Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/338738
SUMMER 2014 | wyoea.org 13 Sponsored By The Wyoming Highway Patrol Wyoming Well-Represented at National NEA-Retired Conference by Cherie Cox, WEA-Retired Staff Liason The 2014 NEA-Retired Organizing Conference, "Raise Your Hand: Commit, Recruit Retired, Act", was held in Houston, TX, at the end of March. Among the 300 attendees were Evie Wall, WEA- Retired President, and Jacque Harrod, WEA-Retired Vice President, as well as WEA staff liaison Cherie Cox. What an experience! Local presidents and staff liaisons shared ideas on how Retired locals can collaborate with Active locals. In Wyoming our big focus has been on a project with the Millennial group: the Summer BEWM (Because Education in Wyoming Matters –pronounced "boom!") pilot project. Sara Neyer, WEA-Retired board member, describes it as a bazaar and membership drive. Young members and potential members will be provided with professional development information and information about the Association. Following that, they will attend a bazaar, where they may take materials for FREE that have been donated by WEA- Retired members for use in getting new classrooms started. Your ideas and materials can make a new teacher's first year much better. It's not too late to donate materials for the bazaar—contact Dirk Andrews at Dirkus32@hotmail.com. One of the projects of the national Retired group is the Jack Kinnaman Scholarship Fund for Student- NEA members. Wyoming was fortunate that our WEA-Student president in 2007-2009, Aaron Merkin, was awarded this scholarship. The conference sessions included a number of interesting topics, including Outreach to Teach; recruiting, retaining, and engaging members; pre-retirement seminars; fraud and identity theft; Medicare and the Affordable Care Act; and a session on public education, unionism, and civil rights. What a wealth of knowledge and skills were in one room! One woman at the conference was asked to stand up and be recognized—she is going to be 100 years old in September of this year. To still be active in education at this point in her life shows true dedication. It truly was something to listen to those in attendance. The issues may be different now or they may simply go by a different name, but the struggle remains ever present to do the best that we possibly can to educate, with the resources available. My hat goes off to everyone who has taken up the profession of educating. You are truly in a class of your own and professionals to the core. SIEA Cleans Up Cheyenne Greenway The Cheyenne Specialists In Education Association (SIEA) started off the month of May by cleaning up a portion of Cheyenne's greenway. Volunteers used their Saturday to fill numerous bags with trash from an area of the greenway they adopted. After the cleanup, the group enjoyed a barbeque with volunteers. "PAY IT FORWARD DAY" Comes To Wyoming, Thanks To WEA Member WEA member and Casper Centennial Junior High seventh grade language arts teacher Mary Janousek had her class read the novel, "Pay It Forward," which inspires students to push legislation in Wyoming. Janousek said, "My class felt inspired to 'pay it forward' themselves and do something that would benefit others." After researching the topic, they realized that eleven states across the US and more than sixty countries around the world have proclamations declaring the last Thursday in April as "Pay It Forward Day." Her students wanted Wyoming to have a "Pay It Forward Day" as a reminder of the extraordinary power of giving. Janousek's class brought the idea to Representative Tom Walters, who worked diligently to pass a joint resolution of the members of the Sixty-Second Legislature of the state of Wyoming. Janousek's students meet with the Governor in Cheyenne for the passing of an official "Pay it Forward Day" in Wyoming. ICI WEA.indd 15 6/26/14 3:21 PM