Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/956367
1 S pring is here, and things are starting to grow and turn green. It is time to think about growing your local's leadership team, membership and strength. We need members to step up and be leaders in every local. Working together as a team can make leading easier and more enjoyable. There are so many ways you can be a leader: the obvious one is to run to be an officer in your local, but there are so many more things you can do. You could volunteer to be on your local candidate interview team and help with the candidate endorsement process for your local. Better yet, you could run for political office or encourage a pro-education friend to run for the legislature. We need to increase the number of pro-education representatives and senators in our Wyoming legislature, and the only way this is going to happen is if we can get pro-education candidates to run for office. This is an election year and we need good people to step up and run for office. We also need members to reach out and help elect these pro-education candidates. We all know that a strong education system is vital to growing our state's economy, so let's work together to elect legislators who will make the education of Wyoming's students a top priority. Our students are depending on you to make this happen. If you are not interested in political action, maybe you would like to be part of your local leadership team. You could be a local officer, building representative, or volunteer to be part of the membership recruitment activities in your local. The more you get involved in your association, the more you will get out of your membership, so step up and volunteer to be an active member in your local. You do not have to hold an office in order to be an active member—go to meetings and volunteer to help with one activity your local is doing this spring, or be part of the fall back-to-school activities your local is planning. If your local does not have any of these things planned, maybe it is time for you to step up and get things started. Get together with other members in your building and plan a spring activity for the members in your local or even just your building. Once you get things going in your local you can work together to plan activities for this summer or next fall when you come back to school. You do not have to hold an office to be a leader, you just need to step up and make things happen. All it takes to get your local going is for one member to reach out and get things started--you could be that person! Active locals help grow membership, and increased membership helps to grow the strength of your local. Kathy Vetter WEA President kvetter@wyoea.org Growing Local Leadership President's Message