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Greetings from NAREOP!

It was indeed an honor to be installed as the 2008-2009 NAREOP President in Broomfield, Colorado, this past July.

I would like to share excerpts from my acceptance speech with my friends in Florida who were not able to be with me for this exciting event.

“First, I would like to extend special thanks to my husband, my mom, my two daughters and their families for always being supportive of me throughout the years that I have been involved with my professional associations. Although they are not here today, they are as always close to my heart. 

Thank you to my Florida and Southeast Area friends for being here to share this honor. Thanks also to those of you who have agreed to serve on the 2008-2009 NAREOP Board. Together, we shall Dream…Believe…Achieve!

Special thanks to Helen Wells, CEOE,
installing officer assisted by Rita Fawcett, Sue Nedza, and Cindy Seng, CEOE, for the beautiful installation.

I always look forward to attending each conference. It is a wonderful way to experience seeing our beautiful country. I also look forward to seeing my NAEOP and NAREOP family from across the country each year.  It seems I am always meeting someone new, so the family keeps growing.

I consider the board as my extended family members. This year we will have several new faces on the board.  One of the new faces is Eva Overturf.  I met Eva, while in Boise, Idaho, as several members of our group were on our way to catch the bus to attend a rodeo.  I was delighted as I looked over the list of retirees and realized she was now retired.  Another board member, I met while in Greenville, SC.  As some of you know, my mom has attended a couple of conferences with me.  She lives near Greenville so she attended her first NAEOP conference and said to me, “I think I know that lady sitting at the front table.”  And that’s how I met, Pearl Bledsoe. The list goes on and will continue to grow each year. There are many of you that I have not had the opportunity to get to know personally, and I do hope our paths will cross soon.  We all have these wonderful stories so one of my goals is for us to share our stories. These can be work related stories, or stories of how friendships have formed because of our mutual passion for working somewhere as an educational office professional.

I would love to hear from you this year about some of your experiences as an educational office professional.  Before leaving today, jot down a few notes; or after you return home send me a short paragraph, or two so we can combine all of our special memories and share them with others. Photos would be great as well.

Please raise your hand if you have been a member of NAEOP for 10 years? 15 years?  20 years? 25 years? 30 years?  Do we have anyone here today that has been a member for more than 30 years?  WOW, we have 2 members with 40 plus years!

Another goal for this year is to continue to promote both NAEOP and NAREOP to all of our members.  NAREOP has over 1000 members and is continuing to grow as more and more office professionals are retiring and remaining active with their national organization.

Membership involvement is important to all groups and that is one of the reasons that as retirees we are a vital part of this association.  Stay involved with your local and state associations and share your talents.

So I ask, what is a dream?  Louise Henderson Nelson who was an active member in the Philadelphia Clerical Assistants organization had a vision. This group of secretaries wanted to meet with secretaries in other states to exchange information.  It was not an easy task to achieve, but the first big break came when a local Philadelphia elementary school teacher was elected President of the National Education Association. She listened to the story and an organiza- tional meeting of school secretaries was held in Washington, DC in 1934 at the NEA Conference.

Who believed?  Many superintendents were asked to recommend secretaries to represent their school systems for the organizational meeting. Ninety-six secre-  taries responded. This was a dream for
Louise Henderson Nelson.

What was achieved? Since that exciting day in the spring of 1934, the National Association of School Secretaries - later changed to National Association of Educational Secretaries, and now the National Association of Educational Office Professionals has developed outstanding programs for educational office personnel.

At the 50th Anniversary, Louise Henderson Nelson spoke about the pioneer days.  Everyone thought the speech was recorded, but it was not.  Several years later Martha Leach encouraged Louise to write the history.  Louise wrote: A Dream Becomes A Reality. What a remarkable story. Everyone should read to learn more about our early years. 

You may wonder what this has to do with NAREOP in 2008.  As educational office professionals, we have traveled across the United States for 74 years to exchange ideas, learn new techniques, and explore new areas. Throughout the years we have come together to make our likes and differences work for us positively at home and at work.  The role of educational office professionals has come a long way and each day brings new expectations.   Now we are preparing for NAEOP’s 75th Anniversary celebration next summer in Minnesota.

It certainly will be a year of remembering and recognizing those who assisted in charting the way for this wonderful organization. I ask each of you to Dream…Believe…Achieve just as Louise Henderson Nelson did in 1934.  We all have dreams, we all believe, and we all can achieve!

Thank you for honoring me to serve as the 2008-2009 NAREOP President!”

Thank you FAEOP for the gift card.  I will create a memory book of this exciting year in my life, and you too, will be a part of that year.

Thank you FAEOP Past Presidents for the lovely corsage you sent me to wear for my installation.  All of you are special to me, and I sincerely appreciate each of you.   
                                    Dream…Believe…Achieve