Messages that Matter
Find the message from the President and Executive Director each time the Newsletter is published on this page.
President's Message
We’ve turned the page on another calendar year. Some of us were glad to see 2024 go; others weren’t so happy about its passing. Some of us are excited to see what 2025 will bring; others await the future with a bit of trepidation. One thing is certain…it doesn’t matter how you feel about moving forward, it’s going to happen. We can look forward to hearing a lot more about advances in technology (like AI), celestial events (eclipses, meteor showers, planetary movements), climate change, and who knows what else! The members
of the Maryland Retired School Personnel Association can look forward this year to the 80th year since its founding. You may already know that a small group of teachers got together all those years ago over financial concerns. It’s funny how the more things change,
the more they stay the same. Over time, membership grew from about a couple of dozen people to thousands.
The Maryland Retired School Personnel Association is still concerned about financial issues. This month the Maryland Legislature convened for its annual session. In the second week over 600 bills have already been introduced. Not all of them are specifically
about finances, but there are bills that will impact retired school personnel and other Marylanders.
The MRSPA Legislative Committee is already meeting and discussing positions on bills that fit our legislative priorities. You can check out our legislative prioritieson the mrspa.org website. In April, at the end of the session, we’ll celebrate our successes!
And what would an 80th birthday be without drawing attention to it? Our Membership and Public Relations Committees are working on a plan to get our name out there, to introduce us or perhaps reintroduce us to education personnel who are at or nearing retirement age.
Folks don’t join something if they don’t know about it, what it does, or what they can get out of membership. There are opportunities: to advocate (legislatively, for example). They say you are either at the table or you’re on the menu. Be at the table! to serve (in schools, communities and all around) to connect with former and new colleagues. Make new friends, and keep the old! In May, very close to the anniversary of our founding, we’ll have our Annual Business Meeting. Those of us who attend will have the opportunity to celebrate together and hopefully look forward to many more years ahead. I’m sure there will be many other things that will happen in 2025, there always are. For me, I will look to 2025 for more peace and kindness in the world.
I will hope for positive changes in the climate and a greater understanding of what AI is, does, and how it can be used for good. Finally, I look to 2025 for growth in our organization. Abraham Lincoln said, “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” Let’s make the most of 2025!
Betty Weller,
MRSPA President
Executive Director's Message
You can take the teacher out of the classroom…
Once a Marine, always a Marine. You may have heard this saying if you know any US Marines or if like me you live anywhere near a military base. And of all the “former” Marines I know, they don’t typically like the use of the word “former”. At all. It is as if being a Marine is in their DNA. I get that. While being a teacher or other school personnel is not the same as being a Marine, I think that the feeling is similar. I think being a first-year teacher was my own personal boot camp. I know I personally felt like I was storming
a beach in my classroom sometimes. And certainly, there were days when the obstacles were great and varied, and we pushed through
and held the line against the odds. We weren’t facing bullets and bombs, but the hormones, personalities, and sometimes anger and fear of children in a crowded, smelly setting were very real. Oh, and we had to deal with all of it in a 45-minute class period, while also teaching the content and being engaging, supportive, and professional. Just as we asked our students to get back up when they were knocked down, we did the same. We always fought the good fight and were proud to do it. We are proud to have done it.
This is also why I am so proud to work at MRSPA. I get to see firsthand how dedicated and selfless our members continue to be. How they still go the extra mile to keep their local running, to advocate to protect their pension and health benefits, to volunteer in their community, and to stay connected to their colleagues and schools. I have visited all our local associations and attended hundreds of meetings and events in my tenure with MRSPA, and I remain amazed at what MRSPA and our locals accomplish.
But I also know that I shouldn’t really be amazed or surprised. It is who our members are. It’s in their DNA. They’ve stormed the classroom beaches and came out the other side. They’ve impacted the lives of thousands of
children and improved their communities, and they continue to do so because they don’t know how to do anything else. And they will keep being who they are because you can’t take the classroom out of the teacher (school personnel).
Thank you for your membership in MRSPA!
Wanda Ruffo Twigg,
MRSPA Executive Director