Executive Report for the May 2024 e-newsletter
Welcome to May and one of the busiest months for RTAM. We will have our AGM this month which allows us to thank and say goodbye to the volunteers and Directors who gave their time and energy to help RTAM grow. We will also have a chance to welcome new volunteers to the Board and to Committees which helps renew energy and ideas for another year.
The new Directors will meet for the first time this month before they get to the June meeting and work through Director and Volunteer training with Volunteer Manitoba and a regular Board meeting with traditional business, discussion and debate. These two months are key to allowing them time to digest all the material and projects they'll be invested in for 2024-2025 and before the Board and Committees shut down for the summer months of July and August (the staff are still working full time though and the office is available for any of your questions or needs).
The Directors from the RTAM Board are looking forward to meeting some of the 10,500 members they have represented during the past year at our Annual General Meeting. It's been a busy year and we've heard from many of our members without having the chance to meet face to face or in person. We are excited for the chance to welcome everyone and share a meal together.
We are also excited as there are four new Board members ready to join the returning four Directors from this past year. We hope to have Gabe Mercier, Jayesh Maniar, Peter Narth and Betty-Jean Checkley return to the Board from this past year, Audrey Siemens who is looking to return from her time in 2022 and three new Directors, Jocelyne Fraser (the President of the EMR Chapter), Marilyn Wiebe (a member of the Student Awards Committee) and Vicky Hutchinson (joining us from the Calgary Chapter in Alberta). For further insight to the event and agenda, registering and participating in the RTAM AGM on May 8 will provide you with knowledge on the many accomplishments that the Board has achieved in 2023-2024.
We were fortunate to represent RTAM at Government house this past month. Our Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, the Honorable Anita Neville, has introduced a new series of presentations entitled “Reconciliation Through Education”. The presentations are live streamed and recorded for future viewing. A sixties scoop Anishinaabe survivor, Dr. Cary Miller from University of Manitoba titled her presentation “Unconscious Bias and Debunking Stereotypes” on Wednesday, April 17. She shared many interesting facts about history that are not widely known. To view this presentation, go to manitobalg.ca and click on Manitoba Lieutenant Governor and finally click on YouTube.
RTAM has now presented to all three political parties namely Nello Altomare (NDP), Cindy Lamoureux (Liberal) and Grant Jackson (Conservative). They were all receptive to hearing about our ASKS and our Substitute Teacher concerns. The NDP and Liberal parties hosted us in their offices on Broadway while Grant was gracious enough to visit us in the RTAM offices on Wellington. Watch for the dates and times of their online presentations to our members this fall, so you can hear from each of them about current issues related to retired teachers and older adults and have a chance to ask questions in a live forum.
Brad Prokop graciously joined our Substitute Teacher Concerns Committee on behalf of TRAF and gave a virtual presentation focused on the relationship between substituting and pension contributions. The details of how one’s pension amount is calculated when substituting is involved was remarkably intricate. The message to our active teachers is better to start seeking information early rather than later if substituting has been part of your teaching career. For retirees, the message is that factors such as your age play a role in the effect substituting may have on your actual income. Contact TRAF with any questions you may have, as each situation can be different.
We are in the final phases of the website and customer relationship management development for our organization. The past year saw us really work to understand our needs internally, the needs of a digital world and most importantly the needs of our members. The final phase contracts were signed this past month and the staff are now working with Luscious Orange and Growth Zone to help build the RTAM website of the future. We hope to launch the new site in September of 2024.
Lastly, but certainly not the least important message and update is a thank you to all the Directors who gave time this year to helping RTAM learn, grow, and include more members demographics and partners. Brent Corrigan (Treasurer), Kelvon Gordon Smith (Director), Dianne Snider (Director), Gisele Gregoire (Director) and Linda Blair (President) are all completing terms and service to RTAM. We want to thank each of them from the bottom of our hearts for their time, energy and passion for helping our members and community. We wish each of them the best as they move forward in retirement.
Sincerely - The RTAM Executive
Linda Blair, President
Gabe Mercier, Vice President
Jayesh Maniar, Secretary
Brent Corrigan, Treasurer
As part of our New Horizon for Seniors Grant, we allocated some funds for a research study to help us determine the effectiveness of our program. We recently were matched with a U of M Masters student to be our researcher. Andrew Augustyn is very excited to do this research as he is interested in the theme of mentoring for his M.Ed. thesis. RTAM has sent out letters of invitation to hold interviews on his behalf to those who have signed up for the program. He will be doing two interviews this fall as part of his Qualitative Research Course and then completing our research with eight more interviews in February in order to meet our Grant Report requirements due in March. Enjoy reading his biography below.
