feature stories

Spring in August

by Ellie Spielberg

Jun 8, 2006 12:09 PM

UFT-led, educator-empowering program fuels rebirth at Martin HS

It was a school with a borderline personality. August Martin HS in Queens was dysfunctional, yet not quite enough to be diagnosed as a SURR school. It was definitely showing up on the Department of Education radar screen when it came to the number of reported violent incidents, yet didn’t have enough to be labeled an Impact School.

But no matter the hair-splitting criteria, August Martin was tanking. And its doors were in danger of shutting forever.

And what beautiful doors, too. A huge, classic brick building with imposing pillars, the school overlooks Baisley Pond in Jamaica on the border of Far Rockaway. Fresh ocean air, trees and a sprawling athletic field complete the campus-like atmosphere. In its heyday it could’ve been the perfect setting for some heartwarming high school football movie. But the neighborhood has gone cold on August Martin.

Its reputation had become so bad many parents did not want to send their kids to the school. The building became under-utilized and shabby at the edges and lost its pride.

The Martin “formula” for failure was similar to what union officials have seen before in too many other schools: Test scores plummeted; so did school safety and discipline. Teachers — many of them, by their own admission, unprepared to meet the demands and stress of a failing school — were discouraged. Administrators came and went and did not work with teachers or their union. (At perhaps its lowest ebb, August Martin had three principals in three months.)

“Teachers were just keeping their heads above water, trying to survive,” says Rona Freiser, UFT Queens high school representative. “The future was bleak.”

But in what is potentially one of the most amazing success stories in recent years, August Martin is beginning a turnaround thanks to a union-led, educator-empowering program.

It’s called the Professionally Friendly Initiative, a homegrown program started in February by Freiser and Chapter Leader Dana Wilson.

The program uses union coaches to mentor struggling teachers and involves the onsite Teacher Center, two retired August Martin teachers and Freiser herself.

“Evanda Young, who heads the Teacher Center, has been instrumental in turning our vision into reality,” said Freiser, “working closely with teachers and with the dynamic UFT coaches who came in to take part in the program.” Citywide content specialists Rose Shteynberg (math) and Seena Bryan (literacy) joined forces with Young along with Maureen Ciano, UFT Teacher Center field liasion.

“One of the great things about this program is that it’s non-punitive, non-threatening and voluntary,” Wilson said. “Teachers are encouraged to work together to exchange ideas on lesson planning, classroom management and other strategies that improve their skills, their professional self-esteem and ultimately have a positive impact on student performance.”

“This program is all about opening the door to teacher empowerment,” UFT President Randi Weingarten said at a school celebration on May 16. Weingarten has kept an eye on the program since it began and is so wowed by the progress she wants the education world to know about it so it can be replicated at other schools.

“Make no mistake about it, this is a work in progress and this school has a long way to go,” said Weingarten. “But something special is happening here.”

What makes it so special?

Why should it work when the usual methods of DOE-supplied coaches and other DOE initiatives didn’t work?

Freiser says there were many factors that came into play, including plain old hard work among teachers and administrators, but one of the major factors was the insistence on using union coaches, which created a comfort level between teacher and coach.

“Instead of the classroom modeling method, where an outsider coach sits back and then critiques a teacher’s performance, we participate together, do a back-and-forth, talk about it, create strategies together,” Freiser said.

“We want teachers to find their own way, and we have worked closely with the new principal [Anthony Cromer] who agreed that there would be no teacher observations during this phase of the initiative.”

The program started out with eight teachers and before long 17 came on board, a cross of newer teachers and veteran teachers who needed to hone skills they never got to work on because of behavior issues, a lack of tools and a demoralizing atmosphere.

Teachers at Martin have high praise for what is taking place.

“The UFT mentors equipped us with tools to construct effective lesson plans so we could teach effectively,” said Milira Jones. “Then they answered our questions and guided us, step by step. It’s been wonderful. My classroom situation is absolutely better.”

Pradel Dormevil said, “There is better class participation now. Students are willing to share results, work in groups. That makes my job easier.”

Another teacher, Calvert Hocher, admits that he “developed bad habits over 12

years,” but things are changing. “I came to teaching through an alternative route and got a master’s in education but all I learned was theory. My first observation of 2005 was not up to par. Dr. Young and other mentors at the Teacher Center here worked with me religiously. Now I have strategies; I am up to par.

“Students can see the change in me,” he said. “They ask me, ‘Hey, what’s up with this new program?’ I’m more assertive, more consistent, and their learning has improved with a better classroom atmosphere and better leadership from their teacher. This program even helps veteran teachers because it gets you re-energized, born again, not doing the same thing the same way.”

But teachers aren’t the only ones who wanted to get with the program at August Martin.

The new, energetic principal, Cromer, is on board, as is Region 5 LIS Varleton MacDonald, who is so enthusiastic about the collaboration he made a point to join Cromer, Weingarten and the staff at the May celebration.

“One of the things that makes this program work is that everyone wanted to buy in,” Freiser said. “The principal graduated from this school, Evanda Young at the Teacher Center taught science here for years and August Martin is my home school. There’s an investment here. The internal administration worked with us, the superintendency gave the principal the go-ahead because we made an arrangement that teachers’ professional assignments were to be working with us in the program. That was a big plus, and a reason for teachers to want to do this as well — it was a creative use of that time.”

“I see change and a whole new tone here,” said Wilson. “We are now feeling like professionals, not slaves to some administrative memo. I see teachers working with teachers. I was able to help one teacher turn the worst kid in the class into the best kid in the class. Tradition can be an enemy of success, when administrators have attitude, when they become bureaucrats and lose people, lose the human touch. What a difference to have a principal who collaborates with the union and is supportive and open to everything.”

Cromer not only gave the UFT carte blanche with mentoring, he gave himself the responsibility of changing the atmosphere.

“The tone was terrible,” he said. “There was no team building. Now everyone is at the table.

“My first objective was safety. Get the halls clear; change the tone. One of the ways it was done was through programs like Twilight Schools to get the worst, violent kids out and to a place where they could get help,” Cromer said.

The next tier of troubled kids, also prone to violent behavior, were enrolled in the school’s Young Man’s Leadership Group, where they get mentoring and are treated to outings such as Mets games. “They love it,” Cromer said. “They feel like they’re a part of something now, part of the decision-making process. Student government has been key, too.”

Cromer is outside the school twice a day to greet students when they come and go, letting them know that they matter and are expected to be respectful in turn. Well over six feet and solid, he’s hard to avoid. When kids are late, they go to the auditorium for a Morning Culture Building session. “We have a sit-down about lateness and there are guidance counselors that students can talk to about any issues whatsoever,” he said.

In one year there has been a 28 percent decrease in criminal incidents, such as robbery and assault, according to NYPD data. Incidents of insubordination have dropped and principal suspensions are down by over 50 percent.

And because everyone loves a winner, there are new funds coming in now for renovating the school building.

“No one can turn a school around alone. Rona Freiser has been fantastic,” Cromer said. “I can say to her, ‘I have some unsatisfactory teachers, you’ve got to help me,’ and she and the UFT coaches are the ones who can help bring a lesson up to par, so it’s not just the principal, the administration, saying a lesson is not up to par. It’s a complete collaboration.”

Cromer thanked the union and Weingarten at the May celebration. And when he thanked retired teachers Celeste Walden and Dora Lynne for coming back to the school as mentors, he had trouble getting out Walden’s first name. “I still can’t get used to calling her Celeste,” he said, “because she was my math teacher.”

“This is an amazing story,” Weingarten told the staff. “It’s much easier to open a new school than to do what you did. We are in an educational climate right now, from George Bush to Joel Klein, where the belief is that the way to improve schools is through fear and intimidation.

‘I see change and a whole new tone here. We are now feeling like professionals, not slaves to some administrative memo. I see teachers working with teachers. I was able to help one teacher turn the worst kid in the class into the best kid in the class.’

— Dana Wilson, August Martin HS chapter leader.

If you don’t make the numbers, then something bad is going to happen — with no regard for the profession of teaching. But you kept the barbarians from the gates.”

Added Freiser, “Thanks to everyone’s hard work, August Martin’s doors are not going to close. We’re here to stay. We’re going to make it work year in and year out.”

“I can teach a class five different ways now, thanks to this program,” said Andre St. Victor. “I’ve gone from being a competent teacher to a master teacher. This program mustn’t stop.”