- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

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- This is One-On-One.

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(upbeat music) - Hi, everyone.

Steve Adubato with my co-anchor and colleague, Jacqui Tricarico.

Jacqui, let's tee this up.

You and I down in Atlantic City for the New Jersey Education Association Annual Convention.

Tell folks what they're about to see in the next half hour.

- Steve, another year that we get to go down in Atlantic City to attend the NJEA Convention.

This year was one of their record numbers, over 10,000 people walking in and out of those doors over two days.

And we got to pull some of the educators, some of the students that were attending, nonprofit leaders and others who told us about why this convention was so important and why it's just really a great way for educators to come together and learn from one another and kind of reset too.

- Yeah, and for those of us who record most of our work remotely, it is terrific to be out there in the public, in a public situation in Atlantic City at the convention.

So many interesting people.

And also let me just fully disclose the New Jersey Education Association, longtime underwriters of public broadcasting and of our work.

For Jacqui, myself, and the entire team, down in AC with educators.

(bright music) Hi, everyone.

Steve Adubato.

More importantly, we are in Atlantic City for the NJEA 2025 Convention.

I don't know, we've been here for so many years, and we're here with the president, Steve Beatty, who is the president of the NJEA.

Steve, good to see you.

- Good to see you.

Steve.

- Why is this convention so particularly exciting?

It's your first as president- - First as president.

- Other than that, why is it so exciting?

- It's exciting, well, for a couple things.

First of all, we have got a great vibe.

I mean, to get thousands and thousands of educators here together in the same space, like-minded people, it's always a good vibe.

Also, Mikie Sherrill won.

People are in a great mood because they know what that means- - Is there an election?

- There was an election on Tuesday.

- Hold on.

Full disclosure.

Two disclosures.

The NJEA is a longtime underwriter of public broadcasting and of our education programming, and we're taping this two days after- - Two days, yeah.

- Mikie Sherrill was elected governor.

By the time this airs, she'll be governor, governor-elect, the whole bit.

Why is that exciting as it relates to education and educators?

- Yes.

I mean, we run our process, and we talked to the candidates, and we talked to Congresswoman Sherrill, and, you know, screened her.

Jack declined to come in, but we had a great conversation.

We alliance on so many issues.

And her time in Congress, she's consistently earned an A from NEA when we've endorsed her in her seat as well.

So she's always been a proven supporter of education, unions, and we're convinced she'll do the same.

- For those who say, "Wait a minute.

There's a teacher's union," is the professional association for teachers, the New Jersey Education Association, "what are you doing being involved in politics?

What are you doing engaging campaigns?

And you lobby."

And there are people who will argue, who are watching right now, who say, "Yeah, I don't get it.

I don't understand why they have to do that."

Let them know.

- We do that for the greater good.

I mean, we're educators.

And I say, in most times, we know best.

And of course the stock answer is every decision that's made that affects our terms and conditions, our classrooms, the environments in which our kids learn, is defined by someone that's elected somewhere at a local board level, a municipal level, a state level, or a federal level.

So we know that those decision-makers, many times they're us, and we encourage our members, in fact we just got a few elected in this last race here in the assembly, that should be in those spots.

And of course lobbying, right?

We need to make sure that politicians understand our perspective.

(audio whooshes) - How, or do you see this convention kind of as a reset for teachers?

We're in November.

I mean, teachers just got back into the classroom but, let's be honest, teachers work year-round.

- Yes, yes, exactly.

- How do you see it as a reset for them to kinda all come together under the same umbrella?

- Well, I think that's a really important part of it.

Because we start in September, some teachers, these two days, are their first days off from teaching, some don't have any holidays in the early months.

And you get to be here with people who know you, and know your job, and know what your struggles are.

I've been married now for 30 years, and so I've been a teacher all those years and there are still things he just doesn't get about my job and about my day to day.

And here we know we are finding like-people, these are our people.

And while we come from different places in the state, physically or geographically, and we have different backgrounds, we all know what it is to go in and face our students.

Whether we're a bus driver or a cafeteria worker, teacher, a classroom aid, we all have that shared common language.

And it is a reset.

It is, "These are my people.

This is where I need to be."

(audio whooshes) - What are younger people, from your experience, dealing with that we need to, your organization, in fact helps them with?

- It's kinda like, when you think about physical health, right, you talking about you gotta eat good, go to the gym, take care of your body.

But when we talk about mental health, there's not a lot of tools that support the mental strength.

And we live in this age where there's so many tools of distraction that is not allowing that mind to develop the skills that are necessary in order to have a stable mental health.

And that could be something just focus and concentration, right, where the ability to actually be here and be present, where these kids have technology from cell phones, tablet, TV, is constantly stimulating them, making their mind jump all over the place.

- Why is that a problem?

- So when you're able to realize peace comes from clarity, peace comes- - Say that again.

- Peace comes from clarity, peace comes from calmness.

And in my mind, it's constantly jumping past, present, future.

When I don't have the opportunity to actually develop the skills to pause all the noise, to turn down all of the stimulation, it's gonna be difficult for me to navigate in a situation when things are troubling or challenging.

(audio whooshes) - Mindfulness, really it's present moment awareness, right?

So being present right here and now, and it's paying attention to what's happening right here and now.

And so when we explain it that way and talk about it that way, I think kids get more of a buy-in.

Because people tell them to pay attention all the time, but I always ask them, "Has anyone ever taught you how to pay attention?

What does that mean?"

So that's where it gets a little bit more, I think, interesting and it means something to them.

'Cause they're like, "Oh, that's how I can use it."

- It's hard for us adults to do that, to be in the moment.

Do you think it's easier to teach the kids that, that when they're more impressionable to really just take that time to be in the moment?

- Absolutely.

And I think, like, younger kids, you'll see, they're naturally better at that.

They're naturally more present.

And I think middle school, which is the area of the grade level I work with, I think that's when you start to see that transition start to happen where their attention gets pulled and they have a harder time just being fully present with what is.

And so I get to teach all the skills that I wish that I had in middle school.

(audio whooshes) - The mission for this program is to really transform access to children's mental health care by empowering our pediatric care providers.

- 'Cause really the pediatricians are the first line of defense, right?

What and should they be doing to really screen and make sure that we're catching these mental health issues early on before it really kinda gets out of control?

- Exactly.

I'm glad that you asked what should we do, especially the screening part of it.

And remember we are talking about mental health.

Mental health is what everybody needs.

We're not talking about illness.

So it starts with screening, screening during well visits using age-appropriate tools.

And we sort of, you know, train them in using a broad-based screening tool that can pick up things like anxiety, depression, ADHD, ODD, a very wide screen, right?

So if we are doing that before kids start showing that, or a teacher sees something, or you as a parent notice something, we can pick things up very, very early.

And the earlier we see things in children, especially in the mental health, less the need for medicine.

What we need are like the supportive therapies for children.

(audio whooshes) - This morning, you were part of a panel discussion here with the keynote address, who was Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai.

What was the most important question that you had that you wanted to ask her?

- Yes.

I really wanted to focus on advice because I think right now, especially with the state of our government and our country and our world, I think there's so much chaos and controversy surrounding difference of opinions and just everything recently.

So the most important question to me was when I asked her how she found strength to move through such a tremendous part of her life and, like, where she found that strength.

And she had told me that just, like, love and kindness wins over anything else.

And I think that really resonated with me because that's something that's extremely overlooked, especially in politics and all of this stuff.

It was really special.

- It was a beautiful message.

What about for you Anuvaa?

- For me, I think a big question that I wanted to ask her was about her storytelling, especially because I feel like as youth, like Stella said, we're often, you know, maybe not taken as seriously because, you know, we're still in those teenage years, we're transitional, our frontal lobes are still developing, all of that stuff.

So I think, like as kids, we're always told, "Oh, like, it's a story, it's a fable, it's a myth," and I think she really used that like it was her story, it was her life.

And she started out storytelling, and then, like, look where she is now.

We're interviewing her on a massive stage.

It's incredible.

(audio whooshes) - The mission of the organization is?

- So we inspire artistic creativity in students and provide them with opportunities that they wouldn't normally get in a traditional high school setting or middle school setting.

- Because.

- Because the arts are so important.

And as you look at students, you know, after they graduate and they move on to different careers, it's the creativity piece that we instill that will make them a success later on in life and just add more beauty and more meaning to their lives.

- Yeah, but for those who are convinced, or have convinced themselves, that arts, the arts, that's extra, it's nice but not necessary.

Talk to them.

- I would say it's even more necessary today than it has been in the past, especially when you look at things like generative AI.

- Yeah, I was gonna ask you about AI in the arts.

- Because when you look at the AI piece, that's gonna be doing all of the mechanical functions.

What we need students and what we need adults to be is creative.

So the arts and our programs that we offer give students the opportunity to think outside the box, to develop that creativity, to really bring value to not only the world but their future employers.

(audio whooshes) - AI, you're passionate about that.

There's a lot of controversy around, is AI beneficial for our students?

How is it hurting them?

How have you seen it, and how can we integrate it into classrooms effectively and making sure that we're also keeping our students safe?

- I have a conversation with some teachers who say, "Oh, I'm gonna retire.

I cannot deal with this technology."

I said, "No, you're not gonna retire now.

Because with AI, it will make your life so much easier."

Think about as teacher before, when we make the worksheet, we spend so much time, right, to format it, to do the PowerPoint, to add a picture, find the font.

Now you just tell the AI, they do for you, right?

- Yeah, it's helping save a lot of time.

'Cause we know teachers spend a lot more time outside of the classroom than they do in the classroom, preparing and all that.

- So that really can release a lot of burden for teacher preparation time.

And for students, we know the student always say they wanted personalized learning.

We never can do that because with 1 teacher for 20 students.

Now you have AI, AI can be the personal student, like personal, individual practice partner.

(audio whooshes) - Drag is something, like you said before, lots of controversy around it, especially when it's presented to children.

There's a lot of backlash about that.

What are you hoping people take away today from the exhibit itself?

- I'm hoping to break down those barriers and misconceptions about drag, especially surrounding children.

I was actually really surprised with the amount of children that are here today at the convention.

I was not expecting that.

And they've just been absolutely in awe of the exhibit, and the sparkles, and the crowns, and the queens, and, "Oh, can you sign this for me?"

And that's really what it's all about, is that it's just a pretty personal, dressed up and sparkly.

You know, it's really not that deep.

It can be, but it's not that deep of an issue.

We're just all here to have a good time and celebrate, look great, and share what artistry, you know, drag is and at every single age level.

(audio whooshes) - The people that we've walked through today, what has been the overall experience for you and the folks who have come through to talk to you?

- It has been so lovely.

To be honest, I wasn't sure what we were gonna, you know, be up against.

You know, the outside world has a lot of noise.

In here, it's been so calm and loving and supportive and generous.

And to be able to listen to people's stories, I mean, I've cried, like, several times.

I've cried with people.

I've hugged them, they've hugged me.

It's been cathartic.

It has just been a place of acceptance and a place where I know that the bedrock of who I am is because of who taught me.

It's because of my teachers.

It's because of the people who were instrumental to my growth at such a young age.

And they allowed me, they endorsed me to just find my way, be authentic, be whoever I wanna be, even if I couldn't understand who I was yet.

So, for me, being here was me being able to say thank you to that teacher, those teachers, those people who informed so much of who I am today.

(audio whooshes) - The 2025-'26 Teacher of the Year is Gillian Ober.

- Yes.

- Freehold.

- Yes.

- Why a teacher for you A, and B why is that so exciting for you to recognize Gillian?

So one, Gillian is fantastic.

Like, you can feel her energy as soon as she comes into the room, and you can tell how passionate she is about her students.

But in this day and age, why I think Gillian is such a great example for us to uplift is because Gillian works with many families who have just come to this country.

And she works with many children who are just learning our language and just getting to understand their communities.

And the level of patience that she has, the inclusivity that she teaches with, she's a gift.

(audio whooshes) - How are you able to really, like, take each student individually because, like you said, they're coming from all different walks of life, and really make sure that you're able to connect with them individually to help with their specific needs?

- Well, what I say is, you know, like I think when you're working with multilingual learners the biggest thing you can do is you have to build, like, relationships with your students.

Because if I don't have their trust, the learning's just not gonna happen.

In multilingual education, we talk about the effective filter.

And it's essentially if your anxiety is high, it's impossible to learn a new language.

That language acquisition, it's not gonna stick.

So getting your students to trust you and just feel safe, like if I've done that, I'm like, "Okay, the academics can come," it's important, but, for my students, that they feel a connection, that they feel that they have a place they can come to and be themselves, then I feel like I've done my job.

(audio whooshes) - People here, ESP, it's an acronym for Educational Support Professionals.

- Yes.

- First, tell us what that is, 'cause I think a lot of people don't even know.

- Education Support is a teacher assistance in a classroom.

We assist the teacher with the children in the classroom, reinforcing skills, daily routines of different things.

- We often hear so much the word burnout, especially for educators.

Why do you not have that burnout?

So, you know, 28 years in and teaching the youngest kids, there's a lot of challenges with that.

- 'Cause I just love what I do.

And I started doing like mindful thinking, and I had the kids do that too, like, when they're really running around and, you know, all that, let's do a five-minute breathing technique.

And we just have to calm ourselves down.

But I just love what I do.

And I just keep movin'.

Yes, I just keep moving, yes.

- Being named the ESP of the Year, what did that mean to you?

How did you find out?

Was it a complete shock?

- So it was like a total shock for me, but that was very exciting, though.

And then I won it for the state.

I was like, "Wait a minute, hold on now.

Y'all moving too fast."

But that was very exciting.

(audio whooshes) - Let me ask you this.

Federal cuts, as we speak, we're going into 2026, federal cuts to education- - Yes.

- A, how has it impacted the special ed universe?

And B, what would unions have to do with fighting back against that?

- It's excellent question.

I think what I saw personally on the special education level is the title cuts when the title funds were withheld- - Title meaning?

- Title I, being the type of funds.

Or title two, those are the federal funds that come in for special education.

- Right.

- What we saw was there were questions about whether or not there was going to be enough federal funds to appropriately run some of the programs or provide training for the teachers who were working in those programs.

So there was a lot of questions and concerns at those points.

I think, most recently, what we're seeing is the impact of SNAP being withheld, or at least the fear of that.

- Why is that an issue in education?

- Because food insecurity plays into classroom success.

If a student is hungry, then they can't learn.

And that's the simple fact.

It's the hierarchy of needs.

If you come to me and you're tired and you're hungry, no matter how good my lesson is, you're not gonna get what you need out of it.

And there's many, many students who rely on one, if not two meals from schools.

- What does the acronym CROPS stand for?

- It stands for Communities Revolutionizing Open Public Spaces.

- Okay, let's get into that.

What does that mean?

Describe the organization for us.

That's right here in Atlantic City.

- Sure.

Our mission is to alleviate food insecurity.

And we do that through a number of ways.

So we have a couple of main focus areas.

We focus on food production, food distribution, a wide range of education, and then advocacy.

So our food production piece deals with both producing food for free for the community through a number of community gardens that we manage.

And then we also have an urban farmer training program called the UCAN Program, which stands for Urban Coastal Agriculture Network Farmer Training Program.

So we have residents of Atlantic City and community members that are a part of that three-year program where they learn to build and run and then make sales through their own urban farming businesses.

And then in terms of food distribution, we partner with regional farms from both our farmers in Atlantic City, but additionally farms throughout the county and the neighboring counties.

Mostly small family farms that really want to get their food to people and communities that are wanting access to it but they don't have, like, the infrastructure to do it.

(audio whooshes) - So something that you've been working on with your colleagues now in this new position for you at the NJEA is this Tier One for Everyone campaign.

Describe it for us, and why we should be interested in what you all are pushing for.

- So we know how hard it is to get people to come into the field of education right now.

We are seeing such a drop off.

We are seeing that people don't wanna go into this profession.

And part of the reason is the pension system.

So we see an inequitable pension system where we have multiple tiers.

So our tier one members, they can retire at 55 with a pension that they've earned and paid into over many years, whereas then we have our tier five educators who have to work until they're 65 and do not get the same benefits when they retire.

So we're seeing people say, "I can't stay in this profession until I'm 65 years old," and they're leaving after about 5 to 10 years in these districts.

They're saying, "This is just not a reasonable thing for me to do."

So we know that we need to make sure we have an equitable system.

So we wanna move everyone back to tier one to allow more of our educators to come into this field and realizing this is a good field for them to be in.

(audio whooshes) - So tell me about the teachers, the New Jersey Retired Teachers Association, specifically what you all are doing.

- Okay, so we're known as the daytime face of NJEA.

When they need lobbying done at the statehouse, when they need people for rallies, we're there because we are free during the day.

And we still are connected to education, we still care so much about the public schools, about the educators, about the students.

So we're there.

We, honestly, do whatever we can to promote the respect that education in this state actually needs.

- What’s your goal here at the convention this year talking to so many that have come through the doors?

- It’s very funny, but a lot of the actives don’t know who we are.

They have no idea that there is a retired part of the NJEA.

So our job is to welcome anyone ready for retirement and actually tell them what they need to know.

That’s what we do.

That’s why we’re here.

- That’s so important.

And I don’t want to end the conversation without talking about your specific 35 year journey in education, the time that you put in to educate young minds across our state.

Talk about that time as an educator and what you really hold closest to your heart during that time of your career - I will.

I will.

I taught physics and health every day I laughed.

One of my classes, one of my students, we always laughed.

I never considered it a job or work.

I always would say, "I’m going to school.

And it was a delight.

I have to say I had the best job in the world.

(audio whooshes) - Did you ever imagine that BookSmiles would be what it is today compared to, "I wanna help out."

- We are rapidly approaching the four millionth book given away since I started this in 2017.

By the end of this year, we will have distributed 1.3 million books.

So we've distributed in one year a quarter of the books that we've given away since I started in 2017.

Our growth is unbelievable because we're fixing a problem using innovation, taking children's books and grownup books that would've gone to the dump, gone to landfill.

And the other dumb problem is why are we tolerating having children in the ninth grade reading at third, fourth, and fifth grade reading levels?

It's because of lack of access to books.

(audio whooshes) - What are you hoping the educators leave this year with in particular, Kevin?

- Hope - From the, hope, hope.

- Absolutely is hope.

- Okay.

- After this election, I just feel... I'm hoping that we come back with some hope, that we can work with this new governor, just secure better conditions for not only our members, but the children for which they serve.

Hope.

Hope for the coming year and the next couple of years.

- I love that.

'Cause our teachers are, you know, they're doing it.

They're helping the next generation of kids.

- What about for you, Denise?

What do you hope they leave with?

- I think it's joy.

Hope and joy.

I mean, it is really something that often our educators are exhausted.

Our staff are exhausted.

- Burnout.

- Everyone- - We hear that word burnout too often.

- Yeah.

So, like, I think through some of our recent wins, recent movements, like doing the right thing, I think our educators everywhere are seeing a path that we are going to bring back this profession as respectful.

We want people to know how much they're valued.

We want them to know like they are the experts in their field.

And I feel that that is going to go with that joy theme.

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

Funding has been provided by NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

NJM Insurance Group.

Stockton University.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

PSE&G.

Valley Bank.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

And by New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program.

Promotional support provided by Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by NJBIA.

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