(Reported by Lois Samsel-Cronk)

This summer I attended the NYSUT Summer Leadership Conference in Princeton, New Jersey. I found the whole experience to be enlightening, from the workshops to the accommodations. The days were full of very informative workshops and the evenings were left for socializing, which turned out to be a real eye opener. My beliefs that our union is a strong unit were reinforced by the insight found while socializing. It was nice to meet people from other schools and pick their brains and reunite with fellow Middletown teachers who moved on.

I attended a two-day Basic Grievance workshop and found that our contract is very well written. It is a well-defined document that made others envious. There is not much room for misinterpretation with everything being spelled out clearly. Many of the other district’s contracts are brief and leave their Board of Educations room for self-interpretation.

I want to thank the MTA for sending me to a very beneficial conference. It was like being on a cruise, there was food everywhere, even for a vegan.