A new OEA election year kicks off in September. There is some important election information below. If you are interested in being involved and having your voice heard, please consider running for one of the upcoming open positions:

OEA-Retired delegate to the OEA Representative 2024-2025 Fall and Spring Assemblies.

OEA-Retired Advisory Council positions that are available. There is a vacancy position available to elect this fall election and multiple Advisory council seats available to elect for the spring election.

NEA-Retired Delegate seats that will attend next year’s NEA Representative Assembly.

Things to note

Declaration of candidacy deadline dates have changed on the forms, so please pay attention to when the forms are due back to OEA.

Submitting your Forms

You are welcome to scan or take a clear picture of the forms (Front and back) and send them in that way.

You can fill out the form electronically, save it, and send them back that way.
Lastly, you are always welcome to print and mail your declarations back into us, but please remember the mail system can be slow at times. If you are emailing form in, please email them to the provided email address on the specific form.  Please do not send your submission to William Baird’s personal email address.

Another change is the shortening of the election time periods. Elections will run 21 days and not 30.

You will still be afforded the option to vote online or by mailed paper ballot. Paper ballots will still be mailed to all retired members and electronic ballots will be sent to all retired members; you may choose which option you want to use.

If you are choosing the mailed ballot option, please vote and return your ballot right away. The move to 3 weeks, has several advantages, including housing preparation for delegates, allowing the delegates to attend all district representative assemblies, and it reduces the over all cost of the election.

In addition to the OEA Representative assemblies, OEA-R Delegates will attend the OEA-R Delegate Assembly in advance of each OEA Representative assembly and . OEA-R Delegates elected from NEOEA will also attend all NEOEA Representative Assemblies.

FORMS

https://oea-r.ohea.us/page/election-information/

• NEA-Retired Delegate Declaration of Candidacy
• OEA-Retired Advisory Council Declaration of Candidacy
• OEA-Retired Advisory Council Vacancy Declaration of Candidacy
• 2024-2025 OEA-Retired Declaration of Candidacy

Please direct questions to William Baird, Elections and Conference Coordinator at oeara@ohea.org.    614-227-3169

When: Thursday, May 23rd, 2024
Time: 6:30pm-8pm

Presenters:
Eriece Colbert, Iowa Education Association
Joni Watson, Ohio Education Association- Retired

Session description:
Americans across the country report a rise in white nationalism and other bigoted extremism. Because schools are hubs of our communities, they have become battlegrounds for extremist organizing and recruitment sites for white nationalist groups targeting young people. This training will prepare educators to respond to extreme rhetoric—and the bigoted organizing behind it—when it makes its way into classrooms. In this webinar, we’ll share strategies to counter white nationalist organizing through sample scenarios that schools frequently encounter. Attendees will receive attendance certificates.

Registration is open to OEA Members Only

https://ohea.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIkc-2urzwoGN0q7AtZVTVMgLU1oN-4ZC3a#/registration

Tuesday, April 23rd at 7pm

The OEA-Retired Racial and Social
Justice Committee is excited to host a
Zoom talk with the civil rights activist,
historian and actor, Charles Black.
Let’s listen to the stories of the past so
we can make plans to win education
justice for our students, schools, and
communities. Come listen to his story
of how he stood with Dr. King and other
foot soldiers to make change happen
then and listen to how we can make
change happen now!

https://www.ohea.org/cms/assets/uploads/2024/02/OEAR-Racial-Social-Justice-BookStudy-Charles-Black-Flyer.pdf

Monday, April 22, 2024   5 PM – 6 PM

Slide Into Success: Powering Up with PowerPoint

Join us to improve your PowerPoint skills.

OEA Retired is hosting an online PowerPoint training for beginners.  PowerPoint is a powerful and versatile tool that allows you to create presentations for any purpose. go beyond the bullet points and learn innovative techniques.  Facilitated by Rachel Grabowski, OEA Organizer.

https://ohea.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0uc-iprjouGNODJ9XxUwcErKNW-smaTrJk#/registration

Save the Dates for the following Conferences in March and April.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

The name says it all—Megaconference—and it will feature twelve simultaneous breakouts in three one-hour time slots. Topics offered fall into the following three themes: leadership development, personal development, and professional development. Mark your calendar for Saturday, March 9, 2024!  Detailed information is at the NEOEA Megaconference site.

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

NEOEA-R Spring Conference

This year’s Conference will be held at the NEOEA Conference Center in Mayfield Heights and will feature presentations from STRS Member Education, OEA Legislative Update by an Officer, a Public Education Advocate and a Financial Planner followed by lunch.  More information and Registration Form:  https://neoea.org/files/RetiredSpringConf2024.pdf

Thursday, April 25, 2024

OEA-R Spring Conference

The 2024 Conference will be held at the Dayton International Peace Museum from 10:00AM-3:00PM

Founded in 2004, The International Peace Museum raises awareness of nonviolent strategies for achieving peace now and in the future.  Individual and docent led tour,
Art Project, Lunch,  Networking

https://oea-r.ohea.us/files/2024/03/OEAR-2024-Spring-Conferernce-flyer.pdf

This Spring the following offices will be up for election- OEA-Retired Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and District Representatives from Eastern, North Central, Northwest, the ESP Representative and the Higher Education Representative on the OEA-R Advisory Council. Forms can be filed either by email or US Postal Service but all candidacy forms must be in the OEA office by February 15, 2024. Please contact William Baird for this form, bairdw@ohea.org or (614) 227-3169.