May 2015 Red Pencil

The Red Pencil          Newsletter of Watauga County Retired School Personnel Vol.XVI, No.5 May 2015____________________________________________ntn1066@hotmail.com___ May Meeting            When:        Thursday, 21 May 2015                Where:      Deerfield Methodist Church            How much:   $10, check payable to Watauga County NCRSP                What:       Annual presentation of scholarship                            Memorial service                                                                         Please bring any food staples you wish, especially powdered milk, canned soups, and cereals.  Bring the aluminum tabs from soda cans, pet food cans, and soup cans to help a fund to purchase and train seeing-eye dogs.  If you can manage it, include a bag of cat or dog food for our four-legged friends at the Humane Society. AND bring a check in the amount you would normally have spent on school supplies in August.  Make the check to Watauga Unit, NCRSP and put B2S on the memo line. If your caller has not contacted you by the 15th of May, call Margaret Sigmon at 264-2036 or email her at margaretsigmon@bellsouth.net.  Please understand that an accurate accounting of our attendees is extremely important, since that is the number of people for whom George will cook.  Callers make every effort to reach all the names on their lists, but you can help by responding to your caller or by notifying Margaret. In a practice we began several years ago, we will have meals for sale for $5 after our meeting if we have enough food to do so.  If you are having guests or eating alone for dinner or just love George’s wonderful food, place your order as you arrive or stay for a few moments after the meeting. President’s Message      With the arrival of spring and May flowers, we can finally say goodbye to winter in the High Country.  Our May NCRSP luncheon could not come at a more beautiful time of the year.  As summer comes around the corner, so does the completion of my first year as your President.   Your executive board is making plans for 2015-2016, and we are committed anew to finding ways to make our Watauga NCRSP unit stronger.  I am pleased that we are continuing to bring in new recruits to our organization, but this is an ongoing task.  As we strive to increase our membership on the local level, the state executive board is gathering information to help local units become more effective.   The board conducted a statewide survey sponsored by the NCAE and NCRSP on February 19-22, 2015.  As quoted by our NCRSP Executive President, Tony Bennett, “Put simply, now that we have reliable, statistically-valid information about what members and potential members want, we are in a better position to serve existing members and attract new members”.  The results of this survey will be used this summer in the leadership training for our local officers.  I want to share a few of the key findings.  The participants in this survey included:  200 NCRSP members; 100 active NCAE members (ages 50 and older); and 100 potential NCAE  members (ages 50 and older).  Below are six brief statements summarizing the key findings from this survey.  1.      NCRSP is seen as a “Good Value” among members. 2.     Protecting the state health plan and retirement system are key selling points for NCRSP,  both for current NCAE members and future potential NCAE members.       3.   NCRSP members think it’s important to expand the organization’s role into             education issues, like class sizes and teacher pay.        4.   Awareness of NCRSP significantly higher among NCAE members than             non-members        5.   Costs is a major factor in decision to join NCAE and NCRSP.        6.   Online communications will become more popular among future NCRSP               members. The overall findings are not surprising and tell us what we already presume, but one huge surprise is in that over 50% of our NCAE members at retirement are not aware of their local  NCRSP unit.  Potential NCAE members have even less awareness of our organization at retirement.   We are reminded that “cost to join” is the number one reason that NCAE members and retirees do not join NCAE and NCRSP.  As we continue to analyze these findings from the statewide survey and reflect on our local organization, we can use this data to serve our members better. Lee RETIREMENT ALERT: Every year some of our active colleagues become our retired colleagues and that’s when we’re pleased to encourage them to join us in NCRSP.  If you know of folks who are retiring this year, please give their names to Barbara or Roland Moy, 264-8811, or Dot Barker, 264-3621, for a formal invitation and then issue a personal invitation for them to come to our August breakfast with you.  Remember that their first meal with us is free. The simple and best truth is that everyone in our organization is on the Membership Committee and we are the first line of recruitment.   Important Bits and Pieces: Our memorial service in May will honor the members of our chapter who have died this past year: Dot Bingham, Jean Bolick Clawson, Louise Hurd, Herbert Hampton, and Georgia Yates. Please remember to keep up with your volunteer hours.  You’ll find a form in this newsletter and Candace is asking that you mark it for April and May if you’ve already turned in your form for January-March. We extend HUGE congratulations to our Charles Isley, to whom a wonderful concert was dedicated by the Watauga Community Band on May 3 on the ASU campus.  Billy Ralph Winkler directs this organization.  Taking part in the evening were NCRSP members Melony Winkelmann, Beth Winkler, Joy Pritchett, Judy Miller, andRoland Moy.                                                                                                                                                   For your calendar:  As of right now, the 2015-2016 school year begins in Watauga County on Tuesday, August 18.  Mark your calendar now and plan to attend our annual breakfast meeting at 9A on that date.    All other meetings during the year will be on Thursday, as usual.    New Medical Problem Just for Us:     AAADD   (Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder) This is how it manifests: I decided to water my garden this morning. As I turned on the hose in the driveway, I looked at my car and thought it needed washing. As I started for the garage for a sponge, I glanced at the porch table and spotted the mail I’d brought up from the mailbox earlier. I thought I’d go through the mail before I got my hands wet washing the car. I put the car keys on the table, sorted the junk mail into the little trash can under the table and noticed that the can was full. So, I thought I’d put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage before I did anything else, but then I thought that since I was going to be so near the mailbox at the end of the drive when I took out the garbage anyway, I might as well pay the bills and take them to the mailbox when I went. I took the bills inside with me and got my checkbook, but then I saw that I had only one check left.  The extra checks were in my desk in my study. I was going to look for them, but on the desk was a can of Coke I’d been drinking and I needed to move it aside before I knocked it over. The Coke was getting warm, so I decided to put it in the fridge to keep it cold. On the way into the kitchen with the Coke, I saw a vase on the counter and noticed that the flowers needed water.  I put the Coke on the counter right next to the glasses I’d been looking for all morning. I thought I’d better put the glasses on my desk before I lost them again, but first I was going to water the flowers, so I put the glasses back on the counter and went to get a container of water. That’s when I spotted the TV remote someone had left on the kitchen table.  I knew that tonight, when we sit down to watch TV, we’ll be looking for that remote, so I decided to put it back where it belongs. But first I’ll water the flowers. When I spilled some of the water on the floor, I put the remote back on the table and headed down the hall to get a towel to wipe up the spill. Somewhere halfway down the hall, I forgot what I was planning to do. And now it’s the end of the day. The car isn’t washed.  The bills aren’t paid. A warm can of Coke is sitting on my counter. The flowers don’t have enough water. I still have only one check in my checkbook. I can’t find the remote.  I can’t find my glasses. And I don’t remember what I did with my car keys. When I did try to figure out why nothing got done today, I was completely baffled, because I know I was busy and I know I’m really tired. I realize this is a serious problem, and I’m going to get help for it.  But first, I’m going to check my email.   All the schools in Watauga County will need more proctors than ever this spring for end-of-course tests.  If you can give three hours or so to a school near you in early June, please phone the school to see how you can help.             Back 2 School Festival, Part 2        As we were last year, the Watauga Unit of NCRSP is going to be actively involved in the Back2School Festival, scheduled this year for Saturday, August 8. You’ll remember that we are no longer bringing school supplies to our August meeting, and instead we are supporting the Back2School Festival at Watauga High School. Again, please write a check in the amount you would expect to spend on school supplies – or more.   Make the check out to Watauga Unit, NCRSP and put B2S on the memo line.  Bring that check to the May meeting.  If you wish, and we hope you do, please bring along some highlighters like the ones pictures above, as well.  That’s the item we’ve been asked to supply this year, and WalMart and Staples have huge supplies in all sizes.  Sharpie is one brand name and Bic is another. Please see Candace Hall if you are interested in volunteering at the Festival itself. The Festival is the brainchild of our March speaker, Amber Bateman, as is Quiet Givers,  (quietgivers@gmail.com)  a local organization of community members who answer specific calls for assistance in our community.  If you would like more information about Quiet Givers and about the Back2School Festival, visit www.quietgivers.org.  You can also keep up-to-date on current information about the festival at http://www.back2schoolfestival.org/.                                                                                                                                         NCRSP Community Participation Volunteer Hours  2015 Name:  Category Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Education x x x x x x x x x x Other x x x x x x x x x x               Total Hours in All Categories ________