School and Community Summer 2024

Katie Mock, Seneca What is your MSTA “elevator pitch” when talking to a prospective member? Being a member of MSTA is very rewarding! It makes you feel like someone has your back; it is also nice to know that you are part of something bigger… way bigger! When you speak with people from MSTA, you feel like you matter and that they are not “above” you. What’s been working to get new folks to join? Are there certain things that really catch their interest? • Having our SW Rep (Aubry Kruse) come to our new teacher training in August • Having support from our superintendent • Having forms readily available • We started doing payroll deduct Once recruited, how do you keep everyone involved and excited about being part of the CTA? • Monthly Amazon card drawings for members • Monthly meetings • Fall tailgate before the second football game Are there any cool ways your CTA helps members step up and take on leadership roles in the district? Our CTA officers are very approachable and practical - always willing to have a good conversation. We talked about having officers sign up to represent us at board meetings. What advice would you give someone who wants to start a CTA in their own district? Have people attend the Summer Leadership Conference for inspiration, information, and ideas. Create bulletin boards that will be updated quarterly. Ask your superintendent if you can speak about MSTA/CTA at a district staff meeting. Put information and goodies in all teachers’ mailboxes, or something more general in the workroom/lounge. Offer to host an informational meeting with food/drinks… something yummy they cannot resist.

Kristin Clark, Fulton What is your MSTA “elevator pitch” when talking to a prospective member? FCTA is your opportunity to stay up to date about the goings-on with our district and gives you an opportunity to use your voice on issues that affect district staff. What’s been working to get new folks to join? Are there certain things that really catch their interest? During my opening session speech, I took the opportunity to remind the staff that there is power in numbers and when we have a strong FCTA that attends meetings and works to improve issues, the administration is more likely to listen to us. That helped our attendance at meetings some, but the things we worked on improving this year also made more people want to be there as well. Are there any cool ways your CTA helps members step up and take on leadership roles in the district? It’s not really “cool,” but every time we have a topic to address, we form a subcommittee if it’s needed. I email all our members and ask if anyone is passionate about the topic and so far, we’ve gotten lucky that there are members who volunteer. I reach out to those volunteers and ask one of them to be the facilitator for the meetings. As they take on the leadership of the committee, they also take on keeping the CTA informed about the work they are doing in their meetings. What challenges have you run into with getting and keeping members, and how have you adapted your tactics in response to these challenges? We don’t have a plan now, but it will be something we focus on next year. Right now, we just speak to people who were with us the year before and we make sure they didn’t forget to sign up. What advice would you give someone who wants to start a CTA in their own district? Do it! It is a great way to get your voices heard and to be able to work with administration to make positive changes. It may be difficult to get members involved at first, but as you make progress toward positive effects for them, they will want to be part of the work you are doing.

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