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For complete Bus Trip information, click on Unit Info above and cursor down to Chicago Bus Trip.
Special Announcements and Events Guide for seniors' home-buying needs Click on: https://www.caring.com/caregivers/buying-a-home-to-age-in-place/ Membership/Dues – Betty Davison, Chairperson. We have over 400 members that belong to WCRTA. Letters will be mailed to members that still need to pay their 2023 dues. As a reminder, dues will be raised beginning January 1, 2024, because of the increased costs of postage, paper, printing, and the bulk mailing permit for our newsletter and other mailings. Local annual dues will be $15, and Lifetime dues will become $125. We have not increased our dues fee structure since at least the early 90’s! Please mail your check payable to WCRTA to our treasurer, Sharon Vinson, 11966 Tresemer Road, Roscoe, IL 61073-7708. 2022 IRTA "Unit of Distinction" Program Award – Just Announced!!! The Winnebago County RTA is one of only 24 units in the state (out of nearly 90 associations in the State of Illinois) to be recognized as a 2022 IRTA “Unit of Distinction.” The “Unit of Distinction” Program is a voluntary program based on the honor system that is designed to help guide and direct local unit leaders, as well as acknowledge IRTA units that are the best in the state. Units receiving the “Unit of Distinction” Award will be recognized at the IRTA Biennial Convention, in the IRTA ACTION, e-newsletter, and on the IRTA website. Units will also receive a gift of $250. Remaining 2023 Schedule of WCRTA Events: April 20, 2023: Thunder Bay Grille, 7652 Potawatomi Trail, Rockford, IL Arrive 11:30, Lunch at Noon. Program by Dennis Horton, Rockford Regional Director at the Better Business Bureau. He will be discussing the latest scams we receive through emails, phone calls, mail, in person, and more! Members will order off the menu, and separate checks will be given. Please email Gayle Haab at ghaab74@gmail.com if you can attend. June 15, 2023: Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Country Club, 5151 Guilford Rd, Rockford, IL New Retirees Celebration, Scholarship Presentation, General Membership is invited and encouraged to attend. Arrive by 11:30 a.m. We will have a plated luncheon served at noon. Further details of the event, and the lunch selection will be included in the next newsletter. September 21, 2023: Discovery Center, 711 N Main St., Rockford, IL Discovery Center Director Sarah Wolf will be giving us a presentation about the Discovery Center, with a tour to follow. Further details will be in future newsletters. November 16, 2023: Machine Shed, 7475 E. State St., Rockford, IL Arrive 11:30, Lunch at Noon. Presentation by Mike Eickman, member of the Board of Directors and Station Master at Sand Bluff Bird Observatory. This is the bird banding facility located at Colored Sands Forest Preserve on Haas Road near Rockton. Members will order off the menu, and separate checks will be given. Watch for announcements of upcoming bus trips! We are hoping to go to the Holocaust Museum this summer along with the Chicago Botanical Gardens. NEW! After-School Tutoring at the Grove – Police District Community Room. Please Contact Jim Andrews at 815-558-5000 if you can help tutor! Introducing one-on-one tutoring for kids at the Grove. Get a little help with your kid’s studies and see them make progress in their abilities. Retired teachers help kids improve their spelling, math, and other skills. Kids also bring their weekly work packs and get help with schoolwork. Reserve a tutoring spot or schedule a one-on-one conference call with the tutor about your child’s specific needs by calling Jim Andrews at (815) 558-5000 Tutoring Program A new program initiated in January 2023. Meets on Mondays and Thursdays from 4 to 6 pm during school year. Tutoring special skills and finishing homework for kids K-6. Need: Program Leader, Retired teachers, and adults to help tutor students. Christmas Trip to Chicago 
For more pictures of the wonderful WCRTA Christmas trip to Chicago, click on photos above.
More than 40 retired teachers enjoyed the Civil War presentation on November 17th at the Thunderbay Grill. To see more pictures, click on photos above. 
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June 15th Scholarship Presentation and New Retirees’ Celebration! Venue: Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Country Club, 5151 Guilford Rd., Rockford, IL Time: Arrive at 11:30 a.m., and the plated luncheon will be served around noon. For whom: The Blanche J. Martin, Fred Kunz Memorial, and WCRTA Secondary Scholarship winners will be honored. The 2023 retirees will be celebrated, and YOU are invited to join us for this special event! To make a reservation, please read the directions in the Newsletter under Unit Info above and cursor down to Newsletter. Kids Around the World Service Project For this year's service project, we are going to partner with Alpha Delta Kappa. We will be participating in the OneMeal program where we will pack meals to deliver HOPE in the form of nutritious food to impoverished kids throughout the world. Each box that we pack can feed one child for an entire year! In many cases this may be the child's only meal for the day. Hopefully, many of you will come and help with this worthwhile project. (Feel free to bring a friend!) Kids Around the World Wednesday, June 21st 5245 28th Ave. Arrive at 8:45 a.m. Rockford, IL 61109 Pack from 9:00-11:00 a.m. Please RSVP to Sally Gray if you are able to help with this impactful project. SGray8162@gmail.com IRTA Excellence in Education Grant Program IRTAF is offering a total of $42,00 in grant money to public school educators (Pre-K though 12) for special classroom projects statewide. Educators must download, complete, and submit the application online from the IRTA website www.irtaonline.org Applications must be submitted by June 1, 2023. Please make current public-school educators aware of the grant opportunity. Job Opportunities Driver Teacher/Instructors Aaron Oetting owns Drivers Edge, a driving school in Belvidere, IL. He is looking for teachers/instructors to teach behind-the-wheel sections of drivers education. Instructors are provided with paid training, a company vehicle and they can pick their hours of working from 6-24 hours a week. Contact: Aaron Oetting-owner driversedgeill@gmail.com Special Announcement: Rockford Christian needs a substitute teacher in high school English for the rest of this school year. Mycah Cornish, Head of Recruitment, is currently recruiting a long-term sub for the last eight weeks of school. Please contact Mycah if you know of anyone interested in a long-term sub position. 815-391-8000 We were notified that Rockford Lutheran will have a full or part-time teaching position in Biology/Anatomy for the 2023-2024 school year. The current long-time science teacher will be retired at the end of this school year. Contact Judy Fiene at Rockford Lutheran @630-209-0678 if you are interested or know someone that might be. Please keep us updated! If your contact information changes (address, phone number, email) please notify us so we can continue to send you information and newsletters. Please email our membership chair Betty Davison with changes at: dbdavison@earthlink.net We also want to remind you to renew your annual dues if you have not done so already. You can mail you dues to our treasurer Sharon Vinson to this address: 11966 Tresemer Road, Roscoe, IL 61073-7708. Member Planet Information We wanted to share a statistic with you about Member Planet. The January newsletter was emailed to you on January 12, 2023. Of the 236 newsletters that were sent, 232 were delivered. Meaning 4 of the email addresses bounced back and were not valid email addresses. There were 158/232 members that opened their email (that is 68%), and another 96 clicked on it to read it. We are hoping to increase the number of members that open the emails and information (like we are sending you today) to keep you informed. We do pay an annual subscription for this service and would like to see it utilized. Current Membership We currently have 413 WCRTA members (236 opted to receive information via Member Planet, such as yourself.) We have been sending newsletters through email, and UPS. If you know of a retired teacher (or upcoming retiree) who might be interested in joining WCRTA, please have them contact us! Thank you! Gayle Haab, President ghaab74@gmail.com Health Insurance Update Click on TRIP/TRAIL Information above for the latest information on the change to Aetna. ********************************************************* Stay informed! Update on Teacher Health Insurance Security Fund Litigation Our lawsuit challenging the underfunding of the Teacher Health Insurance Security Fund is proceeding in the Circuit Court for Sangamon County. The defendants, who include the TRS Board of Trustees, the Director of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, State Comptroller Susana Mendoza and State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, have answered our complaint, and they responded to our requests for discovery shortly before the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Our attorneys and expert witness will carefully analyze the data they have produced about the current fiscal status of the Fund. The answer and discovery responses have pointed to one key legal dispute in this case. The defendants acknowledge that “retired teachers have a constitutionally protected right to the benefits specified in sections 6.5 and 6.6 of the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971 (5 ILCS 275/6.5, 6.6),” but they disagree that retired teachers have a constitutionally protected right “to a particular program of benefits that CMS has established under that authority at any given time.” This appears to mean that the defendants believe you have a constitutionally protected right to participate in some type of health insurance program, but not to any particular level of benefits. We strongly disagree with that argument and will continue to advocate for the full extent of your constitutional rights in this litigation. S *************************************** Trail Insurance Information: Please click on TRIP/Trail Information above. ************************************** Message from IRTA President John Flaherty Click on Pension/Legislative News Above *************************************** To contact the Winnebago County Retired Teachers Association: Click Contact form under Unit Info above. ***************************************** TRS Position on Pension Funding Click on Pension/Legislative News above **************************************************** We need your help to continue to keep our pensions safe! Illinois Retired Teachers Association Political Action Committee $1/month Enrollment Illinois Retired Teachers Association Political Action Committee is a statewide, nonpartisan Political Action Committee (PAC) organized by members of the Illinois Retired Teachers Association to benefit the entire retired educator community through political contributions to state candidates. To donate using your credit card, go to the LINKS above and click on IRTA. Cursor down to Political Action Committee. On the right, click on the DONATE button. You can donate using your credit card or fill out the $1 per month TRS deduction form. You can also send a check to Illinois Retired Teachers Association PAC, 828 S. Second St., 4th Floor, Springfield, IL 62704. *************************************************** |
