PAF-AFT

Your donation to help Haiti is now worth twice as much!

AFT members nationwide have been stepping up to the plate to support the Haitian people and their devastated communities. AFT Healthcare members from Vermont and Connecticut are in Haiti and the Dominican Republic helping meet emergency medical needs. Union members around the country are donating time and services. Five ships crewed by Seafarers, Marine Engineers and Longshoremen are in Haiti, with medical staff treating injured Haitians and crews offloading supplies.

Now the AFL-CIO's Union Plus program is making the generous offer of matching funds. It’s simple—$10 becomes $20; $50 becomes $100. All donations made to the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center Earthquake Relief for Haitian Workers fund automatically will double (up to $100,000). Anyone can make donations—members and potential members alike.

The people of Haiti continue to need our help.

Make a donation today!

In unity,
The AFT

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This is a must-read.

http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/reports/Education.pdf

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By: Colorín Colorado (2010)

Many children of Haitian origin affected by the recent earthquake and their families are facing tremendous distress and uncertainty. As an educator, there are a number of ways to support these students and families.
This article includes the following sections and resources from
http://www.colorincolorado.org:

• Support for students affected by the earthquake

• More resources for school personnel

• Dealing with the earthquake from a distance

• Helping children cope with disasters

See the rest of this article by clicking here

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This program offers four 4-year, $8,000 post-secondary scholarships to students who are dependents of AFT members, as well as 10 one-time $1,000 grants to AFT members to assist with their continuing education.

For more information click here.

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DEADLINE EXTENDED
PREK-12 TEACHERS:

Your students could win a $500 savings bond! The American Federation of Teachers and Save the Children have teamed up to help end child poverty in the United States. Join the effort by entering the 2010 Valentine’s Day card contest.

THEME:
Uniting a Generation: Ensuring That Every Child Has an Equal Chance for Success

PRIZES:

-A $500 savings bond
-A chance to meet actor and Save the Children artist ambassador Julianne Moore.
DEADLINE:
Dec. 4, 2009

Have your students design a Valentine’s Day card that incorporates the heart symbol and represents one of these values: compassion, courage, honesty, loyalty or responsibility. Each school may submit one entry for each of the following grade categories: PreK-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-10 and 11-12. In mid-December, select cards will be posted online where students can vote for their favorite in each of the five grade categories. The five winning designs will be used on Valentine's Day cards, which will be available in January and offered as part of a gift for donations made to benefit Save the Children’s anti-poverty programs in the United States. The winning artists will each receive a $500 savings bond. For complete rules, prizes and information on how to enter, go to: http://www.savethechildren.org/cardcontest. For activities to engage students in the values highlighted, go to http://go.aft.org/contest

Information link:  http://www.komencsng.org/PinkRibbonRun

This article is a must-read.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/08/education.overview/index.html

..."I want to start a new kind of school," [Kim Ursetta] said, a union-sponsored public school led by teachers, not a principal.

"I started talking about 21st century skills and wanting to prepare our kids in math and science, especially our low-income and ethnic minority students," Ursetta said. "We've been doing schools the same way in this nation for 150 years, so if we don't step up, then nothing is going to change."