In October, Deborah Rossi (Otsego), Dawn Montelle (West Hollow) and I attended NYSUT’s 39th Annual School Related Professionals Leadership Conference in Albany, NY. The conference was attended by SRPs from across New York State, including 85 first-time attendees.
School Related Professionals encompasses all non-teacher positions, including clerical, health care, custodial, teaching assistants, paraprofessionals, aides, kitchen staff, security, bus drivers and monitors.
The conference began Friday afternoon, with dinner and the Opening Session, followed by the first workshop. Saturday was a full day beginning with a Plenary Session on the Constitutional Convention. The day came to a close with dinner, a Keynote Address and a raffle to win baskets donated by NYSUT locals who attended the conference. This year, the SRP Leadership Conference raised over $2500.00 in raffle ticket sales, which is donated to NYSUT’s Disaster Relief Fund. Sunday was session three of the workshops and the Closing Session. In all, 26 workshops were offered over the course of three days.
I am in my second term as a member of the SRP Advisory Committee. We are part of the team that plans the conference, which includes Paul Pecorale, Vice-President of NYSUT. This was my sixth year attending and every year I walk away from a workshop with a big white binder full of information. And I am thrilled to have our para building reps jump on board. They get to walk away with big white binders, too!