Congratulations to all the locals that entered NYSUT’s contest sharing the ways SRP Recognition Day was celebrated. We received several great submissions making it very difficult to choose winners – but choose we did.
First Prize: General Brown Teachers’ Association
A two-for-one incentive to attend next year’s SRP conference on September 27-29, 2013 in Saratoga. This local made “mint-themed goody bags for their SRPs. The contents included; Double Mint gum, peppermint taffy, chocolate mint or peppermint tea, mint lifesavers and York peppermint patties - and a poem with words that usually ended in “ment”. The poem attached to each packet:
Thank you for your commit-‘mint’ to help all students reach their maximum achieve-‘mint’ on their assign-‘mint’.
Thank you for creating a safe and clean environ-‘mint’ for us to imple-‘mint’ the Common Core and NYS Standards
Thank you for transporting us to all the educational and athletic establish-‘mints’.
Thank you for completing and managing all the paperwork for the GB faculty and student enroll-‘mint’.
Thank you for preparing our nourish-‘mint’ and refresh-‘mints’.
Thank you for the treat-‘mint’ of all our ail-‘mints’.
Thank you for your encourage-‘mint’ as we worked on negotiating improve-‘mints’ to our new agree-‘mints’.
Thank you for your involve-‘mint’ and your invest-‘mint’ of time, talents and energy in GB’s extracurricular activities and in our communities.
Please accept this allot-‘mint’ as tokens of acknowledge-‘mint’ for everything
that you do each and every day to aug-‘mint’ the GB students, faculty
and communities. Compli-‘mints’ of the General Brown Teachers Association
What a clever way to celebrate the work of the support staffers who work side-by-side with the teachers!
Second Prize: Valley Central Teachers’ Association
Valley Central TA devoted an issue of their newsletter VC Echoes to SRPs, creating the SRP Special Edition (pdf). This special four page newsletter is chock full of color photos of their SRP members wearing their bright smiles! The VCTA wrote, “School-Related Professionals work side-by-side as partners in the education of our children. We thank you for your invaluable contribution each and every day!” Along with the many photos, they ran a full page article about the work their SRP members do and how important their work is to the students in the Valley Central district. Their prize is a basket of goodies from Fair Trade to use at their next union meeting!
Our third prize was shared by two locals in the Long Island region.
Third Prize (Tie): Teaching Assistants of Harborfields
First is the United Teaching Assistants of Harborfields (UTAH). Each SRP member received a note of thanks and some Fair Trade chocolate from their president Annie McClintock. Who knew that those small yet tasty pieces of chocolate would help bring back the smile of so many people whose lives were disrupted by Superstorm Sandy? The Harborfields teachers surprised the SRPs with a bountiful breakfast of bagels, muffins, coffee, teas and juices. The Harborfields BOE presented SRPs in each building trays of home baked cookies and the high school principal presented each SRP at the high school with a letter of recognition and appreciation which said: “Thanking you for the critical roles you play in the fulfillment of our school’s mission to ensure the Tradition of Excellence that remains at the core of our commitment to our students and our community. Our mission depends on teamwork.”
What an incredible show of support and partnership all the stakeholders at the Harborfields district showed to their support staff professionals! NYSUT was pleased to send an SRP pen to each of the SRP members in UTAH.
Third Prize (Tie): Sachem Central Teachers Association
Every year, Sachem celebrates their SRPs with gifts, thank-you cards and a dinner where the teachers and administrators speak and thank SRPs for their dedication and hard work. As SRP day approached for 2012, the town was still reeling from the devastation of Superstorm Sandy. So, the Sachem School-Related Professionals asked the teachers’ association to donate the money the event would have cost to their local members who had lost their homes. This act of kindness was incredibly generous and illustrates the spirit that our SRPs always show in a crisis. As a thank you, NYSUT has sent a bunch of NYSUT bags to raffle off at their next SRP meeting.
NYSUT is proud to support the SRP Recognition Day initiative each year. For the locals who submitted requests, we sent out ‘SRPs Make a Difference” buttons for each SRP member. The next SRP Recognition day will be celebrated on Nov. 19, 2013. Be sure to check the NYSUT website and other NYSUT publications next fall for posters and information. It isn’t too early to begin thinking of ideas of ways to make the day special!