Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/802239
SPRING 2017 | wyoea.org 13 Greetings, WEA members, active and retired! And thank you for all you have done and continue to do for kids and our profession. Without the WEA and our members, the landscape of education in Wyoming would be quite different. You are Wyoming education's most valuable resources! Always remember, "Alone we can do little; together we can do so much." Helen Keller It is more important now than ever before that WEA-Retired members contribute to the work of the WEA. To do that, we must move along with our mission to be a strong, active statewide organization. Goals to forward that mission were set at the 2016 WEA-R Annual Meeting. The first of these goals is to have a pre- retired installment payment process in place by DA 2017. Hurray! We "got 'er done"! NEA/WEA Lifetime Membership installment payment forms are linked to the WEA-R page from the WEA website! The process is flexible and easy: active members may select from one to six EFT installments which may start any month of the school year to be completed by July 1st of the same school year. Many, many thanks to Linda Bottom, WEA Membership Specialist, for all her research, expertise and hard work and to WEA Executive Director Ron Sniffin for his pro-active support and enthusiasm in bringing this about. NEA/WEA Retired Lifetime dues are still only $300 ($250 NEA and $50 WEA). Many of you have told me you would like to join but just haven't had the $300 to do so. At as little as $50 a month for six months, NEA-WEA Lifetime membership is very doable for nearly everyone. Members have asked me if NEA/WEA Lifetime dues are going up. I don't know. But the present dues structure has been in effect for many years; it may very well increase sooner than later. This past fall, Judy Trohkimoinen, WEA Central/NE UniServ Director, was appointed as WEA-Retired staff liaison. We are VERY pleased with her appointment! Judy's organizational abilities, goal- oriented approach to problem- solving, and genuine enthusiasm for WEA-R have already proven to be enormous assets. By the time this WEA News is being assembled, Judy and I will have attended the NEA-Retired Organizing Conference, March 21st-24th in Dallas. We both are (were) very much looking forward to this conference. I am confident that we will have brought back great ideas for accomplishing WEA-R's mission and will be working on new endeavors to that end by the time you read this article. Another goal set at last year's WEA-R Annual Meeting was to better inform both Active and Retired members and non-members about WEA-R. We strongly agreed that having a link on the WEA website was critical to achieving this goal. Due to WEA Graphic Design Specialist Sue Clark's exceptional skills and efficiency, WEA-R is now linked to the WEA website! "Danke, Merci, Gracias, Thank you, Sue!!" The WEA-R "homepage" has links to WEA-R leadership's contact information, the form for joining NEA-WEA Retired Lifetime, and activities and events in which WEA-R is involved. There is also a link to a contact form for emailing the WEA-R leadership with questions and ideas on how WEA-R can be a strong asset to WEA, your local and your community. And, as there was this past year, there will be registration information for the WEA-R Annual Meeting and Delegate Assembly. WEA-R members have set another goal: to organize small group get- togethers around the state (in as many communities as possible) to ascertain and encourage interest in forming WEA-R community-based groups. To help facilitate these grassroots efforts, we are pleased to inform you that WEA-R received a NEA-Retired organizing grant of nearly $3500! I'd love to meet with even two WEA-R folks in your area. That said, and as I continue to say, WEA-R members are retired. Time commitment and activities for each community group will be as little or as much as each group determines! PLEASE use the WEA-R website contact form or text or call me personally if you want to visit with me and/or invite me to your community. I'd love to hear from WEA-R members from all over Wyoming! I feel very blessed by many things throughout my 32 years as a teacher. Just one has been Wyoming's enviable economic conditions during my teaching career. Things, for the present at least, have most certainly changed. How will Wyoming schools and educators educate students to the high level we all expect and as the Wyoming constitution mandates? I don't know. But what I do know is that the WEA and our members, active and retired, will rise to the occasion. "What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Henry David Thoreau. WEA-Retired Update Vicki Swenson WEA-Retired President What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Henry David Thoreau