Lewisville Area Retired School Personnel Association
2014-2015 Newsletter
The Lewisville Area Retired School Personnel Association [LARSPA] is an active organization that provides monthly meetings [September-May] to give members opportunities to meet for informative meetings and activities. Many of our activities are interactive with group participation. LARSPA also benefits from the expertise of our members who present various programs throughout the year along with a variety of other guest speakers from the community and around the state.
LARSPA currently has 369 members largely due to the continuing efforts of our 1st Vice President who contacts new retirees and current members through mailings, e-mails and phone calls. We also participate in the “Each One Bring One” program and were able to add several new members during this year.
LARSPA members participate in a number of activities that benefit others. At each meeting, LARSPA members are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to be donated to a local food bank and a new or gently used book for TRTA’s Children’s Book Project. Last year, 1091 books were collected and distributed to local organizations that work with children and 494 food items were donated to area food banks. LARSPA members also provide community services and accumulated 43,495 hours of community service in 2014. During Foundation month, LARSPA also collected donations and held a drawing for a gift card with proceeds of over $500 from the donations going to the Texas Retired Teachers Foundation. LARSPA members are continuing to actively participate in these activities during the 2014-2015 year.
LARSPA began the 2014-2015 year with an organizational meeting for Executive Board members in August with LARSPA President Ken Bridges presiding. The group reviewed policies/ procedures, planned programs and developed a budget to submit to members for approval.
LARSPA Executive Board
[l to r] Ken Bridges, President; Karen Elliott, 1st Vice President
Ruth Eidenier, 2nd Vice President; Cindy Tobin, Secretary
Stephanie Tumlison, Treasurer
In September, LARSPA welcomed new and returning members to a brunch and the first meeting of the year. Following a “meet and greet’ time, LARSPA President Ken Bridges welcomed all attendees and invited new members to share their name and the campus from which they retired. Executive Board members and Committee Chairmen also introduced themselves and gave a description of their respective duties. LARSPA members enjoyed visiting with friends and
meeting new members as we celebrated retirement. Additional activities included a presentation by Jacob Dunham, District Manager of AMBA on Association Member Benefits. Jacob described the variety of benefits available to TRTA members and related some his personal experiences in using them.
New member, Leslie Morgan,
introduces herself to LARSPA.
LARSPA hosted a legislative forum on October 16. A panel of State Representatives consisting of Tan Parker, Pat Fallon and Ron Simmons addressed issues of importance and interest to retirees that will be discussed in the 2015 state legislative session including concerns with the TRS-Care program as well as sustaining a secure retirement and the benefits of bill 1458. TRTA Legislative Committee Chairman Bill Barnes served as moderator for the panel discussion.
Texas State Representatives [l to r]
Tan Parker, Pat Fallon and Ron Simmons
At our November meeting, current Lewisville ISD teacher and TRTA Grant Fund recipient, Kathy Pittinger spoke to us about meeting the needs of today’s learners. Accompanying MsPittinger in her presentation were two of her students who told about their learning experiences at school.
Lewisville ISD Teacher Kathy Pittinger
LARSPA held our annual Christmas luncheon in December. We were also pleased to have Dr. Bettye Meyers, Kinesiology Professor at Texas Woman’s University, as our speaker. Dr. Meyers inspired and entertained us with her message entitled ”What Am I to Be, I Am Becoming”. She also reminded us that “today is the first day of the rest of our life” and we should remember the 3 Ls of living: Love, Limits Liberty and Listen.
TWU Professor Dr. Bettye Meyers
In January, member Candy Wade and members of Senior Standing Tall Coalition presented a skit on preventing falls in the home and elsewhere. Matt Newton from Alert Response also gave us valuable information on actions to take if one should happen to fall and on removing items from our environment that might cause a fall.
Member and Senior Standing Tall
Coalition organizer Candy Wade
In January LARSPA was honored to have TRTA District XI President Jack Knowles as one of our guest speakers. Jack emphasized the importance of belonging to TRTA as our membership shows state legislators that we are a group that is concerned with our retirement and what legislative actions are taken that affect retirees.
We also had a special treat from local dessert chefs, Angie Potts and John Chen. In addition to giving us cooking tips, they also brought us locally made truffles and panna cotta. Yum!
Local Chefs from Sapphire’s Tea Room
Angie Potts and John Choe
LARSPA member Yvonne Manuel introduced our speaker for the March meeting, David Ray. Mr. Ray is with the Region X Service Center and works with homeless children and those in foster care. His program included defining the factors that are considered in labeling students as “homeless” and also listed homeless students’ primary rights which are nutrition, enrollment in school and transportation to their school of origin.
Our April meeting included some information from Dr. Shaun Treat from the Denton County Office of History and Culture. Dr. Treat encouraged LARSPA members to volunteer with the office’s traveling museum project which provides programs to area schools. We were also given reflections and information about the TRTA State Convention on April 6-8 from those LARSPA members who attended as well as highlights from the Rally Day at the Capitol. Following the program and business meeting, LARSPA members enjoyed social time and interactive games. We will conclude our 2014-2015 year with a luncheon in May.
LARSPA members are looking forward to continuing their meetings and activities during the 2015-2016 year. During the summer break, the executive board will make preliminary plans for next year that will include bringing interesting and informative programs to our group meetings. LARSPA members will also be encouraged to stay active and informed about issues affecting both active and retired school personnel as well as to provide community service through volunteering, by participating in the Children’s Book Project and by collecting food items for local food banks. Our members realize that even though we are retired, we can continue to make a difference in our own lives and in that of others.