Fall 2006

EU Profile: Jonas Bright, Jr.

Committee member Jonas Bright, Jr. was interviewed by newsletter editor Abbe Nosoff

bright How did you become interested in the
UFT Capably Disabled Committee?
The UFT Web site was a terrific source of information and I located “capably disabled committee” and meeting dates online. Then I started coming to meetings about two years ago. I was interested in this group because it was a disability committee, and I’m interested in issues that affect people with disabilities.

How did you become a paraprofessional?
In 1997, my last year of high school, I went to a paraprofessional training program. I interviewed and was accepted for this one-year program. The program really prepared me to become a paraprofessional.

In November 1997, I started working as a substitute paraprofessional. Now I work at PS 811 in Brooklyn. It’s a junior high school through high school that includes students with multiple disabilities. This is a District 75 school. The school population includes children with autism, such as high functioning children with developmental disabilities. My class includes children with various levels of function. There are two more paraprofessionals in my classroom.

I enjoy being around kids. I help them with their behavior and their schoolwork. I’ve seen kids improving in my class with my help and that of the other paraprofessionals and the teachers.

Are you involved in any other union activities?
My major union activities are parent outreach and political action. I am involved in parent outreach at the UFT office in Brooklyn. We meet once a month to discuss issues that involve parents helping their children. Sometimes we organize rallies to fight for our school system and to raise money and materials for our kids.

Also, I’m involved in political action, such as contacting members through phone banks and attending political action dinners. In 2004, when John Kerry was running for President, I went campaigning door-to-door in Pennsylvania to register voters.

Furthermore, I’m a paraprofessional representative in my school. Once a month at the UFT we meet to discuss issues and what’s happening in the schools. I bring this information back to our school.

I deal with paraprofessional issues in my school. I bring together paraprofessionals who have problems so they can meet with one another and resolve their difficulties — or I talk to the paraprofessional specialist to discuss the problem. I fight for paraprofessional rights with our principal. If I have any questions, I speak to Reggie Colvin, the Brooklyn Borough paraprofessional coordinator for the union.

He’s my “go-to” guy at the UFT.

In November 2004, you received the Marsh/Raimo Award for political action at UFT Teacher Union Day. What are your thoughts about that award?
That award was for all my political action. You can see that I’m really involved in political action in my union. At Teacher Union Day, my mother, father and aunt attended that event. They were very proud and happy for me.

Do you have any other interests outside the
Department of Education?
I’m very involved in sports, especially baseball and football. I’m a baseball umpire for the public high schools through the Parade Ground Umpire Association, a dues-paying association in Brooklyn, and they assign me to umpire games during the baseball season. The season is six-weeks long for high schools. I really love it! I also umpire the sand lot league, which includes younger boys from age 9 up to age 18. I umpire for them during week nights and weekends.
Football is also one of my interests. I officiate at high school games as an umpire. The season runs from September to mid-November, and most games are played on the weekend.

So I’m really busy between baseball and football season- almost the whole year.

Recently, I just got started with a community meeting with the 88th Precinct police. We discuss crimes in our area and what we can do to prevent them. Our community policing group wants people to watch out for residents in our area. They also have events to promote good community relations in our neighborhood.

How do you feel about working with our committee and
its members?
I’m very positive and the Capably Disabled Committee does a lot of good. We are different people with various disabilities, but we work together. You begin to understand what people with disabilities are going through in life. I especially appreciate helping to plan committee events so that everybody enjoys our meetings and events.