cases, protect-
ing the status quo is considered a win.
However, DCTA, with the assistance
of the CEA (Colorado Education Associ-
ation) legal department, is getting in-
volved in two issues not to stop change
but to make sure two changes to Colorado
law, SB 130 (The School Innovation Act)
and SB 191 (regarding school based hir-
ing), are implemented correctly. The
change in these cases has already hap-
pened, but without thoughtful implemen-
tation, the possibility of positive results
is threatened.
SB 130 allows a school to waive cer-
tain requirements including district poli-
cy, contract provisions and state law in or-
der to implement an Innovation Plan.
But the law also calls for evidence that a
majority of the teachers at the school ap-
plying for innovation have voted for the
plan via secret ballot vote. Research
shows that educational changes made
without the involvement of critical stake-
holders fails. The need for stakeholder
involvement is one reason the law calls
for evidence of a vote before the plan can
be approved by a local school board.
Sixty percent of members of the bargain-
ing unit has to be in favor of the plan if it
waives contract provisions. The DPS
school board approved several new Inno-
vation Plans last spring without evidence
of the aforementioned vote. This hap-
pened because the plans were approved
before these schools had even hired all of
their staff! DCTA is challenging this
practice because teachers were not al-
lowed to Be the Change according to
the law -- and because we dont think ig-
noring the law is innovation or
change but instead the kind of thing
we teach our students not to do.
In the case of SB 191, DCTA is not
claiming DPS is ignoring the law but
our interpretation of many SB 191 provi-
sions differs greatly from the DPS inter-
pretation. We first tried the negotiation
process to resolve these differences, but
could not come to a resolution. There-
fore, CEA Legal services has been in dis-
cussion with DPS attorneys and has pro-
posed to resolve these differences through
an advisory arbitration process. (In other
words we want a judges opinion.)
Without DCTAs proactive legal ac-
tions on both of these issues, status quo
would mean continuing practices that are
possibly illegal and definitely confusing,
instead of finding out how legal experts
understand what kind of implementation
these laws really intend. Please Be the
Change throughout this process by stay-
ing informed and giving us your opinion
through DCTAs communication vehicles,
including the SLATE, e-SLATE and our
website.
Two weeks ago I had the privilege to
address teachers new to DPS. Every year
that I have this opportunity, I am reminded
of how important a teacher is in the life of
a student and how education for children
can make all the difference in their lives.
We had a fantastic day that ended with al-
most 200 people opting to join DCTA.
This year promises to be an extremely
busy year. In addition to the day-to-day
challenges of teaching, Denver educators
also face important challengesand oppor-
tunitiesthat will have long-term effects
on the direction of our profession. The up-
coming school board election, the LEAP
project, legal challenges, and the re-negoti-
ation of our contract are all opportunities
for us to find new ways to be the change
wed like to see in Denver Public Schools.
The School Board Election: The
School Board election this fall is critical.
Our representatives on the Board make ma-
jor decisions that affect how we get to do
our jobs, whether and how we get resources
for our classrooms, and the path we choose
as a district. Its important to have a more
functional school board that works closely
with all stakeholders. I encourage everyone
to find a way to contribute during this elec-
tion. Whether its walking for candidates,
talking with community members about
how important it is to vote, or making a few
phone calls, no contribution is unimportant.
Well share more information about this ef-
fort soon, but feel free to contact Billy
Husher at bhusher@coloradoea.org with
any questions.
LEAP: Were also re-making our eval-
uation system this year! Over 90% of Den-
ver Public Schools will be part of the next
phase of the LEAP (Leading Effective Aca-
demic Practice) pilot. We are testing the
new evaluation rubric as well as the new
peer observer process. The Design Teams,
Professional Practices Work Group and the
state Teacher Effectiveness Council are
spending a lot of time on this project, but it
is so important for their work to be in-
formed by your insight and knowledge.
Your feedback will help shape the final sys-
tem, and will help the Bargaining Team de-
termine the fairest, most thoughtful way to
implement this project. DCTA Board mem-
ber Zach Rupp (see the following page) has
been appointed to work with the pilot
schools, and I encourage everyone to com-
municate with him about how LEAP is af-
fecting your classrooms.
Legal Issues: The provisions of Senate
Bill 191 are having a huge impact on Den-
ver teachers. DCTA is working through the
court system in an effort to gain a clear in-
terpretation on several important portions of
the law. You can begin to "Be the Change"
on this issue by staying informed. The
DCTA website and Slate will be great places
to stay updated as this process unfolds.
The Contract: This coming Spring,
well be bargaining the entire contract. Just
like with LEAP, your insight and knowl-
edge of whats happening in your schools
will be crucial to making sure we can cre-
ate a contract that gives you what you need
to do your best for your students. The
DCTA Bargaining Team meets year round,
knowing that the process will be complicat-
ed. We will provide updates as information
emerges, but please stay in touch with your
Reps, Board Members, and office staff so
we can best represent you.
There is a lot to do, so Id like to thank
in advance the members of the Bargaining
Team, The Political Action Committee, the
Teacher Design Team members, the Pro-
Comp Transition Team members, the
DCTA Board of Directors and many others
for the countless hours they will volunteer
this school year for our collective benefit.
As we enter this critical year, I also
want to welcome our new teachers to DPS.
I hope that your first year in Denver is
meaningful and exciting. Last but not least,
I want to thank to all of Denvers educators.
The work you do each day makes a differ-
ence in the lives of Denvers children. It is
an honor to work with you.
WHAT WE THINK The DCTA Slate 2 August 2011
By Carolyn
Crowder,
DCTA
Executive
Director
Welcome Back!
By Henry Roman,
DCTA President






















































































































































































DCTA Legal Actions:
Are they about
Being the Change or
Protecting the Status Quo?
DCTA Board Member (and Bargaining
Team member) Zach Rupp is spending this
year working at DPS Headquarters as the
DCTA Outreach Manager for the LEAP
(Leading Effective Academic Practice) Pro-
ject. After working for years in the business
world, and watching most of his jobs evolve
into training positions, Zach tapped into his
passion for teaching and went back to school
to become a music educator. He has taught
elementary music at Greenwood, Columbian,
Lake, and the teacher-led Math & Science
Leadership Academy (MSLA). Here, he
shares a bit about himself and the evolution
of his involvement with the LEAP Project.
What brought you to DCTA?
Ive always believed having been in
the corporate world that you should always
be a part of your professional organizations,
and that was reiterated in my training pro-
gram, both in music and in education. I con-
sider DCTA to be one of them, so thats why
I joined. I first became a collegiate member
of the Alabama Education Association when
I began my practicum my senior year of col-
lege. After I graduated and moved to Den-
ver to start teaching, the first thing I did was
sign up at new teacher orientation. Within six
months of teaching at Columbian Elemen-
tary, I was approached by Bruce (Dickinson),
who was the DCTA Executive Director at the
time, and Jenny (Rasmussen), a DCTA Board
Member, to be the Building Rep at
Columbian. The only commitment was to at-
tend the monthly Rep Council meeting.
This sounded like a great opportunity to
get to know other teachers around the district
and gain a larger perspective of the teaching
community. Being the only music teacher in
my building, I was looking for ways to meet
other teachers from around the district,
specifically arts teachers in other school
buildings. I wanted to learn how arts instruc-
tion looked around the the district, and po-
tentially find a music teacher to mentor me.
So there was an immersion aspect for me. I
had no political concerns at that point. I have
found the more I become engaged and in-
formed, the more involved I want to be to
help create more opportunities to elevate our
profession. Being an active member of the
association has helped me better understand
the external factors that impact my job and
how I teach my kids every day. That became
a very immediate, recognizable connection
of how I was benefiting from being a mem-
ber, and being a Rep.
During the summer after my second year
of teaching, I got called by one of our UniS-
erv directors saying Id been selected for an
opportunity to go to a Leadership Academy
created by the Colorado Education Associa-
tion. When I attended the academy, I started
getting the nut-and-bolts of how the Asso-
ciation works at all levels (NEA, CEA, and
local unit) and how they connect and support
each other. After completing the academy, I
was appointed to an open Board seat, which
I saw as an opportunity to learn more about
what DCTA was about getting a broader per-
spective of the teaching profession within
Denver. All of my participation in association
activities has made Denver a smaller and
more familiar place to teach.
My association work has also led to in-
volvement outside of Denver (and Colorado).
Three years ago, I was put in contact with the
Center for Teaching Quality (http://teach-
ingquality.org), which focused on develop-
ing teacher leadership. CTQ was embarking
on a new project that has now become The
New Millennium Initiative. This started with
a conversation among teachers within their
3-5 years of teaching experience. The con-
versation was focused on What brought you
into teaching? Whats keeping you here?
What would make you leave, or what would
make you stay? My involvement in the As-
sociation helped me speak directly about the
experiences and trials I have as an educator
(in a non-tested content area) in an urban
school district, and what I would like to see
changed to help my colleagues, as well as
myself. It also gave me an avenue to meet
other association members / teacher leaders
in other locales and states to have common
conversations and help each other think
proactively, and bring those ideas and con-
nections back to our relative situations. I am
always glad for the opportunities to bring that
knowledge, expertise, and connections with
others back to enrich our Association, as well
as my classroom. It amazes me how all of that
shows up in my classroom on a daily basis.
So how did you come to the LEAP project?
Through the conversations and the
work Ive been a part of through the Center
for Teaching Quality, and the work DCTA
and DPS had started around teacher effec-
tiveness and how to improve our current
evaluation system, it seemed a natural next
step to become proactively involved.
Teachers [and Principals] often say that [our
current evaluation system] isnt useful. It
has good intent, but because it has so much
room for interpretation, based on the lead-
ership style of the principals in the build-
ing, and also the knowledge of the princi-
pals and the teachers of how to use the tools
in place, theres a lack of consistency in
how to utilize these tools most appropriate-
ly. That left room for us to look at how to
refine it in such a way that makes it more
useful to both principals and teachers.
At the same time, the Professional Prac-
tices Working Group (PPWG) had been
formed, and was in the process of research-
ing different peer evaluation models and
teacher support systems. About this time, a
grant for educator effectiveness from the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation became avail-
able. I was then approached by Henry to see
if I wanted to be a part of the design process
since I had helped open MSLA, had experi-
ence using a research-based peer evaluation
model we had developed at MSLA. Having
had the experience of peers evaluating peers
within our school, that gave me-- I wouldnt
call it expertise as much as some experience
that could help the design team begin the con-
versations about what we think a peer obser-
vation model could look like district-wide.
So I was appointed to be the teacher co-chair
of the Peer Observation Design Team.
As I participated in the LEAP design
process, MSLA also became one of the 16 pi-
lot schools for the spring 2011 pilot. Having
the design and pilot experience, the DCTA
Bargaining Team asked me to step in help
bargain the MOU (Memorandum of Under-
standing) for the 2011-2012 LEAP pilot. We
wanted to draft an MOU that would create a
safe environment for teachers during the
pilot so that DCTA and DPS can have the
most authentic data that truly relates the ex-
perience of the pilot participants and informs
the project. Thats a role Im still continuing.
So, having continued the design team
experience, participated in the initial conver-
sations that started the LEAP project, pilot
school participation, bargaining the LEAP Pi-
lot MOU, I have a vast amount of knowledge
around these different aspects of the project
(or at least where to get information) that are
useful in answering questions and help creat-
ing two-way communication opportunities
with all individuals around the LEAP pro-
ject, from participants to operations person-
nel, and making sure teacher voice and feed-
back is at the center of it. In this new role,
when Im having conversations with teach-
ers, I am able to speak directly on how DCTA
has been collaborating with the District and
how support structures are evolving to meet
teacher (and ultimately student) needs.
Why did you feel it was important to
get involved with the LEAP project?
For starters, I think its important to
make sure that teachers have a real say in ma-
jor changes like these. Being a part of this
from start to finish helps me see how we can
make it more progressive in the future. I be-
lieve its important for us to move away from
a punitive model of evaluation to a growth
model, and I also believe its important for us
to find new ways to own our profession. I
want to ensure that teachers feel safe and
comfortable enough to be honest about
whats going on, so that we can know if this
is or isnt working, and how to make these
changes thoughtfully as we strengthen our
collaborative relationship with DPS.
Is there anything else you want fellow
DCTA members to know?
Yes. Please reach out with any comments,
questions, cares, or concerns you have! I will
keep what you say as anonymous as you need
it to be. As part of my work on this project,
Im making sure that feedback is filtered ap-
propriately, so that a safe environment is
maintained for teachers to offer input and cri-
tiques for systemic change. If you have any-
thing you want to talk with me about (or to
say hello), please use my personal e-mail
zachary.rupp@gmail.com.
Introducing Your Friendly Neighborhood
LEAP Expert Zach Rupp!
TEACHING AND LEARNING The DCTA Slate August 2011 3
DCTA Governing Body
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Henry Roman, President
DCTA Office
Melissa Underwood-Verdeal,
Vice President
Henry World School
Lawrence Garcia, Treasurer
East High School
Susan Pinkney-Todd, Secretary
South High School
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
SOUTHEAST SECTOR
Pedro Camacho
George Washington High School
Open Seat
Dolly Calderon
Samuels Elementary
Erich Smeaton
South
NORTHEAST SECTOR
Cathy Moore
Archuleta Elementary
Open Seat
Eric Rapp
Amesse
Carsten Engebretsen
Waller
NORTHWEST SECTOR
Beka Brewbaker-Toney
Colfax
Diana Hernandez
Trevista
Loralie Cole
Trevista
Lynne Valencia-Hernandez
Beach Court Elementary
SOUTHWEST SECTOR
Diane Anderson
Specialized Service Providers
Zach Rupp
LEAP Project, Outreach
Angela Kullhem
Henry World School
Benita Cervantez
Kunsmiller
CEA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lloyd Bourdon
Henry World School
Amber Wilson
Thomas Jefferson HS
Cathy Cronn (Alternate)
McClone
David Szumiloski (Alternate)
Eagleton
DCTA-R President
Robert Alarid
DAEOP President
Cheryl Myres
1500 Grant Street Suite 200
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: 303-831-0590 FAX: 303-831-0591
Web site: www.denverclassroom.org
The Slate, published monthly during the
school year, is the official publication of the
Denver Classroom Teachers Association.
Managing Editor: Carolyn Crowder
Copy Editor: Sabrina Stevens Shupe
The Association does not necessarily en-
dorse the companies or products advertised in
The Slate, and the opinions and articles pub-
lished in The Slate do not necessarily reflect the
position or view of the DCTA.
SLATE ADVERTISING
The Publication Company
Jon DeStefano,
Sheldon Spector
(303) 987-3994
DCTA Mission Statement
The Denver Classroom Teachers Asso-
ciation is a professional organization of
recognized educational leaders. We ad-
vocate for the rights and responsibili-
ties of all educators, and for an ethical
system of quality public education for
all students.
The DCTA Slate
Zach Rupp
TEACHING AND LEARNING The DCTA Slate 4 August 2011
By Karen Zauber
If you're a beginning teacher, you prob-
ably worry about classroom management.
TYou're not alone. Classroom management
-- managing both student behavior and the
physical learning environment -- is an on-
going concern of all teachers. And a topic
you'll continue to read and learn about.
Begin by considering the following
four areas of classroom management: Es-
tablishing Classroom Climate -- the look
and feel of your room; Conducting Class
Efficiently -- managing time and students;
Reaching All Students -- delivery, encour-
agement, teaching techniques; Establishing
Discipline -- creating an atmosphere of con-
sistency and mutual respect.
Establishing Classroom Climate
To create the climate you want for
your classroom, you must first decide the
look and feel of the room. Think about the
types of activities that will go on in your
classroom as you answer the following
questions:
Can you tolerate noise? Must the
room always be quiet? Or can you put up
with a mix of noise and quiet, depending
on the learning activity? It's easier to start
out more controlled and gradually open up to activity and noise than the other way
around.
Must your classroom be neat (order-
ly rows, clean boards, limited clutter) or can
you stand it messy?
What do you want your desk and sur-
roundings to say about you? I'm neat and ef-
ficient. I don't worry about clutter, but I like
some order. I like flowers and color. I value
students' work and enjoy displaying it.
How do you want students to turn in
their work? Do you want them to put it into
your hands, into baskets, or e-mail it to you?
Let them know.
Tell students how you feel about class-
room climate and how everyone can help
maintain a pleasant, productive learning en-
vironment.
Conducting Class Efficiently
When you streamline classroom proce-
dures, you make things clearer for everyone
and you make more time for teaching and
learning. An efficiently run classroom en-
ables students to focus on their work,
which, in turn, helps reduce discipline prob-
lems.
To streamline your classroom proce-
dures, use the following approaches:
Set long-term goals and keep them in
mind as you do your daily planning.
Quickly learn and use student names.
Gain students' attention before begin-
ning a new activity. Don't try to talk over
student noise.
Give students their next assignment
before you collect or return papers.
Don't interrupt students while they are
on task.
Edit any materials you write for stu-
dents. On tests be sure to avoid using poor-
ly worded, ambiguous questions.
Don't introduce too many topics si-
multaneously. Think through the delivery
of content before you get to the classroom.
Think through directions you will
give students (write them down, if that
helps, before giving them verbally). Direc-
tions should be brief, and as the word im-
plies, direct.
Don't stretch out the time for an ac-
tivity.
Be consistent in what you say and
what you do.
Reaching All Students
Three strategies will help you teach and
reach all students. Vary your delivery to
keep students awake and interested in learn-
ing. Encourage all students to do their best
and let them know that you believe they can
succeed. Apply proven teaching techniques
to keep student interest and monitor
whether they are learning.
VARY YOUR DELIVERY
Modulate your voice. Avoid speaking
too fast or in a high-pitched tone.
Use a voice level that can be heard
easily in the back of the room.
Be animated in your delivery. Using
facial expressions and body language can
be very effective in teaching.
Move around. Don't stand or sit too
long in one place.
ENCOURAGE ALL STUDENTS
Accentuate the positive.
Be serious about getting work accom-
plished, but add some humor and fun to
class each day.
Let students know that you expect
them to succeed.
Talk to and interact with as many
students as possible, not just your fa-
vorite students.
APPLY PROVEN TEACHING TECH-
NIQUES
Vary your teaching strategies or com-
bination of strategies during the week.
Use three or more seconds of "wait-
time" after asking a content question.
Balance the time you spend with one
student or group and monitoring the entire
class
Do appropriate comprehension
checks -- as you are teaching -- to see if stu-
dents understand the content.
Praise students appropriately. If you
praise them all the time -- especially when
they're only doing what's expected and no
more, they won't strive to do more. Re-
member, intermittent reinforcement is the
most powerful way to reinforce positive be-
havior. Be selective in your praise. Be hon-
est. Tell them when they've excelled and
how they can improve.
Read student papers for correct an-
swers and for process and student thinking.
Establishing Discipline
When you establish an atmosphere of
consistency and mutual respect, you will
eliminate some discipline problems and fa-
cilitate the solving of others. Here are some
techniques to use:
Be consistent in what you say and
what you do.
Quickly learn and use student names.
Find an effective means of quieting
students. Instead of saying "Shhh," consid-
er using a subtle strategy such as dimming
the lights, playing classical or other sooth-
ing music, or putting on the board a prob-
lem, a brainteaser, or an intriguing question
relating to the lesson of the day.
Avoid using threats to control the
class. If you do use a threat, be prepared to
carry it out.
Nip behavior problems in the bud. In-
tervene quickly when students are behaving
inappropriately.
Whenever possible, reprimand a stu-
dent one-on-one instead of across the room,
in front of the whole class.
Don't permit students to be inatten-
tive to an educationally useful media pre-
sentation.
Use appropriate punishment for class-
room misbehavior.
About the Author
Karen Zauber taught elementary school in
Oxon Hill, Maryland, and Denver, Colorado.
She has worked for the National Education As-
sociation for 12 years. Copyright 2003 Na-
tional Education Association
Bringing Order to the Classroom
By Rick Docksai
People used to write off Lake Dal-
wigk. That's not a place to take your kids
to, they'd say of the inner city-park in
Vallejo, California. Too many gangs. Too
many drugs. Karen Garcia, a fifth grade
teacher at Grace Patterson Elementary
School in Vallejo, agreed. That's why, in
fall 2001, she started taking her fifth grade
students and their parents there for field
trips. Those trips proved to be a transform-
ing experience, for the kids and for the
park.
Garcia wanted to teach her students
about wetlands habitats. The park's well-
watered grounds happened to have a quite
extensive one. "We studied wetlands in
class, and I was looking for somewhere to
show them some wetlands outside of
class," she says. "And this park had them."
But more than that, she wanted to get
them and their parents interested in a piece
of the community that others had forgot-
ten. "If families started going back there
en masse.it could help to make it a more
family-oriented place again," she says.
Garcia was involved in Neighborhood
Watch at the time, so safety was not an is-
sue. So she led her students on walks
through the park to observe the animal and
plant life. With the parents, she organized
picnics in the park.
Community Involvement
And other people began to take notice.
If Garcia and her group could frequent this
park in safety, couldn't they? "We were let-
ting families know that it was safe to go
there, that it was again a place for kids to
go to," Garcia says. For those remaining
skeptics, Garcia and her students wrote a
class letter to the editor of the local news-
paper, saying what a valuable resource the
park was, and urging other community
groups to get involved in it.
Other groups did. The local Audobon
Society volunteered members to show the
students the birds that lived in the park.
The sanitation department sent a guide
with holding nets and microscopes to show
them the microscopic organisms that live
in the water.
Sure enough, the dangerous elements
started leaving. "The drug users left when
they saw us coming," she says.
Months later, Lake Dalwigk was a vi-
brant place of community activity and vol-
unteer efforts. "We were, in a way, giving
back to the community a resource that they
were reluctant to use because of the kind
of people that had sort of begun to take it
over and hang out there," Garcia says.
Student Activists
The students' involvement in the park
was instrumental in that, and Garcia was
sure to point that out to them. "It was a sci-
ence project as well as a community de-
velopment project," Garcia says. "It was a
way of getting students and parents togeth-
er and to make them more interested in
their community." Garcia says that show-
ing students that they can make a differ-
ence for the environment is especially im-
portant today. With all the bad news about
global warming, urban pollution, and ris-
ing fossil fuel consumption, one can de-
spair of being able to make a difference.
"When we teach environmentalism to chil-
dren, we tend to teach doom and gloom,
and children can get very discouraged,"
Garcia says. "By getting them out there
and getting them involved locally, it really
empowered them."
The students started to see that their
actions really could make a positive dif-
ference. "They realized that when they and
their families started going to this park and
started taking interest, other local organi-
zations started taking interest. It gave them
a feeling that they could be activists, that
their actions could be worthwhile." More
importantly, they saw that they could have
the greatest impact when they worked to-
gether. "I believe that when kids start
working on a project as a team, and start
building something greater than them, they
start to act more civilly toward each oth-
er," Garcia says.
Civics Lessons for All
And it was a chance to make them
feel more like a part of their neighbor-
hood. "It's a matter of just getting stu-
dents out of the classroom and into their
communities. That can really have an
impact upon their lives." Needless to
say, she was teaching the adults some
civics lessons, too. "We were also get-
ting the neighborhood to know each oth-
er and have more pride in their neigh-
borhood," Garcia says. Clearly, Garcia
and her class did more than learn about
an ecosystem. "My hope is that it will
give them a lifelong interest in democ-
racy and might have a global impact."
Giving Back to the Community
Students Learn
Science & Social
Lessons
By Peter Lorain, retired high
school teacher and middle school
principal, Beaverton, Oregon
Just five years ago . . . a 13 year old
was considered over the hill by some ex-
perts in terms of brain development. -Judy
Rosenfeld (2002)
Although most people believe that
cognitive development plateaus in early
adolescence, current research shows that
young adolescents go through tremendous
brain growth and development. Far from
being over the hill, they are just beginning
to encounter the mountain.
Intellectual Growth and Behavior
Adolescence is a critical time for brain
growth. Significant intellectual processes
are emerging. Adolescents are moving
from concrete to abstract thinking and to
the beginnings of metacognition (the ac-
tive monitoring and regulation of thinking
processes). They are developing skills in
deductive reasoning, problem solving, and
generalizing.
This period of brain growth marks the
beginning of a person's ability to do prob-
lem solving, think critically, plan, and con-
trol impulses. This brain development cy-
cle also impacts short-term memory. A
middle school student can generally retain
from 5 to 7 bits of information at one time,
so teachers should not try to cram too
much information into one lesson. The
more engaged and "rich" the new informa-
tion, the more likely it is that the new in-
formation will be retained. The short-term
memory maintains information until it
moves into another area of the brain (long-
term memory) or until more, new informa-
tion is introduced. At this point the short-
term memory ignores the new information
in favor of the previous information, or
discards the previous information in order
to deal with the new.
Some of these changes manifest them-
selves in behaviors that are observable and
stereotypical of middle school students.
Taken in concert with the other major de-
velopment issues at this age, brain devel-
opment reinforces the following typical
adolescent behaviors:
Engaging in strong, intense inter-
ests, often short lived
Preferring interactions with their
peers
Preferring active to passive learning
Teaching Implications
Given what we know about brain de-
velopment and the other changes taking
place in the young adolescent, teachers can
improve student learning by doing the fol-
lowing things:
1. Present limited amounts of new in-
formation, to accommodate the short-term
memory.
2. Provide opportunities for students to
process and reinforce the new information
and to connect the new information with pre-
vious learning. (Encourage students to talk
with their classmates about the new informa-
tion; have them debate or write about it; cre-
ate small group discussions.)
3. Provide lessons that are varied, with
lots of involvement and hands-on activi-
ties. Brain stimulus and pathways are cre-
ated and made stronger and with less re-
sistance if they are reinforced with a vari-
ety of stimuli. (Create projects; use art,
music, and visual resources; bring guest
visitors into the classroom.)
4. Provide lessons and activities that
require problem solving and critical think-
ing. Brain growth is enhanced and
strengthened through practice and exer-
cise.
As with other developmental changes,
students reach the "starting point" of this
brain growth cycle at different times and
progress through it at different rates. Some
students will be ready for problem-solving
activities, while others may still be work-
ing at their best when dealing with con-
crete information. Given these facts and
the fact that students learn in different
ways and respond to different stimuli, the
direction is clear: The middle school class-
room should be an active, stimulating
place where people talk and share, move-
ment is common and planned for, and the
teacher uses a wide array of approaches to
introduce, model, and reinforce learning.
When planning lessons, middle school
teachers must keep the goal clearly in
mind and make sure that students can
reach the goal in multiple ways. Teachers
must check in with students along the way
to keep them working toward the learning
objective. As thinking and learning be-
come more abstract, students need pre-
dictable and safe environments so that they
can risk, explore, and grow. Teachers must
structure and facilitate these experiences.
Students need to learn how to problem
solve, think critically, and develop
processes for learning. Teachers need to
structure and facilitate these, too. Teach-
ers should:
Teach students how to study. There
are many resources for teachers to struc-
ture these experiences.
Establish, teach, and practice con-
sistent expectations
and routines. Don't
expect to tell stu-
dents once and have
them remember and
follow the "rules."
Use process
charts to detail steps on a long-term pro-
ject and revisit these steps periodically.
Use graphic organizers to assist in
visualizing problem solving.
Distribute assignment sheets that
clearly articulate benchmarks, timelines.
Color code materials (e.g., assign-
ments in blue, new information in red,
long-term project information in violet) to
help students put the material into a con-
text and take away the thinking and cate-
gorizing work to orient the brain as to what
should be done next.
These steps and others are tools teach-
ers can use to facilitate learning through the
new experiences and adventures in thinking
that are part of the young adolescent's life.
No. The thirteen-year-old brain is not
over-the-hill. It is just discovering the
higher peaks of thinking. And its owners
are ready to explore, understand, and max-
imize their developing abilities. Young
people experience tremendous brain
growth during the adolescent years. It is
up to educators to capitalize on this time
in their lives.
References
Dyck, Brenda A. "A Hunch about
Hovering." Middle Ground 5, no. 5 (April
2002). National Middle School Associa-
tion.
Rosenfeld, Judy. "Surfing the Brain-
waves." Middle Ground 5, no. 5 (April
2002). National Middle School Associa-
tion.
Pete Lorain, author of articles on middle
schooling and other education issues, currently
works under private contract. Prior to retire-
ment, he served as a high school teacher, coun-
selor, and administrator; middle school princi-
pal and director at the district level; director of
human resources; and president of National
Middle School Association from 1996 to 1997.
Helping Students
Manage
Their Own Behavior
By Merrill Harmin, from "Inspiring
Discipline"
All discipline problems are not alike. Ef-
fective teachers match different approaches
to different problems. Here are some ap-
proaches from Inspiring Discipline by Mer-
rill Harmin that may prove useful to you.
The Simple Authority Statement
With a simple authority statement,
teachers can exercise authority with mini-
mum distress and emotion. By employing
this strategy, you also show students how a
person can use authority respectfully and
reasonably. The Strategy calls for the
teacher to voice disapproval authoritatively,
promptly, and as unemotionally as possible.
Redirect Student Energy
By redirecting student energy, a
teacher can end misbehavior without creat-
ing negative feelings. Instead of focusing
on the misbehavior, this strategy calls on
the teacher to turn student attention to
something else, preferably something
worth attending to. This is a useful ap-
proach when direct confrontation is either
unnecessary or imprudent.
The Calm Reminder
A calm reminder can help students un-
derstand what they are supposed to do, in a
way that does not communicate negative
emotions.
The Next-Time Message
A next-time message can correct stu-
dents' behavior without making them feel
discouraged. The strategy calls for the
teacher to tell students what to do next time,
without focusing on what was done this
time.
The Check-Yourself Message
A check-yourself message can remind
students to manage themselves responsibly.
The strategy involves the teacher telling
students to check what they have done, im-
plying that when they do so, they will see
what corrections are necessary. This strate-
gy can be used whenever students become
careless.
TEACHING AND LEARNING The DCTA Slate August 2011 5
Brain Development in Young Adolescents
Good News for Middle School Teachers
Continued on page 6
TEACHING AND LEARNING The DCTA Slate 6 August 2011








































































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1660 S. Albion St.
Suite 1110
Denver, CO 80222
(303) 331-1927
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5299 DTC Blvd.,
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(303) 283-8888
Representing DCTA
members since 1978
The Silent Response
A silent response strategy gives stu-
dents room to solve their own problems.
This strategy also provides a way of avoid-
ing hasty, inappropriate responses. A
teacher using this strategy reacts to an act
of misbehavior by making a mental note
only and considering later what, if any, ac-
tion is appropriate.
Clock Focus
A clock focus strategy can settle stu-
dent restlessness and increase student pow-
ers of concentration. The strategy calls for
the teacher to announce "clock focus," a cue
to students to stand and watch the second
hand of a clock make full circles, as many
rotations as they choose, and then to sit and
resume their individual work. The strategy
can be used whenever students need to be
settled down, particularly young students
working at individual tasks.
The Visitor's Chair
By using the visitor's chair strategy, a
teacher can position a student close-by with-
out communicating disapproval. The teacher
using this strategy asks a student to sit in a
"visitor's chair" close to where the teacher is
sitting or standing. Students know they can
return to their own seats whenever they feel
ready for responsible self-management.
Honest "I" Statements
"I" statements can help teachers com-
municate honestly without generating de-
fensiveness or guilt. Honest "I" statements
also help teachers model a valuable inter-
personal skill. The strategy calls for the
teacher to talk honestly about personal
needs and feelings, making "I" statements,
avoiding comments about what "you" did
or "you" said. This approach is especially
useful when upsetting feelings emerge.
The Undone-Work Response
An undone-work response is a useful
approach for reacting when students fail to
do required work. A teacher using this strat-
egy avoids a blaming response and instead
aims to create a growth-producing response.
This approach can be used whenever a stu-
dent has not completed work on time.
Merrill Harmin.. Inspiring Discipline.
Washington, D.C. NEA Professional Library.
Helping Students Manage
Their Own Behavior
Continued from page 5
By Cindy Long
In Chuck Packs Geometry class, stu-
dents learn how many rubber bands will pro-
vide the maximum amount of bungee jump-
ing thrill for a Barbie doll, determining how
far they can drop her from the ceiling to the
floor before she makes impact.
Theyre collecting data, theyre using
data to make predictions, theyre graphing
their results, and theyre learning about slope
and linear relationships, says Pack, who
teaches in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. But the
best part is that they persevere in this prob-
lem solving assignment. They dont give up,
because they really want to see if and how it
will work.
The Barbie Doll problem is a Common
Core Standard in action. In fact, make
sense of problems and persevere in solving
them is the first of the new Common Core
math standards.
What Is the Common Core?
Released in 2010, the Common Core
is a set of curriculum standards, covering
english, language arts and mathematics,
based on what all American students need
to know before entering college or the
workplace. Fifteen school districts nation-
wide are preparing to launch a test of new
standards as early as this fall. Forty-eight
states and the District of Columbia will
fully implement the standards for the
2014-15 school year.
The Council of Chief State School Offi-
cers (CCSSO) and the National Governors
Association Center for Best Practices (NGA
Center) led the Common Core State Stan-
dards Initiative. The groups worked with rep-
resentatives from participating states, a wide
range of educators including Chuck Pack
content experts, researchers, national organi-
zations, and community groups. The Com-
mon Core standards are also informed by the
standards of other high performing nations,
including Finland.
Their purpose is to provide a consistent,
clear understanding of what students are ex-
pected to learn, no matter where they live, so
teachers and parents know what they need to
do to help them.
Theyre also designed to be much more
rigorous than current standards and relevant
to the real world, reflecting the knowledge
and skills that young people need for success
in college and careers.
Rather than reading drills, well ask stu-
dents to apply reading skills in a broader, real
world context, explains says Barbara Kapi-
nus, National Education Association Senior
Policy Analyst, who facilitated NEA teacher
member input and feedback for the develop-
ment of the new standards. Instead of ask-
ing kids to stand in one spot and throw bas-
ketballs into a hoop over and over again,
were getting them to play as a team and score
points in a real game, using not only their
shooting or layup skills, but dribbling, pass-
ing, and all of the other skills necessary to
play the sport well.
So gone are the days of summary
book reports students will have to ana-
lyze the story rather than rehash the plot
and no more teaching kindergartners only
to memorize the hands on the clock to tell
time.. Now theyll learn numeracy the
relationships between the numbers, so
theyre prepared to learn more complex re-
lationships with higher numbers in first
and second grade and beyond.
Real World Learning
Ricardo Rincon also helped develop and
review the Common Core standards. Rincon
is an elementary school teacher at Monte
Vista Elementary in New Mexico, a school
with a high population of English language
learners (ELL).
It was important to work and collabo-
rate with other teachers on the standards be-
cause our knowledge and experiences with
ELLs is different, Rincon says. As individ-
uals, we can only contribute based on what
we independently know, and our recommen-
dations may only be meaningful to the stu-
dents in the state we serve. As a team, our col-
lective knowledge and experiences created a
foundation for recommendations that could
apply nationwide.
Rincon was most impressed by how the
standards got young students to begin devel-
oping skills they will continue to use well be-
yond high school. Knowledge-based re-
sponses will no longer be enough, he says.
Students will have to move beyond under-
standing a concept theyll have to make it
meaningful in their lives.
Students will work in teams when
learning concepts, Rincon says, and as part
of the new standards, they will have to
evaluate areas of strength and areas in need
of improvement in their own work, and in
that of the other teams. Evaluation and of-
fering meaningful feedback is a skill many
adults are still grappling with the new
standards will ask elementary school stu-
dents to master it by the time they enter
middle school.
In Oklahoma, and in most states around
the country, educators and reformers alike
have long complained that math standards are
a mile wide and an inch deep. Chuck Pack
was eager to take part in developing a new
set of standards that are more in-depth and
more rigorous.
I currently teach 12 chapters in one year
of Geometry, he says. In the Common
Core, Ill have six units that cover concepts
more comprehensively.
Like Rincon, Pack is impressed by the
real world skills so many of the standards
require, such as the standard that asks stu-
dents to not only make sense of problems, but
to persevere in solving them.
When some of his students see that a
problem will take them more than a few min-
utes, Pack says theyll cave. Theyd rather
lose a point than persevere. He often teases
them that a single problem on one of his
quizzes could easily take up an entire piece
of paper.
Thats reality. If your boss gives you a
task to complete, I guarantee its not going to
fit on one line, he says. So to make them
work ready, we need to build into our prac-
tice as educators a way to give them rich
problems that force them to persevere prob-
lems that are so interesting they really want
to solve them.
Like bungee jumping Barbies, for exam-
ple.
But Pack realizes it will be a slow, diffi-
cult process before hes transitioned to the
Common Core. While some states expect to
have them in place by 2014, Pack says his
district is introducing them gradually, one or
two standards at a time.
You cant just flip the switch to the new
standards, Pack says. The most challeng-
ing part, getting started, will begin this sum-
mer.
Here Come the Common Core Standards
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Me.html
By Tina Hicks Whitten
One of my favorite things about being
a veteran teacher is watching brand spank-
ing new, right out of college, first-year
teachers beginning their careers. These
young uns are so full of energy, enthusi-
asm, hope, determination, and save the
world attitudes that I find them extreme-
ly refreshing.
I have mentored many of these talent-
ed people and found that, although they
are well prepared in content areas and
child development research, they didnt
learn everything they needed to know in
college.
Therefore, let me take this opportuni-
ty to offer some advice about what I have
learned from 10 years in my classroom.
Here we go...
1. Take your vitamin C.
You will find during your first years
that you are sick all of the time. You may
even begin to believe that you are allergic
to your students. In my first year of teach-
ing I had a conversation with the doctor
that went something like this.
Doctor: It seems you have conjunc-
tivitis (pink eye) in both eyes, again.
Me: That makes the third time in six
months.
Doctor: Where did you say you
work?
Me (proudly): Im a teacher!
Doctor: Oh, honey, get used to this
then. Youll be sick for the first four years
of your career.
This brought a completely new meaning
to the phrase sick of my job.
2. Stock up on antibacterial water-
less hand soap and disinfectant sprays.
When I am helping children with
something, I tend to pick up their pencils
and write on their paper. Bad habit, right?
God knows where a pencil has been. It is
slim enough and long enough to reach the
depths of ones nostril and pull out the
most interesting things. I always realize
this after the pencil is already in my hand.
That is why antibacterial waterless hand
soap is my friend. I also love to disinfect
the classroom. I make my students clean
their desks daily. You would be surprised
at all the little germs that enjoy living on
those desktops among the leftovers from
juice spills, snacks, and sneezes. For proof
of this, see tip number one.
3. Remember, children are brutally
honest.
It no longer hurts my feelings when
students tell me that my pink lipstick does-
nt match my red shirt or that I am having
a bad hair day. I just rememberthey tru-
ly believe they are doing me a favor by an-
nouncing this in front of the class.
4. Keep a journal of the funny
things your students say.
I was teaching a group of students
one afternoon and needed to write with
a blue marker on chart paper. As I was
writing, the marker ran out of ink. I put
the cap on the marker and tossed it to
my team teacher. Without a word, she
caught it and threw me another. One boy
said, Miss HicksYall got that ESPN
dont cha?
5. Invest in good, comfortable
shoes.
Dont try to be cute or fashionable.
The blisters and corns on your feet arent
worth it.
6. Practice not going to the bath-
room for hours at a time.
I get to school at 7:15 a.m. and my
first opportunity to pee is at 12:30 p.m. Af-
ter five hours and 15 minutes, I am pray-
ing that the staff bathroom down the hall
is available. Bladder control should defi-
nitely be taught in college.
7. Practice eating your lunch in
three minutes or less.
By the time you help two children
find their lunch money, convince five of
them that pork dippers really taste like
chicken, put 18 pointed straws in juice
boxes, and stop two food fights, three min-
utes is all you will get.
8. Have a stash of chocolate in your
deskyoull need it some days.
Enough said.
9. Dont snap your fingers at other
peoples children in the grocery store.
I know its hardespecially when
they are climbing on the shelves and rac-
ing their carts down the aisle. Its not your
classroom.
10. Try not to treat your significant
other as though he or she is in third
grade.
This suggestion comes from my hus-
band. During a heated discussion we
were having, I didnt believe he was pay-
ing attention to what I was saying. So I
asked him to put on his listening ears.
Needless to say, this didnt help the dis-
agreement a bit.
There they are! The top 10 tips you
never learned in college. Keep them in
mind all year.
This article originally appeared in the
September 2003 issue of NEA Today maga-
zine. At that time, Tina Hicks Whitten taught
third grade at the New Vision School of
Math, Science, and Technology in Madison,
North Carolina.
TEACHING AND LEARNING August 2011 7 The DCTA Slate
Colorado
Education
Association
1500 Grant St.,
Denver, CO 80203-1800
303.837.1500 /
800.332.5939






Voting helps edu-
c


Think of
h



Make education issues im-
p

Call
y Write and
e Take a trip to the state capital
a
Put your face on the is-
s Politicians are no-
t
We, the voters AND the edu-
c

Top 10 Tips for Beginners
New Access to Professional Development
Opportunities for Teachers!
DPS is turning on a new tab in
the Teacher Portal/SchoolNet on Au-
gust 29th that will give you all-new
access to highly differentiated pro-
fessional learning opportunities
aligned to the DPS Framework for
Effective Teaching.
In this new Educator Development
tab, you will find the link to your Pro-
fessional Growth Plan (PGP). You
will be learning more about this via
communications from your principal.
You can also visit the LEAP website
(http://leap.dpsk12.org) to learn more
about this new tool and timelines for
your required completion of your Ar-
eas of Focus. As a quick reminder re-
garding Professional Growth Plans, all
2011-12 LEAP pilot schools are being
asked to set a growth goal (school-
wide Area of Focus), and all teachers
are being asked to set an individual
growth goal (personal Area of Focus)
at the Expectation level of the Frame-
work for Effective Teaching.
You must enter your personal Area
of Focus by September 8th to ensure
you can have access to just-in-time PD
resources, and to ensure your princi-
pal/AP and Peer Observer know your
Areas of Focus prior to their observa-
tion. This will ensure that you receive
targeted feedback aligned to both
your school and personal Areas of
Focus.
Don't hesitate to contact LEAP
@dpsk12.org or 720-423-2600 (x32600)
with any questions.
Thank you for the commitment to
continually improving your effective-
ness for your own benefit and the ben-
efit of our students. We hope youll
find the professional learning compo-
nents of LEAP (PGPs, targeted and di-
verse PD options, feedback from
peers, principals/APs and students, and
collaboration with peers at your site)
effective in helping you hone your
craft to become an even more excel-
lent educator!
The priority for 2011-2012 is for
teachers to participate in strong, site-based
PDUs. ProComp members can opt to cre-
ate a personal or small group PDU.
After September 1st, teachers interest-
ed in completing an individual or small
school group PDU need to log in to the
professional development registration sys-
tem and sign up for Assessment Evalua-
tion 5866-1 Fall.
These dates are important for Pro-
Comp teachers without a banked PDU
(completed in a prior school year) who
want to complete a three month PDU to be
paid out in January 2012.
Personal/Small Group PDU Deadlines:
Fall: Register, submit and receive
approval by October 31, 2011 and reg-
ister to participate in a PDU final peer
review session before December 15,
2011.
Spring/Year-long: Register, submit
and receive approval by February 15,
2012.
Contact Shirley_Scott@dpsk12.org
with questions.
Personal/Small
Group PDU Update:
To advertise in the Slate, please call
The Publication Company at 303-987-3994.
The DCTA Slate 8 August 2011 WHY WE BELONG
Why We Belong
Welcome back to another year! If this
is your first year in Denver, welcome to
DPS! If this is your first teaching assign-
ment ever, welcome to the profession! The
DCTA Membership Committee wishes
you a successful, satisfying school year.
You will hear many of your colleagues
talking about DCTA; the Associations
work goes hand-in-hand with the work we
do teaching Denvers students. However,
when we roll up our sleeves and delve into
our work with students, we may lose sight
of the importance of our Association and
the importance of being a member. Per-
haps this is your first year teaching in a
public school and you have never heard of
a teachers professional association, or per-
haps you come from another district and
you are trying to figure out what Denver
is all about, or perhaps you have been
working in DPS for years and just never
took the time learn about DCTA. In any
case, there are 3000 of us who belong, and
this is why:
We are advocates for our students
and schools. As educators, it is our ethi-
cal responsibility to ensure that our stu-
dents have quality public schools with
well-trained educators and adequate
learning materials. As members, we sup-
port our staff lobbyists who work dili-
gently with our legislators and policy-
makers to provide a quality public educa-
tion for every child. Remember, our stu-
dents cannot vote, so it is up to us to
speak on their behalf.
We are advocates for quality teach-
ing. Through the negotiations process,
DCTA helps secure the best conditions pos-
sible for student learning in our classrooms
and schools. We work closely with the Dis-
trict on joint committees to ensure that Dis-
trict policies and curricula are aligned with
excellent instructional practices. As mem-
bers, we have a voice in this process.
We are advocates for ourselves and
other educators. Also through the nego-
tiations process, DCTA helps secure
competitive salaries and benefits in order
to attract and keep the best educators in
DPS. We collaborate on committees in
schools to implement ideal teaching and
support models, and we create a collec-
tive professional network for each other.
As members, we have a voice in this
process.
We enjoy quality products and ser-
vices at reasonable prices. The NEA
Member Benefits program offers a variety
of products and services such as car insur-
ance, mortgages, investment accounts,
credit cards, cell phones, and much more.
These products and services undergo a rig-
orous endorsement process specific to ed-
ucators needs to ensure quality and value
for members. Because of this value, mem-
bers save our hard-earned money as well
as time and effort.
We are protected. DCTA provides
peer and legal representation at all levels
in case of a job-related conflict or a crimi-
nal accusation, including an Association
Representative right in our buildings. We
are not merely a referral service like some
other educator organizations: these legal
experts are hired Association staff, work-
ing for us, just an e-mail or phone call
away. Membership also includes a $1 mil-
lion liability policy.
So again, welcome to Denver, and
to DCTA. As you can see, there are so
many reasons, but only one decision:
BELONG.
By Dave
Szumiloski
DCTA Membership
& Benefits Co-chair
The DCTA Slate August 2011 9
WHY WE BELONG
WELCOME
NEW MEMBERS!
Jill Abney, East High
Gemma Aguayo, Smith Elementary
Lydia Amewu, Denver Center for 21st Century
Learning at Wyman
Rachael Amundson, Martin Luther King
Sean Aronson, Munroe Elementary
Tiffany Askins, Steele
Darilyn Barney, Abe Lincoln High
Dr. Donna Barney-DiCianno, Martin Luther King
Kelly Barst, Ellis Elementary
Brian Beard, Morey Middle School
Thomas Bergen, North High
Jennifer Blackburn, East High
Nicole Bower, Montbello High
Denise Brandenburg, Morey Middle School
Grace Brandenburg, Castro Elementary
Lindsay Brown, Collegiate Prep Academy
Marc Brown, MSLA
Kathleen Brownley, Bryant-Webster Elementary
Amanda Bryan, Oakland Elementary
Amanda Bucher, Kunsmiller Creative Arts
Academy
Brian Buddenhagen, East High
Joshua Burke, Rachel B Noel
Julie Bush, Slavens
Diane Bustillos, Beach Court Elementary
Jose Cardona III, Montbello High
Rebecca Castellanos, Peer Observer
Ed Chance, Montbello High
Emily Clark, Lincoln Montessori
Ryan Clark, Ashley Elementary
David Cohen, DCIS
Dustin Coleman, TOSA District Wide
Kelton Coppinger, Rachel B Noel
Maren Corbly, West High
Christina Cordova, Cole Arts & Science
Academy
Matthew Craig, South High
Kathryn Dai, Bruce Randolph
Lauren Danielson, Grant Middle School
Mary Davenport, Bruce Randolph
Sarah DeWeese, DCIS
Teresa Dickinson, Castro Elementary
Lorraine Dinner, Trevista @ Horace Mann
Christy Dixon, Martin Luther King
Lindsay Donaldson, George Washington High
Gail Erisman Valeta, Oakland Elementary
Sarah Feaster, Bromwell Elementary
Alex Finney, Greenwood K-8
Kathryn Fleegal, Bruce Randolph
Paul Fleischer, Henry World School
Marisa Flood, Bradley International
Nicole Foster, Oakland Elementary
Gwen Frank, Valdez/ Castro
Margarita Froelich, John F Kennedy High
Jennifer Gaffner-Nelson, McMeen Elementary
Tracy Garceau, Collegiate Prep Academy
Gideon Geisel, George Washington High
Kearse George, Green Valley Ranch
Matthew Gibson, Lowry
Andrea Glanville, Fairmont Elementary
Chaundra Glenn, East High
Jeffrey Glenn, Bradley International
Ana Gonzalez, Kepner Middle School
C Shannon Good, McMeen Elementary
Thomas Goodrich, Denver School of the Arts
Stephanie Graves, Merrill Middle
Summer Hagge, Kaiser Elementary
Erin Haggerty, Castro Elementary
Tunisha Hairston-Brown, Lincoln Elementary
Elise Harden, Barrett Elementary
Theresa Hintz, North High
Victoria Hodges, Abe Lincoln High
Emily Holman, Martin Luther King
Meaghan Holton, East High
Katherine Horne, South High
Quinn Hornecker, Lake International School
Justin Howard, Rachel B Noel
Dawn Husher, College View Elementary
Ondrell Jackson, Ashley Elementary
Christopher Jarvis, McMeen Elementary
Jaquita Jasper, Farrell B Howell
Elizabeth Jimenez, Smith Elementary
G Aaron Johnson, Lake International School
Matthew Johnson, McGlone Elementary
Mattea Juengel, Abe Lincoln High
Kimberly Kelley, Lake Middle School
Nicholas Kelley, North High
Molly Kemp, Marrama
Sara Kerns, Hill Middle School
Amalia Kingsbury, Trevista @ Horace Mann
Jennifer Kladstrup, Johnson Elementary
Sarah Klieforth, Smith Elementary
Kristine Kline, McMeen Elementary
Caroline Kneppe, East High
Editha Knight, Schmitt Elementary
Peggy Kolaga, Green Valley Ranch
Jesse Lajimodiere, Denver Center for 21st
Century Learning at Wyman
Deborah LaMere, CLA
Megan Lawson, South High
Jared LeMieux, Denver Center for 21st Century
Learning at Wyman
Sarah Levinson, Garden Place Elementary
Maria Lopez, Montbello High
Nicole Lovseth, Kunsmiller Creative Arts
Academy
Margaret Lowery, Denver Center for 21st
Century Learning at Wyman
Jennifer Lowry, Kunsmiller Creative Arts
Academy
Angele Maez, Kunsmiller Creative Arts
Academy
Erica Martinez, Castro Elementary
Mark Masoni, Cole Arts & Science Academy
Rosa Mateas, Montbello High
Jeffrey McCrea, Edison Elementary
Katharine McGillen, Green Valley Ranch
Michelle McGuire, Godsman Elementary
Constance McNeil, Asbury Elementary
Lindsay Meier, Castro Elementary
Carolina Mendez, Goldrick Elementary
Lorian Meyer-Wendt, Valdez Elementary
Erica Mitchell, Valdez Elementary
Felice Mittler, Henry World School
Erika Mock, Newlon Elementary
Nina Modern, Greenlee
Brooke Mongold, Asbury Elementary
Jasmine Montgomery, Munroe Elementary
Kristen Moreland, Martin Luther King
Andre Morton, Farrell B Howell
Kevin Murphy, Holm Elementary
Meghan Murphy, Denver Center for 21st
Century Learning at Wyman
Tara Murphy, Ellis Elementary
Conyea Nave, Montbello High
Susan Navin, Lowry
Jasmine Neal, East High
Meghan Nelson, Skinner Middle School
Joseph Newswander, Bruce Randolph
Lacy Ogard, Hallett Elementary
Chinyere Onyewuenyi, Columbine
Jilliann Paluch, Castro Elementary
Charlotte Pascasio-Dawson, Doull Elementary
Stephanie Pasek, Kunsmiller Creative Arts
Academy
Ryan Paul, Schmitt Elementary
Matthew Pearlstein, Smith Elementary
Edie Pena, Hallett Elementary
Rebecca Perry, Carson Elementary
Meredith Piec, Kunsmiller Creative Arts
Academy
Jessica Pittman, Castro Elementary
Kathryn Plichta, North High
William Polk, Martin Luther King
Ellen Pollis, Collegiate Prep Academy
Lisa Polydoris, Farrell B Howell
Lisa Power, Farrell B Howell
John Protsman, Rachel B Noel
Sarah Pryor, Montbello High
Sarah Rasay, Montbello High
Andrea Renteria, Place Bridge Academy
Julie Reynoso, Fairview Elementary
Justine Riant, Kepner Middle School
Jamie Riemersmay, Greenwood K-8
James Robinson, Swansea Elementary
Cecilia Rodriguez, Kepner Middle School
Joshua Rodriguez, Trevista @ Horace Mann
Piedad Romoleroux, Force Elementary
LaShawn Ross, West High
John Ruker, East High
Colleen Rys, Force Elementary
Lauren Sabo, Manual High
Amparo Salazar, Waller
Rosalia Salazar-Calles, Kepner Middle School
Jessica Salazar-Chatt, Bryant-Webster
Elementary
Harold Sands, William Roberts K-8
David Santos-Solorzano, Holm Elementary
Gladys Sarabia, CMS Community
Katie Schenkenberger, Center for Early Ed.
Stephanie Schroeder, Fairmont Elementary
Moire Schumacher, Martin Luther King
Mathilde Schwartz, Castro Elementary
Edith Schweyer, Westerly Creek Elementary
Rachel Sellers, Hallet Elementary
Kristy Skarphol, East High
Simeon Smilalk, Rachel B Noel
Kayla Smith, Montbello High
Matthew Solomon, Greenwood K-8
Ian Spain, Garden Place Elementary
Sheila Stradley, Force Elementary
Broch Strickland, Montbello High
Jessica Sullivan, Abe Lincoln High
Lake Sweet, Farrell B Howell
Melinda Thompson, Kaiser Elementary
Elizabeth Torres, Lake Middle School
Cara Tran, Samuels Elementary
Antoinette Trullinger, Oakland Elementary
Emily Truman, Henry World School
Alyssa Tucker, George Washington High
Andrea Tyner, Henry World School
Calvin Van Wieren, Schmitt Elementary
Emily Volkert, Newlon Elementary
Kelsey Wales, Edison Elementary
Kristen White, John F Kennedy High
Mary Wilson, Skinner Middle School
Leslie Wollenweber, Marrama
Amanda Workman, Sandoval Elementary
Mike Wylde, South High
Lydia Xentaras, Hill Middle School
Erica Yates, Barrett Elementary
Andrew Yoder, Sabin Elementary
Paula Zendle, Denver Green School
Sarah Zhang, Castro Elementary
Krystin Zwolinski, Farrell B Howell
WHY WE BELONG The DCTA Slate 10 August 2011
Members around Denver Public
Schools shared their responses to this
question, on why being a member matters
to them.
Why did I join the
Union?
To have a voice
Better pay and work conditions
Unions offer support and advice
Help with legal issue
To help strengthen all DPS teachers,
(Union or Non-union) workplaces and fu-
ture workplaces.
CW4 (Ret.) Charles Gaines
3rd Year in education
The U in union means Updated on
current trends in education. The informa-
tion that I get through a variety of materi-
als shares ideas to apply to the classroom
and Gabrielle Gerlits
5th Year in education
I appreciate being part of the
union, knowing that I have someone on
my side who knows my rights and
needs as a teacher. I am a special edu-
cation teacher, and with that come a lot
of rules and regulations. Knowing that
I have the union on my side in getting
my class, my students and myself the
assistance I need, helps me to be a more
confident teacher. I also enjoy that the
union stays on top of important details
that I do not often have the time to stay
on top of, or that I do not fully under-
stand. Further, I feel the union reps can
explain the details to me so I under-
stand them and can use them to my ben-
efit as a teacher.
Elizabeth Repensek
4th Year in education
I want to belong to a strong professional
organization that respects teachers and cel-
ebrates the teaching profession.
Diane Anderson
33rd year in education
DCTA is an important advoate for our
students, parents, schools, and education
professionals. We are the voice for pro-
gressive and responsible education re-
form, and I have always felt it is a pro-
fessional obligation to stand for what is
right, together with my fellow educa-
tors.
Eric Rapp
14th year in education
Whats the U in Union?
DPS Teachers: How are you
Being the Change this year?
Im looking for ways to make my
content area more authentic and exciting
for students.
Josie
Years teaching: 3
I look forward to having my students
interact with me and others, and have stu-
dents use more visuals and do more pre-
sentations this year. I hope to change my
classroom from teacher-led to student-
led.
Sarah
Years teaching: 14
Im de-emphasizing punitive grad-
ing, and relying more on affective and ef-
fective teaching strategies.
Erick
Years teaching: 5
Continuing to grow and reflect along
with my students. Mentoring future teach-
ers through the Denver Teacher Residen-
cys rigorous education. Continuing to
close gaps in student achievement.
12th year teacher
I am part of the STELLA science re-
search project, and am trying out new
strategies to raise achievement and teach
more effectively.
Eric
Years teaching: 14
The DCTA Slate August 2011 11 BENEFITS
Earn Money For Your School In
The Give Me Five! Campaign
Beginning August 10, schools may
earn up to $125 for their school in the
DCTA Give Me Five campaign!
There are two parts to the cam-
paign. In the fall, any school whose
membership grows by at least 5 mem-
bers will earn a $25 Safeway gift card.
Schools achieving this goal will also
be entered into the first drawing for a
$50 check at the December Rep Coun-
cil.
In the spring, any other schools
whose membership has grown by at
least 5 members since August 10 will
also earn a $25 Safeway gift card. These
schools AND the schools that met the
goal in the fall will ALL be entered into
the final drawing for another $50. That
is a possible total of $125!
Schools can earn more money by
achieving the goal early, making them
eligible for both drawings. The gift card
and check will be given to the Associa-
tion Rep, who may then use the funds to
purchase meals, treats, or gifts for mem-
bers in that building. Members who
joined at the New Educator Institute on
August 6 are not included in statistics
for this campaign. Please contact the
DCTA Membership Committee or e-
mail dcta@coloradoea.org with any
questions.
Financial
Help for
First-Year
Educators
If this is your first year EVER em-
ployed in a public school, DCTA will help
you pay your bills with a check for
$162.50 when you join DCTA!
Any first-year educator who has
NEVER worked as a teacher or special
service provider (SSP) in a public school
can benefit from this assistance. Other ed-
ucators at any point in their career, in their
first year or their 20th year, are also able
to receive this check, just as long as they
have never been employed in an NEA-af-
filiated district. This includes teachers who
have worked in private schools, or unaffil-
iated charter schools.
Unfortunately, educators who
could have previously belonged to
DCTA or other NEA-affiliated associa-
tions, either within or outside Col-
orado, are not eligible for this incen-
tive when they rejoin.
Hurry! The amount of the check de-
creases each month, so join TODAY to get
the full amount!
RETIREMENT The DCTA Slate 12 August 2011






If you have
a



What is the University of
Northern Colorado Center for
Urban Education?
The Center is an elementary teacher
preparation program that leads
students to a Bachelors degree and
Colorado teacher licensure.
But its more than that its a place
where traditional scholarship meets
a rich real-world experience in a
metropolitan-area school classroom
a place where students find a home
for learning and growing as teaching
professionals.
That happens because Center students
work with elementary school students
and their teachers, developing
instructional skills on a daily basis.
Who are Center for Urban
Education students?
Our current 200-plus students are rich
in variety and include:
Recent high school graduates.
More mature individuals who have
been away from school for quite
some time.
The one thing they have in
common?
A desire to work with children right
away and to learn how to be the best
teacher they can be.
What makes the Center different
from other teacher prep
programs?
Its a work-and-learn program. Heres
what we mean:
CLASSROOM APPRENTICESHIP
Youll spend your mornings in a
classroom teacher apprenticeship
position all four years.
Youll receive pay as well as college
credit.
Youll be mentored by a retired
master teacher who offers guidance
and support for the classroom
apprenticeship experience during all
four years of your program.
That means youll be part of the
school environment as a working,
contributing staff members while you
complete their college education.
ACADEMIC CLASSES
Youll major in a liberal arts program
with a concentration in English
and literacy that gives you a broad
foundation for teaching and learning
with your future students.
How can I learn more?
Just ask. Well tell you more and help
you decide if the Centers unique
program is for you.
Heres what youll do:
Spend your afternoons in academic
classes at the Center.
Focus on one academic class at a
time, permitting you to complete
course requirements for a math,
English or history class, for example,
in five weeks.
Come away from each classroom
experience richer in what youve
learned because youre focused more
clearly on the work at hand.
Immediately start taking classes to
learn how to teach all subject areas
to children and not wait until your
junior and senior years as in most
teacher prep programs.
Bring what you learn in the teaching
methods classes into your apprentice-
ship classroom immediately putting
into practice what you learn and seeing
for yourself what works.
Take advantage of special seminars
in educational technology and
classroom management techniques,
tapping instructional resources
found in the metropolitan area along
with a variety of helpful learning
experiences.
Is the Center for Urban Education
for me?
YES! If youre ready to take on the
challenge of earning a bachelor of arts
degree and becoming a master teacher
one who will do everything in your
power for the good of the students
who will be entrusted to you.
It will be your commitment and our
program that will make this happen.
Phone: 303-365-7631 or 303-365-7635 E-mail: jennie.pallett@UnCo.edU Online: WWW.UnCo.edU/Center/Urbaned
This program is offered as part of the statewide coordinated program of off-campus instruction authorized by and in compliance
with policies of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

































By Kathleen Kelleher
Yes, I just retired, but once a
teacher, always a teacher. And, once a
union maid, always a union maid (see:
YouTube: Union Maid Old Crow
Medicine Show). Actually, Ive come
full circle. Back in my grad student
days, I helped form the Union of Grad-
uate Student Teachers/Workers that was
modeled after the first-ever grad student
union in Madison, Wisconsin.
And now
The teachers in Wisconsin are the
change that I want to see here in Den-
ver. Their concerted, ongoing, and very
peaceful efforts led to the recent recall
elections in Wisconsin that resulted in
two pro-teacher, pro-labor candidates
moving into the state legislature. While
all the major mediaincluding NBC,
CBS, ABC, The Wall Street Journal, The
New York Times, etc.have reported
that the recall elections were supposed-
ly a loss for the Democrats, what isnt
being reported is that the Wisconsin re-
call election is a major win for progres-
sive labor, including professional teach-
ers like ourselves. The balance in the
Wisconsin state legislature is now 17-
16.
However, one of the 17 Republi-
cans, Dale Shultz, is actually pro-pro-
gressive labor, and Schultz voted
against Governor Scott Walker when
Walker flew in the face of 50+ years of
labor struggle and reform and stripped
the Wisconsin teachers of their voices in
negotiations that directly concern teach-
ing, student learning, and the classroom.
There are several reasons that Den-
ver teachers need to Be the Change
as demonstrated by our colleagues in
Wisconsin. I dont have the space in
this article to list them all but here
are a couple I discovered before retir-
ing from Montbello High School: 1)
The drastic cut in the number/percent-
age of African-American teachers in
DPS from 17% in 1986 to less than
5% today. 2) And, directly contrary
to what we Montbello High School
teachers were initially informed
about by our administrators in a facul-
ty meeting earlier in the spring i.e.,
that the community is very much in fa-
vor of the proposed closing of Mont-
bello High School once an actual
community meeting was held and par-
ents and grassroots community leaders
(not the developers) had the opportuni-
ty to express their voices, the commu-
nity was actually very much opposed to
the phasing out of Denvers historical-
ly black high school that has served the
Montbello neighborhood for over 40
years (see You Tube: Protest in FNE
Denver ednewcolorado.org).
And, now, its time to hit the streets
again as in: Democracy is in the
streets! Weve got a tremendous op-
portunity this fall to elect three (yes,
t-h-r-e-e) pro-teacher, progressive can-
didates to the Denver School Board.
Lets tip the balance all the way.
Volunteer to knock on a few doors and
talk with a few parents with me!
RETIREMENT = REFIREMENT!
RETIREMENT The DCTA Slate August 2011 13
By John MacPherson,
DPSRS Retiree
On January 1, 2010, The Denver Pub-
lic Schools Retirement System (DPSRS)
was merged into Colorado PERA and re-
named the PERA DPS Division. This
complex transaction left much of the DP-
SRS benefit structure intact but provided
for some significant changes to factors
which affect these benefits.
All members of DPSRS as of Decem-
ber 31, 2009, were moved into the PERA
DPS division on January 1, 2010. For
those members of the DPS division, many
aspects of the benefit and contribution
structures remained the same. Employee
contribution rates of 8% of pensionable
salary, calculation of monthly retirement
benefit allowances, unit benefit accumula-
tion of 2.5% per year of service credit and
age and service retirement eligibility com-
binations did not change.
Pension Portability Probably the
most significant addition to available op-
tions with the PERA merger was that pen-
sion benefits are now portable within the
state of Colorado. If you are a member of
the PERA DPS division through employ-
ment with the Denver Public Schools or an
affiliated DPS Charter School and you ter-
minate that DPS employment to work for
another PERA affiliated employer, you
now have the opportunity to continue to
build a benefit in your DPS division ac-
count with your new employer. This one-
time choice must be made within a limited
time frame very soon after the beginning
date of your new employment.
Other administrative changes were
implemented at the time of the merger to
align the past DPSRS processes with those
in place with the other divisions of PERA:
Definition of Salary: PERAs defini-
tion of salary is now used to calculate
Highest Average Salary (HAS). The main
change was from DPSRS using only the
contractual rate of pay to PERAs use of
all salary actually earned in a given month.
For example, the salary received from ex-
tra activities such as coaching is now in-
cluded in determining your HAS. Howev-
er, salary deferred into a flexible spending
account (FSA) for health care in not in-
cluded in pensionable salary.
Service Credit Calculation: One
month of service credit is earned, under
PERAs definition, in each month that your
salary is equal to at least 80 times the Fed-
eral Minimum Hourly Wage ($7.25 as of
July 2009).
Purchase of Service Credit: The rate
for purchasing service credit is determined
by an age-related formula developed to re-
flect the true actuarial cost.
Disability Retirements: All applica-
tions for Disability retirements are re-
viewed and granted or denied according to
the rules of the PERA disability program.
PERAs disability retirement program re-
quires you to be totally and permanently
mentally or physically incapacitated from
regular and substantial gainful employ-
ment. PERA has a short-term disability
program available for vested members
who are not totally and permanently dis-
abled, but prove to be incapable of per-
forming the essential functions of their po-
sition due to a disability.
Benefit Option Simplification: The ben-
efit payment options available for members
who retire after the date of the merger were
reduced from the previous 7 choices to 4 to
better align with the options available in the
other PERA divisions and to eliminate the du-
plicative and little used options.
John MacPherson is a Certified Retire-
ment Counselor with the International Foun-
dation for Retirement Education, an affiliate of
Texas Tech University. He is available to con-
sult with DPS employees on matters related to
retirement. You may contact him at john-
macpherson42@ yahoo.com or 303-905-9057.
The PERA Merger What Changed?
14 August 2011
Service Directory
GRIEVANCES The DCTA Slate

By 2020, this num-
b







The younger you are, the cheaper
t

In addition, if some-
o












In addition to educational materials,
N







Call (303) 955-
7


















































































Xenon International
Academy
2231 So. Peoria, Aurora
303-752-1560
Salon and Spa Services at
Family Friendly Prices!
Bring this ad in for 25% o any service.
All service performed by students under the direct
supervision of licensed educators.
Valid at participating locations.
Expires: 9/30/11 Not valid with any other oer. SL
To Advertise in the Service Directory in Slate, call The Publication Company
at 303-987-3994.
DCTA Central Grievance Board Summary Active Grievance August 2011
The DCTA Slate August 2011 15
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