President's Column - Winter 2012

by PTFA President Jennifer Rueda

It is with a sense of relaxation and an open heart that I begin 2012, ready to begin all the plans I’d made in my mind way back when I first became your president (a mere six months ago). Now that the 2010/2013 contract is nearly done, I’m looking forward to a renewed relationship with our members and the college administration.  This new relationship is based on a firm respect and admiration for all that CCC does for its students and the surrounding community.  We are so lucky to be educators, changing and transforming lives for the better, one step at a time.

In fact, I met recently with the president of the college, Joanne Truesdell (something I do every month), who shared that the college is working on a very positive visioning process. In her office, listening, I could feel myself being drawn in to the hopefulness of a new start. 

Have you ever walked in the forest, past a downed tree, whose bark is bursting forth with life? Really, is death so permanent? I don’t think so.  The death of that tree leads to a wonderful decomposure from which springs forth pretty little flowers, soon-to-be majestic ferns and tiny tree trunks that may become a thicket of vine maples.

Like that ever-changing forest, I’m excited to begin a new year with the following plans.  Although we are just finishing our last bargaining process, the new contract lasts only three years, one and a half years of which are already behind us.  This new contract will end in 2013; therefore, your PTFA board would like to start recruiting new people to become part of the next bargaining committee in Fall 2012. I’ve had discussions with the administration about doing a different kind of bargaining--something much less contentious than “positional” bargaining.

In order build our association, I would like to start a campaign by where the PTFA board and others try to get in contact with every single member (if we can). We just want to meet you, learn from you, and explain who we are (the PTFA/OEA/NEA). We’re not selling a thing. I’m not sure what this “meeting” campaign will look like, but I’m ready to implement some “active listening” training I went through in my NEA Emerging Leaders Academy (ELA). By the way, I’ll be graduating from that academy in early March. I get to go (all expenses paid) to Chicago and hang out with my fellow ELA buddies.
So, please stay tuned for an invitation to meet with a PTFA board member, a building representative or a friendly PTFA volunteer. We’ll just ask a few questions (e.g. Why did you become an educator?) and answer any questions that you might have.