Missouri State Teachers Association

One of the things I love most about working in Missouri is the Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA).  Most teachers join associations for the legal assistance they can receive if something should go wrong.  It's easy to pay the dues (ok parting with my money is never "easy") and go on about your business and not thing about it. 

My first year teaching though, I got a huge eye opener to what really goes on with MSTA. Our local association president sent out an email that she had opening for a trip to the MSTA annual convention.  When I saw convention I read conference.  I thought I was signing up to go to your typical conference with lots of workshops, handouts, breakout sessions, and great ideas.  While MSTA's convention has those, they have something so much more important.  A platform to voice your ideas.

When I got to the convention I found out we would be voting on the resolutions that MSTA stands for.  ANY member can propose an amendment or addition.  It can be about anything you believe is important.  Then you get to put it before the delegates from all over the state, have open debate, and try to get your resolution voted in.  I am not a person who gets into open debate.  I avoid conflict at all costs.  I would normally hate this idea, but MSTA is infectious.  In other states, I haven't felt that individual teachers and communities have a voice in state or national organizations, but MSTA gives you a definite voice.  Plus, that voice doesn't have to be the rubber stamped opinion that the organization holds.  If you want to change something within MSTA all you have to do is get the ball rolling and get people rolling with you.

Plus, the entire MSTA staff goes out of their way to be accessible to you.  If you have legal questions or just need some help, they are always there.  They are personable and down-to-earth and they listen to you and do everything in their power to help you.  In the few years that I have been involved with MSTA I have been so impressed with how much they do to support their teachers.  They have the MSTA Community where Missouri educators can go to ask for help and advice on anything from being a new teacher to funding a Donors Choose project to starting interactive notebooks.  MSTA does a blog to keep you in touch.  They also send out  Action e-mails to keep you informed of what is happening in legislation and give a break down of the new legislation that is being submitted and how they believe it will impact Missouri schools. 

If you live in Missouri and haven't gotten actively involved in MSTA, you really should.  Go to a regional meeting.  Go to state convention.  Go to Leadership Symposium.  See what MSTA has to offer.