President Obama outlined his stimulus package and recovery plan before a joint session of Congress in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
Promising reforms in energy, healthcare and education, the president also called for Congress to act quickly to put legislation on his desk to move the economy forward. Obama also stated that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is now law, will save or create 3.5 million jobs over the next two years. But these promises come with a price.
“This plan will require significant resources from the federal government. And yes, probably more than we’ve already set aside,” Obama said. “But while the cost of action will be great, I can assure you that the cost of inaction would be far greater.”
The president added that the plan includes a tax break for 95 percent of working Americans, promising that the check is in the mail.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Urbana educators earn distinction
The path to becoming a National Board Certified Teacher is a long and difficult one. It involves videotaping class sessions, analyzing your own teaching, submitting student work, and a three-hour exam.
But the intensity of the process didn’t stop four Urbana School District staff members from pursuing—and achieving—the certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. .
“You’re really talking about people working very hard through this rigorous program to actually become Nationally Board Certified Teachers and we’re very, very proud of them,” Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Gayle Jeffries said. “Those teachers, when they go through that rigorous program, they have to know kids, so they have to know how to help kids learn.”
A second grade teacher, two music teachers, and a counselor are the latest to achieve the certification in Urbana. They agree that the process made them more reflective professionals, but each chose to pursue it for different reasons.
Cheryl Camacho, a second grade teacher at Urbana’s Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, didn’t begin her teaching career the traditional way. Instead, she was certified through Teach for America. Her unconventional entrance into teaching prompted her to pursue the National Board Certification.
“It presented a lot of challenges just as far as like being prepared to be in the classroom,” Camacho said of her experience with Teach for America. “It was really hard, you only get like a six week institute in the summer and I immediately saw the importance of professional development. In order for me to be a good teacher, I really needed to reach out and do more. So when I found out about National Board, I was really interested by it.
“Also, as an alternatively certified teacher, I just feel like I really wanted that mark of distinction because I think that sometimes people assume that if you didn’t go to undergrad for teaching that you don’t know what you’re doing,” Camacho added.
But that decision came with a price. Because Camacho had recently relocated from Atlanta, Ga., to teach in Urbana, she had to pay the $2,500 fee out of her own pocket. Teachers in the state of Illinois are eligible for grants to help defray the cost.
“For me, you know (I’m) like (a) broke teacher and (I had a) new baby at the time, my child was like three months old when I started going through the process, it was just like a really huge financial commitment,” Camacho said.
When the scores came out after Camacho’s first submission, she was nine points shy of the required score of 275. It was a “crushing” blow for the single mom, but after taking a year off for personal reasons, she decided to redo one of her submissions. The news was better the second time around.
It was a December day when Camacho, sitting in her classroom, logged on to check her score.
“When you go online to check your score, it comes up saying like congratulations, and when I saw congratulations, I knew I had achieved it. I just like jumped up and started running around,” Camacho said. “I was so excited and happy and proud.”
For two other Urbana School District employees, the process went more smoothly. Urbana Middle School band teacher Karen DeBauche and Urbana High School counselor Samuel Furrer tested the waters through a program called Take One! that allowed them to submit a single entry to have scored before deciding to go through the entire process.
“Being a clarinet player, I used to play clarinet rather than do my homework. My writing skills aren’t what I’d like them to be, so it gave me the opportunity to see if I could write at the level that was accepted and it gave me the opportunity to do that without losing a lot of money in the process,” DeBauche said of Take One!. “So when I passed that one entry, then I decided to go ahead and do the rest.”
DeBauche and Furrer both achieved on their first try, something 19 year classroom veteran DeBauche doesn’t take for granted.
“I was just amazed, thrilled, and excited. There are so many different feelings. You feel bad for the people who don’t because they worked just as hard as you did,” DeBauche said. “More than anything, I was really excited, because I really didn’t think I could do it.”
School counseling is one of the more recent subject areas to qualify for certification. And the topic is broad, spanning kindergarten through the senior year of high school. For Furrer, this meant a lot of studying for the exam since questions could range from counseling a five year old child to a senior in high school who needs help applying for college.
Since Furrer doesn’t teach in a classroom setting, his videotaped submissions included a career lesson integrating technology and an individual counseling session with a student planning for graduation.
But while the process was different, the effect on Furrer’s outlook on his profession reflected the sentiments of his colleagues.
“I went through the standards and it says (that) an accomplished counselor does this and that and all these things. If you were a person who met all those standards and did every one, you would be God,” Furrer said. “But you read through those, and part of it is reminding you of some things that you should be doing, causing you to look at your own practice in a reflective and critical way.”
Despite the obvious differences in professional responsibilities between a second grade teacher, a band director and a counselor, the ultimate goal and outcome of the process is very much the same.
“It’s interesting because in the end it’s all about student-centered learning and teaching to the diversity of classrooms that we all have,” DeBauche said. “And so a lot of what we had to do for National Board was articulate that in writing and prove it in the videos that accompanied the writing.”
The certification also means the staff will receive a pay increase from the state and district and opens the door to becoming Master Teacher. But for these educators, the certification is more about the professional improvement than monetary value.
“People that go through this process I think just kind of naturally become a little more involved as teachers and leaders, and that’s part of the expectation of the National Board process I think,” Furrer said. “You kind of emerge as a little more of a teacher leader. It proves that you know what you know.”
But the intensity of the process didn’t stop four Urbana School District staff members from pursuing—and achieving—the certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. .
“You’re really talking about people working very hard through this rigorous program to actually become Nationally Board Certified Teachers and we’re very, very proud of them,” Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Gayle Jeffries said. “Those teachers, when they go through that rigorous program, they have to know kids, so they have to know how to help kids learn.”
A second grade teacher, two music teachers, and a counselor are the latest to achieve the certification in Urbana. They agree that the process made them more reflective professionals, but each chose to pursue it for different reasons.
Cheryl Camacho, a second grade teacher at Urbana’s Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, didn’t begin her teaching career the traditional way. Instead, she was certified through Teach for America. Her unconventional entrance into teaching prompted her to pursue the National Board Certification.
“It presented a lot of challenges just as far as like being prepared to be in the classroom,” Camacho said of her experience with Teach for America. “It was really hard, you only get like a six week institute in the summer and I immediately saw the importance of professional development. In order for me to be a good teacher, I really needed to reach out and do more. So when I found out about National Board, I was really interested by it.
“Also, as an alternatively certified teacher, I just feel like I really wanted that mark of distinction because I think that sometimes people assume that if you didn’t go to undergrad for teaching that you don’t know what you’re doing,” Camacho added.
But that decision came with a price. Because Camacho had recently relocated from Atlanta, Ga., to teach in Urbana, she had to pay the $2,500 fee out of her own pocket. Teachers in the state of Illinois are eligible for grants to help defray the cost.
“For me, you know (I’m) like (a) broke teacher and (I had a) new baby at the time, my child was like three months old when I started going through the process, it was just like a really huge financial commitment,” Camacho said.
When the scores came out after Camacho’s first submission, she was nine points shy of the required score of 275. It was a “crushing” blow for the single mom, but after taking a year off for personal reasons, she decided to redo one of her submissions. The news was better the second time around.
It was a December day when Camacho, sitting in her classroom, logged on to check her score.
“When you go online to check your score, it comes up saying like congratulations, and when I saw congratulations, I knew I had achieved it. I just like jumped up and started running around,” Camacho said. “I was so excited and happy and proud.”
For two other Urbana School District employees, the process went more smoothly. Urbana Middle School band teacher Karen DeBauche and Urbana High School counselor Samuel Furrer tested the waters through a program called Take One! that allowed them to submit a single entry to have scored before deciding to go through the entire process.
“Being a clarinet player, I used to play clarinet rather than do my homework. My writing skills aren’t what I’d like them to be, so it gave me the opportunity to see if I could write at the level that was accepted and it gave me the opportunity to do that without losing a lot of money in the process,” DeBauche said of Take One!. “So when I passed that one entry, then I decided to go ahead and do the rest.”
DeBauche and Furrer both achieved on their first try, something 19 year classroom veteran DeBauche doesn’t take for granted.
“I was just amazed, thrilled, and excited. There are so many different feelings. You feel bad for the people who don’t because they worked just as hard as you did,” DeBauche said. “More than anything, I was really excited, because I really didn’t think I could do it.”
School counseling is one of the more recent subject areas to qualify for certification. And the topic is broad, spanning kindergarten through the senior year of high school. For Furrer, this meant a lot of studying for the exam since questions could range from counseling a five year old child to a senior in high school who needs help applying for college.
Since Furrer doesn’t teach in a classroom setting, his videotaped submissions included a career lesson integrating technology and an individual counseling session with a student planning for graduation.
But while the process was different, the effect on Furrer’s outlook on his profession reflected the sentiments of his colleagues.
“I went through the standards and it says (that) an accomplished counselor does this and that and all these things. If you were a person who met all those standards and did every one, you would be God,” Furrer said. “But you read through those, and part of it is reminding you of some things that you should be doing, causing you to look at your own practice in a reflective and critical way.”
Despite the obvious differences in professional responsibilities between a second grade teacher, a band director and a counselor, the ultimate goal and outcome of the process is very much the same.
“It’s interesting because in the end it’s all about student-centered learning and teaching to the diversity of classrooms that we all have,” DeBauche said. “And so a lot of what we had to do for National Board was articulate that in writing and prove it in the videos that accompanied the writing.”
The certification also means the staff will receive a pay increase from the state and district and opens the door to becoming Master Teacher. But for these educators, the certification is more about the professional improvement than monetary value.
“People that go through this process I think just kind of naturally become a little more involved as teachers and leaders, and that’s part of the expectation of the National Board process I think,” Furrer said. “You kind of emerge as a little more of a teacher leader. It proves that you know what you know.”
Saturday, February 7, 2009
I've always wanted to...compete in a triathlon
Jason Fanning is a member of the Fighting Illini Triathlon club whose members train together and participate in triathlons locally and across the country. I spoke to him about the club and the popular sport.
Katie: “Could you start out by telling me a little about triathlons and how you got involved?”
Jason: “Yeah. Well, I guess I’d been running for awhile and then I picked up biking a few years ago, just kind of as an alternative to running. I started getting kind of burned out on just doing those and started looking at triathlons in my area and they actually had some really cool little sprint triathlons, which are real short, they take like an hour to do the whole thing. I did one of those and it was just kind of the vibe that comes with it, the people that are out there, it was just a really fun experience. So I did a couple of those. And when I got here, my cousin and her fiancée are really big into doing them, so they kind of brought me out and showed me the (Fighting Illini Triathlon) club. Since then, it’s just kind of exploded. It’s been a fun time.”
K: “Can you talk a little bit more about the experience of actually doing one? Walk me through the day sort of?”
J: “I think that probably depends most on the person. I typically get pretty nervous on race day stuff in general. Typically you have to travel to get to them you know so you get up pretty early. And usually you get to the whole check in area in the morning. You know, you’ve got your bike and your bags and all that stuff like that and you check in. Depending on how big it is, sometimes they give you a little computer chip and your packet and all the information like that. And then you go into the big bike corral. They’ve got hundreds or thousands of bikes in there and you set up a little towel with all your different transition equipment there and everything like that and set your bike up. That’s always really fun, but that’s when the nerves really start to get going and stuff like that. Again, depending on how big it is, sometimes they’ll line everybody up. Just kind of you have to sit there and wait to get in the water and that’s when your heart really gets pounding. We did one, earlier this year, it was a little bit less formal, but it was a guy, actually it was his bachelor party he put it on. For that one they just had everybody on the beach and then they were like, ‘alright, go.’ Nobody knew what was going on. But a lot of times they’ll stagger it, so one group will go and then another and then another. You get there and you’re freaking out, and as soon as they blow the whistle and you jump in the water, everything kind of evens out and you’re in it, you’re in the zone, which is really fun. The first couple times I did it the swim was a really big shock. You always swim when you’re by yourself and then you get in there and there’s feet everywhere and people are kicking and punching and stuff, so that was kind of fun. But it’s a really fun time. Once you’re out there and you’re competing with people, if you’re a competitive person, everything comes out. There’s a lot of people that go too and they just go and have fun.”
K: “Wow. So does it always start with the swimming then?”
J: “Yeah, it’s always swimming, and then biking, and then running.”
K: “Ok. Where are most of them that you have competed in?”
J: “Actually, if you look into it deep enough, they have one in every major town pretty much. We’re putting one on here this summer through the triathlon club, so Champaign will have one. They have a little mini one every year. If you look online, places like active.com will tell you where other races are.”
K: “That’s cool. So what would you say is your least favorite part?”
J: “The wait! Standing on the beach or on the water whatever, when they’re about to blow it you’re just sitting there like ready to go, you know. All the possible bad things are going through your head. That whole wait, once it starts going, everything from there on is just golden, but that wait in the beginning is so hard.”
K: “Yeah, I’m sure. How long before a race do you start training or preparing or are you pretty much constantly training?”
J: “I think that depends on what kind of race it is. I mean, if you’re in pretty good shape in general, I think anybody could pretty much jump in with maybe a couple months training. But like you could even just go and do a sprint race, shorter races like that aren’t so bad. And then after that I think it depends on how competitive you want to be, you know. I mean you could do it for years. We have one coming up in April that we just kind of buckled down for right now, so usually like a few months, half a year, something like that. Depending on how competitive you want to be. That’s a middle distance one. The majority of the races are like Olympic distance, which is about almost a mile swim, like 1500 yards, and then 25 miles on the bike, which is like 40 kilometers, and then like a 10 kilometer run. So that’s like kind of the average distance.”
K: “Wow. How long does that usually take?”
J: “I would probably put it about, two to three hours, somewhere in that area. You can swim it in twenty, like somewhere about two hours or more.”
K: “Oh, ok. If you could do a triathlon any place in the world, where would you want to go?”
J: “Probably the mountains in Italy I think would be really cool. I think especially the running and biking, I think that would be such a cool atmosphere to do it in. I’m not one really for temperatures or anything like that, so I think the mountains in Europe somewhere.”
K: “So it’s pretty much a worldwide phenomenon then?”
J: “Absolutely. It’s the fastest growing sport, I don’t know if it’s in the world or in the country. But so they’re popping up everywhere. I know especially in America there everywhere.”
K: “Cool. Where is your favorite place you’ve competed so far?”
J: “You know, honestly, the very first race I did was my favorite. It was so relaxed. The race itself was, I had gotten all nervous for it and hyped up and stuff and then the race itself. That was in Naperville, Ill. That was a little sprint triathlon.”
K: “Have you done mostly Illinois or does the group that’s here travel?”
J: “I mean I’m probably one of the newer members to the triathlon club, I’ve only done a couple of races. The club, we go to collegiate nationals, which is in Texas this year, so that will be really fun. People here go all over the world. Two of our really active members have done Iron Man competitions, one of them in Illinois, one of them in Wisconsin. Yeah, yeah people travel all over for them.”
K: “Is there a personal goal you have for participating in this sport?”J: “Yeah, I mean somewhere down the line I would like to be able to work up to doing an Iron Man. That’s a very, very intense race, so I’m not sure how long it’s going to take. Those can go for like 12 hours, so I’m not doing it right now, but somewhere down the line I’d like to work up to that. If I can get competitive, they have one of the most sought-after races is in Kona, Hawaii. But you have to qualify for that one, so if I could ever work up to it that would be fun.”
K: “Yeah, definitely. And then could you just talk a little about how you train for these? I mean in Illinois, it’s kind of hard to train outside, especially with the weather.”
J: “People say that and I really like it actually. Right now, we’re still kind of building, so we don’t have a whole ton of rigorous schedule. I mean some people take it to an extreme. But usually we try to swim three or four times a week, depending on times, and run. The swimming is in the pool facilities, and running, a lot of us run outside all year, it’s just easier for everybody. And then a lot of people have those indoor trainers for their bikes. So you can take your road bike you have set up for everything else and put it on a trainer and it functions kind of like a stationary bike, so you get kind of the same thing with your own bike. So you can train for that ride three or four times a week. Usually you end up having like three days of some kind of workouts and then a couple days of one or the other. Again, it’s not really intense right now, most people aren’t putting more than like two hours a day in on anything.”
K: “And then is there anything you think people should know about a triathlon or competing?”
J: “I think the biggest misconception is a lot of people think it’s really, really difficult. A lot of people look at triathlon as the same light as doing a marathon or doing any kind of super endurance event, but there’s so many of all calibers. You can do shorter races. I mean, there’s a lot of people who go out there just to have fun. It might take a long time to do it, but it is a really good time. Especially the environment, the people who get involved with it are always so relaxed and so accepting of people. I think that’s probably the biggest thing. Just get involved with it, it’s really easy to do.”
K: “Great. Thank you so much for meeting with me."
Katie: “Could you start out by telling me a little about triathlons and how you got involved?”
Jason: “Yeah. Well, I guess I’d been running for awhile and then I picked up biking a few years ago, just kind of as an alternative to running. I started getting kind of burned out on just doing those and started looking at triathlons in my area and they actually had some really cool little sprint triathlons, which are real short, they take like an hour to do the whole thing. I did one of those and it was just kind of the vibe that comes with it, the people that are out there, it was just a really fun experience. So I did a couple of those. And when I got here, my cousin and her fiancée are really big into doing them, so they kind of brought me out and showed me the (Fighting Illini Triathlon) club. Since then, it’s just kind of exploded. It’s been a fun time.”
K: “Can you talk a little bit more about the experience of actually doing one? Walk me through the day sort of?”
J: “I think that probably depends most on the person. I typically get pretty nervous on race day stuff in general. Typically you have to travel to get to them you know so you get up pretty early. And usually you get to the whole check in area in the morning. You know, you’ve got your bike and your bags and all that stuff like that and you check in. Depending on how big it is, sometimes they give you a little computer chip and your packet and all the information like that. And then you go into the big bike corral. They’ve got hundreds or thousands of bikes in there and you set up a little towel with all your different transition equipment there and everything like that and set your bike up. That’s always really fun, but that’s when the nerves really start to get going and stuff like that. Again, depending on how big it is, sometimes they’ll line everybody up. Just kind of you have to sit there and wait to get in the water and that’s when your heart really gets pounding. We did one, earlier this year, it was a little bit less formal, but it was a guy, actually it was his bachelor party he put it on. For that one they just had everybody on the beach and then they were like, ‘alright, go.’ Nobody knew what was going on. But a lot of times they’ll stagger it, so one group will go and then another and then another. You get there and you’re freaking out, and as soon as they blow the whistle and you jump in the water, everything kind of evens out and you’re in it, you’re in the zone, which is really fun. The first couple times I did it the swim was a really big shock. You always swim when you’re by yourself and then you get in there and there’s feet everywhere and people are kicking and punching and stuff, so that was kind of fun. But it’s a really fun time. Once you’re out there and you’re competing with people, if you’re a competitive person, everything comes out. There’s a lot of people that go too and they just go and have fun.”
K: “Wow. So does it always start with the swimming then?”
J: “Yeah, it’s always swimming, and then biking, and then running.”
K: “Ok. Where are most of them that you have competed in?”
J: “Actually, if you look into it deep enough, they have one in every major town pretty much. We’re putting one on here this summer through the triathlon club, so Champaign will have one. They have a little mini one every year. If you look online, places like active.com will tell you where other races are.”
K: “That’s cool. So what would you say is your least favorite part?”
J: “The wait! Standing on the beach or on the water whatever, when they’re about to blow it you’re just sitting there like ready to go, you know. All the possible bad things are going through your head. That whole wait, once it starts going, everything from there on is just golden, but that wait in the beginning is so hard.”
K: “Yeah, I’m sure. How long before a race do you start training or preparing or are you pretty much constantly training?”
J: “I think that depends on what kind of race it is. I mean, if you’re in pretty good shape in general, I think anybody could pretty much jump in with maybe a couple months training. But like you could even just go and do a sprint race, shorter races like that aren’t so bad. And then after that I think it depends on how competitive you want to be, you know. I mean you could do it for years. We have one coming up in April that we just kind of buckled down for right now, so usually like a few months, half a year, something like that. Depending on how competitive you want to be. That’s a middle distance one. The majority of the races are like Olympic distance, which is about almost a mile swim, like 1500 yards, and then 25 miles on the bike, which is like 40 kilometers, and then like a 10 kilometer run. So that’s like kind of the average distance.”
K: “Wow. How long does that usually take?”
J: “I would probably put it about, two to three hours, somewhere in that area. You can swim it in twenty, like somewhere about two hours or more.”
K: “Oh, ok. If you could do a triathlon any place in the world, where would you want to go?”
J: “Probably the mountains in Italy I think would be really cool. I think especially the running and biking, I think that would be such a cool atmosphere to do it in. I’m not one really for temperatures or anything like that, so I think the mountains in Europe somewhere.”
K: “So it’s pretty much a worldwide phenomenon then?”
J: “Absolutely. It’s the fastest growing sport, I don’t know if it’s in the world or in the country. But so they’re popping up everywhere. I know especially in America there everywhere.”
K: “Cool. Where is your favorite place you’ve competed so far?”
J: “You know, honestly, the very first race I did was my favorite. It was so relaxed. The race itself was, I had gotten all nervous for it and hyped up and stuff and then the race itself. That was in Naperville, Ill. That was a little sprint triathlon.”
K: “Have you done mostly Illinois or does the group that’s here travel?”
J: “I mean I’m probably one of the newer members to the triathlon club, I’ve only done a couple of races. The club, we go to collegiate nationals, which is in Texas this year, so that will be really fun. People here go all over the world. Two of our really active members have done Iron Man competitions, one of them in Illinois, one of them in Wisconsin. Yeah, yeah people travel all over for them.”
K: “Is there a personal goal you have for participating in this sport?”J: “Yeah, I mean somewhere down the line I would like to be able to work up to doing an Iron Man. That’s a very, very intense race, so I’m not sure how long it’s going to take. Those can go for like 12 hours, so I’m not doing it right now, but somewhere down the line I’d like to work up to that. If I can get competitive, they have one of the most sought-after races is in Kona, Hawaii. But you have to qualify for that one, so if I could ever work up to it that would be fun.”
K: “Yeah, definitely. And then could you just talk a little about how you train for these? I mean in Illinois, it’s kind of hard to train outside, especially with the weather.”
J: “People say that and I really like it actually. Right now, we’re still kind of building, so we don’t have a whole ton of rigorous schedule. I mean some people take it to an extreme. But usually we try to swim three or four times a week, depending on times, and run. The swimming is in the pool facilities, and running, a lot of us run outside all year, it’s just easier for everybody. And then a lot of people have those indoor trainers for their bikes. So you can take your road bike you have set up for everything else and put it on a trainer and it functions kind of like a stationary bike, so you get kind of the same thing with your own bike. So you can train for that ride three or four times a week. Usually you end up having like three days of some kind of workouts and then a couple days of one or the other. Again, it’s not really intense right now, most people aren’t putting more than like two hours a day in on anything.”
K: “And then is there anything you think people should know about a triathlon or competing?”
J: “I think the biggest misconception is a lot of people think it’s really, really difficult. A lot of people look at triathlon as the same light as doing a marathon or doing any kind of super endurance event, but there’s so many of all calibers. You can do shorter races. I mean, there’s a lot of people who go out there just to have fun. It might take a long time to do it, but it is a really good time. Especially the environment, the people who get involved with it are always so relaxed and so accepting of people. I think that’s probably the biggest thing. Just get involved with it, it’s really easy to do.”
K: “Great. Thank you so much for meeting with me."
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