Aaron, Jeff, and Rachael are joined by fellow teachers and current PSEA Board of Directors members Amy Lightner and Jimbo Lamb, who share some potent memories from their own school days, the radical changes they've seen in the education landscape over their careers, and their journeys into union leadership.
Aaron, Jeff, and Rachael are joined by fellow teachers and current PSEA Board of Directors members Amy Lightner and Jimbo Lamb, who share some potent memories from their own school days, the radical changes they've seen in the education landscape over their careers, and their journeys into union leadership.
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Learn more and watch for upcoming episodes at psea.org/podcast.
Voiceover (00:02):
Welcome to Duty Free Lunch, the official podcast of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Join us as we unpack the issues that matter most to you. From cutting-edge classroom strategies to thought-provoking policy discussions, if it impacts PSEA members, it's on the menu.
Aaron Chapin (00:23):
Hello and welcome to Duty Free Lunch. I am PSEA President Aaron Chapin, and I'm here with PSEA Vice-President Jeff Ney.
Jeff Ney (00:32):
Hey, Aaron. How are we doing?
Aaron Chapin (00:33):
Great. And I'm also here with Treasurer Rachael West. Hello, Rachael.
Rachael West (00:38):
Hello, Aaron.
Aaron Chapin (00:39):
We have the pleasure of welcoming two of our colleagues from PSEA's Board of Directors, Amy Lightner and Jimbo Lamb. Amy is the chairperson of PSEA's Instruction and Professional Development, also known as IPD. Jimbo is the President-Elect of PSEA's Southern Region. Welcome to you both.
Amy Lightner (01:02):
Thank you.
Jimbo Lamb (01:03):
Hi.
Amy Lightner (01:03):
Thank you for having us.
Aaron Chapin (01:05):
Well, it's great to have you with us here on this podcast. We all know how much educators and support professionals make a difference in the lives of our students. In 60 seconds or less, can you tell us about a teacher or staff member back when you went to school who had an impact on your lives and how so? We're going to start with you, Amy.
Amy Lightner (01:27):
Well, there were many educators who had an impact on my life, but I can think of two in particular in high school at Annville-Cleona, Senor Enders and Mrs. Weaver. They both impacted me. Mrs. Weaver encouraged me to go into education. She nominated me for a grant to go into education. And I really feel like she encouraged me. And Senor Enders was just a positive light at that time, teaching Spanish.
Aaron Chapin (01:59):
Awesome. What about you, Jimbo?
Jimbo Lamb (02:01):
Well, before I say mine, I'm going to have to say I'm going to have to let my colleagues know that you said that because, well, Mrs. Weaver is now retired, but Senor is still there at AC, still bringing positivity.
(02:12)
But the biggest impact that I probably had was with my senior year physics teacher. We had just switched over to trimester scheduling at East Pennsboro and we were all trying to figure out how that was going to work. So the teacher, Mr. Seiler, he would actually teach a lesson and then he'd split the class up into two. The one half of the class would go and start working on the lab right away. The other half would come over to the half of the room where I was, and I would reteach the lesson in a way that they could better understand it. And it really helped a lot of the kids get through that class.
(02:43)
And I didn't really realize at first what he was doing with that until I actually sat back and said, "You're actually having me reteach these kids this content." And he's like, "Yeah, you're really good at it. You should think about becoming a teacher." And at that point in time, I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do. So that was really what helped kickstart me heading into the field of education.
Jeff Ney (03:00):
Wow. That's fantastic.
Aaron Chapin (03:01):
I did not know that story.
Rachael West (03:03):
That's really cool.
Aaron Chapin (03:04):
Excellent. Well, we have a little surprise for you both. No, those teachers aren't here.
Jeff Ney (03:08):
That would have been really good.
Aaron Chapin (03:10):
That would been really good. Really good. No. Amy, Jimbo, look, we asked you to come in and answer the questions, so we would have it recorded for our May House of Delegates, and we're going to be using it, but we're going to keep you here a little bit longer. Since you're here, we're going to actually use you for a full-blown podcast. I know Amy is thrilled, Jeff.
Jeff Ney (03:32):
The nerves are just oozing out at this point.
Aaron Chapin (03:34):
Well, thanks for being here and thanks for letting us trick you. It seemed like a good idea at the time. For our listeners, we are very fortunate to work with an amazing group of individuals on our board of directors. It's comprised of leaders from 11 geographic regions across the state. Plus we have our education support professional region, also known as the ESPs, which is a statewide region. But the board is also comprised of different departments and segments of PSEA. It's made up of professional staff, support professionals, we have higher education educators, career and tech educators, special education, administrative staff, healthcare affiliates, students and retirees.
Jeff Ney (04:14):
It's a lot.
Aaron Chapin (04:14):
I know.
Jeff Ney (04:15):
It's a lot.
Aaron Chapin (04:17):
And we've had the pleasure of working with Amy and Jimbo for quite a while now. In fact, I can't even remember a time when all five of us weren't working together on the board of directors. So I'm elated. I know Jeff and Rachel feel the same way, that you both came in today, got tricked by us, and we're going to do a full-blown podcast. So Jeff?
Jeff Ney (04:34):
Yeah. So to help our listeners out, why don't you guys tell us a little bit about where you teach, what you teach, how long you have been teaching, and Jimbo is already ahead of the game, give us a little bit of inspiration of why you became a teacher. How about Amy? We'll start off with you.
Amy Lightner (04:52):
All right. So I am a teacher in the Central Dauphin School District. I am a data and instruction specialist of the old IST model. I currently work at Middle Paxton Elementary in the Harrisburg area, and I've been teaching for 25 years.
Jeff Ney (05:10):
Wow.
Amy Lightner (05:11):
And I can't remember a time where I didn't want to become an educator. My entire family pretty much is educators, and it's just always been the thing I was going to do.
Rachael West (05:20):
And here you are killing it.
Amy Lightner (05:23):
Yeah. And 25 years later I'm still here.
Jeff Ney (05:26):
Continuing the family business. That's always nice. All right, Jimbo, how about you?
Jimbo Lamb (05:31):
All right, well, it's my 21st year out at Annville-Cleona High School where I'm a high school math teacher. We're actually a 7th through 12th building, so I actually teach some eighth graders as well. And my first year teaching, I had some seventh graders that I taught, so I've taught every single grade level. I even picked up a pit course this year, their great start to college course. So I'm teaching some kids and they're getting college credit as they learn how to get ready and prepare for college. But it's a lot of fun out there at Annville-Cleona, but that's out in Lebanon County. It's a little bit further out there.
Jeff Ney (06:03):
Fantastic. And you already gave us a little bit of origin story of where it came. And that continued all the way through from that point forward, it was like education was what you wanted to do?
Jimbo Lamb (06:12):
Yeah, once I knew that that's what was really clicking with me, I went right into it. And I remember when I was out in my one field experience out at Warwick Middle School in Lititz, one of my classmates actually said that they overheard our instructor talking to one of the other teachers out in the hallway saying, "That's the one that's really going to go far in education. He really understands how to get through to kids." And when it got back to me, it made me feel really proud and just really helped drive me even more.
Jeff Ney (06:44):
Fantastic.
Rachael West (06:46):
I have been teaching about the same time in between you guys. And so I know that education has changed a little in the last 20-ish years. So how much do you think has changed in the world of education from your perspective since you started? And since we keep picking on Amy, how about we make Jimbo go first this time?
Jimbo Lamb (07:05):
One of the biggest things is just the use of technology in the classroom. All the kids have a screen in front of them all the time that can be used, so making sure that we're actually using it appropriately and properly is the important thing. Not just saying, "Hey, let's open up, let's go to this thing and do something with it." It's like, well, what's the purpose behind whatever tool you're going to use in that classroom? It's so different than when I started. I remember out at Annville when I started, it was actually completely wireless already with the WiFi and where I student taught at Hempfield, only one small wing, they were just learning how to do that. And then having that contrast between the largest school in Lancaster-Lebanon and then the smallest school, or almost smallest school, seeing that contrast in how different schools were approaching, that was a really big thing. But then that whole idea of what's the purpose behind it is really a huge concept.
Amy Lightner (07:52):
I have to piggyback and say that technology has been a huge change for me. When I started, we had a desktop, and that was it. And we had one or two computers in the classroom for students to use. But the other thing that I feel like has completely changed is I walked in and they handed me manuals and said, "Teach." And you picked up a manual and you taught from a manual. Nowadays, we have curriculum maps that map everything out that the districts guide you, but we also have that nasty four-letter word that's coming up soon, PSSAs. Testing isn't the way it was. It was the SAT 9s or things like that. And now we have these standardized tests that seem to just take over and stress us all out.
Jeff Ney (08:38):
And so we can hear in your voices, we can hear in your answers, the love that you guys have for the classroom that you do. But you guys both also went down the road for union activism. So why don't you give us a little bit of where that all came from and probably one of the best stories you've had as far as your union work is concerned. And Jimbo, we're going to stick with you going first.
Jimbo Lamb (09:01):
Sure. I first got involved after my first year at Annville. Our contract was expiring. Our president sent out an email to all the members saying, "Hey, if you're interested in getting involved in bargaining, let us know." And we knew it was going to be a very difficult bargaining situation that we ended up going on strike. But to prepare for that, we took 12 of our members to Gettysburg that summer, which was 10% of our membership, which was huge. And we went and we really learned how to, not just bargain, but also how to get the community on our side. And the training that we received at the Gettysburg Summer Leadership Conference was just spectacular, which after we were done with our bargaining, I even went back and with my UniServ at the time, Wendy Leary. We actually helped present some of the things that we did to actually help get the community on our side through coffee-clatching and reaching out.
(09:51)
And the biggest thing for me through that whole situation, though, was I started out as a non-tenured teacher when I was on our negotiations committee. So I was doing everything behind the scenes, and by the time we went on strike, I was tenured. So it came down to the point where our president at the time was a very fiery guy, and Amy's laughing because she knows who he is. But we weren't really comfortable with putting him in front of all the microphones and the cameras and doing all the speaking about things. And people looked at me and they said, "You really know what's going on because we're giving you all this information that happens at the table. You're putting these new newsletters together, getting it out to our members. Would you be willing to be our media spokesperson while we go on strike?" So it was my fourth year teaching, and here I am doing all this communication for our union and for our members saying, "This is what we're fighting for, why we're fighting for it." And that's really what really kickstarted my union involvement.
Jeff Ney (10:45):
And before we go to Amy, just for our listeners, our Gettysburg is a week-long training to give you access to a whole bunch of different areas as far as union work goes. And if you're interested in learning more about Gettysburg, contact your UniServ, and they'll be able to point you in the right direction. Amy, how about you? How about your union work?
Amy Lightner (11:02):
Well, like Jimbo, my second year of teaching, we went out on strike. And everybody said, "You can't walk the picket lines. You can't do that." But I found other ways to get involved. And then I did end up walking the picket lines, but I helped deliver newsletters so that our members knew what was going on, or water or food or I answered phone calls. And it was very powerful because we as a union stood together for what we felt was right. So from then on, I just stayed involved, became a building rep. And then one of our UniServs said, "You need to get involved." He wasn't a UniServ then, Jeff Granaway. As I always say, "You're the reason I'm involved." He saw something me and he said, "You need to get involved." And he said, "Here's where you do it." And he got me hooked up in IPD, and I've been there ever since. And so every time I see him, I say, "It's your fault."
Rachael West (12:07):
I think we all have that person. We could be like, "You are the reason that I go to way more than one meeting a month," which is how they always hook you. I feel like that's what they always say. You have been involved in lots of different levels of PSEA, and you see and hear just about everything going on in our schools and with our members. What's the greatest challenge you see out there and what do you think PSEA needs to do to try to help fix the issue?
Amy Lightner (12:31):
The greatest challenge right now is keeping our staff and the mental health of our staff. And it's not just the educators. It's the support staff, it's the custodians, the bus drivers, it's everyone involved. It's hard and we don't have enough people. And I'm not sure what the answer is, and I know PSEA is working to try and find those answers, but we need to keep our staff.
Jimbo Lamb (13:01):
The biggest thing that I'm looking at is member involvement. A lot of times you hear members saying, "What is the union doing for me?" And they don't realize that they are the union. They'll come to us and complain about certain things happening. It's like, "Well, have you reached out to your legislator and actually talked to them about what's happening in your classroom?" So that way when they're making the decisions here in Harrisburg, they can actually make decisions with what's actually happening in the classroom in mind. I know I sit down and talk with my legislators all the time. I actually saw one out on the street on my way here, and we had a short little conversation as I was coming here. And those are the important things that matter, that they recognize you, they're willing to come up to you and vice versa and say, "Hey, what can I do for you?"
Jeff Ney (13:41):
We say a lot of times to our members, Rachel, Aaron and I go across the street and we talk to legislators, but it's the rank and file that are in the classroom, that are driving the buses, that are in our cafeterias in our offices, they really do. If they reach out to the legislators, it does, it makes a huge impact on what they think.
Aaron Chapin (13:57):
Well, yeah, I was the lieutenant governor today, and I said exactly what Amy was talking about, and mouths were dropped in the room. It's like they hadn't heard it before. But as we go around the state, I think those are the top two things we're also hearing as well as we pop in from meeting to meeting, gathering to gathering. It is. It's staffing, and it's getting everybody involved because everybody's busy. It's tough. So what motivates you? When you wake up in the morning, because the union work on top of your day job, it's a lot, it's overwhelming. How do you wake up? What motivates you to wake up every day and just keep doing what you're doing for our members? We'll start with Jimbo. What does it do? What does it take?
Jimbo Lamb (14:48):
The biggest thing is just the whole idea behind what the strength behind public education is. It builds every profession. It builds everything that makes our country great. And the fact that I can go out there and I can actually make a connection with a kid and help them understand this really complex, abstract idea in math, and they're going to struggle with it at first, they're going to think it's impossible. And then all of a sudden when it clicks and you get that look on their face, that's what drives me to get back in that classroom every day. Because when those kids have those aha moments, that is what gets you and pushes you to keep going forward.
Jeff Ney (15:22):
Nothing beats the feeling an educator gets when that light bulb comes on, because we can see it. Yeah, I gotcha.
Rachael West (15:27):
I remember that moment where you see the kid, and I taught math as well, and there's always that transition of middle school and high school math, where kids look at you like you're speaking a whole other language. You're completely abstract, and when they see it, that's such a good feeling.
Amy Lightner (15:45):
And that's why I love the primary kiddos because when they have that aha moment, it is the best thing in the world. I love my struggling students and the ones that push your buttons and you want to take them home. So I have several kids that come to mind that I go to work for every day because I can make a difference for them. I can be the one that gives them that hug that day, the one that says something positive and that they know that I'm caring about them.
Aaron Chapin (16:22):
I love what you're saying about your kids, but what about for the members? How do you keep going, doing what you're doing for the members?
Rachael West (16:28):
Staying after work and working after hours.
Aaron Chapin (16:31):
Because it's a lot of hours. It's a lot of hours, especially sometimes it's weekends that are gone.
Jimbo Lamb (16:35):
Well, it's so important because we need people to advocate just like we need people to advocate for education and advocate for students. We need to advocate for our members, make sure that they're getting what they need so that they don't have to necessarily give up that same amount of time. When a member comes up and says, "Hey, thank you for taking up this weekend and giving your time for this away from your family, so that way I can make sure I can focus on mine." That is a huge thing because not everyone else is willing or necessarily able to step up and say, "I'm going to go in there and I'm going to fight for this now," because there's other things that are at stake for them. Amy?
Amy Lightner (17:11):
I was going to say my council is what energizes me. When I have one of my meetings and I'm with the members and we're having conversations like we are right now, I leave energized. And I want to go back, and I want to do more, and I want to advocate for my council and all their members that they're representing.
Jeff Ney (17:30):
And that's one of the things you actually have coming up very soon. You have a whole committee weekend with all of your people that are coming here into Harrisburg and talking about the issues of the day and trying to move that needle forward.
Rachael West (17:41):
Well, you both have talked a little bit about what motivates you. What is a moment that you're really proud of, something that you've done for the association?
Amy Lightner (17:54):
That's a hard one.
Rachael West (17:55):
You do a lot, so it's probably hard to pick.
Jeff Ney (17:57):
We've had conversations like that in some of our other podcasts because one of the challenges that I think a lot of educators have is turning that light back on themselves, because what you two are doing is absolutely amazing. So you've got to be able to think back and say, "Oh, there's got to be something that, man, I'm really glad we did this."
Jimbo Lamb (18:16):
The biggest thing I think for me is I know a lot of people have told me that I have an ability to help other people see their leadership capabilities in them. And being able to go up and talk to someone saying, "Hey, I see this in your future. You may not want it now. You may not be thinking about it, but I see it." And by being able to shine that light for them, they're going to be able to see the path. And that's one of the things, when we're at events, I am constantly hopping around the room talking to different people because they need to know that we're recognizing what they're doing. And that's, I think, one of my big strengths with helping out our members.
Amy Lightner (18:53):
I have to go back to the council at IPD. I feel like since I've taken over, we've continually moved forward, and we've done amazing things, but we've really worked hard to promote the Innovative Teaching Grant. We've worked hard to promote the Pennsylvania NEA Teacher of the Year for the Horace Mann Grant. So we've tried to take steps to recognize our members who are amazing educators, and we have a lot of them out there.
Aaron Chapin (19:25):
And I'll say it. We've seen you both in your different roles. You have various roles, you wear different hats in the union. I know I've watched you both are just excellent leaders, and you do. It's all about bringing that next group of people up to take over, and everybody looks to you as the leaders that you are, and we're just super proud of you.
Jeff Ney (19:47):
Well, and not only that, and I'm sure I'm speaking for Aaron and Rachel, we appreciate the work that you guys are doing back in the region because obviously we're going to try to do everything we can, but the region level and your department level really need those leaders as well. And without the people like you leading that charge, we're just dead in the water.
Aaron Chapin (20:07):
Well, Jeff, guess what?
Jeff Ney (20:09):
Is it pop quiz time?
Aaron Chapin (20:09):
It is pop quiz time.
Jeff Ney (20:11):
Yes.
Aaron Chapin (20:12):
Hit it, Jeff.
Jeff Ney (20:13):
So even though everything you guys have said really accentuates the fact that you need to be in the classroom, you need to be educators. But if you weren't educators, if you had to pick another role to do in life, what do you think you'd be doing rather than in education? Jimbo? Oh no, Amy is ready. Amy, go for it.
Amy Lightner (20:36):
Well, this is a little on the humorous side, but I just found out that there are pillow fighting championships.
Rachael West (20:45):
Oh my goodness. It's a real thing?
Amy Lightner (20:52):
Yeah. And it was on the Ocho.
Jeff Ney (20:52):
Oh, Ocho.
Amy Lightner (20:53):
So yeah, you can pillow fight and win $5,000.
Jeff Ney (20:56):
So you believe you would be a professional pillow fighter?
Amy Lightner (21:00):
On Saturday when I saw this, it looked pretty enticing.
Jeff Ney (21:05):
Wow.
Amy Lightner (21:06):
I don't know.
Jeff Ney (21:07):
That's not where I was going.
Rachael West (21:08):
I have homework now. I am going to need to look this up.
Jeff Ney (21:11):
We're going to put that one under the category don't quit your day job then. How about you, Jimbo?
Jimbo Lamb (21:16):
Well, I always had two things in mind. One, I did do radio when I was in college. We had a college radio show, so I was on that for a couple of years. I was like, "Well, if I can make a living in this, I could imagine myself doing this." But at the same time, seeing what commercial radio is like, where they're always saying, "Hey, play this music rather than choose your own," because in college we got to choose our own. So it was like, "That's not really for me." But the other thing that I've always thought about is working in a national park, which I've talked about. When I retire, maybe I'll go do that as a retirement job, move away, go live near one of the national parks and just enjoy being out there, helping people out and sharing the information about the area.
Aaron Chapin (21:54):
Rachel, what about you?
Rachael West (21:57):
Obviously, I would be a rock star. I'd be out singing somewhere. I don't play an instrument that's useful in a band.
Jeff Ney (22:05):
But you sing very, very well.
Rachael West (22:07):
I could play the triangle while I sing. There we go.
Aaron Chapin (22:10):
Jeff?
Jeff Ney (22:11):
My first career actually was a plumber. I had my plumber's apprenticeship card. I was ready to go with that. But you know what, a couple too many winters underneath trailers fixing busted pipes, education was absolutely calling me. How about you?
Aaron Chapin (22:28):
I'm good at nothing else. I'm glad I discovered I could be a teacher because it would have been a very bleak, bleak life. When I retire in a few years, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to be doing because I'm not good at anything else.
Rachael West (22:45):
He's going to be a stay-at-home dog dad.
Jeff Ney (22:49):
Doggy daycare.
Aaron Chapin (22:49):
Poor Parker. Well, unfortunately, that is it.
Jeff Ney (22:53):
No.
Aaron Chapin (22:54):
I know. That's it. We're all out of time.
Jeff Ney (22:55):
Come on.
Aaron Chapin (22:55):
And it's been fantastic. Our guests have been Amy Leitner and Jimbo Lamb, and I can't tell you what an absolute pleasure it was having you in the chat with. It's great to have close friends in here, and we learned a little bit about you today. Stuff I did not know. So I know I can speak for my partners when I say I'm grateful you're part of our union family, so thank you for joining us today.
Jimbo Lamb (23:19):
Yeah, it's my pleasure. Thank you.
Aaron Chapin (23:21):
And thanks again to all of our listeners for tuning in. Do you have any feedback for us? Maybe you got a question, comment. Maybe you really just want advice from Rachel because-
Jeff Ney (23:30):
Oh really?
Aaron Chapin (23:30):
... Jeff doesn't seem to really be getting any questions.
Jeff Ney (23:33):
I'm not getting questions.
Aaron Chapin (23:33):
So if you want some advice, I know Rachel, she's always willing to give advice, you got to send an email to podcast@psea.org. That's it for today. I'm Aaron Chapin.
Jeff Ney (23:44):
And I'm Jeff Ney.
Rachael West (23:45):
And I'm Rachael West.
Aaron Chapin (23:46):
And you've been listening to Duty Free Lunch. Bye for now.
Voiceover (23:52):
You've been listening to Duty Free Lunch with the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Visit psea.org/podcast to learn more, and don't forget to subscribe and share. Paid for by the Pennsylvania State Education Association.