WASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL RETIREES’ ASSOCIATION The AffiliatedJournal with the National Retired Teachers’ Association (NRTA)–AARP’s Educator Community JANUARY, FEBRUARY 2020 VOLUME 73, ISSUE NO. 3 Unit 2 Chelan/Douglas members Jan Ottosen, Denise Perkins, Sharon Salley, and Christi DeKraai attend Wenatchee’s Annual Veteran’s Day Parade Page 2 The Journal January, February 2020 WSSRA At Work For You A message from the president The Key Differences With WSSRA Executive Board Millennials and Generation Z Officers President Pam Francis 509-869-0934 by Pam Francis, president [email protected] President-Elect Robert Duke For this Journal article, I’m going to share For some Millennials, they are content with 253-677-4641 with you some informational facts about selling their skills to the highest bidder. They [email protected] our up and coming new members for local have no problem jumping from one organiza- Immediate Past President units and WSSRA, both actives and retired. tion to another. That’s not to say that you Linda Averill This information comes from the “2019 Pew can’t motivate this generation because you 360-659-0675 Study.” It explains the different generations can by offering skills training, mentoring, [email protected] and their impact upon business in new and and feedback. Culture is also extremely Secretary Eileen Wascisin different ways. My thought is, new members important for this group. According to the 360-733-4067 [email protected] of WSSRA can use these traits when recruiting 2017 Millennial Impact Report, some of new members. the causes Millennials are passionate about Treasurer Jim Hall include the environment, college and post- 425-822-3227 [email protected] Millennials, also known as Generation Y or secondary education, health care, poverty Gen Y, were born between 1981 and 1990. The and homelessness, mental health and social District Representatives culture and climate that they were born into services. NW 1 Kay Bishop was far different from any previous generation, 425-280-4252 their attitudes, beliefs, and desires. It all comes Generation Z follow the Millennials and [email protected] down to the fact that this generation is com- were born in 1990-2000 they make-up 25.9% NW 2 Don Bunger pletely shaped by technology! They are the of the United States population. They are the 253-838-4827 [email protected] fastest growing segment of today’s workforce. largest percentage and contribute $44 billion to the American economy. By the year 2020, SW 3 Diane Blair An educational psychologist believes that they will account for 1/3 of the U.S. popula- 253-564-1904 [email protected] Millennials are “digital natives.” This genera- tion. Some of these people may be our new tion is native speakers of the digital language members of local units and WSSRA; we SW 4 Ronald Crawford 360-236-9305 of computers, video games, and the internet. will need to adapt some of our membership ronaldwcrawford1@ While each generation has common charac- building efforts. Each group has their own comcast.net teristics, there are seven basic traits to the set of unique characteristics. E 5 Norma Haney Millennial group: special, sheltered, confident, 509-966-6441 team-oriented, conventional, pressured, and What’s intriguing about the Gen Z group is [email protected] achieving. that 53 percent prefer face-to-face commu- E 6 Beverly Jagla nication. They live in a world of continuous 509-884-1279 updates. Gen Z’s process information faster [email protected] than other generations and their attention E 7 Les Francis spans might be significantly lower than Mil- 509-926-5021 lennials. Gen Z's are less focused than their [email protected] Millennials counterparts. Here’s an inside E 8 Sharon Hoseley picture of how they process: they create a 509-758-6970 document on their computer, do research on [email protected] their phone or tablet, while taking notes on a Historian notepad, then finish in front of the TV with a Karen Keller laptop, while FaceTiming a friend. Parliamentarian Gene Forrester Journal Editor Kristin Murphy President, continued on page 7 January, February 2020 The Journal Page 3 WSSRA At Work For You The Journal Washington State School Retirees’ A message from the executive director Association Mailing: PO Box 5127 WSSRA Members Volunteer Lacey, WA 98509 in Their Communities. A lot! Location: 4726 Pacific Avenue SE by Alan Burke, Ed.D., executive director Lacey, WA 98503 360-413-5496 Often in the hustle and bustle of legislative pensions. This is unfortunate, and needs to WSSRA.org advocacy we forget that WSSRA stands for be remedied. more than just lobbying for pensions. To be sure, advocacy is at the center of what we do This is the reason that we have asked unit Executive Director: and do well, but it is not the only thing our leaders to collect the number of volunteer Dr. Alan Burke organization does. hours that their members have accumulated [email protected] in 2019-20. As we approach legislators with 360-413-5496 In fact, one of our purposes, as stated in our an “ask” for pension relief, we want them to mission statement, is to “foster involvement by know that WSSRA does more than extend a Address Changes To: school retirees in educational and community hand asking for money. We do community Michele Hunter activities and organizations.” This means service, and do it well. We just need to make [email protected] community service, which is a central focus sure that leaders in Olympia understand and 360-413-5496, ext 116 in each of our 30 units. appreciate that. Journal Information From back-to-school supply contributions, So, we will be collecting volunteer hours from Published five times per year to holiday food drives, to socks for kids, to all of you this school year. When you attend by the Washington State School Teddy Bear Teas, to Books for Babies, and unit meetings, you can report your hours on Retirees’ Association, a non-profit onto senior citizen help during tax season, a form that will be on your table. You can since 1947. The WSSRA Journal Policy WSSRA volunteers donate thousands of hours also go on the WSSRA website and fill out an Board, WSSRA President and to helping those in need all across the state. online form that can be sent to the main office WSSRA Executive Board assume Add to this scholarship programs for high with the click of a mouse. All of the details are no responsibility for items ap- school seniors and student teachers, plus on the website, and the goal is more to get a pearing over the signature of any source. While every effort is mini-grants that support teachers and para- count of total volunteer hours than to acquire a made to check the accuracy of professionals with on-site project funding, description of each activity. We already have items accepted, articles cannot be it is easy to see that WSSRA members fill a good idea of the latter. reviewed for technical accuracy. important community needs. And we can’t Material appearing in The Basically, we know the wide range of vol- Journal, in addition to records of forget about our members who volunteer in action by the board, councils, com- the schools tutoring kids, or reading to those unteering that we do; the idea here is to let mittees and units, is presented to living in care facilities. everyone—and especially legislators—know promote the general welfare of that WSSRA cares about more than just pen- WSSRA members and otherwise All of this philanthropy is sometimes forgot- sions. Indeed, we care deeply about making to fulfill the purposes of this as- sociation, as defined in Article II ten in Olympia as we work with legislators our communities better places to live. of the bylaws. and policy makers to maintain and improve Journal articles to: Kristin Murphy, editor [email protected] Upcoming Journal article deadlines February 5, 2020 for Mar./April 2020 issue April 5, 2020 for May/June 2020 issue Page 4 The Journal January, February 2020 Legislative News Unfinished Business for 2020 Legislative Session by Peter Diedrick, legislative director STATE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE to keep the State Patrol whole, Puget Sound will likely see a 50% The 2020 Legislative Session begins January 13. This session reduction in the number of ferry runs. It will be very tempting will be a shorter, 60-day, session to tweak the state budget and for legislators to try and backfill that spending. If they do, Plan wrap-up unfinished business from the 2019 Legislative Session. 1 COLA money would dry up in a hurry. As you are aware, school retirees have unfinished business regarding Plan 1 retirees. FEDERAL UPDATE In October, a few WSSRA State Legislative Committee mem- For retirees, the 2019 Session concluded with some wins and a bers attended the National Retired Teacher Association’s fall slap in the face. Legislators restored the retiree medical benefit legislative conference in Washington D.C. At the national level, to the pre-recession peak of $183 per month. They also made the Retired Teacher Association is a division of the AARP some critical improvements to pension plans 2 & 3 and made national office. Our members were treated to briefings by the it easier for seniors to qualify for property tax deferrals and AARP executive lobbying team, and spent a day lobbying exemptions. Unfortunately, the Plan 1 COLA missed the cut Washington State’s congressional delegation. In fact, the mes- in the Senate budget. sage from D.C. was cautiously optimistic. Retirees do have friends in this COLA fight.