Maryland Retired School
Personnel Association

On May 16, 1945, a group of 23 retired teachers formed an organization called the Retired Teachers of the State of Maryland. The group’s foremost concern was a financial one...what a surprise! Over the years, the name changed a couple of times and membership expanded from just retired teachers to all retired school personnel. And while the main concern was and is still financial, the mission has expanded to member empowerment to enrich the quality of life, as well as providing expanded services to members. We work to influence legislation that benefits members, are active in community service and offer opportunities for travel and benefits to members. My slogan for the next two years is going to be “Opportunities to Advocate, Serve and Connect.” Building our membership will be front and center for me, but I can’t do it alone. We need to invite new members so we can continue to be successful at accomplishing our mission. Local membership committees work very hard at bringing in new people, but it shouldn’t just be up to the committees. We all know friends who are retiring. We can all tell them about the Maryland Retired School Personnel Association and ask them to join our organization. We can all tell them about the sense of accomplishment we feel when we get legislation passed that benefits seniors, the smiles we see on people’s faces when they are impacted by our community service projects, the wonderful trips, and the voluntary benefits at discounted rates that membership offers.

Let’s all make the effort to make sure retiring educators know the letters MRSPA and what they stand for. Let’s make it a priority to increase our numbers. This is a membership organization and without members, we cease to exist. Help us become bigger and better than we are. I look forward to working with you over the next two years. There is strength in numbers, and we want to continue to be a strong organization working for a better future for us all. Thank you all for that you do and have a wonderful, safe summer!