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Making a difference Rich Phillips: On a mission He wants you to know about – and join - DSEA-Retired. R etired since 2005, Rich Phillips misses the students and his colleagues at William Penn High School in Colonial, but not the administrivia. That's why he is still involved in teaching and still helping his educa- tion colleagues. • He is the current president of the DSEA-Retired chapter, a position he has held for two years. • Through the Dept. of Health and Social Services, he teaches an 8- week class to older adults that helps them master techniques for strengthening their wrists and legs to avoid falling. It's called "A matter of balance." • He volunteers to help promote the work of "PAWS for People," a non- profit pet therapy organization that recruits, trains, certifies, and places therapy teams in over 100 sites in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Currently the only part of PAWS that he has time to direct is PERTT (Pet Emergency Response Therapy Teams) which provides teams (an animal and its owner) for pet therapy in tempo- rary emergency shelters. He and PERTT work directly with DEMA (Delaware Emer-gency Management Agency). He's in the DSEA office in Dover three or four days a week, working on several fronts to build the strength of DSEA-Retired so that it can effectively advocate for a high quality of life for retired educators in Delaware. As DSEA-R president, A retired English teacher from Wm. Penn H.S. in Colonial, Rich Phillips is devoting the bulk of his time now to helping make sure that the quality of life for retired school employees is worthy of their public service. he holds a seat on the DSEA Executive Board. As an English teacher at Wm. Penn, he was involved in his local as an Association Rep, newsletter editor and board member. After 28 years of teaching, he retired and immediate- ly joined DSEA-Retired. He and his other DSEA-Retired volunteer leaders have developed plans to better recruit active DSEA members who are nearing retire- ment into DSEA-Retired. You'll see him and others at most DSEA func- tions, spreading the gospel of DSEA-Retired. He writes their newsletter and has made it more regular. He's made membership in DSEA- Retired more attractive, adding trips and even a new half-day of workshops to offer information to improve their lives (see page 10). DSEA-Retired received a grant from NEA-Retired to develop a membership recruitment program which includes appointing "liaisons" to each district to identi- 24 February 2012 DSEA ACTION! fy future retirees in a more system- atic way. "We're then trying to hold information sessions with them about our organization and why they should support it," says Phillips. Three years ago DSEA- Retired membership was at 800. It now is at 1,080, according to NEA- Retired. More recognition and help from state agencies "It's nice to talk to state directors and legislators about DSEA-Retired. They've come to listen to our con- cerns and will assist us in as many ways as possible. They are even beginning to ask DSEA-Retired members to help with retired issues." Like all good organizers, he calls on his past former local and state DSEA leaders, including his friends, to help. William Penn High School colleague Mary Ann Pry, former DSEA president and fellow English teacher, is now more active in DSEA-R as membership chair. He's made sure the web site, cre- ated by former DSEA-Retired President Steve Smith, is updated. Check it out at . The Pre-Retirement Workshops begun by his predecessors are more frequent now. "We've been through the retirement process, so we know what information to is important for folks to know before retiring." See page 10 for information about the next workshop. The DSEA-Retired Annual Picnic, begun by former DSEA-R President Norman Poole, continues to attract not only more members, but also more organizations and companies to share their information and dis- counts. "It's important that the organization be relevant, that what we do matters to people who are retired," he emphasizes. The other story! What people might find surpris- ing about Phillips is that, while he started out as a teacher, he never thought he would stay. "I left at one point and worked as a travel agent. That only lasted five years. I missed the students." But there's something else most people don't know. "I hook rugs." It's relaxing, he says. "I taught myself, and have just started taking it up again. I guess that means I need to relax!" The last book he read? , by Linwood Barclay. He also leans towards James Patterson novels. "But I'm still borrowing regular library books." No kindle for him. "I like to turn the pages myself." The next time you are in the DSEA office in Dover, or at a DSEA event ask for him. Odds are he'll be there, and he'd love to tell you about DSEA-Retired. How to join ) DSEA-Retired If you are nearing retirement, contact DSEA's Debbie Weaver at DSEA (1-866-734-5834 or by e-mail at Debbie.Weaver@dsea. org), and ask her to send you a membership packet. It will explain the choices you have for member- ship, including having dues deducted automatically from your state pension check. www.dsea.org www.dsea-r.org Fear the Worst: A Thriller