And we’re off!  For those of you coming back to another school year, I welcome you back.  Hopefully you had a wonderful summer and got lots of opportunity to do the things you love.  For those of you new to the profession, we welcome you to an exciting new adventure and wish you the best as you begin your career.  

I had the chance to sit down briefly with some of our new teachers to the division at the end of August and I can say there were certainly some wide eyes. It was a day full of information and certainly a lot of new information to digest. I want to encourage you to seek the support of your colleagues. Remember that you are not in this alone. No teacher is an island.  

On that note, I want to remind all teachers that each school has a RETTA Contact Representative. Many of your Contact Reps can be a great source of support and information on things related to the Collective Agreement of which we are all a part. As a member of RETTA, we all have rights and responsibilities that have been bargained for and should be adhered to. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the Collective Agreement which can be found on our website (www.retta.ca). Again, your Contact Rep can help you with any questions you may have about the Agreement but you should never hesitate to call us at the RETTA office. That’s what we are here for and all calls are confidential.  

We are also excited to host a New Member Welcome evening. All new RETTA members, and the contact reps from those schools, are welcome to join us at Smitty’s on Henderson at 4:30 p.m. until 5:30 to meet Tim, myself, our Executive Board, and learn about our association. Please see the link on our website for information and to RSVP. We will provide the food, you need only show up and enjoy.

Have a great start-up to your year, remember to take care of yourself, and feel free to call us anytime.

Chris Darazsi
Vice-President