ECOEA is the link between OEA, your local and you!
Celebrating 60 years of service to our members!
Keeping informed in retirement

Greetings and Happy Fall Everyone!

My name is Anne Bowles and I am the new ECOEA-R representative to the OEA-Retired Advisory Council. After 31 years of teaching in Findlay and Wooster, I retired at the end of the 2017-2018 school year. In the summer of 2018, I also completed nearly 6 years on the OEA Board of Directors.

In addition to ECOEA’s email, ecoea@sbcglobal.net , you can reach me at my personal email abowleswoo@aol.com .  ECOEA-Retired also has a website at ecoea-r.ohea.us . You can also check ECOEA’s website for additional information on ECOEA events, dates, deadlines, and links to ECOEA-R and OEA-R. Retired members are welcome at all active events.

Please join us for our December 3, 2019 Holiday Happenings Luncheon at Pine Tree Barn 4374 Shreve Road in Wooster, Ohio 44691 at 11:30 am.  You’ll order off the menu at the Granary Restaurant and afterward you can enjoy holiday shopping in the festively decorated rooms of the beautiful Pine Tree Barn. Please RSVP and let me know if you plan to attend by November 20 th . If you would like to call me, I can be reached at: 330-347-7378. Or, you can register online at the green button following this newsletter. 

Within the last month:

OEA-R Advisory Council met on Sept. 10 and the OEA-R Fall conference took place on Sept. 11. Advisory Council work covered several areas:
Still awaiting the approval of the OEA-R Grant, we should know in October.
Grant Goals:
  1. Align the state affiliate goals and mission with our district retirement groups to keep our retired members informed and engaged in all aspects of OEA.
  2. Develop leadership skills of retired members by encouraging and enlisting more participants in activities through: implementation of the grant, opportunities through district workshops, trainings, and conferences to encourage visibility and involvement.
  3. Each of the 10 districts with work with Ohio’s O.N.E. Member Ambassadors to strengthen the relationship with state affiliate and local leaders.
  4. To work with O.N.E. Member Ambassadors in making early contact with new educators, using technology (i.e. Hustle) that acknowledges and welcomes them to the profession of education through a buddy system.
   
Discussion occurred with OEA officers around the need of increasing OEA-R Fund for Children and Public Education (FCPE) donations. With campaign 2020, any amount you can give helps. FCPE funds pro-public education candidates, regardless of party. You can contribute online via the OEA website using the DONATE button.

Additional discussion took place on how to make it easier for actives to pay over time for an OEA-R/NEA-R Lifetime membership. OEA-R is looking into how this is handled in other states and if there's a way to put it on the back of the OEA membership form, with the other professional groups/organizations that are paid through payroll deduction.

To Join OEA-R: If you are receiving this newletter, you are a member. If you have a friend who would like to join, please feel free to request a membership form from me or join online at: ww.nea.org/JoinNea . There are annual membership options as an alternative to the lifetime membership prices.

Retiree Action Team: Retired leaders from nearly each of the 10 districts have been approached to assist the Advisory Council in sharing information that is relevant to current educators through methods such as Hustle/text messages, phone trees, etc. Training will be provided by OEA in October. and November.  Also, the need to engage and invite student teachers to membership in the Ohio Student Education Association (OSEA) is a priority. OEA pays for the membership cost of being an OSEA member and that is considered a unified membership with OEA/NEA. Upon becoming a hired educator and an OEA member, they begin paying regular dues.

OEA-R Fall Conference was held on Wednesday, September 11 and sessions covered using Social Media appropriately, accessing the web safely, aspects of social/emotional academic development, and NEA Member Benefits related to travel.  Please let me know if you have ideas for sessions you’d like to see offered at future OEA-R Fall or Spring Conferences.

Best,

Anne Bowles
ECOEA-R
OEA-R Advisory Council      
ECOEA is in need of ECOEA-Retired members to serve on several of the ECOEA Standing Committees. The ECOEA C&B allows for one retired member to serve a three-year term on each of the following committees:
  • Constitution and Bylaws Committee
  • Program Committee
  • Scholarship, Awards, and Grants Committee
  • Intra-Professional Political Action Committee
  • Elections/Representative Assembly and Credentials Committee
Committees generally meet 2-3 times per year. Mileage will be paid to attend. If you would like to be considered for an appointment to one of the Standing Committees, please complete a brief application at the button below. You will be contacted by our ECOEA-R representative, so please provide good contact info.
ECOEA offers a scholarship of $500 to attend the NEA-Retired Conference at the Hyatt Regency Orlando in Orlando, Florida on March 15-16, 2020. The deadline to apply for the ECOEA scholarship is November 1st, 2019. The Retired Conference follows the 2020 NEA National Leadership Summit at the same location March 13-15.
You must register with NEA to attend (our scholarship does not register you). The scholarship is by reimbursement after attending the Retired Conference. You can apply at the green button below.
Per ECOEA Policy 3.6 Access to Financial Reports -the monthly Executive Committee financial report is available to any member upon request.
Check out ECOEA on Social Media.