- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by The New Jersey Education Association.

NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

Holy Name.

Rowan University.

Proudly serving New Jersey for 100 years.

Investors Foundation.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

PSEG Foundation.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Working for a more a healthier, more equitable New Jersey.

And by NJM Insurance Group.

Serving New Jersey’s drivers, homeowners and business owners for more than 100 years.

Promotional support provided by Northjersey.com and Local IQ.

Part of the USA Today Network.

And by BestofNJ.com.

All New Jersey in one place.

- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The way we change Presidents in this country is by voting.

- A quartet is already a jawn, it’s just The New Jawn.

- January 6th was not some sort of violent, crazy outlier.

- I don't care how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always something to learn.

- I mean what other country sends comedians over to embedded military to make them feel better.

- People call me 'cause they feel nobody's paying attention.

-_ It’s not all about memorizing and getting information, it’s what you do with that information.

- (slowly) Start talking right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato with my co-host and colleague, Jacqui Tricarico.

Jacqui, it says in your chyron, when you're on the air, Special Correspondent, One-on-One.

Jacqui's got eight different titles.

She's the Executive Producer of "Think Tank."

She's the Executive Producer and Co-anchor of "Remember Them."

And a special correspondent, One-on-One.

Tell folks what you were doing as a special correspondent at the New Jersey Education Association Convention, in Atlantic City, and what that has to do with LaShawn Arrington.

- Yes, we were both down there at the NJEA Convention this year, talking to so many different people, educators, keynote speakers, all types of people that we got a chance to connect with.

And LaShawn was one of those folks.

She is a part of this New Jersey labor management collaboration.

I said, "That's a mouthful," you know, I really wanted her to get into it.

She does a great job explaining it.

And what the essence of it really is, is all about equal power between everybody that's under the branch of education, right?

So those are our support professionals, our support staff, our educators, the principals, the vice principals, just everybody having a voice and feeling like they have a chance to have their voice heard.

So she's been working really hard.

It's this whole five year plan that she's doing with the New Jersey Education Association and New Jersey's public schools to really get everybody on board to be a lot more collaborative in our approach- - Hold on, Jacqui, the assumption is that collaboration, I'm not gonna say it's not the norm, but that it's very hard and that people have to be taught, coached to collaborate.

- Yep, and that's the work that she's doing along with several others on this team.

And they're seeing that implemented in so many ways already.

And that's not only just going to help with how they are educating the students and the students' experience within the schools, but also with staff retention and keeping our teachers in the classrooms.

We've seen teacher shortage firsthand here in New Jersey, and we've seen it all over the country.

And it's just so important to support our teachers and everybody else in the school districts to continue to do the great work that they're doing.

'Cause we need them, parents need them, our students, our kids need them, and we need to make sure that they're feeling heard and feeling appreciated, and this is one way that we can do it.

- Do you know what's so interesting, Jacqui?

When we talk about collaboration, and LaShawn is with the National Education Association, as you said, she's a fellow at the Labor Management Collaboration.

So the word collaboration, I'm not gonna get on this whole big thing about collaboration, but easier said than done.

Like on paper you could say, we really need to collaborate, we need to share ideas, we need to listen to each other, we need to support each other, but because we have, I'm not gonna get on a whole thing about our team, but we have no choice but to collaborate with each other because we're too small, or any school or whatever, to say, "No, I'm just gonna do my job.

I don't need to collaborate, I'm just gonna do my job."

That doesn't work, does it?

- No, it doesn't, and so many different aspects and so many other different careers, and you know, LaShawn too, you can see her commitment to this and her passion for this, and it stems back too, and she talks a little bit about it in her interview, she has a vast variety of background here.

And part of that is being in the Peace Corps and seeing education in other countries.

And you know, sometimes I think we take it for granted here, that education is so important to us in our country, and everybody has access to it, and that's not the case in so many other countries, and she's seen that firsthand and that helps drive her to continue to do this work.

- You know finally, as we go to this interview between Jacqui and LaShawn Arrington, the expression, "It takes a village," some people mock it.

It's true, especially when it comes to education.

It takes a village and it takes collaboration.

Let's check out another terrific interview led by Jacqui Tricarico.

- Hi, I'm Jackie Tricarico, on location at the New Jersey Education Association Convention here in Atlantic City.

And I'm so thrilled now to be joined by LeShaun Arrington.

She's the National Education Association Fellow, at the Labor Management Collaboration.

A little bit of a mouthful, LeShaun.

It's a lot going on, yeah.

- Well we're gonna get into that.

Because the Labor Management Collaboration.

Describe first for us, what is that, and what is the goal of that collaboration?

- Okay.

The Labor Management Collaboration is when stakeholders, all of the stakeholders in a school setting work together.

You have the administrators, you have the staff, you have the school board, you have the community, you have the supervisors, we all work together as opposed to working separately.

We have shared purpose.

There's also shared decision making.

There's also joint problem solving.

So you work together, because we all have different perspectives.

Like a custodian's perspective is different from a superintendent's perspective, different from school board perspective.

But when you put 'em all together, that provides the best educational opportunity for our students to have all those voices together.

- For the students, like you said, for the educators.

And when we're talking about coming together, that includes some advocacy groups, including the NJEA too, them working together instead of in silos.

Talk about how you've seen that collaboration unfold, and what have been some of the, you know, most interesting, important things that have come out of that, especially when it comes to the kids in the classroom?

- Okay.

I'm very excited because New Jersey and California are the only two states where it's on a state level.

California has it within the Department of Education, but in New Jersey we have the four education advocacy groups.

So I'm gonna say real quick, it's the N-J-A-S-A, which is the superintendents.

We have N-J-P-S-A, which are the Principals Supervisors Association.

You have N-J-E-A, which is the Education Association, and you have N-J-S-B-A, which is a School Board Association.

So you have all of us coming together for this work, for this work to work.

- And, so seeing all those come together, and this is part of a five year plan, right?

So it's been going on a couple years now.

We're in the third year of this roll-out plan.

- [LeShaun] Mm-hmm.

- Tell us some of the things that you've seen firsthand happen in the classroom, and within our school district.

- The thing that I've seen are members on all of those, their voice being empowered.

Because a lot of times people think that their voices are not being heard.

So actually seeing the things that members from all different groups put into the space, and seeing that they're being act upon, that they're improving student's score, they're improving, they're increasing staff retention.

Because when the staff feels that their voice is being heard, it makes them wanna participate more, it makes them happy to be there.

And also, I've noticed from the administrator side, they don't feel like they're alone in this.

They feel like they have other people that help them with solutions.

And from the student side, because you have all those voices inputting, their level of education is improving, because everyone is doing the best that they can, or everyone is contributing for their education.

- And you talk about teacher retention, right, and we have- - Well staff.

It's not only teachers.

- Right.

There's so many layers.

- It's staff retention as well.

- Yeah.

And we're seeing a shortage in a lot of different areas when it comes to our schools.

How do you see this collaboration pin-pointing that as one of the areas that it really needs to focus on, and staff retention, and just getting more teachers, educational support staff in the classroom and in our schools that we need.

- Okay.

Part of the reason staff retention goes, is low, is because educators don't feel valued.

Right?

- Yeah.

- They feel like their voices are not being heard.

So this brings them into the problem solving process.

It's not someone is dictating them, and telling them what to do.

Because with the collaboration, everyone has a equal voice.

Everyone has equal power.

So it's not a hierarchy.

So if I'm in a school building and, I have people who think they have power over me, then I might not feel comfortable to stay.

- Right.

- But if I'm there, and I know I have equal power, like my power is the same as the superintendent, the same as the principal, I'm a custodian, like I know we have that equal power, and I know my voice is being heard.

So that, and it's not only those people, it's everyone's that's a part of it.

So that helps.

- Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

So tell me too about your background, and kind of what led you to this new role.

You were an educator 25 years, ESL in New Brunswick shool district.

You've traveled the world, you've seen education in a different light in places like West Africa, Haiti.

How has all of that really shaped who you are today, the educator, the, and this this new position for you?

- Well, the Peace Corps, I was a Peace Corps volunteer.

I can go on forever for that, but I won't.

But I will say, when I first became a Peace Corps volunteer, I was, I don't wanna say a typical American, I didn't really realize the value of education, until I lived in other countries where education wasn't free.

Like it wasn't, you're right.

And that- - Especially for women in a lot of places, girls, little girls.

- For any, yeah.

So it really showed me how important, like I say that, in some of these places, education is a luxury, and for here we take it for granted.

And so that is what made me wanna go into education.

Because it's so, it's so, I don't know what to say other than "It's so."

Because without education, and I don't even wanna get into the politics of how people are trying to take education away.

- Yes.

Yeah.

(laughs) - So education is the number one key.

Because without education, you have nothing.

That is the only thing someone can take away from you.

They could take away your money, they could take your this, they could, but they can never take your education.

And with your education, the sky's the limit.

And I will briefly talk about how I got into labor management.

So that brought me to ESL, because I had to learn different languages when I went to other countries.

And I realized how important it was to know the language of your country.

So that is why I taught ESL.

The reason I got into labor management collaboration, and it's even crazy that I'm even sitting here telling you this story, because one thing I'll back-track a little bit was labor management collaboration is not a us against them thing, it's a we thing.

- Yeah.

- And so- - We need a lot more we things in our country.

- Exactly.

It's not the administration, it's a we.

And we are here for the students.

So I was the biggest us against them person, until I went to a conference, and we talked about the staff retention, and previous student grades, and interacting with different people that were already in the collaboration.

And seeing that at the end of the conference, all of New Brunswick was sitting shoulder to shoulder in a circle.

Because when we first went to that conference, the administrators was at one table, we were at the other table.

- Okay.

Yeah.

- We didn't even talk to each other.

- Just the way people were sitting, and being presented- - We weren't talking.

- Shifted and changed.

- Exactly.

But once we attended, and we saw how, we sat together and we said, "We're gonna make this work."

And it's like night and day.

Because, I will use this.

When I was association president, before labor management, you would go into a meeting with administration, and you're just tense.

You're just...

But after it, because you have that common language, you have that common goal, you have that shared purpose, you shared decision making, joint problem solving, there's no more tension, because you know you're going in there to achieve something, to get something done.

You have your perspective, I have my perspective, they have their perspective.

Let's put it all together, and let's get it done.

As opposed to, "This is my way, this is your way."

We're not gonna see each other.

- And making sure that that's reflected in the leadership as well.

Yeah.

It is a we, but the leadership presenting that in that way to make sure that everybody does feel like they can be heard, they can- - Exactly.

- Voice their concerns, their opinions, their ideas.

- And you have to make it safe.

It has to make it safe, psychologically safe.

Because a lot of people are nervous about expressing their feelings.

So it- - Especially in today's educational climate.

- And it takes a while.

It takes a while to build trust.

I saw a study that show it takes seven acts of you saying you're gonna do something and you do it.

- Yeah.

- Before you even begin to trust.

And that's the biggest thing with Labor Management Collaboration, because we're so used to "my way, your way," it takes a while to build that trust.

But once you build that trust it, it's just phenomenal.

And it, the thing is it doesn't happen overnight.

- Yeah.

It's part of this whole plan that's, that you're helping to make sure it gets done, gets done right.

Thank you so much for telling us a little bit about what you're doing, to make sure that our teachers, our educators, our staff in all of our public schools, as well as the children, the most important part, - Thank you.

- Are being taken care of.

And we're doing the best that we can as a- - Thank you.

- As a we.

(laughing) - It's a we thing.

- It's a we thing.

- It's a we thing.

- I like that.

- Yes.

Yes.

Definitely.

- Thank you so much, LeShaun.

- Thank you so much for having me, Jacqui.

I appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- [Narrator] To see more One on One with Steve Adubato programs, visit us online at stateofaffairsnj.org.

If you would like to express an opinion, email us at info@caucusnj.org.

Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/steveadubatophd and follow us on Twitter @steveadubato.

We continue talking with and to whole range of folks who are in Atlantic City for the New Jersey Education Association Convention.

Jacqui, this interview with Trina Jenkins, tell everyone who Trina is 'cause you did this interview.

- She's the ESP of the year, and ESP stands for Educational Support Professionals, which again, okay, who are those people, right?

And they are the glue that holds our school communities together.

They're anybody from the school custodians, to the bus drivers, to the technical workers, the para-educators, the health and student service workers, like our nurses, there's such a big team.

Of course, our educators, the teachers in the classroom are so important, but there's this bigger, larger team within the school.

They're the glue that holds the school together, like Trina likes to say.

So she was surprised that she found out she was- - Oh, she was?

- Yeah, yeah.

She talks about it in the interview a little bit, getting the call from Sean Spiller, the NJEA President, that she was the Educational Support Professional of the year.

And she takes that very seriously to continue to make sure that ESPs all over the state have a voice.

And you know, we're talking about 2.2 million ESPs work in our nation's public schools and colleges right now.

- 2.2 million?

- Yes, (chuckles) that is a large number of people that we're talking about, right?

And I've even read too that more than three out of five support professionals are giving money out of their own pockets to help students with things like classroom materials, and field trips, and class projects.

These are people that are just so invested in our children in so many different ways, and Trina's one of those, and you get to hear a little bit about her and her story up next.

- They're unsung heroes, if you will.

Let me ask you this.

When I was watching this interview, one of the things that struck me is Trina's passion for what she does.

She cares deeply about these kids and about education.

Someone says, "Well, she's not a teacher, she's not an educator," but she is an educator, and she's part of the larger ecosystem that makes a difference for our kids.

Anyway, it just struck me, her passion and her enthusiasm for what she does.

All right, so that's it, I'm off my soapbox again.

Trina Jenkins, Jacqui Tricarico, all the way from Atlantic City at the New Jersey Education Association Convention, talking to the 2023 NJEA educational support professional.

That is Trina Jenkins, check it out.

- Hi, I am Jacqui Tricarico, on location at the New Jersey Education Association's annual convention here in Atlantic City, and I'm so pleased to be joined by Trina Jenkins, who is the 2023 NJEA ESP of the Year.

- Yes.

- Okay, ESP.

A lot of people hear that and they're like, "What is an ESP?"

Educational Support Professional.

Describe that role.

And you have talked about ESPs as the unsung heroes in our classroom.

- Yes, yes, yes.

- Describe it for us.

- So, ESP, as you said, is a Educational Support Professional.

We are the unsung hero, and there are many titles that fall under ESP.

I'm a paraprofessional.

I work paraprofessional.

People are more familiar with the term teacher's assistant, but we are paraprofessionals.

We also have secretaries, bus drivers, lunch aides, bus aides, maintenance, custodial.

All of those fall under ESP, and we are the glue that holds everything together.

- Yeah, so I have a family member who is an ESP as well, and I know they're in the classroom, they're with the children, they're supporting the teachers, supporting the children in so many different ways.

What led you into this career for you?

- I've sort of been a advocate for students and children all my life.

I used to be a summer camp director, and I've always clung to the child that maybe wasn't noticed, and I just stepped in, wanted to advocate for them, just make them know that they're worthy, feel their worth, and just feel supported by adults.

And there was an ad in the paper for, it was called AmeriCorps.

It was through the AmeriCorps program, where you could be a teacher's assistant, and I applied for it.

I thought it was just a quick little thing to help me with my college tuition, but I grew to love the profession, and I've been doing it ever since, and it's been 24 years.

- 24 years.

Those 24 years in Pleasantville School District, correct?

- Yes, yes.

- And a lot of the times, are you working with special needs children as well?

- Yes, I work in a multiple disabled classroom setting now, predominantly autism students, kindergarten to second grade.

And, throughout my career, I've worked mostly with autistic children.

- Talk about how that has even shifted more for you working with that population of our children who are just incredible, but learning different.

- Right.

- Especially given...

I know that you have two grandchildren who are on the spectrum as well.

- That's right, correct.

- Talk about how that's changed a little bit about how you're working with those children.

- I believe that me working with autistic children kind of prepared me as a grandmother for the autistic grandchildren that I have, but I just love autistic children or children that's on the spectrum, 'cause they're very unique, they're very smart, bright in their own rights.

They just think different.

And if you get to understand them, you can get so much accomplished with children that are on the spectrum, and I just love what I do, yeah.

- It comes off.

You can tell how much you love what you do, and I'm sure that's one of the reasons, one of the many reasons why you were selected as ESP of the Year.

Talk about finding out about that, being the ESP of the year.

How did you find out?

'Cause I know they like to surprise you.

(laughs) - They like to surprise you.

So, almost a year ago today, I was here prepared for the convention because I'm a delegate assembly member.

So, it was a long day, I was kinda tired, so I did some things that I needed to do for the convention, and then I went to my room, put my hair bonnet on, and one of my ESP committee chairpersons called me FaceTime, and I'm thinking, "Why is she calling me FaceTime?

It must be an emergency, so let me answer."

I answer, it's Sean Spiller.

- Yeah.

- Joanne.

And here I am with the bonnet.

And Sean is- - Sean Spiller, the President of NJEA.

- The President of NJEA.

- Yeah.

- Hysterical.

So, that's when they told me that I was nominated... 'Cause I was selected as the county ESP.

And then I was- - Yes, that's the next level.

- Yes, for the state.

And that's how I was laying in my room when I found out.

And then, of course got up, and had to go celebrate.

- That's awesome.

- Yes.

- So as the ESP, what does that title mean?

What have you been doing over the last year to advocate even more than you already do for the ESPs?

- Well, it's mainly advocating.

Some counties they might ask me to come and talk to their members.

Just member engagement, just encouraging them, and knowing that we are worthy, the education system can't survive without ESPs, you know?

So, I just go around whenever invited to speak to different ESPs and just encourage them, and I just represent for New Jersey.

- That's wonderful.

And, another thing you're doing for New Jersey, Governor Murphy reached out to... You are part of the special task force to really attack this teacher shortage.

ESP, staff shortage in general in our public schools.

What does that role look like for you?

- It was very intriguing, because I was the only ESP there, so I was the voice, and I just really drove home some of the issues, like we need job justice, like some ESPs, we don't have tenure, we need tenure, so I was advocating for that.

And, just the different things that we need, so my voice was really strong.

It was such an honor to be a part of that task force.

And, yeah, it was- - Well, what is for you the rest of your career look like in our public schools?

What do you see the next couple years looking like for you?

- I'm just gonna continue to advocate.

I would love one day to be a part of the exec team representing ESP, because I don't believe we have a ESP on the exec level.

But I just wanna continue to advocate, do what I love, helping other ESPs just know their worth and that they're important, and the school system just can't survive without us, so I just wanna keep advocating and encouraging as much as possible.

- The glue, like you said, the unsung heroes that are holding our classrooms, our schools together.

ESPs, so many staff, support staff within our school districts that are really... We owe so much to.

- That's right.

- And thank you for bringing a voice to that, Trina.

- Of course.

- It's so great to speak with you.

Thank you.

- Thank you for having me.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by The New Jersey Education Association.

NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

Holy Name.

Rowan University.

Investors Foundation.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

PSEG Foundation.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

And by NJM Insurance Group.

Promotional support provided by Northjersey.com and Local IQ.

And by BestofNJ.com.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- (Narrator) New Jersey is home to the best public schools in the nation, and that didn't happen by accident.

It's the result of parents, educators and communities working together year after year to give our students a world class education.

No matter the challenge, because parents and educators know that with a shared commitment to our public schools, our children can learn, grow and thrive.

And together, we can keep New Jersey's public schools the best in the nation.