Opening Day Remarks from our Union President…
Here is the speech from our chapter president, Sherry Karcher-Hewitt, from Opening Day at Capital Region BOCES for the 2018-2019 year.
“I’m hoping you all took some well-deserved time to connect with family and friends over the summer and to enjoy some relaxation and vacation before heading back to school…and then here’s to those of us who work all summer and vacation time was gone in the blink of an eye! In any case, stunned as we are to wake up and find ourselves at Opening Day in September 2018, “Welcome Back!”
As we start the new school year, I want to first reflect just a bit on last year and to thank you for your tremendous dedication not only to the students in our BOCES, but also to your colleagues, and to your union. I have been so impressed by your passion and hard work in the face of so many, many changes this year! From administrative transformation to the effects brought by redesign, we have stayed engaged, made our voices heard, and brought success to new initiatives at every level and across every division. In fact, we have risen to the challenge… Every. Single. Time. It could not have been done without you!
You know that there have been political efforts to try to setback public sector unions across the nation, not the least of which was the Janus Decision handed down by the Supreme Court in June. However, educators in every corner of this nation are continuing to rise and stand in solidarity, and we are no exception! Thanks to the hard work of your Union Representatives and Executive Board of the CRBFA, we have exceeded NYSUT’s statewide efforts, achieving a recommitment level of 96%, and I have never been more proud of us . . . or exhausted! Unless you are very, very, VERY new, we have met with every single one of you at least once, and most of you many more times than that. And if you are new, to you I say “welcome” and “stay tuned” . . . We are coming for you, too!
So who puts the we in “we”, you ask? Well, in addition to the new Representative Council who will be seated in October, it is the new Executive Board elected and appointed earlier this year:
Dan Darpino, Vice President
Tim Roberts, Treasurer
Trish Frament, Secretary
Erica Kane, Chapter VP CTE Teachers
Kristen Lashway, Chapter VP SPED Teachers
Gina Hanley, Chapter VP Service Unit
Colleen Condolora, Chapter VP Teaching Assistants
Susan Kusalonis, Membership
Brent Pierce, Grievance Chairperson
And, introducing Ken Bevan at the helm of Communications. Thank you all for stepping up, again or anew, to provide this most important representation of your colleagues!
I would also like to acknowledge the many, many, many years of service to our Association from Barbara Burnham, serving as Secretary, Deb Sorvari as Treasurer, and, although on “vacation”, Flora Fasoldt as Chapter VP Special Education teachers. Your efforts on our behalf can never be enumerated, and we have been so fortunate to have you . . . Many thanks!
But, while we pause on occasion to reflect on problems solved or a job well done, we know that our work is not done. It’s never done. Like the students we serve, there is never a finished product, never a moment when we take our foot off the gas. We have high hopes for the new initiatives our administration highlights for us today, for what our students will be learning and accomplishing this year, and for the excellence in service we will provide to our component districts in the weeks and months ahead. But we know success of those endeavors depends on US . . . on OUR guidance and on OUR expertise. So we will not take our foot off the gas. This year we will shift into the next gear. We will continue to be proactive rather than reactive, engaged rather than complacent, striving rather than stagnant. Your involvement and continued dedication is critical to that success!
I look back to this day and time last year, standing here introducing myself and asking you to put faith in the kind of leader I would be. I hope you have found that faith well placed, and I find there is no more important message to deliver now than I delivered then, and that is simply:
I. Am. Here. For. You.
…If you need me, call me. I will be there.
Have a great year everyone, and welcome back!”
