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Ohio's public schools serve 1.6 million children - 90 percent of students in the state! What happens in the classroom has impacts far beyond the walls of the K-12 school building or higher ed lecture hall. So, on behalf of the 120,000 members of the Ohio Education Association, we're taking a deeper dive into some of the many education issues facing our students, educators, and communities. Originally launched in 2021 as Education Matters, Public Education Matters is your source for insightful conversations with the people who shape the education landscape in Ohio. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on Public Education Matters? Email us at educationmatters@ohea.org
Intro - Various members and students speaking 0:08
Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters because every student matters. Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters because it is the foundation of our democracy. Public Education Matters because we are stronger when we speak in one voice. Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters, Public Education Matters. This is public Education Matters, brought to you by the Ohio Education Association.
Katie Olmsted 0:41
Thanks for joining us for Public Education Matters. I'm Katie Olmsted. And I'm part of the communications team for the Ohio Education Association and the nearly 120,000 public school educators OEA serves across the state. I love my job, because I love supporting educators and their students, obviously. But I also love that I get to learn something new every single day. So when I had the chance to sit down with some of the leaders of the Ohio Association of Special Needs Professionals, or OASNP, I was really excited to learn more about what the department within OEA does, and how members across the state and across the board could get involved. And even though we've talked to OASNP folks before -- check out Season 3, Episode 18 of this podcast if you haven't heard it yet -- it is amazing what you can learn in these conversations. For instance, it's not actually called Oh-Snap, although OASNP does sort of look like it could be pronounced that way if you squint, and some OASNP members definitely do call it "Oh Snap" sometimes. And that's just one very small example. So when this conversation with Jené Wilson and Nikki Nadasky, we're taking a deeper dive into the Ohio Association of Special Needs professionals to talk about five things you probably didn't know about OASNP. Jené Wilson is a retiree from the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities, who works part time now at Cleveland State while serving as OASNP immediate past chair and business manager, and Nikki Nadasky is the current OASNP acting chair person, who works as a service and support administrator with the Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities as a member of the Portage County Education Association for Developmental Disabilities. Let's listen to our conversation.
Katie Olmsted 2:36
Jené Wilson, Nikki Nadasky, thank you so much for sitting down to share your knowledge. I think there's a lot that a lot of people do not know about OASNP. But we are talking about five big things today. Number one, you may not know how the department has changed in its 40 year history. Jené, what can you tell me?
Jené Wilson 3:00
Well, when we first started, and that was back, oh, even before it was about 19 - we actually started talking about it in about 1981. And we had a meeting. And people always laugh at this, but it's totally true. We had a meeting in a closet at rep assembly because there were, you know, nobody knew who we were what we were doing and it was a bunch of people, a bunch of leadership people from the various DD locals around the state and we met in a closet at Rep Assembly and said, we need something to help OEA help us, because everybody would look at you like, 'the board of DD? What are you talking about?' Nobody knew what that was at that time. And that, like I said, back in the early 80s. So we met and decided to do something and we continued to meet. There were a bunch of us who founded the organization, including Kathy McKinley was the first president. Kathy or previously the, you know, one of the OEA plan attorneys. And so then in by the 1983, we actually had had enough people together, convinced enough people at OEA, and help them understand who we were, what we did, how it was the same as what everybody else was doing and how it was different, which is why we needed the department, and so in '83, we got a department. And I think the way our name has changed probably illustrates also how we kept up with what was happening in the world of DD, because initially we were called Ohio Association of Professionals for the MRDD and nobody says mentally retarded anymore. That went away a long time ago. So that was our first name and then we switched to Ohio Association of Professionals for the Developmental Disabilities. But when we started bringing in, appealing more to public school staff, public school staff don't necessarily identify as working with people with developmental disabilities, even though that's kind of an overarching title. We think people in public schools think of it more as special needs, so that's why we changed again. We changed the name again. And since then, you know, initially it was all boards, people from boards of DD, but now it's anybody who's working with people, adults or kids, with special needs. And that's pretty much everybody in public school. Everybody probably has some, some point in their day or week that they're working with kids or adults with special needs.
Katie Olmsted 5:56
And that actually brings us to the second thing that a lot of people probably don't know about OASNP. And that is, who can actually get involved in this department. Nikki, what can you tell me?
Nikki Nadasky 6:09
Membership is open to all OEA members along the career continuum. We welcome anyone from Aspiring Educators, members in college going through their educational program and field experience, all the way to retirees who have a passion for public education and using their voice. Our membership consists of varying interests, passions, education, backgrounds, anywhere from intervention specialists to service and support administrators.
Katie Olmsted 6:50
Like you!
Nikki Nadasky 6:51
Yes, it is. And what basically, I can kind of explain, you know, that title or that role, because I don't know how much -
Katie Olmsted 7:02
This is bonus "you didn't know" content. Take it away!
Nikki Nadasky 7:07
Okay. We're actually, we're case managers for the local boards of Developmental Disability. So we offer a lot of support, guidance; attending IEP meetings. We also ensure that we assist through the process of transitioning youth into job employment, and work alongside intervention specialists and teachers to kind of navigate that system. So those are just a few things that we do.
Katie Olmsted 7:49
And you have very good company, not just with the intervention specialists, but there's a lot of other job classifications that are covered in OASNP membership right now, including a lot of Education Support Professionals.
Jené Wilson 8:02
Right. When, when I was still working, our local which was ACCESS, the Association of Cuyahoga County Employees for Special Students, we had 43 job descriptions, and they were all eligible. They were all OEA members, and they were all eligible to be part of Oh Snap.
Nikki Nadasky 8:21
We offer membership to parapros, bus drivers, maintenance staff, school psychologists, and really anyone who is a member of the OEA can be involved. And we welcome that. We welcome that opportunity to network with a wide array of knowledge bases, and really take pride in that. And a good benefit is that our membership is is only $10 annually, which is, if you look at that, is a huge savings and a huge benefit for the services that we can provide, and the resources, and just collaboration really.
Katie Olmsted 9:08
What does that $10 get you?
Nikki Nadasky 9:10
That ten dollars includes our conference that's coming up, which we'll talk about. We do a newsletter, we have regular meetings. And we also are - and this is going to go into the next topic - but we're hoping to really promote professional development for our locals and offer a lot of tools and resources. Also, you know, you have access to our website, which I want to point out to everyone has a lot of great resources and links and tools, information; reaching out to others who you may talk to you in your daily work and say, hey, you know, what I want to tell you a bit about this organization that I belong to, this OASNP. And there's a link to sign up to be a member.
Katie Olmsted 10:15
I love that you've actually touched on a bunch of the other things that we are going to touch on here. Number three, for the things that you did not know - obviously, you knew, but many people didn't know about OASNP - is how -- I mean, obviously, it's a year round thing -- but how they can get involved this spring, you mentioned that conference, what can you tell me?
Jené Wilson 10:35
Well, this is Jené, again, we've been, Oh-Snap has been hosting an annual conference. I was, I looked back in my computer to try to remember how long and I have records from at least 2001. So we've been hosting an annual conference for a very long time. And it always consists of the legislative issues that affect, you know, people who are working with special needs people in particular, the legal issues, as well as we also work on some professional development and do some networking. Some years, we've had poster sessions where people bring ideas to share with other people, things that are happening in their local. We have done raffles of products that the adult people at the DDs make. So it's been going on for a long time. We always get really good reviews. People always appreciate it, because it's specific to people who are, you know, members who are working with special needs people. So we always try to make it very specific, very relevant. We bring in OEA people to come and tell us what's happening. But we also always bring in, excuse me, a a keynote speaker. And this year, we're going to be talking about working with other people working with other adults, because it's, you know, very different than working with the students or the adults that you're that you're the case manager for or the teacher for, and Daria DeNoia from OEA is going to be our keynote speaker talking about working with other adults in your field, because you're going to be working with a lot of adults. People who are working with typical kids with typical people, as well as with people who are working with special needs, and yet, and then all of the specialists who work with the special needs kids and adults, you know, the speech therapists, the OT, the PT, the gym teacher, all of those people who work with them. So the conference this year is April 26th and 27th at Salt Fork State Park Lodge. It's a different location than usual, because we usually do it at Mohican, but Mohican is under renovation right now, so we're trying something new. But it's gonna be all the same good content. A new place, but the same content.
Katie Olmsted 13:06
And thanks for bringing up that content, because that brings us actually to number four on our list of things you didn't know about OASNP. And that is all of the content that that this organization, that this department within our organization can really help across the board with. So number four, you may not know what OASNP can do for you outside of that annual conference.
Nikki Nadasky 13:32
Absolutely. And this is Nikki Nadasky again. And we are really trying to focus on this year professional development to members and our locals, because that is something that we've noticed through all of the information that we've gotten back from our annual conferences are a tools and resources that a lot of locals have been asking for. So we're really trying to work on that. And we welcome members who are interested in joining that committee. Also OASNP members can be elected or chosen or decide to join committees through the OEA, and it's a wonderful opportunity for our members to join those committees and have their voices heard at those committee meetings. So we also offer that opportunity. And it's really nice because then we can come from that special education direction, developmental disability direction. So I think that's really, really positive. We're working at, you know, hopefully being involved in doing some professional development trainings at Summer Leadership Academy.
Katie Olmsted 15:03
So what are some of the training topics that OASNP members can help with? I mean, your expertise and your experience is so incredibly valuable to so many different educators.
Nikki Nadasky 15:16
I think that's a very crucial and important question. As we start to navigate the professional development piece in the OASNP, we're really looking at trying to network with our members and say, what is it in your locals that you need? We've heard, basically, you know, a lot of behavioral support, research information. We've also heard, you know, linking families and teachers, as far as the process of navigating IEP trainings, IEP meetings. We also have also heard a lot of that - and I think this segues into why we chose what we chose for our conference - is really working on inclusion. Inclusion, no matter what level of need. So I really think offering those tools and resources to build that inclusion for special education teachers, and professionals and paraprofessionals also. You know, we've also heard that it does something very important for the paraprofessionals to have that support and that training as well. So those are a few of the things. And you know, and I have to say this is, this is a new process that we're navigating, and we are really like you said, we're really trying to tap in to as many resources as our members have, because really, they're the knowledge. They're the knowledge and inspiring them to kind of take this and, you know, with our support, and really get it out there to, you know, our locals, our members.
Katie Olmsted 17:19
And it's not just about the resources they provide, there's also resources that OASNP provides to members as well. We had mentioned that newsletter. There's also grant opportunities, right?
Jené Wilson 17:30
Yeah, that's very true. I just I wanted to piggyback a little on what Nikki was saying about professional development. We are forming a committee and I think we have two or three people who have volunteered already to sort of help decide the direction of how to do that. But the thought is that there may be some things that we as oh snap members would be able to take to locals, but also to help locals look within and see who's got the, who's got the expertise. Like, we do hear a lot about people wanting behavioral supports. And also, you know, also we can talk about adapting curriculum, particularly for people who are working in public schools, how to help adapt the curriculum for those students who are coming in who maybe aren't their traditional students, and that they might need some help adapting the curriculum with. So we are looking at doing all of that. And in terms of the grants, we offer a $250 grant that people can apply for in order to do some PR to get a positive image of your local, your members and special education out into the community. So if there's an idea that you have, either, you know, putting on a trunk or treat where people, you know, come and they trick or treat through your parking lot, or sometimes people I know our local always bought adaptive switches for to develop adaptive toys for kids who were in wheelchairs and couldn't use regular toys. So we offer up to $250 for those kinds of projects. There's a whole list on the website, and there's also a fillable grant form on the website. You can fill it out and shoot it back to us. We approve them on a rolling basis. So you know, if we get one before one of our regular meetings, then the board members will take a look at it right then.
Katie Olmsted 19:35
And speaking of the board and speaking of leadership, that brings us to number five. Number five on the list of five things you didn't know about OASNP: You may not know how you can shape the future of OASNP. What's that about?
Nikki Nadasky 19:49
At our annual conference, we have always a membership meeting there. And during that time, we're going to be having elections. So that's the perfect opportunity for people to choose to become involved. We are, you know - We have a structure, I can talk a little bit about that: Chairperson, Vice Chair, Secretary-Treasurer. And we also have six at large board members and committees. So those are wonderful opportunities for people to jump in and become involved and join. And really, we are searching for people with passion, energy, drive, ideas, concepts, to really build, continue to build this organization, and keep it strong. You know, you think about coming into an organization and what you can do and just being part of an organization. When I first started coming to OASNP, it just so happened that my best friend and I came to the conference one year. At the conference, it was election time. And my friend took a position; I took a position. And, you know, that's how you get involved. And you kind of think, 'oh, my gosh, you know, I'm stepping into this,' but I can also say, you know, with the leadership that we have, really helps strengthen your desire and your knowledge base to kind of take things further. So I just wanted to add that as well. And also, you know, I talked about this briefly, but we do also have committees that are extremely important. I know, I mentioned that our OASNP members can serve on through the OEA. So, you know, the legislative opportunities, there's professional development, there's -
Jené Wilson 22:08
resolutions, collective bargaining -
Nikki Nadasky 22:11
planning, yes, yes. And, you know, that's a wonderful way for people who might just want to get their foot in the door, and then, you know, get some grounding, and then go from there. So that's another, you know, wonderful opportunity.
Jené Wilson 22:27
Yeah, oh snap has some committees, also some standing committees. And then sometimes we form ad hoc committees, like, you know, we're forming an ad hoc Professional Development Committee. But Oh Snap - And of course, it ebbs and flows, depending on how much help we have how many people are interested. So this is where it would be great to get more people is that we could have we have the potential to have like a local assistance committee, a collective bargaining committee to help people know what to put into their contracts. Although I know OEA has a lot of access to that kind of stuff. You know, the Public Relations Committee and an elections committee. So there are ways for people to be involved within Oh Snap itself and then to represent OASNP at the OEA committee. So there's a lot of ways people could be involved without having to be an officer if they don't want to.
Katie Olmsted 23:22
And I think that really brings it all together. So it's the five things you didn't know about OASNP. But it's all really boils down into one thing, which is that OASNP is you. Its strength is in the members getting involved. Members across the board, not just the people who work at the board of DDs. We're talking about Education Support Professionals, classroom teachers, everybody has a space in OASNP. And OASNP is a space that grows when everyone is part of it, right?
Jené Wilson 23:54
Very good. Yes, I think that's totally true. You did a good job of summarizing that.
Katie Olmsted 24:02
Of course, you can find the link to learn more about getting involved in OASNP and their upcoming conference in the show notes for this episode. But I really want to focus on one of the main themes from that conversation with Nikki and Jené: Professional Development. PD opportunities can be so important for giving educators the tools they need to serve their students effectively and grow with the changing times. Educators know this. In fact, the educators of the Medina City Teachers Association know this so well, they bargained language into their contract years ago to create a union-sponsored professional development day outside of anything the district administration provides. 2024 was the first year they capitalized on this contract language, though, putting together their very first MCTA PD Day in late February. MCTA brought in OEA staffers Ellen Ardonetto and Taraja Shephard Allen to lead sessions they thought would be most relevant for their 470 members. And as MCTA President David Hamman told us afterward, the whole thing was a huge success.
Katie Olmsted 25:12
David Hamman, thank you, thank you, thank you for sitting down to talk to us about this really exciting event for the Medina City Teachers Association. What can you tell me about what happened?
David Hamman 25:22
So we had a full day of PD in our district in which we had an elementary session in the morning and middle school/high school in the afternoon. And I have been trying for the last couple of years to find a way to bring OEA staff into the district to provide some relevant professional development. There are some great resources in all the different departments, whether it goes to political advocacy, whether it goes to curriculum needs things like OTES, and things like that, or even some of the other benefits OEA benefits, NEA benefits. So it's been a goal of mine to bring OEA in. And so over the last year or so we've been trying to think about, well, when could we do it and things like that. And then we started to narrow down to topics. And we kind of went down the path of some teacher workload and teacher stress, as well as just technology, social media presence, and educator code of conduct. Those were kind of the two big things that we were kind of focusing on. There's a lot of other topics and great training. But those were kind of the two that we started to, like I said, focus on and plan for a little bit.
Katie Olmsted 26:30
And they took a lot of planning to get this accomplished. But really, if we're talking about the timeline, it goes all the way back to whenever you bargained into your contract these PD day opportunities.
David Hamman 26:41
Correct. And over the years, they've been sometimes district-led, as in large group meetings and sessions. They've also been sometimes building-led or even grade- or department-led. But this was an opportunity to I reached out to our assistant superintendent. And I said, 'Hey, these are a couple good topics and OEA can provide this resource and do that stuff.' And so it just kind of was the best of both worlds. We had an opportunity. And we had some resources to be able to provide.
Katie Olmsted 27:12
What was the reception like among the teachers who took part?
David Hamman 27:15
It was good. We had, it was really important to us. Both Ellen and Taraja did a great job. Ellen knew she had a very important and serious topic, you know, as far as educator code of conduct, and she does a great job providing humor, relevant topics. It was eye-opening to some because you know how to use your phone or not, and you know, social media. So she did a great job of balancing the, you know, those important concerns with you know, just the life of a teacher and how sometimes you know, those things work. And Taraja with the idea of, you know, just teacher burnout and teacher stress and workload and secondary trauma and recognizing there are things that we can't control, but also to ask for help or to speak up when when there are things that you need. And so both of those just, it was a perfect balance, kind of two different topics, and they did a great job presenting them.
Katie Olmsted 28:14
And then I'm sure for you, taking a step back from being in the actual sessions themselves. Just seeing it all come together after this amount of planning and, and really trying to bring this to your members, what was that like for you?
David Hamman 28:28
Oh, it was amazing. And I gotta thank Megann Walsh. She is our LRC. You know, she really from the very beginning when I'm kind of saying, 'hey, I want to try to do this.' And she helped me kind of focus it. And then we identified like I said, Ellen and Taraja. She did a great job coordinating with the two of them. I know she worked really hard with grants, providing some resources. You know, OEA pens and the apples. Megann's expertise and coordinating that stuff, I couldn't have done it without without Megann. And so I'm really appreciate everything she did to contribute, too.
Katie Olmsted 29:03
I assume that MCTA is not the only local that has language like that in their contract. What would you say to other local associations about the feasibility of this and and why they should sort of take that sort of ownership of their PD days?
David Hamman 29:19
Sure. Well, a lot of times I think, hopefully, it's maybe within the context of, 'hey, teachers have some great ideas and suggestions for PD,' whether it's curriculum or student behavior, or whatever. And just to make connections with 'Well, hey, OEA has this great program' and finding different ways to even have an OEA staff member come in and do a quick Zoom: 'hey, here's a session I can provide.' So I think having that Association President recognize some of those things that are out there, I'm not sure all associations maybe realize how much is out there to be offered. And so number one, being able to to make that connection and then number two yeah finding additional days or even days within the contract that are more not not that they are admin driven or admin's time, but finding a way where that collaborative things and being able to work through different ideas and topics. It wasn't something that we we were in my mind, 'I want to make a day that's OEA training.' We just tried to share and promote what OEA can provide within the context of what we have. And I think that's what districts can do, too. And feasibility. We, we were fortunate enough to be able to work with our OAPSE food service, and we got some snacks that were pretty cheap and inexpensive, you know, as part of our membership dues. And again, OEA's support with their resources was very helpful, too. So - and we were a larger district, I'm sure smaller districts can find ways to kind of coordinate some of those costs, even with the district themselves.
Katie Olmsted 30:56
I will say, working with other locals over the last few years, I do hear a fair amount that the administration has handed down this PD to us, that they - they're setting PD that is not entirely relevant to members, and it's just what the district is making them do without thinking about what their actual needs are. To have this driven by the teachers saying this is what I want to learn about, how important is that?
David Hamman 31:22
It's huge, because I think they feel that this is a two way street. They have questions, concerns, they're seeking out growth and learning. They're asking for things that are relevant, things that are appropriate and current. And so it's a great way for them to be able to - I even in in my kind of post survey, I said What are other topics? So I went through the training manual. And I found, you know, five or six specific ones that you know, like I said, going from curriculum to behavior to legal issues, to member benefits. And so I had several popular ones. So maybe we try to do an afternoon or an evening session for those that are interested, and just want to learn more about this. Great, we'll find a way for 30 of you or 20 of you to do that, too. So that's something that I'm looking forward to do on a smaller scale for those that have have a unique interest in something else.
Katie Olmsted 32:17
And I assume planning is already somewhat underway for another one of these PD days in the future.
David Hamman 32:24
Yes, probably we'll figure out somehow some way, you know, to be able to figure out different combinations of teacher-led PD, teacher-created, collaborating with admin. Absolutely.
Katie Olmsted 32:37
David Hamman, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the experience and sort of a blueprint forward for other locals to follow.
David Hamman 32:43
Yeah, and like I said, it was a great experience, and I would encourage any other Association. And if anybody ever wants to ask, Glad to share what that planning looked like and the whole experience. It was great.
Katie Olmsted 32:57
To see photos from the MCTA PD day, you can find the link to their Facebook post in the show notes for this episode. And if you have thoughts on what you've heard in this episode, or ideas about what you'd like to hear hear in the future, please email me at educationmatters@ohea.org New episodes of Public Education Matters dropped every other Thursday this season. Until next time, stay well. And remember, in Ohio, public education matters.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai