A New Year of Opportunity

Welcome, 2010! Most of us are happy to greet this new year- a year that looks more promising and gives us a renewed sense of optimism that inspires our creativity and energy! I know at NEA-NM, we will be working hard to make this a great year for our kids and employees in our public schools.

2010 will be a special year for me personally as well as professionally. My husband and I will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, my mom will turn 80, our grandkids will turn 10 and 9. Betty Patterson and I will have the good fortune of beginning our second terms as your president and vice president in July. It is certainly a year of celebration and hope for me! As I prepare for the opportunities of a new year, I would also ask you to take a moment and reflect on the opportunities you have in this new year.

I find these words by Edith Lovejoy Pierce to be especially meaningful: “We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” I ask you to be sure that some of the words you put on your blank pages include a commitment to the Association, a commitment to write your legislator, attend a school board meeting, volunteer to help with a local Association activity, or ask a colleague to join NEA-NM. We have the opportunities- now we must take advantage of them as we work to make our public schools great for every child and school employee in New Mexico!

2010 also begins a year of change at NEA-New Mexico. You’ll soon be receiving the Advocate’s Voice in the mail. You will find articles about our newest staff members, both strong advocates who bring positive energy and excitement to our Association. Brain Huebner, known to many of you from his days working with us as our California Casualty representative, will now be working as the UniServ consultant assigned to our Valencia County locals, NEA-Belen and NEA-Los Lunas, as well as the Rio Rancho School Employees Union-RRSEU. Brian’s energy and commitment will also be showcased in his work in our electronic communications, and we will all benefit from his fresh perspectives and ideas.

The Southeast Region will also have a new voice as Greg Maxie, former president of NEA-Hobbs, takes on the SE Region UniServ position. Many of you have had the pleasure of working with Greg at the SLA or the NEA Representative Assembly last summer, or at one of the numerous trainings and events in which he participated.  Greg brings some unique experiences to this work along with great passion and creativity. I am anticipating some exciting times in the SE Region! Those of you in the area can come by and meet Greg at a reception in the SE region office on Monday, January 11th.  Contact me for details at smorgan@nea.org.

With the retirement of Marguerite Kearns, we also have a change in the Santa Fe office. Eduardo Holguin will use his extraordinary talents as the new writer for our publications. He’ll continue to work as our Government Relations specialist while also serving as UniServ consultant for NEA-Santa Fe.  We will certainly make good use of Eduardo’s expertise and understanding of our issues in these roles!

With these changes, more than half of our members will be served by a new UniServ consultant. We don’t often have such opportunities, so I am really looking forward to the continued transformation of our Association. I hope you will let me know of changes you would like to see in our communications to make them even more relevant and useful to you, as well as other ways we can better support you in the important work you do every day working with our students and making a positive difference in their lives. Thank you, and happy New Year!

In unity,

Sharon