President's Corner March 2009

Dear NYSTEA Members,

I received an email message from the Guidance Chairperson of my High School on Friday, February 27th reminding me and my fellow teachers that progress reports for the 3rd marking period are due on March 6th. I can’t believe that there are only 15 weeks left in this school year. What is harder to believe is that there is just 8 weeks to go before the NYSTEA Annual Conference begins.

Our Conference starts on April 22nd with the 46th Representative Assembly at 6:00 PM. If the regional officers have not done so yet, please be sure to send your “delegate information” to Dave Banister dbanister@rochester.rr.com along with your conference registration as soon as possible. Remember, in order to be seated, delegates must be a member of NYSTEA. You can check with Dave via email to make sure you are current. Your hotel reservations should be made by March 22nd to get the group rate. Any reservation made after this date are not guaranteed.

Pat Boire, our Conference Chairperson, is still taking proposals for those of you who want to give a presentation. If you wish to make a presentation, especially on STEM, go to the Conference page and down load the form. You can email the form to Pat at tboire@hvwisp.net.  By attending these professional educational presentations, your District might give you an hour of professional development time per presentation. You will receive a label to be placed on the program from each presenter. You will need to make arrangements with your District to apply this time to your overall hours. 

This past Saturday, February 28, 2009, I sent a letter to each member of the Board of Regents, outlining the Mission Statement and Goals of the NYS STEM Collaborative. This collaborative as I stated last month, is comprised of NYSTEA, STANYS and AMYNYS. At the conference I will be giving a presentation on STEM in NY and the STEM Collaborative. Please stop by.

Recently, I forged a NYSTEA partnership with the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries. They have signed on to be part of the 2010 Annual Conference providing educational presentations. They have also invited NYSTEA and Technology Education teachers from around the State to participate in an NSF grant. Please go to that article on our web site and check it out. This is a wonderful opportunity for our discipline.
 
Finally, NYSTEA is only as strong as its membership. Please remember that NYSTEA
is the only group that advocates directly for your program and for you as a Technology Education teacher. If you have not been a member for awhile or have yet to renew your membership I urge you to do it today. There are a number of important issues facing our discipline and we need to have a strong voice to be heard. With your membership and your participation we will have that voice.

I look forward to meeting you in Lake George this April. Bring a friend.

Yours in Technology,

Jan Stark
President NYSTEA