President's Pen
by John Nichols

Thanksgiving Time already! November seems to be a month for meetings, I went to so many, and it flew by so fast that I got a little behind here on my column. Your ES-M United Teachers Board members and officers go to a lot of meetings representing you everywhere, whether you know it or not. Let me give you some insight into the meeting schedule:

Each month, we have an ES-M United Teachers Board of Directors meeting at our Park Hill office. These are the reps from each building. We go over our finances, discuss issues, and pass information on. Usually two weeks before this meeting we have an Executive committee meeting to set the agenda.

There are many district committees that our members are serving on. We’re thankful to have them volunteering for this and recognize their contribution. APPR committee, Teacher Induction Committee, Secondary Task Force, Special Ed, Reading, Nurses and Librarians. There is EPCC and Ed Tech. Grade level, Department Leaders and the Teaching Center meet. Also the Pine Grove Facilities Committee and all the Strategic Planning Action committees meet regularly. I know I have left some out!

We send people to Onondaga County Teachers Association, Madison County Educations Association, NYSUT workshops and conferences, The Committee of 100, the New York State Teachers Retirement System and of course the New York State United Teaches Representative Assembly.

Currently, ES-M is starting up a new CAC committee to look at School Day issues. So you can see it is a pretty full calendar before you even start teaching! I know that many of you are busy with your classes, grad school, coaching, and trying to balance your work with your families. We are all busy. But it is this participation that makes all the difference.

This December each school will hold elections for Building Representatives, Building Chairpersons, and a NYSUT Representative Assembly Alternate Delegate. I hope the people who have been doing these jobs will choose to run again. If you aren’t interested in elected office, you know that there are many ways you can participate. There are many ways to help out without even going to meetings! If you aren’t sure what you want to do, just ask and we will try to give you advice.

Informal Negotiations with the District has started. That means we won’t be talking about it much outside of the negotiations meetings. Thanks for all the input many of you did for the Negotiations Committee. Your research will be vital to us. Our goal is to bring you back a fair contract.

We don’t hesitate to celebrate your hard work, and we brag about you to our District Office people too. You have a lot to be proud of and we all have a lot to be thankful for. You are appreciated.

Thanks,

John