INTERVIEW WITH STEPHANIE POWERS.

INTERVIEW WITH STEPHANIE POWERS. Last July July:see month. Stephanie Powers Stephanie Judith Power (b. 19 April, 1957 in Trinidad & Tobago) is a West Indies cricketer. She has played one Women's Test Match and 34 Women's One-Day Internationals for the West Indies in the 1993 Women's Cricket World Cup, 1997 Women's Cricket World Cup and the 2005 Women's took over as director of the NationalSchool-to-Work Office. Originally from Keene Keene,city (1990 pop. 22,430), seat of Cheshire co., SW N.H., on the Ashuelot River; settled 1736, inc. as a city 1873. It is a trade and manufacturing center in a farming and resort area. , N.H., Powers previouslywas director of communications Director of Communications is a position in the private and public sectors. The Director of Communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. and public affairs Those public information, command information, and community relations activities directed toward both the external and internal publics with interest in the Department of Defense. Also called PA. See also command information; community relations; public information. [or the LaborDepartment's Employment and Training Administration. In aninterview with Techniques Contributing Editor A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. Matthew Matthewone of the twelve disciples. [N.T.: Matthew]See : Evangelism Dembicki, Powersshared her thoughts on the future of school-to-work and her plans asdirector. What new direction will you bring to the National School-to-WorkOffice? Do you have a different style than JD Hoye, the former director? What I bring that might be a little bit different, and probablyappropriate for what I would consider to be the next phase ofschool-to-work implementation, is an understanding of how the systemlooks [now]. I have the advantage now of looking across the country andbuilding onto something that has been put into place, a good foundation.It's it's?1. Contraction of it is.2. Contraction of it has. See Usage Note at its.it'sit is or it hasit'sbe ~have going to be another kind of fun. JD had fun doing what shedid. She really enjoyed that, she thrived on getting the system started.I'm I'm?Contraction of I am.Our Living Language Speakers of some scattered varieties of American English sometimes use I'm instead of I've or I have in present perfect constructions, as in looking forward to now taking the system to the next step, andthat is for sustainability, for going deeper on quality andeffectiveness. We have the building blocks in place and now it'stime It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to do some real hard work. You've worked a lot with various school-to-work projects forstudents with severe disabilities and for special education systems. Doyou think the school-to-work once, states and localities have doneenough for students with disabilities? People who are committed to making sure that students with severedisabilities are included in school-to-work opportunities are workinghard at it, like they have been for years, trying to developopportunities and mainstream education for kids. I wouldn't expectit to be a whole lot different. The school-to-work approach is somethingthat works very well for kids with disabilities. I've had thatpersonal experience, and I think that special education teachers workinghand-in-glove with regular education teachers is the key for successfultransitions for kids with disabilities to further education afterschool--which is becoming more expected than it was years ago--as wellas to employment opportunities. I think we have a way to go on that. What's the plan for the national once when the School-to-WorkOpportunities Act expires? Is it going, to continue in some fashion oris it just going to fold? I wouldn't be able at this point to draw that picture yet.What I do know is that [the Labor and Education] departments are veryanxious for school-to-work implementation to be successful. BothSecretary [Alexis] Herman and Secretary [Richard] Riley are verysupportive and very concerned about the sustainability of school-to-workand are willing to use their resources the best way that we know how tohelp the states sustain school-to-work at the state and local level. Allof our efforts will really be focused on that over the next couple ofyears. I think that will help us sort out what the long-term Long-termThree or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year.long-term1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. goal willbe for school-to-work activity at the federal level. How do you counter opponents' arguments that school-to-workpigeonholes students into career tracks without giving them the optionto change their minds? Can you relate some of your own experiences inNew Hampshire New Hampshire,one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). ? I'm actually quite stymied by that accusation A formal criminal charge against a person alleged to have committed an offense punishable by law, which is presented before a court or a magistrate having jurisdiction to inquire into the alleged crime. . I myself havenot yet seen it. I'm interested in knowing where that'shappening around the country. I haven't seen any evidence of it. Itdoesn't mean that it's not possible that it's happeningsomeplace some��place?adv. & n.Somewhere: "I didn't care where I was from so long as it was someplace else"Garrison Keillor.See Usage Note at everyplace. . That's the beauty of education being local: There'sno one delicious flavor across the country. And since we're notmandating any one model or approach, there's probably a lot ofthings out there that reflect local education policies and priorities. My experience in New Hampshire is that school-to-work opportunitiesand activities were opening doors and giving students a broad look at alot of different things. It was increasing choices and also informingstudents and parents a little earlier on about what could be possible. STW opponents are very vocal Sometimes it even seems as if you canhear the opponents and what they're saying while school-to-worksupporters seem Quiet. Recently there's been a push to get morehard data out to prove STW does help. Is this a good approach? I think that probably many of the individuals who are voicing thisopposition are voicing it on some hearsay hearsay:see evidence. ... I think like any vocalopposition--and certainly this group is no different--they havedeveloped their communication strategies to raise the flags and thealarm bells based on their vision of things ... It's kind of hardto fight ideology. I'd rather deal with the reality of what is, andI think we probably should spend more time looking at what really is thesubstance of that opposition and their accusations ... I'm not atall opposed to sitting down and talking with them about their concerns.I think that if we can be shown where the intent of the legislation isbeing subverted, we would be interested in knowing that. Our intentionis to implement the legislation, certainly as Congress intended. I justhaven't seen the evidence that there's this wholesale trackingof kids into careers early with no choice and making it mandatory. But Iwant to be clear: I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed)"Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. that it's not happening in someplaces across the country. That's what I'm hoping we can findout. And if it's not happening, then I think we have an obligationto set the record straight. In terms of sustainability after the STW act expires in 2001, howdo you envision a strategy to make sure these programs exist whenfederal funding dries up and what are some roadblocks to sustainability? We're not promoting school-to-work as a "program,"and this is probably not a new statement. When you talk aboutsustainability, it's not sustainability of a program, it'sabout a way of educating kids today that makes sense ... If what can besustained is the integration of work-based learning with high academicstandards and rigorous academics, if that's what could getsustained in a regular curriculum in secondary schools across thiscountry, then I think we have achieved success. When parents are givenexamples of school-to-work in an objective way, they like the idea. Whenpeople really begin to understand and experience and see and touch andfeel what school-to-work is, they like it. Are businesses doing enough? It's hard to make a general statement about that. I have seenand talked with businesses that are doing incredible things. There are alot of businesses that would like to be involved, but haven't yetquite figured out how to do it, particularly small businesses, becauseof the commitment to make sure the work and the internships orwork-based learning experience is solid and tied to the academics. Itcertainly takes time, effort and some expertise. That's thechallenge to the local implementer: How do you engage businesses in away that makes sense for them? And I think that most businesses in thiscountry see the value of spending time "Spending Time" is the first single released by Christian artist Stellar Kart.The lyrics describe the band members desire to spend "more time with God". "Sometimes it’s a real struggle to spend time with God. investing in students. I thinkover the years schools have kind of gotten away from having thebusinesses in. They grew pretty insular insular/in��su��lar/ (-sdbobr-ler) pertaining to the insula or to an island, as the islands of Langerhans. in��su��laradj.Of or being an isolated tissue or island of tissue. . What about the postsecondary community? Although some colleges havetaken some initial steps, most haven't really been involved and arewaiting to see what happens. I think that's a typical postsecondary reaction: Let'ssee Let's See was a Canadian television series broadcast on CBC Television between September 6, 1952 to July 4, 1953. The segment, which had a running time of 15 minutes, was a puppet show with a character named Uncle Chichimus (voice of John Conway), which presented each what happens. I would lay out a challenge to the postsecondarycommunity to take a close look at what is happening. Even in a shortperiod of time we're beginning to see some interesting results,particularly with students in their academic performance and makingpathways to colleges. The postsecondary community is going to be one ofmy priorities. In working with the postsecondary [side], we'll tryto find a way to validate To prove something to be sound or logical. Also to certify conformance to a standard. Contrast with "verify," which means to prove something to be correct.For example, data entry validity checking determines whether the data make sense (numbers fall within a range, numeric data school-to-work as a valuable learningexperience in preparation for college. How has the overall transition been from your previous job intothis one? What brought you to the School-to-Work Office? The transition has been pretty smooth. It's not like Iwasn't aware of this office and what was going on in my previouscapacity. I was the Labor Department's key liaison toschool-to-work. I've monitored and have been involved in the kindof big-picture process of school-to-work. Now I have to get down to thenitty-gritty details of things--that wasn't quite necessary at mylast job. I have stacks of things to read, states to catch up on andpeople's names to learn, but I find all that to be very excitingand very exhilarating ex��hil��a��rat��ing?adj.Causing exhilaration; invigorating.ex��hila��rat . I'm delighted to get back into a focus areathat brings education and labor together.