Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/517581
SUMMER 2015 | wyoea.org 11 Members Create Membership Successes Central Region Heather Kreiling* Josh Thompson Northeast Region Laurie Graves* Liz Crislip Northwest Region Jennifer D'Alessandro* Jarred Bower Sarah Novak Southeast Region Michael Hays* Ray DeWitt Ami Cass Southwest Region Paula Fitzgerald Ty Ruby* * Winner of Free WEA Dues for A Year! CONGRATULATIONS to the following members who Grabbed 3! Congratulations on making it to the end of another school year. This time of year is incredibly hectic for our members and their students, with all the demands placed upon their time and energies. That is why our successes in membership this year are all that much more impressive. Before I share some facts and figures, please let me explain the previous sentence. Our membership numbers continue to improve, and while membership is everyone's responsibility, I place the credit on this year's improvement with you, our members. As I travel around the state, I continually see, and hear, our members sharing her/his stories on why she/he is a member and why others should join. This willingness among you, our members, to share goes far beyond the printed brochure, presentation or other less personal means of communicating the values of WEA membership. To bring some facts, figures and statistics into the discussion, I would first share that in our five regions, membership is up in three of the regions. While we celebrate and congratulate these three regions, be assured that your WEA governance, WEA staff, and members are working hard in all the regions to address membership and members' concerns. As of the second week of May, WEA has received 633 new member forms versus 574 from this point last year. And I would point out that our UniServ Directors are continuing to receive new membership forms every week as we wrap up this school year. This positive trend bodes well for our future. If we were to break membership down into three sustained efforts—our fall membership campaigns, the Grab 3 efforts in late fall thru mid-winter, and then our Early Enrollment phase in the spring—you will find similar success in each. This year's Grab 3 efforts resulted in over 90 new members. Looking over the last three years, we have seen an 87.5% increase in pro- rated dues enrollment. Again, I share my appreciation for all you members who went out and recruited non-members to join. I also congratulate those of you who won a year's free WEA dues for your recruiting efforts. Our Early Enrollment campaign has been similarly successful. Going back a few years, we saw a 200% increase in our early enrollees in 2013–2014 from the previous year, while this year saw a 333% increase over last year's numbers. All in all, an outstanding effort from everyone in this area. A big thank-you to all of you who proactively recruited this year for an increase in next year's membership numbers. As has been stated many times, the Wyoming Education Association is a member-driven organization. The more members we have, the more diverse views of education are shared, making public education stronger. More members equates to more voice in the political arena, helping shape the direction of our field. We are moving in the right direction, and I send my congratulations to the governance and staff of the WEA, but most of all to you, the members, for this success. Greg Herold Membership Organizing Specialist gherold@wyoea.org Everyone who Grabbed 3 new members received recognition certificates at DA. Left to Right: Heather Kreiling, Michael Hayes, Liz Crislip, Ty Ruby and Jennifer D'Allessandro.