Teachers Saving Children® Inc. - National
Newsletter
Volume 10, Number 1
October 1999
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Editor's Note: Terri Viviano, a twenty-six year veteran teacher, is currently teaching fourth grade in the Abington Heights School District in Pennsylvania. She has been a member of Teachers Saving Children® Inc. - National since its inception in 1994.
Twenty-four years ago, I sat in an unfamiliar waiting room in a hospital in New York City. A friend was having an abortion and she had been advised to arrange to have someone drive her. Me. When she called a few months later to tell me she was planning a second abortion, I said I couldn't take her. Why not? If it wasn't wrong the first time, what was wrong with the second? Or the third? Or the fourth? Obviously logic did not shape my ethics.
I made up my own rules then and had no interest in God, His truth or His purposes for my life. I was an icon of a culture which promotes the self styled ethics of convenience. Until my thirties, I had been "content" to think like the world. But Noah Webster would have shaken his head at my definition of "content". It was: 1) confused, but unwilling to seek answers beyond myself; 2) defensive, but not curious about why; and 3) hopeless, but satisfied that everybody else was too.
What changed? One particular Sunday morning, with eyes that could see, I faced my sin, repented of it, and trusted Jesus Christ, as the Perfect Lamb of God who had paid the price for my sin on the cross.
Christ became my Lord and Savior. Old things do pass away and new convictions were shaped by Scripture. It is undeniably clear to me now that the massacre of millions of God's most vulnerable is an egregious offense against him.
Some time later, on an anniversary of Roe v Wade, I found myself battling the icy elements of a wintry January afternoon. Warmed by the united effort of like-minded pro-life marchers in Washington, D.C., we prayed and hoisted signs and banners to alert a nation whose hearts have allowed a generation of mothers to slaughter their babies. Then I spotted it. Bobbing before me in the distance--a sign proclaiming, "Pro-Life in the NEA". I was amazed. Someone represents me? There are teachers who feel as I do? I never knew. I learned later that Teachers Saving Children® is a highly organized, diligent, prayerful group of educators whose sacrificial efforts are attempting to establish among professional educators' organizations, such as the National Education Association (NEA), a respect for all human life from conception to natural death; thus seeking that the NEA adopt a position of silence on the issue of abortion. I am proud now to be a member of that group.
A few weeks ago, I penned a letter to the editor which was published in our local newspapers. I reiterated Connie Bancroft's appeal. "Please be part of our efforts to get our union out of the abortion issue and back into education. We're not in the business of taking lives; we're in the business of helping young people make the most of their lives." I was hoping to generate interest in Teachers Saving Children®.
This afternoon, at the end of a long week, I carried a pizza into the house and was greeted by a small pile of mail. Unfamiliar handwriting on the top envelope ignited a surge of hope that it might be a request for TSC membership information. It wasn't. Instead it was an anonymous diatribe. The author accused TSC of being "...a terrorist movement that seeks to alienate human rights and impose slavery again. Every woman has an inalienable human right to autonomous control over her genetic material." "Genetic material"? For time in memoriam, "genetic material" has been welcomed into the world with unbridled tears of joy and wonder in a celebration of the precious life whose potential can only be imagined. A baby. "Genetic material" made in the image of God, and known by God before life began in the womb.
This unknown woman also bitterly decried the hiring of teachers like me - extremists who should be denied employment along with those convicted of felonies and abuse. Those seeking to be obedient to God are clearly under attack, but progress is being made and pro-lifers will not be silenced. The war continues.
"I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life..." (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)
Our students face challenges, too. Some great, some small. The students in my classroom sit in "co-operative" groups of four. Behaviors and attitudes are not always co-operative. Yesterday when a thorny problem developed, we arranged a meeting. Each member was encouraged to express his views concerning the problem. After all the feelings and opinions were aired, I challenged each one with a question and waited until I received a thoughtful response. "What would you be willing to do to work toward a solution to this problem?" That is our question today.
We need to pray that God will break people's hearts and change their minds. We must become a nation that seeks his will. Please pray also about what your part in this effort might be. We should, as one, support the faithful endeavors of Teachers Saving Children®. We can renew our memberships and in a spirit of unity share the urgent mission of this organization with others. We can persevere.
If you have not yet done so, there is still time to join or renew and still receive full membership benefits. We hope that each active member has taken the material mailed to them this summer and has shared that information with your colleagues. Please take the time to follow-up with your friends and colleagues as there is still time for new members to join with us.
TSC of MI Inc. is off and running! We have been incorporated almost a year, since October 30, 1998. Our last meetings were October 17, 1999 and April 17, 1999. Although the board is from all over Michigan our Executive Director's home is quite centrally located, so meetings are held in her West Michigan home. It is exciting to see how God has provided the different gifts needed in seven such different people, to get His work done on our TSC board. 1 Corinthians 12 is true for our board as well as the Church!
Our goal for the next year is to create a state brochure. The beginning stages of that process have begun. Secondly, we are now in the process of getting membership renewals and spreading the word about TSC. We continue to pray that God will give each of us chances to discuss life issues with colleagues and friends. It is also our prayer that as they hear the purposes of TSC, they will desire to join our organization.
The State of Michigan is a leader in the work of pro-life issues. The Right to Life of Michigan is very active and strong and is a leader in the US in grassroots organizing of pro-life people. Overall, abortions in MI have decreased 40% in the last ten years. Much of the credit for that are the strong Judeo Christian beliefs in our communities. Therefore, we know that many teachers in Michigan do not agree with the NEA and MEA's stand on aborting unborn babies - our unborn students of the future.
We are eager to get the word out whenever an opportunity arises. However two of the biggest obstacles we face in getting out the pro-life message is apathy and ignorance of the Union's stand. Once we can get past these obstacles with people we talk to, we see they usually side with us. As teachers, we know how very busy we all are with our classrooms, our families, our church work etc. The opportunities to discuss life issues with colleagues are hard; but we must keep it a priority. When we realize the horror of what abortion is - and that our own Union is in favor of such travesty, we can and must keep life issues a priority in our relationships and discussions. TSC of MI pledges to do just that.
One of the best ways to build that foundation and to gain that leadership is to pass the word about TSC and encourage others to join with us. Take some time to pass the word today. Copies of the TSC brochure are available upon request. Call 330-537-2546 for more information.
1. The Board of Trustees accepted the resignation of TSC Board member Roy Heusel who has served the National Board for the past two years. The Board of Trustees approved the name of Marianne O'Donnell to fill the open seat on the Board of Trustees. (See related article).
2. The Board of Trustees discussed several different public relations strategies, including information regarding a TSC website.
3. The Board of Trustees discussed strategies to get TSC members more actively involved and to get former TSC members to renew their memberships.
4. The Board of Trustees approved the 1998-99 fiscal report and the following 1999-2000 National budget:
| Affiliate State Chapters | $ 500.00 | ||
| Awards & Gifts | 100.00 | ||
| Legal & Accounting | 300.00 | ||
| Office Administration | 500.00 | ||
| Postage | 2000.00 | ||
| Public Relations | |||
| Printing | 1500.00 | ||
| Promotion | 1000.00 | ||
| Telephone | 750.00 | ||
| Travel Expense | 500.00 | ||
| Total | $7150.00 |
| Balance - September 1, 1998 | $2670.52 | ||
| Receipts: | |||
| Contributions: | 1024.65 | ||
| Memberships: | |||
| '98-'99 | 1473.00 | ||
| '99-2000 | 2324.00 | ||
| Interest | 48.69 | $4870.34 | |
| Disbursements: | |||
| Affiliate State Chapter (MI) | 368.04 | ||
| Gifts & Awards | |||
| Legal & Accounting | 675.00 | ||
| Office Administration | 453.55 | ||
| Postage | 1989.66 | ||
| Public Relations | |||
| Advertising | 626.57 | ||
| Printing | 1616.40 | ||
| Promotion | 225.00 | ||
| Telephone | 571.17 | ||
| Travel Expenses | 488.20 | $7013.59 | |
| Balance - August 31, 1999 | $ 527.27 |
Please note: There were a small number of membership renewals paid prior to September 1, 1999. Thank you to all those who renewed for helping the Board have a better picture of what our finances would be like for the 1999-2000 fiscal year. TSC does not solicit additional contributions beyond memberships, but does appreciate any additional contributions received throughout the year.
Marianne has been married for 31 years and is the mother of three grown daughters and a son. Family has always been very important to her. She has four siblings and her husband has nine siblings; so they are very family-oriented. Her husband, who taught for nearly thirty years in the engineering department at a local community college, is now retired and is currently teaching part-time at the Salem branch of Kent State University.
For the past nineteen years Marianne has been an active member of the Mt. Zion Methodist Church of Richmond, Ohio. She is currently serving as the church treasurer and the Sunday School chairperson.
Marianne considers being a teacher her second highest calling; the first being that of a mother. She believes that safeguarding our profession from influences detrimental to children and the family is a responsibility that all of us as educators must share.
She looks forward to serving on the Board of Trustees of Teachers Saving Children®.
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