1. Association Representatives
Responsibilities and Opportunities

2. Presenters Robyn Smith Box Elder Education Association President
Jennifer Boehme
Jordan Education Association President

3. What did I sign up for?
Are you wondering what you signed up for when you become your building AR? We want you to be the best AR you can be. Share your experience being “elected” as an AR with your neighbor. We will have a couple of people share.

4. AR Responsibilities – Attend AR meetings
Receive information
Receive training
Share building concerns
Help others with their concerns
Build relationships with other ARs
Receive information – when you are an informed AR, your members will know they can always go to you
Receive training – many local presidents provide leadership training or training on specific, timely topics
Share building concerns and help others with their concerns – often, problems happening in one school are happening in other buildings. Sharing those concerns at the AR meeting, you can hear how other schools are handling the situation or ask local leaders to bring those concerns to district administration.
Build relationships with other ARs – get to know other teachers in the district you may not have the opportunity to work with in another capacity.
What other reasons do you have for attending AR Meetings? What do you find valuable?

5. AR Responsibilities – Hold Building Meetings
Hold 10-minute meetings after attending AR meeting
Find other ways to share information
Walking meeting
Memo
Video
Record and share 10-minute meeting
Bulletin Board
10-minute face-to-face meetings are most effective. Start holding the meetings at a set day and time after the AR meeting. Set a timer and keep the meeting to 10 minutes. Don’t get discouraged if only a few people attend at first. As you are consistent with holding the meetings and keeping them to 10 minutes, others will begin coming. They will hear bits of information from the meetings and will want to know more.
All schools are different. If 10-minute face-to-face meetings are difficult, find another way to share the information with the Association members in your building. Communication will be addressed in more depth in the first session after lunch.

6. AR Responsibilities – recruit new Association members
Build relationships with everyone in your building
Ask open-ended questions then listen
Delegate by team or department
Be persistent, but not forceful
Seven contacts before joining
Reasons for being a member of the Association
Build relationships with everyone, including your principal and education support professionals. Greet everyone, know each employee’s name. This will be addressed in depth in second session after lunch today.
Ask questions about the person’s professional interests. Listen to their answers. Use that information to make a connection to something the Association is doing to tap their interest and ask them to join.
If you are in a large school or a secondary school, you may want to ask a person in each team or department to help recruit the members in that team or department. A good way to find this information is to map your building.
Keep talking to potential Association members about the Association. It generally takes seven positive contacts for someone to decide to join the Association.
Why did you become a member of the Association? You need to have a couple of good reasons with stories as to why you joined and why you have remained a member.
Activity – write and practice sharing a reason for being a member

7. AR Responsibilities - Voting
Help members vote in local Association elections
Help members vote in UEA elections
Explain the negotiated agreement and help members vote in ratification of that agreement
Share UEA and local Association recommended candidates for local school board, legislature, governor, etc.
With 18,000 members, UEA is a huge voting block and could sway the outcome of many elections if all members voted for UEA recommended candidates
Voting is the right of each Association member. It is a way to engage our basic dues paying members in the work of the Association.

8. AR Opportunities – Organize your Building
Give other members in your building a job
Bulletin board
Political action
Team or department membership recruiter
Member recognitions
Celebrate new members
Celebrate successes of Association members
Establish a building Association member or text list
Bulletin board should be updated monthly with flyers from AR meeting and UEA mailer.
Someone who likes following politics shares information and helps members know about recommended candidates.
Membership recruiters talk to team and department members about the Association. Share why they are members.
Celebrate new members by recognizing them at faculty meeting, if your principal allows. Find ways to recognize Association members in your building. Share their successes. Nominate for external awards or recognition.
Establish a building list with home addresses, if possible. Use this to share information.
Activity – map building for membership and leadership

9. AR Opportunities – Advocacy
Attend and take notes in meetings at member request
Answer or offer to find answers to member questions
Do not make up answers if you don’t know
Call UniServ office if law enforcement or job action is involved
Share successes of the Association
If a member needs you to attend a meeting, take notes. These notes are the property of the Association and do not need to be shared with administrator.
Share general information politely with potential members and invite them to join the Association. Completely answer questions of members or offer to find answers. We will talk more about this in another session.
If the police are involved, or the member is facing job action like a letter of reprimand or probation, contact the UniServ office.
Capitalize on Association successes in negotiations, other issues that impact teachers directly.

10. AR Opportunities – Other Meetings
Attend new teacher orientation
Attend local school board meeting
Ask others to join you
Build relationships with your local school board members
Attend Educator Day on the Hill
Attend UEA House of Delegates
Serve on a school, district, or Association committee
New teacher orientation is a great way to meet new teachers and be the face they know. Offer to help them.
Attending a local school board meeting is a way to build relationships with your school board representatives and to see how they work. It is also good for the board members to see teachers there. It shows that you care about what they are doing.
On Fridays during the Legislative Session, UEA hosts Educator Day on the Hill. You can go to the capitol and meet with your representatives to put a classroom teacher face on the legislation they are considering.
You should be seen as a leader in your school and should be on a school committee. If you want to become more involved, volunteer to serve on a district or Association committee.

11. AR Opportunities – Building Leader
Genuinely care about others
Acknowledge hard work and personal excellence
Allow freedom of expression
Encourage innovation and empowerment
Maintain a feeling of support
Instill positive energy
Resolve tension
You should be seen as a leader within your school. You should exhibit good teaching practices. You should be positive and avoid gossip.

12. Take Aways Review why you became and stay a member Building map to use
Set a goal to do one thing consistently for the next school year
Other take aways to share
Share out why you became and stay a member. Share out how you are going to use the building map. What is a goal you will set to do something consistently for the next school year? What else would you like to share about what you have learned in this session?