feb-mar

REPRESENTING

FEBRUARY - MARCH 2018 CEA ADVISOR 15

COUNTY DIRECTOR ELECTIONS Hartford members electing representatives for CEA Board CEA active members in Hartford County are electing representatives for the CEA Board of Directors. Members in this county will receive ballots by first-class mail to elect county directors for terms that begin July 1, 2018. Completed ballots must be received at CEA by mail no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. To be valid, only one ballot per envelope can be returned in the official postage-paid envelope that is included with the ballot, and only official ballots and envelopes are acceptable. Candidates seeking election are listed below by county.

LOCALS WITH FEWER THAN 76 MEMBERS ELIGIBLE FOR NEA CLUSTER DELEGATES Nomination forms available online

The County Cluster Nomination Form must be

Local affiliates with fewer than 76 members are combined by county to form cluster membership units for the purposes of representation at the 2018 NEA Representative Assembly (RA) in Minneapolis, MN, June 30– July 5. The locals within each county cluster are encouraged to share costs. The county clusters are achieved by identifying locals within the counties that have fewer than 76 members and, as such, are not eligible to elect a delegate to the NEA RA. Nomination procedures and eligibility requirements All members of local affiliates identified as part of a county cluster are eligible for nomination. The online nomination form contains a list of local affiliates that have fewer than 76 members as of January 15, 2018. Active classroom teacher members or NEA Life members are eligible to be nominated, provided their local is within a county cluster where an election is being held. Members may nominate themselves or other members in accordance with the eligibility requirements.

completed and submitted online by the last business day in March— Friday, March 30, 2018. County cluster positions available • Fairfield/Hartford/New Haven County Cluster: 1 position • Litchfield County Cluster: 3 positions • New London County Cluster: 1 position • Tolland County Cluster: 2 positions • Windham County Cluster: 3 positions Election procedures If an election is required, each candidate nominated will receive equal space for his/her qualifications, experience, campaign statement, and photograph (supplied by each candidate) published in the April edition of the CEA Advisor . Ballots will be printed in the CEA Advisor in the appropriate county in which the election is held. Properly completed ballots must be postmarked no later than the last business day in April—Monday, April 30, 2018.

Hartford County Five members are seeking four director seats, each for three-year terms, to represent Hartford County.

Kathryn Dias Manchester

Heidi Florian Newington

Dan Hart Southington

Annie Irvine East Hartford

Mark Janick Windsor Locks

The following candidates have been declared elected in their respective counties.

New Haven County

Tolland County

Windham County

Litchfield County

No photo available

Read the list of rules and requirements and complete your NEA County Cluster Delegate nomination form at cea.org/members/elections .

Daniel Wilbur Region #7

Peter Downhour Amity

David Jedidian Vernon

Nicola Able Killingly

WITH CEA MEMBER BENEFITS, ALL MEMBERS WIN …And sometimes they win really big With benefits ranging from competitive insurance rates to discounts on everyday purchases, CEA members are winners every day of the year. Briganti, Berlin) • Pair of tickets to any TheaterWorks production (Tim Watt, East Hartford) • Four-pack of tickets to XL Center Wolf Pack hockey (Scott Williamson, Granby)

But when teachers were invited to take a fresh look at CEA’s Member Benefits website—redesigned to be easier to navigate and showcase more deals—opportunities to win were bigger and better than ever. They included cash awards, free passes to local attractions, and the grand prize: a summer getaway to Costa Rica. Explore & Score “Our Association has negotiated a lot of exciting new discounts for its members,” says Bridgeport teacher and CEA Member Benefits Committee Chair Ana Batista. To showcase those benefits, CEA launched Teacher Discount Thursdays on Facebook and Twitter, revamped its Member Benefits website, and encouraged members to explore cea.org/mb and score weekly prizes from December through the end of January. Prizes generously donated by CEA Member Benefits partners and the winners of those prizes: • $100 Visa gift card from CEA- endorsed USI Insurance (Samantha Bertone, East Lyme) • Family four-pack to Sound Tigers hockey (Raquel Castro, Bridgeport) • Pair of climbing passes to Fields of Fire Adventure Park in Mystic (Bonnie Chalmers, Manchester) • $100 off any purchase over $150 at Buyer’s Edge (Christine

• Family four-packs to Adventure Park at Storrs and the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport (Carol Records, Killingly, and Melanie Cockerham, Vernon) The grand prize was an NEA Member Benefits Adventures trip to Costa Rica, which CEA President Sheila Cohen and Executive Director Donald Williams went out to deliver in person. And the winner is… When the school bell dismissed her students for Super Bowl weekend, Enfield High School business education teacher Kim Sweeney prepared to head down the hall to meet with fellow teachers. They were going to honor one of her colleagues—or so she thought. Instead, Enfield educators, along with CEA leaders and staff, had gathered to give her one of the biggest surprises she could imagine. She didn’t know it yet, but Sweeney had just won a nine-day summer vacation to Costa Rica, including meals, hotel accommodations, and tours of a cloud forest, hot springs, Watch the video of CEA leaders, staff, and Sweeney’s fellow teachers surprising her at cea.org/mb .

Enfield High School teacher Kim Sweeney (center) poses with CEA Executive Director Don Williams, CEA President Sheila Cohen, Enfield Teachers’ Association President Tod Couture, and CEA Organizer Sara Pomponi after winning the CEA Member Benefits grand prize.

and volcano. “I just can’t believe it,” a smiling Sweeney said, accepting the award from Cohen, who offered not only her congratulations but also her thanks to the 21-year veteran and her colleagues for their work on behalf of students and their involvement in their Association. Aside from her work as a teacher, Sweeney is also her school’s building rep and a member of her Association’s executive board. “You learn an awful lot by being active in the union,” she says. “By being involved, I’m able to help my fellow teachers. When I don’t know the answer to a particular question, I know where to find it. The union offers a lot of member benefits, and the more you familiarize yourself, the better off you are.” Earlier this winter, Sweeney

received an Explore & Score postcard that CEA mailed to its members announcing the Member Benefits website and weekly prizes. “I go to the site from time to time to see what’s new,” she said, “but when I got the postcard, I made a point of checking in daily. I thought maybe I had a random shot at one of the weekly prizes. I never imagined I would win the grand prize! I’m completely overwhelmed. And it’s great to have my colleagues here to celebrate with me.” Everyone wins at cea.org/mb ! Check out all the teacher discounts you never knew you had.