A number of Newtown representatives attended an American Federation of Teachers conference in Washington, DC, earlier this month to speak about ongoing climate and culture work in the district.

According to Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, who attended and spoke at the conference, the Newtown Federation of Teachers executive board members who also attended the conference — Tom Kuroski, Tom Pescarmona, Mary Connolly, and John Sullivan— shared a “powerful presentation,” which was called “We Are All in This Together.”

Dr Erardi said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten invited Newtown representatives to attend the conference.

The AFT TEACH (Together Educating America’s Children) conference was held in Washington July 13-15. The conference began on Sunday, July 12, and ended on Wednesday, July 15, and it included workshops, demonstrations of educational technology, and keynote speakers.

Mr Kuroski, reflecting on the event, said the NFT leaders were asked to speak with a focus on the conference’s theme this year, which was “Our Voice Matters.” Speaking about district efforts to transform the state of the teachers’ union, Mr Kuroski said, was a perfect match for the theme.

Mr Kuroski said he reached out in May 2014 to Dr Erardi, who had started working in the district just a month before, to speak about teacher morale in general. Mr Kuroski and a number of teachers from the district went on to give a “State of the Union” presentation for the Board of Education that month.

Roughly a year later another presentation was made before the Board of Education, during a meeting on May 29. Climate and Culture Committee members reported on the changes that had been made over the last year.

When speaking at the conference, as shared in a video online by the AFT, Mr Kuroski explained the work of the Climate and Culture Committee further.

Speaking from his past four years of experience as the head of NFT, Mr Kuroski told the conference: “As you know, two and a half years ago our school and local community was thrust into the national spotlight after the tragedy that took place at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. After that fateful day in December I reached out to AFT state and national leaders seeking guidance and support as we began our recovery.”

Response was immediate, according to Mr Kuroski.

“Our voice mattered and continues to matter to AFT leadership,” he said, “and we cannot thank them enough.”

Before the tragedy, Mr Kuroski said, the local federation of teachers had been disheartened to learn that arbitration on proposed wage increases and step movements had been rejected in the district.

“I had never seen the morale of our teachers reach a lower point during my 30 years in the district. That all changed on 12/14,” Mr Kuroski said.

But since May 2014, Mr Kuroski said a “transformation” has been taking place with the “state of our union.” The changes in the district, Mr Kuroski said at the conference, are linked with district leadership noting that the NFT members’ voices matter.

“My voice mattered when I reached out to the interim superintendent and asked for a seat on the district security committee and he went ahead and appointed me as the co-chair of that committee,” said Mr Kuroski.

The Board of Education, according to Mr Kuroski’s statements at the conference, also included the NFT when looking for a new superintendent.

“We now have a leader who is ready to hear the unified voice of our local,” said Mr Kuroski.

He later said in the video that the NFT team attended the 2015 TEACH Conference to share the collaborative work that has been done in the district to help improve the climate and culture in Newtown’s educational community.

Mr Kuroski also spoke about the “State of the Union” presentation made by NFT members to the Board of Education in May 2014. Following that school board meeting, as Mr Kuroski said at the conference, the Climate and Culture Committee was created, which includes two board members, the assistant superintendent, the superintendent, Mr Kuroski, two school principals, and members of the NFT team.

“The committee has and will help identify and address concerns affecting Newtown Federation of Teachers now and in the future,” said Mr Kuroski at the conference. “This is powerful evidence that our voice matters.”

Following the conference, Mr Kuroski emphasized the “positive changes” that have begun since 2014.

“I really feel good that [Dr Erardi] felt it was important for us to share the concerns with the Board of Education,” said Mr Kuroski, who added that other educators attending the conference spoke with him after the presentation.

“They were all jealous,” said Mr Kuroski. “They wished they had a superintendent like we have.”

Accomplishments like those that have taken place in the past year, Mr Kuroski said, would not be possible without leadership from the district’s Central Office.

Efforts and programs Mr Kuroski said the Climate and Culture Committee has made in the last year have included a new teacher cohort, an aspiring administrators cohort, and holding teacher forum meetings.

Mr Kuroski said the committee will continue its efforts throughout the next school year. Specifically, he said, the committee will work to address concerns that were shared in union member surveys sent out in September 2014. Some of the different initiatives that have already taken place in the district, Mr Kuroski said, were inspired by the survey responses.

Overall Mr Kuroski said he is excited by the work the committee is doing to bring union members “to a better place.” All of the efforts, he said, work toward the goal of improving teaching and learning the classrooms across the district.