They learned how to defend YTA, reviewed YISD's plan on how to support students', parents', and employees' social emotional well-being, and YTA's mentorship group (TSTA TORCH). Board members reviewed the local finance plan to ensure the financial health and stability of the association. They finished up, by scheduling their meetings, trainings, and other events for the year, such as our All-Member meetings, Association Representative (AR) meetings and trainings, YTA board of director meetings, Educational Support Personnel (ESP) meetings, TORCH meetings,  YISD board of trustees meetings, and more. 

The new YTA board will serve for their three-year term from July 2021 to July 2024. The YTA board is ready to support their members as they continue leading forward. 

The board reviewed and collaborated on the following:

• YISD Salary Increases
• YTA Board of Directors Responsibilities
• TSTA compliance paperwork
• 2019-2020 YTA budget
• 2019-2020 Calendar
  • New Teacher Orientation
  • TORCH/New Educator Campaign
  • YISD Bond 2020
  • Winter Academy 
  • TSTA HoD donations
• YTA Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)

​Leonor Terrazas resigned as YTA Vice President to focus on her responsibilities as Region 8 President. The TSTA House of Delegates will be held here in El Paso, Texas, and Region 8 will be part of the host committee. YTA thanks Ms. Terrazas for her hard work and dedication.

YTA President Arlinda Valencia appointed Marcela Aguayo as Vice President. Ms. Aguayo will continue managing the YTA technology responsibilities as well. 

YTA celebrated everyone's birthdays and had a diaper shower for the Riverside BoD Daniela Leira-Rosas. Congratulations Daniela! 

NEA members were trained in the NEA New Educator Campaign that focuses on recruitment of members during New Employee Orientations, communicated with recent graduates entering the education workforce, and collaborated with their state teams in the development of their ECE groups. 

​Texas Organizers Reaching Children's Hearts (TORCH) was created last year by TSTA to help support ECEs. During this NEA ECE conference, TSTA members further developed TORCH's "why" statement. TORCH exists because, "Children and educators need strong champions." Some of TORCH's goals are to strengthen the bridge between TSTA-Aspiring Educators (TSTA-AE) and TSTA, create at least 10 TORCH groups at the local association level, and grow TORCH ECE leadership.

YTA would like to thank our Del Valle board of director Margarita Arriola for her years of service to our association and to TSTA/NEA. Her dedication and spirit will be truly missed. We wish her well and hope she enjoys her retirement! 

​EL PASO, TX- Congratulations to our Ysleta ISD Board of Trustees as they were sworn into office for another four years of service. YTA looks forward to continue working together!

EL PASO, TX- Region 8 President/YTA Vice President Leonor Terrazas and YTA Technology Director Marcela Aguayo attended the TSTA-Aspiring Educators UTEP Chapter's graduation celebration at Famous Daves restaurant. The TSTA- AE Sul Ross chapter was also in attendance.

YTA congratulates all student members on their graduation. A very special congratulations to those aspiring educators who completed their internship with Ysleta ISD. 

The TSTA-AE UTEP Chapter has done a tremendous job this past year at recruiting new student members. We advise all new educators to join their local association that is affiliated with TSTA/NEA when they are hired. Be sure to follow your local association's social media pages, as well as TSTA and NEA's social media to keep track of any current events or updates.

YTA also encourages new educators to follow TSTA TORCH on Facebook and Twitter for updates this upcoming school year. TSTA Texas Organizers Reaching Children's Hearts (TORCH) is a support group for early career educators (ECEs). 

​You can join TSTA/NEA at www.mytsta.org/, or  you can sign up in person during your New Teacher Orientation week.  

Congratulations and picks up! 


Visit neatoday.org/new-educators/ask-the-custodians-and-other-advice-from-a-fourth-year-educator/ ​for advice for early career educators from YTA Technology Director Marcela Aguayo. 

Visit neatoday.org/school-me/ for more tips for new teachers from NEA. 

YTA AR members met at Applebee's Grill & Bar (1985 George Dieter) on Tuesday, April 23, 2019 for the orientation meeting of the NEA Member Benefits Ambassador Program.  YTA was one of the few selected local associations in the country to participate in this program. We hope to learn more about the benefits that come from being an NEA member. The goal is for our ARs to be able to educate our members at our local campuses. 

ARs were briefed about how the program would work, and discussed some services provided by NEA. NEA members can save money on movie and concert tickets, online shopping, car and home insurance, complementary Life Insurance, and more.

​We will have our next NEA Member Benefits training during our Beginning of the Year AR training for the 2019-2020 school year on August 10, 2019.

Visit www.neamb.com/ for more information about NEA member benefits. 
Visit www.neamb.com/products/nea-click-and-save to start saving money now!

On Saturday, April 13th, YTA members block walked for YISD Board of Trustee incumbent Sotero G. Ramirez. Mr. Ramirez was running for re-election as a YISD Trustee for the Ysleta Learning Community. 

YTA was able to canvass the entire Ysleta area in about four hours! Thank you to everyone who came out to support Mr. Ramirez. 

Thank you to Jaime Abeytia for providing training to all of our volunteers. 

The Ysleta Teachers Association held elections for the YTA Board of Directors.

The following candidates ran unopposed and were voted in by acclamation:

​President- Arlinda Valencia
Vice President- Leonor Terrazas
Secretary- Alicia Pineda
Bel Air Area Director- Gary Woodruff
Eastwood Area Director- Maria Hernandez
Parkland Area Director- Heather Cynor
Riverside Area Director- Daniela Leira-Rosas
Ysleta Area Director- Leticia Grijalva
Technology Director- Marcela Aguayo
YPAC Captain- Alejandro Garcia

EL PASO, TX- YTA and YISD collaborated for the 2019 NEA Read Across America week. YTA visited seven YISD schools, and held an event at the Barnes and Noble at the Fountains at Farah. They read to students to promote literacy and foster the love of reading. Students received goody bags, and YTA raffled off gift cards. 

A very special thank you to Diane Flores, YISD Director of Elementary Academics, who worked closely with YTA to ensure that this year's collaboration was a success for all students.

Thank you to the YISD Trustees who participated this year: Connie Woodruff, Carlos Bustillos, and Sotero Ramirez. Thank you to YISD administrators and central office staff, and to our YTA board of directors for your involvement as well. We hope to have you read again next year! 

6/16/2018

6/23/2018

5/9/2018

CHICAGO, IL- On March 16, 2018, YTA Technology Director Marcela Aguayo attended the NEA Leadership Summit which focused on "empowering leaders, educating students, and strengthening communities."

The NEA Leadership Summit was comprised of the 6 Leadership Competencies identified by NEA: Advocacy, Business, Communication, Governance and Leadership, Leading Our Professionals, and Organizing. Attendees had 2 options: select 3 individualized sessions or complete an institute based off of 1 of the 6 NEA Leadership Competencies. Ms. Aguayo elected to enroll in the Governance and Leadership Institute. Institutes comprised of year long course work. There were training modules and assessments  completed prior to the summit, 3 sessions during the summit, and 2 video/phone conferences post-summit.

Education leaders also learned about PAL! (Prioritize, Activate, Lead!). PAL! is a combination of NEA's 4 priorities: Engaging Early Career Educators; Racial Justice in Education; My School, My Voice (ESSA); Supporting Professional Excellence. 

Keynote Speakers at the Leadership Summit were Eric Liu and Bryonn Bain, and featured guest speaker was comedian Eddie B. 

Ms. Aguayo also attended TSTA meetings for further leadership development, and had the opportunity to sit in caucus and council meetings. She participated in the NEA Hispanic Caucus and Young Professionals Caucus.

YTA thanks TSTA for investing in future leaders here in the Ysleta Independent School District.  

​
To learn more about PAL!, visit www.nea.org/assets/docs/2018_PAL_handout.pdf

If you are interested in completing the NEA modules, and assessing your leadership skills, please visit www.nea.org/leadershipdevelopment.

For more information about Eric Liu and Citizen University, visit www.citizenuniversity.us. 

For more information about Bryonn Bain, visit www.lyricsfromlockdown.com.