School and Community Summer 2024

Elevate Your Impact: Tips from CTA Leaders

Lynda Offutt, Lebanon What is your MSTA “elevator pitch” when talking to a prospective member? Every teacher needs to join a teaching organization for protection. I highly recommend MSTA for several reasons. First, it is an organization made up of and led by teachers. Local control is important. MSTA offers legal protection and constant support with legal questions and concerns should you ever need it. You never know these days. What’s been working to get new members to join? Are there certain things that really catch their interest? We get new members to join by attending the New Teacher Institute and district back to school meeting. At these meetings, we pass out and discuss MSTA highlights. Prizes are handed out to each building just for stopping by our table. I personally contact each teacher/para/support staff in my building and ask if they are interested in joining. Teachers not in my building get many friendly reminders to renew each year. I help them fill out the online forms and call the MSTA office when there is a problem. Teachers appreciate this because the beginning of the year is always so busy. I make sure everyone that wants to join gets signed up as painlessly as possible!

Once recruited, how do you keep everyone involved and excited about being part of the CTA? We keep everyone involved by inviting them to TEPS and telling them how rejuvenating this dinner can be. We also make sure teachers know they can safely come to us with concerns and that they will be addressed. Cinnamon rolls or cookies are also passed out throughout the year to encourage teachers. Challenges include people forgetting to renew their membership or feeling like MSTA can’t solve their problem. Our district is online renewal only. This is less paperwork for me, and teachers can click auto renew and not have to worry about renewing each year. I must remind teachers that MSTA can’t always solve a problem due to the law, but will be by their side. If you want to start or lead a CTA in your district, keep it simple. Don’t expect everyone to want to come to an extra meeting. Keep teachers informed by attending Leadership Conference, Convention, TEPS, Capitol Day and all the wonderful opportunities MSTA provides. Your biggest job is to be there to support and encourage your teachers. What advice would you give someone who wants to start a CTA in their own district?

12 | SUMMER 2024 S&C