2024 Leadership Conference Descriptions
Advocating for Education: Empowering Teachers to Make a Difference (Membership Engagement)
Do your members know they have a voice and can actively advocate for their profession? Come learn ways to actively engage your members by becoming public education advocates through sharing, celebrating and including community and state leaders. #TeacherProud
Presented by: Brooke Gantt and Jessica Sterling, Nixa CTA
Empowering Educators: Strategies for Elevating CTA Membership, Morale, and Engagement in Your School Community (Membership Recruitment and Engagement)
Are you searching for strategies to grow your CTA membership, enhance morale and avoid feeling overwhelmed in the process? Look no further! This presentation is tailored just for you. Attendees are assured to leave with insights on the following topics: incentivizing members, showing appreciation, organizing morale-boosting activities, sustaining member engagement and encouraging committee participation. Drawing from our success in achieving an 80% membership involvement in a small, rural school, we'll share ideas and tested approaches to effectively recruit and retain members in your CTA.
Presented by: Todd Smart, Liz Smart, and Calli Hanson, Cole Camp CTA
Find Your Calm (Work/Life Balance)
Participants will explore evidence-based mindfulness practices designed to manage stress, prevent burnout and enhance overall well-being. Through guided activities, small group discussions and an interactive showcase of resources, educators and leaders will discover practical techniques to integrate mindfulness into their daily routines. Key takeaways include understanding the science behind mindfulness, the role of leadership in fostering a mindful school culture and the adaptability of mindfulness practices for diverse preferences. Empower educators to create a more resilient and connected educational community by embracing mindfulness as a transformative tool for personal and professional growth.
Presented by: Candace Kluba, School District of Washington
Getting to Collective Bargaining, Elections and Discussions (Leadership)
MSTA staff will provide information about the process for local CTAs to get elected as bargaining unit representatives for certified staff in school districts. Once elected, the bargaining representative has the right and responsibility to meet with district officials to discuss salaries, benefits and working conditions. The process for starting discussions after a successful election along with goals for the bargaining team will be discussed.
Presented by: Glenn Bussen, MSTA Staff
Information for Treasurers (Leadership)
This session will provide CTA treasurers the information they need to be successful in their role, including the filing and maintenance of required tax and bank documents.
Presented by Gail McCray, MSTA Legal Counsel
Leadership Beyond Local 2.0 (Leadership)
Do you want to become involved with MSTA beyond your local CTA, but are unsure how to go about it? Who do you contact, what ways are there for you to become involved, what does each position do? “Leadership Beyond Local 2.0” will investigate the ins and outs of various Region Board position responsibilities, as well as exploring possibilities beyond the Region level. Join seasoned veteran educator and state Vice President, Lana Moore, in “Leadership Beyond Local 2.0” to explore the potential of your role as an active participant in greater leadership levels for yourself and your team.
Presented by: Lana Moore, Mount Vernon R-5 School District
Leading with Intelligence: AI Tools for CTA Leaders Want to grow your MSTA
membership? (Technology)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken the world by storm, revolutionizing the way we work, live and teach. In this presentation, we will explore the wonders of AI and how it can help CTA leaders work smarter, not harder. We'll dive into Canva, ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools that can save you time while helping you bring your CTA visions to life. Whether you're a tech expert, total newbie or leader somewhere in between, this presentation is for you! Join us as we explore the endless possibilities of AI and discover how it can help you achieve your CTA goals more efficiently and effectively than ever before! Presented by: Maddy Johnson, MSTA Staff
Legislative Update (Mike Harris and Matt Michelson)
Matt Michelson, MSTA Director of Education Policy and Mike Harris, Government Relations Manager, will outline the strength in advocacy of MSTA and how members can continue to make a difference engaging policymakers. Participants will learn the process of how MSTA Resolutions become Education Priorities.
Make It Take It (Membership Recruitment and Engagement)
We need methods to uplift and appreciate one another as well as quick, fun and easy ways to encourage people to join MSTA. The focus of “Make It Take It” will be ideas that you can easily implement for Membership Recruitment AND Membership Engagement/Appreciation. These will be quick projects your CTA can use easily to provide small gifts and recognition. You will leave the session with several finished projects. The idea will be presented with two or more taglines (ready to print and use) so the same concept can be used in multiple ways. An example would be "We CEREALously need you in MSTA" and "We CEREALously appreciate all you do for our students!" Tons of ideas will be shared beyond the projects we will make that day and take home that will be ready to print and use. Group discussion will be encouraged as well.
Presented by: Amanda Bradshaw, Mount Vernon CTA
Professional Rights and Responsibilities of Educators (Leadership)
Public school employees need to be aware of the federal and state laws that dictate how they perform their job and how they interact with their employer. Presented in layman’s terms, this legal presentation is your crash course to the most important aspects of education law. Attendees will learn the most important do's and don'ts of public-school employment from real-world examples.
Presented by Scott Smith, MSTA Staff Attorney
Reignite Your CTA (Membership Engagement)
Are you looking for tips on how to liven up your CTA? Managing a district with over 800 employees and a CTA comprising around 200 members presents its challenges, particularly in finding cost-effective ways to engage everyone. Emily Hanson invites you to hear about her year of trial and error as CTA president. She will share insights into what worked, what didn't and how they managed to leave their mark on 10 different departments and buildings. The goal is for attendees to leave the session equipped with a list of member engagement ideas to implement in their own CTAs and districts. Emily is enthusiastic about contributing to the success and engagement of your CTA!
Presented by: Emily Hanson, Republic School District
This is How We Do It (Membership Recruitment)
This presentation will include ideas which support large CTAs with more than 350 members. You will learn how we do member recruitment and engagement, ending with a round table discussion on what other large CTAs do for both of these topics.
Presented by: Jessica Tierney, Columbia 93
Your CTA Still Does WHAT??? (Membership Engagement)
CTA members somehow feel a disconnect with other members in their district. The Rolla CTA has worked hard over the past couple of years to engage more members and feel they belong not only to a group that is there for insurance reasons only but to an organization. A collaborative discussion will focus on how we all can have more engagement from our CTA membership.
Presented by: Steve Blakely, Rolla 31 CTA
Job-alike
This session will provide an opportunity for experienced and new leaders with similar roles and responsibilities from different schools to get together to share best practices, ask questions, discuss common issues/challenges, and share strategies, techniques, and solutions.
Office Hours
Office Hours is a spotlight on the departments which are the inner workings of MSTA. This session will allow attendees the opportunity to interact with staff, learn the role their department plays in the operation of MSTA and ask questions.
Communication Department (Small Focus Group About Recruitment Materials)—Kara Potter and Lindsay James
SMSTA and FTA—Krista Meyer
Legal Department—Scott Smith and Jane O’Toole
Legislative—Matt Michelson and Mike Harris
Office of the Executive Director--“The Who, What, Why, and How of MSTA”—Bruce Moe
Professional Learning—Darbie Valenti Huff
Salary and Research—Glenn Bussen
Roundtable Discussions
Membership Service Coordinators will facilitate discussion with attendees about the leadership issues/obstacles facing your CTA.
intenSati by Candace Kluba
intenSati is a healing practice meant to shift your mindset using mindfulness, movement, and positive language. Participants will leave feeling empowered with more awareness of their thoughts and attitudes to consciously choose powerful, positive ones that will help with healing and regulation. This practice is suitable for all ability levels.