President's Letter - October 2015

Dear Allen County Retired Educators,

Our second of four annual meetings will he held on Thursday, October 29th at Biaggi's Restaurant at Jefferson Pointe. We will begin our meeting promptly at 11:00 AM, so come at 10:45 AM to check in, pay for your lunch, and get your new 2015-16 Membership Directory.

Please make your reservation with Mary Jo Purvis at: 471-5952 or mpurvis1@frontier.com. It would be a great help if you would contact her by October 22nd. If you need special dietary changes, please talk to the wait staff that day. Selections from a limited menu will be available.

The meal cost will be $15.00 payable when you arrive. If you are a 2015 retired teacher or administrator, and you are a first time attendee, your meal is FREE. Members who bring a non-member retiree, will get a TWO-FOR-ONE deal for lunch. Let Mary Jo know when you make your reservation.

The program for this meeting will be John Jacobson, EdD, Dean of the School of Education at Ball State University. He will define Immersion Learning as it is integrated into the BSU curriculum and provide information on implementation. If you attended our June 2015 meeting, we hear from Abby Savage on how she was using this program.

Our new 2015-2016 Membership Directory will be available at this meeting. It is free to all paid members, or it can be sent to you for an additional $2.00 mailing fee. On pages 3 and 4 of the book is the annual information for submitting Volunteer Hours for 2015. This information is so important to submit to our legislators to lobby for COLA. Send your total hours to Arlene Konley by December 1 at:

8206 Covenant Lane
Fort Wayne, IN 46835

or akonley@gmail.com or 260-316-7587. We want to again make AREA the top volunteer chapter in Indiana!

[CLICK HERE to download a copy of the Volunteer Hours form for printing.]

Scholarship information will be available from Nancy Sprague, Committee Chair, at the meeting. If you have a family member who is a college sophomore or junior with an education major this academic year, they are eligible to apply in early 2016. The applicant must be related to a retired educator. Let's have a winner from our Area 2.

If you have not yet paid your 2015-16 AREA dues of $10.00, contact Pam George at: 471-5952 or pamgeorgeph@comcast.net. She also has IRTA membership brochures. We need your support.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at Rack and Helen's, New Haven.
Great program on Fort Wayne Honor Flights.

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Superintendent Ritz in Fort Wayne

Vic’s Statehouse Notes #230 – September 30, 2015

Dear Friends,

All public school advocates in Northeastern Indiana are invited to hear a presentation by State Superintendent Glenda Ritz followed by a panel discussion of leading educators this Saturday (Oct. 3) at 2pm in Fort Wayne.

The panel will discuss solving the teacher shortage. We are delighted that Superintendent Ritz will be available to discuss the commission she has formed to investigate this topic and to brief the group on other current issues in Indiana schools.

We hope you and your friends who support public education will come!

This regional ICPE meeting co-sponsored by the Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education will be on Saturday, October 3, 2015, at 2 pm (EDT) in the Ivy Tech Coliseum Campus Auditorium, 3800 N. Anthony Blvd., Fort Wayne.

Speakers

After the presentation by State Superintendent Ritz, a panel of experts will discuss the teacher shortage:

• Rep. Melanie Wright, Yorktown (Sen. Kruse and Rep. GiaQuinta were invited but were unable to accept)

• Kathy Carr, Director of Human Resources, Fort Wayne Community Schools

• Karin Huttsell, Teacher, Northwest Allen and Blue Ribbon panel member on the teacher shortage

• Dr. Joe Nichols, Professor, IPFW

Jenny Sanders of the Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education will moderate the panel. Marilyn Shank, board vice president of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education, will serve as chair of the meeting.

We thank State Superintendent Ritz and all the panel members for accepting our invitation to Saturday’s meeting.

I hope you can support public education in Indiana by coming to our Fort Wayne meeting. Bring a friend who is also ready to join the battle to restore public education to a high priority in Indiana!

If you can’t come to Fort Wayne, please consider coming to one of three subsequent meetings around Indiana:

October 13, 7pm (EDT), Bloomington City Hall

October 20, 6:30 (CDT), Evansville Central Library

October 21, 7pm (EDT), New Albany Schools Service Center Auditorium


Thanks for your advocacy for public education!

Best wishes,

Vic Smith


“Vic’s Statehouse Notes” and ICPE received one of three Excellence in Media Awards presented by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization of over 85,000 women educators in seventeen countries. The award was presented on July 30, 2014 during the Delta Kappa Gamma International Convention held in Indianapolis. Thank you Delta Kappa Gamma!


ICPE has worked since 2011 to promote public education in the Statehouse and oppose the privatization of schools. We need your membership to help support ICPE lobbying efforts. As of July 1st, the start of our new membership year, it is time for all ICPE members to renew their membership.

Our lobbyist Joel Hand continues to represent ICPE during the interim study committee meetings in September and October. Our work in support of public education in the Statehouse goes on. We welcome additional members and additional donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word!

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information and for full information on ICPE efforts on behalf of public education. Thanks!


Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998. In 2013 I was honored to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education, and in 2014 I was honored to be named to the Teacher Education Hall of Fame by the Association for Teacher Education – Indiana.

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