The People Project:

Dedicated to strengthening education and

the economy in St. Lawrence County and
advancing the well-being of its residents

Contents
I. What is The People Project?
II. Background and origins
III. I nspiration comes from
Reconnecting McDowell
IV. Next steps for The People Project
V. Sources
I. What is The People Project?
The People Project brings together educators, parents, community members, employers and
government leaders in a large and growing coalition dedicated to strengthening education and
the economy of St. Lawrence County and advancing the well-
being of its residents.
The project is dedicated to developing a broad coalition
to identify and tackle community priorities that strengthen
education and the local economy in St. Lawrence County.
This unprecedented, countywide initiative is committed to:
Vibrant grassroots community engagement
High quality public education for all and
Creating a sustainable local economy that
supports everyone.
II. Background and origins
The People Project evolved from a grassroots initiative to save jobs. In November 2015,
ALCOA, the aluminum manufacturing company that is a major area employer, announced it was
closing its local plant a move that would have had devastating economic and social impact in
St. Lawrence County. The leaders and members of local education unions vowed to take action
to help save the jobs of the ALCOA workers. Working closely with the affected workers and their
union, they organized to bring together workers, families, business and government leaders and
all impacted by the closing.
The People over Profit rally, with strong participation by teachers and other staff dedicated
to serving the students of St. Lawrence County Schools, was held in Massena in December 2015.
Its mission: to bring attention to the needs of St. Lawrence County and to call upon ALCOA to
keep its promises to its workers and the community.
The local education unions successfully mobilized their members in a community rally that
included other union members, elected leaders from the local, state and national level; and
members of the public. More than 2000 people attended the rally and subsequent march. The
local teacher unions, which are affiliated with the New York State United
Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers, brought support and speakers from NYSUT,
the AFT and the state AFL-CIO. Participants were inspired by impassioned speeches from
elected leaders, union officials at the state and national level, and the community members
affected by the threatened closing
of the plant. Local, state and some
national media extensively covered
the unprecedented turn out for the
rally and the broad-based commu-
nity participation it represented.
Ultimately ALCOA management
was dissuaded from its plan for a
unilateral closing, and many jobs
were saved for the good of the
community.
For the educators who rallied
to the side of ALCOA workers, the
successful rally and accompanying
march, and subsequent progress in
 saving jobs, illustrated the importance of coalitions
in effecting positive change. Dedicated to the needs of
their communities, they wanted to continue and grow
the coalition that had demonstrated its solidarity
with ALCOA workers. As educators, we know there is
a direct connection between childrens circumstances
at home and their readiness to learn in the class-
room, says guidance counselor Erin Covell, president
of the Massena Federation of Teachers. Job loss and
poverty are devastating to families and our students.
We realized after the successful rally that brought
so many people together in one common cause
that we wanted to keep this coalition together to
continue this collaboration on behalf of our
communities.
The leaders of the local education unions saw value
in continuing and expanding a broad-based coalition
that could tackle other needs in St. Lawrence County
and improve life for their students and residents.
Seeking to build on coalition progress in St. Law-
rence County, teachers researched other examples of
broad-based community engagement with track re-
cords of effecting positive change. They were inspired
by an ambitious multi-year project well underway in
McDowell County, West Virginia.
III. Inspiration comes from Reconnecting McDowell
McDowell County, where the loss of coal mining jobs has devastated the local economy and fam-
ilies dependent on it, is one of the most impoverished areas in the country. Like New York States
North Country, McDowell is a mountainous area isolated from other employment centers and
lacking full access to cutting edge technology. It typifies the challenges poverty imposes on students
and families seeking education. Research shows a direct correlation between levels of poverty and
student readiness to learn.
In 2011, Gayle Manchin, then-vice chair of the State Board of Education in West Virginia, and
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, collaborated to launch a
ground-breaking and ambitious initiative. Called Reconnecting McDowell, the projects first steps
included building a coalition and securing investments to strengthen education and the economy in
McDowell County. Weingarten says the broad-based community initiative is dedicated to the belief
that neither demography nor geography should determine destiny.
Reconnecting McDowell seeks to revitalize the region by building area public schools into com-
munity hubs embodying economic revitalization through public education. The unprecedented
public-private partnership was launched with more than 40 partnerscommitted to enhancing edu-
cational opportunity for children in McDowell County public schools.
At the announcement ceremony, then-Gov. Tomblin welcomed the opportunity to partner with
teachers and their union in the effort to revitalize McDowell County, noting: Just like in many areas
of our country that are plagued by the global recession, educational and employment opportuni-
ties are not where they should be for McDowell County residents. This public-private partnership
has the power to change lives for the better in rural West Virginia and inspire other communities
throughout the nation to follow suit.
We knew we had to do this the right way with a lot of partners, AFTs Weingarten said. The
people in McDowell had to want us to be involved, and they did. We also knew we were going to
have to tackle a host of issues education, social and economic.
A community schools initiative figures prominently in Reconnecting McDowells efforts to im-
prove student learning. Community schools partner with youth organizations, social service agen-
cies, food banks, higher education institutions, health clinics, and businesses to meet the academic
and nonacademic needs of students and their families. The result: teachers are free to teach and
students are ready to learn. Research shows that community schools can reduce chronic absences
due to poor health, decrease disciplinary problems and increase student learning. McDowell has
established a full-service community school including a health clinic; two other schools will begin
the process of becoming community schools this coming school year.
Today Reconnecting McDowells list of partners private, not-for-profit and governmental
numbers more than 125. The coalition has secured more than $17 millions in grants, funding and
in-kind donations of time and resources. Since its inception in 2011, Reconnecting McDowell has
been able to leverage its broad-based support for everything from literacy programs to technology
new housing intended to help combat a teacher shortage.
A partial list of Reconnecting McDowells achievements includes:
$1 million in state funds for Save the Children trainng for educators
to implement early childhood and literacy programs in McDowell
A $100,000 grant from Frontier Communications to work with
Globaloria on online learning projects
$150,000 from the AFT Foundation for the planning process
A multi-year commitment from First Book to provide free books for every county child
A library makeover for Mount View High School
A $100,000 planning grant from the Benedum Foundation
 $9 million in services by Shentel Communications to wire every county school
with fiber optics for consistent Internet access
Additional wiring of 10,000 homes
 A $50,000 grant to First Book for 10 Family Literacy Centers throughout the county
 After-school programs operated by Save the Children for about 200 students in three
elementary schools, with special emphasis on literacy skills
A Teacher-in-Residence bill passed by the Legislature to allow Concord University
seniors studying education to fill teacher vacancies, under master teacher supervision
 New band instruments, valued at $30,000, provided by VH1 Save the Music Foundation to
Mount View High School
  A three-year, $300,000 grant from AT&T to fund the Broader Horizons mentoring
program for high school juniors
 The opening of a juvenile drug court to provide teenagers with treatment and
programs to deter truancy
 Funding from the West Virginia AFL-CIO to begin digging water lines for homes
Healthy eating and nutrition programs for grandparents and other caregivers
A
 sbestos abatement and environmental clean up for a vacant downtown Welch building to
make way for a planned $5.5-million Renaissance Village providing affordable housing to
young professionals in particular teachers to combat a teacher shortage and spur econom-
ic development Reconnecting McDowell is figuratively and literally breaking ground, says
Weingarten.
Southside K-8 school is now a community school providing social services and other
interventions to students and their families, with others slated to open in the fall.
All county students now receive dental services
Outpatient mental health therapy services are offered to all high school students and
at one middle school
Significantly for parents, students and educators, over the course of Reconnecting
McDowell, the countys public schools have posted modest, but measureable gains:
State education performance audits document increases in the number of schools rated
fully compliant on measures of academic progress.
The four-year high school graduation rate for the district has increased from 74 percent in
20102011 to 80 percent in 20142015, the year for which most recent figures are available.
The dropout rate has decreased, from 4.5 percent in 20102011 to 2 percent in 20142015.
IV. Next Steps for
The People Project in
St. Lawrence County, N.Y.
Following the successful rally for ALCOA
workers, 32 local educators representing all
18 school districts in St. Lawrence County
pledged to continue working together to
engage their members and the community
in addressing areas of need. They applied
to their statewide union, New York State
United Teachers (NYSUT) for a Solidarity
Grant for the express purpose of advancing
an unprecedented, countywide initiative
dedicated to
Vibrant grassroots community
engagement
High quality public education for all and
A sustainable local economy that
supports everyone.
After a detailed application and vetting
process, The People Project as this grass-
roots initiative was now called received
a grant of $165,000 from NYSUT, one of the
largest in the statewide unions history.
As part of a sustained initiative, the projects strategies are to:
Create coalitions to identify the needs of communities within St. Lawrence County; secure
support and funding for those initiatives; and work together locally to strengthen services
to meet identified needs.
Work closely with community members, employers, and government and not-for-profit
leaders to better meet community needs by strengthening services such as literacy and
education, health services, healthy food initiatives, affordable and safe housing and
mentoring programs.
Through a sustained commitment to quality education for all, build jobs and grow
the regions economy.
The People Project emphasizes grass-roots coalition building and community consensus
in setting and achieving goals. The project is collaborative and inclusive. While Reconnecting
McDowell in West Virginia serves as inspiration, it also underscores how important it is for
the St. Lawrence People Project to forge its own path. That means a commitment to community
engagement; reaching consensus on needs; and achieving broad-based support for any
initiatives.
In its first year of operation, with support from the NYSUT Solidarity Grant, a People
Project committee met monthly to consider locally based initiatives, such as Massenas
parent outreach spaghetti dinner, to begin discussions about community needs and
solutions for addressing them.
Going forward, community needs will be assessed through one-on-one engagement with
community members, discussion with local organizations, and through focus groups and sur-
veys. Once the needs assessment has been completed, a leadership committee will determine
focus areas and short and long-term goals, and a committee structure will be set up based upon
projects and activities.
The People Project is focusing on the potential for high-need districts like Massena to devel-
op its schools as community hubs, seeking outside funding to assist in supporting the commu-
nity schools model, Covell said. We already do so much of what community schools do already,
this approach has potential for our students and our communities.
In its first year, The People Project has partnered with Local 420 Steelworkers, Brier Hill Fire
Department, Ogdensburg Knights of Columbus, Canton Unitarian Universalist Church, Home-
land Security, and Parishville-Hopkinton Parks and Recreation Department.
Were just getting started, Covell said. Through collaboration and consensus, we look
forward to growing The People Project as a grass-roots force to strengthen education and
the economy in St. Lawrence County.
V. Sources
Community Holds Rally in Massena after Announcement to Keep Alcoa Plant Open,
Time Warner Cable News, Dec, 5, 2015
Group receives grant to help with regional revitalization efforts, Watertown Daily
Times, June 27, 2016
Mountains to Climb, American Educator, June 16, 2016
People Over Profits organizers moving forward with rally, march today, Watertown
Daily Times, Dec. 5, 2015
People Over Profits: Rally for Alcoa Workers in Massena, storify.com/nysut.org/peo-
ple-not-profits, Dec. 5, 2015
Reconnecting McDowell begins demolition work in Welch, MetroNews: The Voice of
West Virginia, June 9, 2016
Reconnecting McDowell: Schools in West Virginia aim to improve students prospects,
PBS NewsHour , Feb. 3, 2015

2017