Not many school superintendents have worked as a classroom paraprofessional or driven a busload of students for a couple of hours on school field trips. But that's exactly how the new top administrator of the Provo (Utah) City School District started a career that has now spanned 23 years in the same district.

Patti Harrington took over in July as head of the 13,200-student district after five years as assistant superintendent for curriculum. Her first job in the Provo schools was as a classroom paraprofessional, which she did for two years. One of her duties also included driving the bus on field trips. She went on to hold a number of teaching and administrative positions before being selected for the top job.

"I think I'm a better administrator for having been in those positions," Harrington comments, because it helps her understand the challenges of the various jobs. She calls paraprofessionals "the heart and soul and lifeblood of the district. They really get the chance to work with the kids who are most in need of help."

Even when she went on to become a teacher, Harrington taught for years in special education settings, usually alongside a para. "They were my right-hand people when I was a teacher," she says.

And while her bus driving experience was relatively limited, Harrington says she quickly learned the importance of safety when she was out on the road. "You really do get a feeling for why it's so important that bus drivers as a group are treated professionally and listened to as professionals."

Harrington hopes that her diverse background and her long tenure in the same district--which have helped her develop strong relationships with the whole range of school staff--will serve her well as she juggles all the demands of the superintendency.

Custodians keep things clean inside and out
Missouri local adopts a highway and collects years of trash

Greg Gibson knows cleaning. As a long-time custodian in Missouri and president of the AFT-affiliated Winfield Partners in Education union, Gibson figured he and some of his fellow custodians could put their cleaning skills to work outside the building.

First, the union went through the Missouri Department of Transportation process of adopting a highway. We've all seen the signs in different states indicating which group has adopted a specific section of the road. In Winfield, the two-mile stretch near the intersection of highways 79 and 47--which passes right in front of the district's new high school--"belongs" to the Winfield Partners in Education. In practice, that means that at least four times a year members of the union (and anyone else they can recruit) agree to pick up trash along that section of the highway.

"We figured that we clean inside the schools, so we might as well clean up in front of the high school, too," Gibson says. When the first crew of union members actually got out on the highway with their big roll of state-supplied trash bags, they discovered that littering is alive and well in rural America. Five hours and 50 full bags later, they had finished about three-quarters of their two-mile section. Gibson says they'll finish the final half-mile soon.

"After being out there for so long, it will make you think before you litter," he comments. "It seemed like a lot longer than five hours."

The first pick-up session should be the worst because parts of the highway have probably never been cleaned, as indicated by the advanced age of some of the trash, Gibson says, noting that cans and bottles were the main items. The group did come across three road kills--which they obviously aren't expected to collect--although Gibson did pick up a flattened turtle. After it started to stink up the bag, he had second thoughts.

With only 14 members, the tiny Winfield local has limited capacity to recruit volunteers. "When we first brought this to members' attention, they were very gung-ho. Then, all of a sudden, they have something to do" on pick-up day, he says with a chuckle. But the local is getting good visibility with the highway sign, which the highway department puts up for each "adopter" group. Many in the community don't even know about the union, so it helps heighten public awareness, Gibson says.