Inside TSTA>NEA-Retired Annual Meeting

Thank you for attending the 2007 NEA-Retired Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Pa. This was our largest annual meeting to date with over 450 participants. We are delighted to see our meeting attendance grow; and pledge to work harder to meet the challenges associated with this increase. As the number of retiring public school employees grows, it is vital that retired members remain active members of the NEA. Your experience, loyalty, and involvement are a valuable asset to NEA.

It was our goal to provide speakers and workshops that would provide information helpful to you as association leaders as well as in your personal lives and would complement our meeting theme "Reflecting on the Past, Building for the Future." We hope you found the workshops helpful and had time to network with friends and colleagues.

Below are some highlights from this year's meeting. We hope you find this summary helpful as you share your meeting experience with other retired members.

Out Reach to Teach
This was the 12th year NEA-Retired and Student members joined other local volunteers to paint, clean, repair, landscape, decorate bulletin boards, and more. Over 350 retired and student members donned orange shirts and went to work refurbishing Gotwals Elementary School in Norristown, PA. We anticipate some very surprised and happy faces when school reopens in the fall. To see some of the media coverage we received you may visit the NEA-Retired website http://www.nea.org/retired/index.html.

NEA-RETIRED STATE AND LOCAL PROJECT GRANTS
The deadline for submitting a grant request was July 1, 2006 for Fiscal-Year 2006-07. The NEA-Retired Grants Committee will meet on August 13 and 14 to review the grants and make award determinations. Awarded grants will be published on August 15.

A memo outlining the NEA funding guidelines for the regional conferences will be sent to State Active Presidents and State Executives with a copy to State Retired Presidents/Leaders in October 2007.

2008 NEA-RETIRED REGIONAL CONFERENCES
The East Regional Conference is scheduled for April 2-4, 2008 in Williamsburg, VA at the Williamsburg Marriott. The West Regional Conference is scheduled for April 22-24, 2008 in Albuquerque, NM at the Hyatt Regency - Albuquerque. Please note that these conferences will be held during the weekdays. We made this switch to decrease the travel costs that usually accompanies weekend travel. Conference registration must be made using Reg-online.

2008 NEA-RETIRED ANNUAL MEETING
The 2008 NEA-Retired Annual Meeting is scheduled for June 27-29, 2008 in Washington, DC. Look for more information about the conferences and the annual meeting in future issues of This Active Life. Remember meeting registration must be made using Reg-online.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Attached you will find (1) a summary of the 2007 Annual Meeting Evaluations, (2) the annual meeting participants' list, (3) a list of the 2007-2008 NEA-Retired National Leadership, (4) a copy of the 2007-2008 NEA and NEA-Retired Meeting Calendar and (5) a little information about the mummers that many of you requested.

Your NEA-Retired Advisory Council will begin soon to work on other business items discussed at the meeting. Thank you for working with us through this full agenda and your support and assistance throughout the year. We look forward to seeing you again at our next NEA-Retired event.

OTHER LINKS
2007-08 NEA-Retired Calendar
2007-08 Retired National Elected Leaders
2007-08 Annual Meeting Participants Final List
Evaluation Summary
History of Mummers