The New Era: Take Two
by John Christian
It was another successful Fall Fling. Thank you to all who brought
an unwrapped toy. The toys will be distributed to local families
in need. If you would still like to donate a toy, drop it at the
high school office. Val Koll is coordinating the effort superbly.
If you left early, you missed a historic event: a guest appearance
by our superintendent, Chris Brown. He made the rounds, chatting
with folks before heading to attend his second athletic event of
the night. We have had very few administrators join us, and certainly
the Superintendent has never attended. Just another sign that the
West Genesee family is beginning to take form.
Thank you to all who donated to Lee National Denim Day. A total of
$1350 was raised for breast cancer research. As usual, the West Genesee
family steps up to the plate and crushes one over the left field
wall. I am constantly amazed at the things this staff is able to
accomplish outside of the classroom.
Many of you saw that new legislation
was enacted allowing you to have a yearly mammogram or prostate exam
without having it count against your sick time. That’s right! You
can take four hours once a year to have these procedures. Just make
sure you have a doctor’s note denoting that is what you had done
and the time will not count against you. No reason now not to pay
attention. Make your appointment today.
By now you know that the district has adopted OMNI as our third party
administrator of your 403B accounts. Everything I have heard from
other districts about OMNI has been good. Remember, if you see a
provider on the list that you would like to do business with, just
call payroll and they will add them. It is my understanding that
after this year the whole process will be able to be done online.
Stay tuned.
Last month, we had our first highway cleanup in quite some time.
Thanks to Margie Thiele for coordinating the event. The dozen or
so people who showed had a great time, however, 10 of them were executive
officers and retirees. Therefore, I am looking for suggestions how
to increase attendance. I know we are all busy, but if we can’t come
up with an idea that attracts more than 2 percent of our staff to
help out, I will have to abandon this cause.
Lastly, the Association is considering a Memorandum of Agreement
with the district which would adjust posting dates in an effort to
more smoothly move our own people into jobs they are interested in.
If you are considering retiring this year, it would mean you will
need to submit your retirement letters a month earlier than the usual
date of April 1st. As this is not a negotiations year, it is a good
time to implement this for a one-year trial. If all goes well, the
Association would be looking to start future negotiations earlier
in an attempt to have a new agreement collectively bargained before
potential retirees would have to decide. I will have an update next
month. Until then, take care!
This Cleanup
Crew Really Cleaned Up!
by Lynn Davis
Front row, left to right: Sue Giannini, Margie Thiele,
Theresa Mosey, Mike Cost, Bonnie Young, Michelle Lepak;
Back row,
left to right: Betsy McLane, Val Koll and her husband Rob, Andrea
Moore, Greg Allen,
Conner Murphy and (not in picture) Lynn Davis.
Our Team met at McNamara's, donned their complementary
leather gloves and divided into teams of three. One team took the
westbound lane; one took the eastbound lane for about half a mile.
We worked about an hour and a half, stuffing more than 20 large garbage
bags full of trash. Some items of note include an intact wine glass,
a brake drum, road flares, various articles of clothing, and - best
find of the day - a DeWalt tool kit, complete with drill bits and
other tools - practically new!!
After the hard manual labor, McNamara's was a welcome haven. We hunkered
down for free drinks and grub, courtesy of the WGTA, then got down
to the raffle. Prizes included three $25 gift certificates from Dunn
Tires, $75 from Edible Arrangements, and three family packs to Cam's
Pizza. Everyone got an "I survived a WGTA Highway cleanup" t-shirt.
What a great payoff for an hour and a half of trash picking!
New Dental Plan Available from NYSUT
from NYSUT's Member Benefits
NYSUT Member Benefits Trust is pleased
to announce the arrival of our newest endorsed
program, an In-Service Dental Plan, available January 1. MetLife
is the provider of this plan.
If you are retired, this notice does not directly affect you, as
Member Benefits has offered an endorsed retiree dental plan since
1996.
Here are three brief highlights of the new In-Service plan:
1) You have the freedom to choose any dentist you want, but you will
generally incur the least out-of-pocket expense by receiving services
from a MetLife participating dentist.
2) You can purchase coverage for dependents up to age 25. There is
no full-time student status required!
3) The annual maximum benefit per person is $2,000.
Eligible members will receive information about this plan in the
mail next month. For information about contractual expense reimbursement/endorsement
arrangements with providers of endorsed programs, please call NYSUT
Member Benefits Trust at (800) 626-8101, e-mail benefits@nysutmail.org,
visit www.memberbenefits.nysut.org, or refer to your NYSUT Member
Benefits Trust Summary Plan Description.
KUDOS...
...to the West Genesee Teachers' Association, which won an American
Heart Association Top Team Award for its 2008 Heart Walk/Run.
...to the many WGTA members who ran or walked in the 10th annual
Race for Respect on October 5.
...to the more than 90 percent of WGTA's members belonging to NYSUT,
who received a Pride of the Union AFT award.
...to Emily Buchanan, Becky Rossi, and Erin Stepowany, all of whom
presented workshops; and Rick Chapman, who spoke at the New York
State Middle School Conference on October 24.
Holiday Gathering
There will be a holiday gathering for all district employees Thursday,
December 18th after school at McNamara’s. All West Genesee staff
members are welcome. There will be a cash bar and complimentary
snacks. It'll be a great way to kick back and relax in the midst
of holiday shopping stress. Hope to see you there!
New advertising policy
Starting immediately, new ads only will be run in The
Member Ship for two consecutive months. Permanent ads will be posted on the
WGTA website at http://wgta.net, and will run three times a year
in the newsletter: once in the fall, once in the winter and once
in the spring. Advertisements in The Member
Ship are provided free
to West Genesee NYSUT members and their families. All advertisements
are at the discretion of The Member Ship Editor and are printed
on an "as space allows" basis.
Advertisements should be submitted to Ellen Miller at CMS by the
first Friday of each month that school is in session. The only
other advertisements that are run in The
Member Ship are those
provided by NYSUT, the AFT or the AFL-CIO.
