The Role of State Committees

There are many ways to volunteer to serve ATPE and its members. Most members are familiar with the role of campus representative—a volunteer who shares information about the association and helps recruit new members at the campus level. Members can also serve as officers at the local unit, region, or even state levels.

In addition, ATPE state committees perform an equally important, though perhaps less visible, role in supporting the association. As a member-governed organization, ATPE’s standing and special committees share important feedback on key ATPE initiatives, as well as help set priorities for ATPE on a variety of issues including member recruitment and retention, the ATPE Legislative Program, and marketing, communications, and member engagement.

Building Confidence

Amanda Hendon, a sixth grade teacher at Texas Leadership Charter Academy, is an experienced ATPE volunteer. She has served as a campus representative and local unit secretary, and she will serve as the 2025-26 president of Abilene ATPE. In recent years, she decided to expand her volunteer experience with committee service.

“I wanted to learn more about ATPE and the different aspects of what the organization does,” Hendon explains. “I wanted to be better prepared to answer any questions a person would ask me about ATPE.”

Hendon says she was initially nervous to serve on her first committee, the Leader Development Committee. She worried she might not have much insight to contribute but quickly learned that was definitely not the case.  

“It was actually easier to participate than what I thought it was going to be,” Hendon recalls. “You’re sitting there, you’re collaborating, you’re giving feedback, and you’re just absorbing everything that everybody has to say.”

This positive experience led Hendon to continue her committee service, and she recently served as the chairperson of the Public Information Committee.

“It was a great learning experience,” Hendon says. “I have never chaired anything before, but it was really cool to have that opportunity and understand where everybody else is coming from with their experiences.”

Leadership, Learning, and Connection

Denise Braun, a middle school language arts teacher in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, has also volunteered to serve on committees—first for her region, and most recently for the state Membership and Public Information committees. Braun says volunteering comes naturally and is something she typically does with every organization she joins.

“I found it easy to express my ideas and give my feedback. I feel like it really matters, and the issues and suggestions we discuss in the committees are taken seriously. Everyone listens to your input whether it is negative or positive. I feel heard.”

Denise Braun

middle school language arts teacher, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD

“It’s always just in my blood to get involved,” Braun explains. “When I join an organization, I naturally want to get more involved and contribute to its improvement.”

Braun also enjoys the opportunity to provide feedback and make her voice heard.

“I found it easy to express my ideas and give my feedback,” Braun recalls. “I feel like it really matters, and the issues and suggestions we discuss in the committees are taken seriously. Everyone listens to your input whether it is negative or positive. I feel heard.”

ATPE state committees comprise members from all across Texas, allowing members to network with people they might not normally talk to. This is something that both Hendon and Braun mention as a hugely positive aspect of serving on committees.

“It was nice to collaborate with other people in different regions,” Hendon said. “I got to see how people in bigger regions approached things. I also love networking. I was able to get to know people from other places and start building relationships with them as well.”

Braun agrees: “It’s nice to talk with other educators across Texas and see that we have similarities. I am in Cy-Fair ISD, which is a huge district. It’s reassuring to see that educators in smaller districts face similar challenges and experiences.”

The Value of Membership

Hendon believes serving on ATPE committees has also helped her grow as a leader and feel more confident taking on new responsibilities.

“It has given me a chance to become a better communicator,” Hendon says. “There are all these doors opening up now. I am going to be the Abilene ATPE president, and I am going to be on another committee at my school. I am able to take these skills I have learned and use them to better collaborate and communicate with other members and colleagues.”

Hendon and Braun also believe their committee service has given them a deeper understanding of how ATPE works and what it offers members beyond just on-the-job legal protection.

“It’s not just the insurance benefits,” Hendon says. “There’s a lot more to ATPE membership than just insurance that I talk about with potential members. I really strive to promote ATPE the best I can to help grow the association.”

How to Join a Committee

Those interested may volunteer to serve on nine different committees:

• Leader Development: Reviews and makes recommendations regarding association programs related to the identification, recruitment, training, maintenance, and recognition of ATPE’s volunteer leader corps.
• Membership (two-year term): Discusses and reviews ATPE’s membership recruitment program, membership materials, and services and discounts.
• Nomination/​Election: Reviews the current ATPE state officer election rules, makes recommended changes to the rules, and assists with recruiting nominees for state office.
• Legislative (two-year term): Reviews ATPE’s Legislative Program and proposes recommendations to be considered by the House of Delegates. Once the program is approved by the HOD, the ATPE Lobby Team uses the program to help influence positive change regarding public education policy by the Texas Legislature, U.S. Congress, boards, and agencies.
• ATPE-PAC: The ATPE Political Action Committee discusses ATPE-PAC revenue and expenditures, plus election results for PAC-supported candidates. Committee members brainstorm PAC fundraising strategies and review ATPE’s recognition programs for PAC donors.
• Resolutions: Reviews ATPE’s current and standing resolutions and proposes new resolutions to be considered by the House of Delegates.
• Public Information: Reviews ATPE’s publications, website and online presence, and media coverage. Committee members also review the finalists for the Alafair Hammett Media Award and select a winner.
• Educator of the Year (EOY): Reviews EOY award applications, interviews finalists, and selects winners.
• Leader of the Year (LOY): Reviews and scores LOY and Doug Rogers Campus Representative of the Year Award applications, interviews finalists, and selects winners.
• Summit Programming Committee: Advises ATPE Events and ATPE Professional Learning on keynote and professional learning programming for ATPE’s annual conference. Committee members also evaluate professional learning breakout session proposals.

The application process for these committees takes place twice a year. Right now, ATPE is accepting applications for the Leader Development, Legislative (two-year term), Membership (two-year term), and Nomination/Election committees. To learn more about the committees, including when they meet, as well as to apply, visit the State Committee Service page on atpe.org. Members may apply to serve on the other committees in November. You will also find an interest form online where you can sign up to be notified when the application period for these committees opens.

Take the Leap

Hendon recommends those on the fence about whether to volunteer for a committee should go ahead and sign up.

“If you are thinking about it, then go out and do it,” Hendon advises. “I know these are busy times for teachers, but it really doesn’t take that much time.”

Michael Spurlin

Marketing & Communications Specialist

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Michael Spurlin

Marketing & Communications Specialist

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For most people, their smartphones are not just a tool or a gadget, but more like an extension of their being. People rarely turn their phones off or leave their homes without them. Text messages, social media, games, and more compete for our attention, making it difficult to resist succumbing to the distraction of looking at our phones.

Today’s students are no different than the rest of our phone-addicted society. Even though they are supposed to be focused on learning while in school, cell phones are increasingly becoming a near-constant distraction. According to a 2024 Pew Research study, one-third of teachers say distractions caused by cell phones are a problem in their classroom. That number jumps to an astounding 72% when only high school teachers are surveyed.

Many educators insist that cell phones not only hinder the academic performance of students but also negatively affect their mental health and behavior. This belief is supported by a growing body of research showing the detrimental impact of phones on the mental health of adolescents.

This problem has even drawn the attention of lawmakers across the country. In September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law requiring districts to create rules to restrict student smartphone use. Florida passed a law to ban student cellphone use last year, while similar legislation has also been introduced in several other states, such as Oklahoma, Vermont, and Kansas.

Texas might also see a statewide ban if lawmakers listen to Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath. In September, he testified at a Senate Education Committee hearing and urged lawmakers to ban the use of cellphones.

“If it were in my power, I would have already banned them in all schools in the state,” Morath said. “So I would encourage you to consider that as a matter of public policy going forward for our students and our teachers.”

Any legislation to accomplish that would have to wait until 2025 when the Texas Legislature convenes. However, many school districts are not waiting for lawmakers to order phones out of the classroom. In some cases, they are even employing new technology to enact stricter bans than ones previously in place.

Locking Away the Phones

Killeen ISD is one of the districts moving toward a stricter phone policy after its board of trustees voted last summer to approve a plan to create phone-free schools. The plan requires all high school and middle school students to keep their phones in school-issued pouches. Students keep the pouches with them throughout the day, but the pouches remain locked while the student is at school. The pouches are made by a company called Yondr and are normally used at concerts and other performances to lock up attendee phones to prevent recording.

Mike Quinn, executive director for administrative services in Killeen ISD, has overseen the program’s implementation at all of Killeen’s secondary campuses. The district has issued almost 21,000 pouches.

Prior to this year, the district’s policy required students to turn their phone off during the day. However, in the past several years, Quinn says issues related to phone use in school became noticeably worse, and he had observed an increase in problematic behavior, including fights, illegal activity, and cheating—all tied to students using their phones.  

“After the pandemic, it seemed like all of a sudden, cellphones were everywhere,” Quinn says. “Every student had a cellphone out. We started to see a big increase in what was being posted on social media, and we started seeing more cyberbullying. My wife is a recently retired teacher, and she would have to make seven versions of an exam because the cheating is that bad. It was tied to cellphone usage.”

Besides these problems, Quinn says the near-constant distraction caused by cellphones was perhaps the biggest ongoing problem.

“I found research on the number of notifications a student would get on their phones in a 45-minute class, and when you multiplied that number by 30 students, it was over 400 notifications. We did our own experiments with classroom teachers and found similar results.”

—Mike Quinn, executive director for administrative services in Killeen ISD

Faced with these ongoing problems, Quinn and his Killeen ISD colleagues began discussing what a stricter cell phone policy might look like—and it wasn’t long before a local news broadcast offered a potential solution.

“The assistant superintendent and I saw the exact same newscast one morning,” Quinn recalls. “It showed a nearby school district, La Vega ISD, was making students at their high school lock their phones in a pouch. The principal touted benefits such as fewer behavioral referrals and better test scores. I thought, that is something we need to look at.”

In addition to preventing students from using their phones during the day, the pouches also allow students to keep their phones with them, alleviating concerns of theft if phones were placed at the front of the classroom or in the office. Additionally, this policy promised to remove work from classroom teachers.

“This would allow us to take the burden of managing the cell phone policy away from our teachers and place it on the administration where it should be,” Quinn says. “Our teachers were the ones who were forced to say, ‘Give me your phone.’ What we heard from our teachers is that they didn’t have time to do this all day. We wanted to make sure the instructional day had the least number of distractions possible.”

Pouches Produce Promising Results

Although Killeen ISD has only recently implemented use of pouches to lock up phones, other school districts have seen results after using them for multiple school years. Richardson ISD has used pouches at various campuses for at least three years. Dr. Matthew Gibbins, assistant superintendent for administrative services for Richardson ISD, says his district was grappling with the same problems seen in Killeen ISD.

“We had teachers telling us they were losing lots of instructional time to cell phone management,” Gibbins remembers. “The bullying and behavioral problems were worse because the students had cellphones. As an administrator, I would sometimes see a post on Instagram about a fight before I even knew a fight occurred. I remember being at a high school a couple of years ago where a couple of students were pushing and shoving in the cafeteria. I couldn’t even get over there because of the crowd of students with their phones.”

Several principals reached out to district officials suggesting pouches might be a solution to problems with cellphone use. Richardson ISD started pouch use with a pilot program at just one campus. The next year, four additional junior high campuses began the program. In its third year, the program has expanded to eight total campuses that include all four of the district’s high schools. Gibbins says it is up to the campus principal to decide if the school will use the pouches.

Teachers reported they get back 10 to 15 minutes of classroom instruction per class.

The district conducted surveys of teachers at the campuses that use pouches showing that they are overwhelmingly in favor of the policy. Some teachers even report that they believe it allows them to get back 10 to 15 minutes of classroom instruction per class. Gibbins has even heard directly from teachers who say they have turned down job opportunities in other districts without pouches because they just do not want to fight students over cellphones.

Dennis Hataway, a U.S. history teacher in La Vega ISD, has seen firsthand how the pouches can give this type of time back to teachers.

“It was just a constant battle,” Hataway says. “They always want to have their phones out. When social media became a big thing, it was like they needed the distraction. They were constantly driven to seek out entertainment rather than focusing on what was going on in the classroom.”

However, since his district began using the pouches, Hataway says he has seen a remarkable change.

“I’ve definitely seen an improvement in behavior. I’ve also seen an improvement in grades, including test scores. Students are a little more focused. They can answer questions more readily, and I would say they are more involved. It’s definitely better now.”

Although Killeen ISD has not had the policy as long as either Richardson or La Vega ISDs, Quinn says early indications from campus principals using pouches show similar support. In a recent survey, 17 principals “strongly agree” they would want to start the year again with the pouches, while 19 “agree” they would want to. Only one principal did not select either of those answers. Additionally, 35 of 37 respondents “strongly agree” or “agree” that they saw fewer disciplinary issues after implementing pouch use.

With regard to discipline, both Gibbins and Quinn say that in their roles as administrators, they have seen a noticeable decrease in cellphone-related incidents compared with pre-pouch days.

“The number of times I have been called in to help with investigations around cyberbullying, fights on campus, or inappropriate pictures taken in the bathroom has been cut down significantly,” Gibbins says.

“We’re seeing fewer cellphone-related behavior violations,” Quinn says. “We used to have parents come in with their child and show us on the phone a fight that took place with their child. A lot of times they were upset that somebody else filmed it. Those types of incidents have decreased exponentially.”

Quinn also believes that it has helped the students academically.

“Failure rates for the first quarter are better than they were last year,” Quinn says. “Can we attribute that to the Yondr pouches? I think in a sense, part of that we can.”

Concerns and Pushback from the Community

While these districts have already seen benefits, initially these proposals generated controversy and pushback from the school community, especially parents. According to Gibbins, a common concern of parents centered on safety.

“We always get questions around safety, which I think is valid, and parents should be questioning how that works,” Gibbins says. However, he says he calms their fears by sharing some important information with them.

“First of all, if there is a big enough disturbance on campus, it’s not really very productive for every single student to be pulling out their phones and contacting people outside of the campus. There needs to be some clarity to make sure police, or whoever else is in charge of the situation, is able to figure out what is going on.

“We also have portable magnets that allow an administrator or a teacher to walk through a classroom and unlock the pouches if they need to. If it comes down to it, you can cut those pouches open. It is not something that is impenetrable in that regard.”

Quinn found that he could alleviate some of the concerns by openly communicating with parents and finding solutions to some of their concerns. Many parents wondered how they would contact their children during emergencies. Quinn says he worked to reassure parents that there were ways to relay messages to students as they had done before the advent of cellphones and how they currently do so with elementary students who typically don’t have phones. Some students were using phones throughout the day for medical purposes, such as monitoring their diabetes. Killeen ISD can provide special pouches sealed with Velcro that allow students to check their health information with their phone and return the phone to its pouch.

What Does the Future Hold?

Ultimately, Gibbins says the best metric of success for the program is whether it has changed the culture. They want to create a climate where students are not using their cellphones during the school day. According to the feedback he has heard, the pouches are helping achieve that. He says that you can actually see these results just by walking on campus.

“You walk down the hallway and see kids are talking to each other,” Gibbins says. “They are having conversations. To see kids interacting in that way, like they should be doing at school, it’s really positive.”

Quinn echoes that you could even hear positive results on campus in Killeen ISD.

“One thing you notice right off the bat is the noise level during lunch. The kids are talking to each other during lunch rather than sitting around looking at an electronic device. The students tell me that they are talking more in class as well. Teachers even say they are starting to see improvement with engagement in class.”

Quinn believes technology similar to the pouches will spread to other schools because of what it has helped accomplish so far in Killeen ISD.

“There’s been this total reset that helps get everybody back into that mode of learning and teaching again. And it’s getting kids engaged in the learning process.”

Gibbins agrees the policy will spread. In fact, he estimates officials at approximately 50 different school districts have contacted Richardson ISD to get more information about their experience using the pouches.

Given the success these districts have had locking up phones, as well as the current political climate, it seems certain moving forward that school officials will focus on finding ways to remove phones from classrooms in order to refocus their students on the task of learning.

Michael Spurlin

Marketing & Communications Specialist

The post Schools Are Hanging Up on Phones in the Classroom appeared first on ATPE News.

Bertha Cantu  |  Mission ATPE

Bertha Cantu, who works as a math and reading interventionist at O’Grady Elementary in Mission CISD. She serves as the Mission ATPE president and is the winner of ATPE’s 2023-24 Campus Rep of the Year award for local units with 201–500 members.

The post Volunteer Spotlight appeared first on ATPE News.

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Who Are They?

Despite how often people use terms such as baby boomer or millennial, defining who is or is not a member of a particular generation is not always easy. Sometimes those definitions can vary depending on the source. According to Jared Boucher, a market researcher who studies the different generations, this is especially true 
for those working to define Generation Alpha.

“The reason for this is because generation age ranges are often dictated by social events and social change and the cultural fallout that ensues,” Boucher says. “For example, soldiers coming back from World War II and settling down to have children [who] would become known as baby boomers. It is still a little early to say how exactly Generation Alpha will be distinguished from Generation Z. However, this emerging generation is getting close to becoming clearly defined, and many researchers point to them being born between 2010 and 2024.”

Using those years as markers, there are currently 60 million members of Generation Alpha, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. This would make Generation Alpha bigger than its immediate predecessor, Generation Z, but still smaller than the millennial generation.

Although there is not yet consensus on what specific events and characteristics will define Generation Alpha, those who research generations have begun putting forward theories.

“Many say that the COVID-19 pandemic will be seen as the defining event of Gen Alpha, while others think AI technology will uniquely define them,” Boucher says.

In addition to the pandemic and technological changes, other researchers have theorized that economic volatility and the globalization of culture will come to define Generation Alpha. Some of these external factors, especially the COVID-19 pandemic and ubiquity of technology, have already affected how members of Generation Alpha behave and learn in ways that have made educators take notice.

The iPad Generation

The iPad was introduced in 2010, right around the time the members of Gen Alpha were born. As a result, many people refer to this generation, sometimes derisively, as the “iPad Generation.” Being the first generation born in the 21st century has exposed Gen Alpha to a wide array of technology beyond iPads. These children have grown up in an era where technology is ubiquitous and an integral part of their lives in ways that set them apart from previous generations. Educators have seen firsthand this familiarity with technology in their classrooms.

“One of the things that’s definitely different with these kids is that they are a lot more technologically savvy than those in the past,” explains Jason Forbis, a first grade teacher in Midway (12) ISD. “I have first graders who have cell phones. They all have tablets and access to YouTube and things like that.

“All of our students have used iPads for about seven or eight years. In the past, we would always teach them basic things, such as how to put in their passwords, how to save something, and things like that. Now they come into class knowing how to do all that. They actually teach me things. I have been teaching when sometimes I don’t know how to do something or if something goes wrong, they will say ‘Just click that button,’ and it fixes it. I am like, ‘Ok, you’re 6 years old. How do you know that?’ It’s crazy.”

Perhaps the most noticeable effect of this generation’s constant exposure to technology use are much shorter attention spans. Kristin Shelton is a pre-k teacher in Round Rock ISD and has even noticed this in her very young students.

“I definitely see a difference in their attention spans,” Shelton says. “They are much shorter. I worry about their
stamina when they get to older grades. They don’t stick with one thing very
long. When you ask them to do something for even a little while or pay attention and stay on task, it’s a challenge.”

Shelton says that while the students in her classroom have access to technology, such as Chromebooks and iPads, she is wary of too much student use because of their attention spans. Forbis too has altered his approach due to the ever-shrinking attention span of his students.

“I definitely do think that I am teaching differently,” Forbis says. “I have had to make lessons shorter and shorter each year. If you don’t quickly move on to something that is active or hands-on, you will lose them. That’s when the behavior problems start.”

Educators working with the older members of Generation Alpha have also noticed this characteristic. Amber Shipman teaches sixth grade math in Brownwood ISD and has also tried different techniques to adapt to shorter attention spans, including working less with technology.

“We try to do a lot of hands-on math activities,” Shipman explains. “We do some pencil and paper as well. I definitely see that they don’t want to be on a screen all the time. I see less behavior issues when we actually get to hands-on activities, and they are not having to work independently.”

The prevalence of technology in all aspects of their lives has affected not only the mental aspects of Generation Alpha but also their physical development. According to Forbis, he has seen some students struggle with skills children do not practice as much in this technological age.

“They don’t write or color as easily,” Forbis says. “They don’t do that anymore. They don’t want to color anymore. They have screens. I feel like their fine motor skills are not as developed when they come to school because of that. We have kids who struggle with holding a pencil when they come to school.

“When they get to first grade, they should be able to write a sentence or at least write letters. We see a lot of letters that are backwards, or they don’t hold the pencil correctly. Those are things that go back to early schooling and what they do at home. That’s the main reason why I push for kids to do activities, such as coloring. They need to develop those fine motor skills.”

The Pandemic Effects

The COVID-19 pandemic is already one of the more significant events of the 21st century, affecting many different parts of our society, and educators have seen students of all ages struggle academically in its wake. Forbis points out the impact that it had on students socially as well.

“The first group of kids that I had after the pandemic—who were doing virtual school—really didn’t know how to get along with each other,” Forbis says. “We had to go back and teach social skills. When they were doing virtual school, a lot of them had no interaction with other kids outside of seeing them on a screen. So I think that really hurt them. However, I think their social skills get better each year as we move further away from that time of virtual school.”

However, Forbis says he has seen signs that the pandemic may have altered students in other ways beyond academics and social development. He is starting to see more students suffering from anxiety.

“The kids who were small when the pandemic started, they have had to deal with some of the changes that have happened since then. Unfortunately, when they come to school, they have such anxiety and worry. It just makes my heart sad that they have to deal with that. We just have to help them and let them know they are safe here at school.”

Only time will tell what the future holds and if the COVID-19 pandemic is the most or only one of the most formative experiences in the lives 
of Generation Alpha. Unforeseen events could leave an even greater impact. However, it seems likely the pandemic will be at least a major part of the story.

Shipman says one of the most noticeable differences between Generation Alpha and Generation Z is students’ attitude toward academics. Just a few years ago, she had students who were very concerned about their grades, often asking what extra credit they could do. Her current students are very different.

“They just don’t care about academics,” Shipman explains. “They don’t care if they are failing. They want more immediate feedback that I see a lot of times when they’re on their phones playing games or watching a video. They want to be constantly entertained, and I have some students that struggle to work independently.”

Working with students with such strikingly different attitudes has forced
Shipman to alter her approach, and she
has found new ways to harness their motivations and better reach them.

“If you can praise them, or sometimes I may reward them, it can motivate them,” Shipman says. “I may reward a whole group. They love Mexican candy. I also use Croc charms, water bottle stickers, and things like that. They are still very much motivated by those extrinsic rewards at this point.”

Defining a Generation

Members of Generation Alpha have lived their short lives in a time radically different from the generations that came before them. Their experiences have shaped their behaviors and beliefs in ways that are noticeably different from their older peers. While these differences may present educators with unique challenges for working with Generation Alpha, Forbis believes that many teaching techniques will still work with this generation.

“You can still use some of the same practices we’ve used over the years,” Forbis says. “It’s just you may have to tweak it a little bit to meet that need. Ultimately, I just think it is so important that you have relationships with your kids and that you really know them. There’s that saying that if they know you care about them, they’re more willing to work harder for you. I really believe that.”

While Generation Alpha students are certainly different from previous generations, Shelton points out that educators have successfully adapted to teaching previous generations that may have posed their own unique challenges.

“I think back to when I first started teaching, and it makes me laugh because I was always just barely keeping my head above water,” Shelton recalls. “I remember talking to my mentor next door and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, how do you do this?’ So when I hear people say something like, ‘Kids these days are so much harder to teach than they were before,’ I just think I am not sure if that’s true. We might be looking at the past through rose-colored glasses and forgetting those times were hard too.”

One thing that is certain, however, is that members of Generation Alpha are just beginning to affect both education and the world at large. According to Boucher and other generational researchers, we are only in the earliest stages of learning how exactly they will do that.

“This is an emerging generation, and we have many years left to determine how they will be defined, described, and distinguished from other generations,” Boucher says. “We only know a little about this group so far because our world is changing so rapidly. However, because of this, Generation Alpha is primed to be one of the most unique generations to ever exist.”

The post Meet Generation Alpha: Who Are They, and How Do We Educate Them? appeared first on ATPE News.