Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/998957
Your WEA at Work Greetings WEA! During our 2017 Annual Meeting, WEA-Retired members discussed how we could help address the difficult issues facing Wyoming education. Raising funds for WEA PACE seemed a good place to start! With the letters we had developed and materials ready, WEA-R members at the 2018 WEA-Retired Annual Meeting prepared the letters for mailing. The cost of this mailing was about $400, which was paid out of our NEA Retired Grant funds. The campaign was a great success! Donations via this PACE mailing plus the amount our members donated at Delegate Assembly plus PACE donations from our members before DA, WEA-Retired members have donated $4071 PACE dollars thus far in 2018! Well done, WEA-R! Also at our 2017 Annual Meeting, we spent a great deal of time going over our constitution and worked on updat- ing it and made the decision to end term limits. We worked with WEA staff to get our recommended changes on the statewide WEA electronic balloting in April so that our members could vote on them. All suggested changes were passed. Currently, NEA Lifetime one-time dues are $250 for NEA and $50 for WEA. During our 2018 Retired Annual Meeting, we created WEA Retired (one-time) dues of $50. Although the NEA has generously provided WEA-R with grant funds, we cannot expect that to continue. The added WEA-R dues of $50 will take effect September 1, 2018. Dues payments may be spread over two to six months through Electronic Funds Transfer from a checking account. Please contact me or visit the WEA-R website linked to the WEA's site for more information. In June, WEA-R will be emailing all our members thanking those who donated to PACE for their 2018 contribution and inviting those who have not donated to please consider doing so. This email will have an attached PACE form as well as a convenient "Click here to donate" button created by Andrea Shipley, current Communications and Organizing Director. I am looking forward to being part of the Northwest Region's Professional Practices Conference in Thermopolis on June 14th. I certainly appreciate John Fabela, NW Region President, and Elise Robillard, NW UniServ Director, for including WEA-Retired in this conference! WEA-R is working to achieve visibility, activism and growth. If our visibility and activism communicate that WEA-R is a productive organization, our membership will continue to grow. We are striving to make WEA-R an organization our active colleagues want to be part of when they retire. As educators, we may retire from our position, but we need never retire from our profession! And, we hope you don't! My thanks for what each of you do for our kids and best wishes for well-deserved, enjoyable summer! Sincerely, Vicki L. Swenson, WEA Retired President (307) 660-9995 * vicki.swenson@yahoo.com WEA-Retired Setting the PACE on Fundraising 21 WEA Retired President Vicki Swenson (right) enjoys catching up with retired mem- bers Chuck and Ann Custis.