Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/83243
AROUND AEA Chandler EA members Debra Kimberly, Dawn Koberstein, and Jil-Christie Tatar AEA Annual Meeting, cont. from page 11 TOP CENTER: AEA Retired member Mary Bishop. TOP RIGHT: NEA President Dennis Van Roekel NEA Director Estevan Carreon speaks to a new business item on the delegate floor. some thoughts about AEA's 120-year history. "We have faced many challenges in our past. We have also had some successes. When we look at those successes we see that they came about from well-organized and persistent campaigns… We know that we have the ability to choose and define our own future." NEA President Dennis Van Roekel gave the keynote address during the AEA Salute to Excellence luncheon. "I am proud of AEA. You have stepped up, spoken out, and you have made a difference. You are an incredible organization." Van Roekel emphasized the importance of collective action and unions. "There is nothing that has been accomplished in this great nation of ours without collective action. It's about people believing in something more powerful and bigger than who we are." Past Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Carolyn Warner also spoke at the luncheon about the fight for quality public education in America. "I think we need to say 12 Fall 2012 ❘ AEA Advocate BOTTOM RIGHT: Paradise Valley EA delegates Cara Holly, Blaine Beatty, Jonathan Bengel, and Chris Howard it out loud: Public education in the United States is the foundation stone that our form of government – democracy – is founded on." With fewer delegates and a smaller budget, this year's Delegate Assembly was a much smaller affair. The first day started late afternoon to accommodate delegates' work schedules, cutting out half a day from the two-day meeting. AEA Retired member Mary Bishop found the change takes time away from delegates to socialize. "It's shorter this way, but you need time for people to mingle and get together." Though Bishop does not recall her first Delegate Assembly, she has attended the NEA RA since 1970. "I've seen many changes and a lot of growth in the Association over that time." Bishop retired from teaching in 1983 and is the 2011 Les Reynolds Distinguished Senior Service Award winner. She was born in Yuma, Arizona in 1930 and moved to Phoenix in 1942 where she attended George Washington