packages offered by CCPS.

It has always been our goal to increase our membership. This year we have not been able to increase our numbers as in the past. We actually have a .57% decrease. In my 6 years as your president this is a first. Sherry Burcham, our Membership Chair, has put in much effort and chal-lenged us to each bring in one new member. She had hoped that we could add 15 new mem-bers. As members you know the importance of watching out for issues and concerns that can im-pact our retirement years. When it comes to making Annapolis aware of our needs it’s numbers that give clout to our messages to them. Please continue to be on the lookout for prospective mem-ber to join CRSPA and MRSPA. As the 2017 school year comes to an end, you may know some of the newly retired employees. Be our ambassadors to let them know we are a group of caring individu-als who like to get together to share fellowship and to work on projects that give back to our community. Membership appli-cations are available on the MRSPAwebsite at www.mrspa.org or by contacting our membership chairperson Sherry or myself. Looking for-ward to seeing you at the May meeting, Barbara M. McKimmie

Our CRSPA 2016-2017 year is

coming to an end. We have

had another year filled with

many nice meetings and activ-

ities. None of this would have

been possible without the

continuing support of your

Executive Board and you, the

general membership. Attend-

ing meetings, sharing con-

cerns, and getting involved

make each time we get to-

gether a special occasion. I

want you to know how very

much I appreciate all you do

to help keep us moving for-

ward and making a difference

in our retirement years.

At our March meeting, we had

presentations from our two

Calvert County One-Room

Schools. The presenter for the

Old Wallville One Room pro-

gram was Mr. Michael Kent.

He works at the school when

4th grade students come to

participate in the African

American educational experi-

ence. The school was built by

around 1869 and remained in

use until 1934. His reflections

on the schools past and those

children that attended was

very interesting. The present-

er for the Port Republic One

Room program was Nancy

Highsmith. The school located

right outside of the Christ

Church Fellowship Hall was

built in 1868 and remained in

use until 1934. Students com-

ing here experience lessons like

ones taught at the turn of the

20th century as well as experi-

encing a walk through the

woods on their way to school.

Both schools are looking for

volunteers to help as docents.

If you’d like to help please give

them a call.

On May 9th we will be sending

members to the MRSPA Annual

Business Meeting being held at

Turf Valley in Ellicott City,

Maryland. Going to represent

us are Jane Fletcher, Becky

LeBow, Pam Mackall, Maureen

Sengstack, Carole Wagner and

me. We will share what is

discussed at this meeting at

our CRSPA General Meeting on

May 10th. Of course if we have

a raffle prize winner from our

chapter, we will bring it back to

the winner.

At our May 10th meeting we

will have our Remembrance of

Departed Members. Sadly this

year we have lost too many

dear friends. Also at the

meeting we will be hosting

Laveeta Hutchins and Bridget

Scott from HR and Donna Hase

and Trisha Lehman from Care-

First. They will bring us infor-

mation on the Health Care

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

President’s Message 1

Engage Your Brain 2

Membership

Update

3

Scholarships 3

S P R I N G E D I T I O N M A Y 2 0 1 7

CRSPA

Calvert Retired School Personnel Association

President’s Message

Enjoy Your Spring

and Summer!

See you in the Fall!

CRSPA Meeting

May 10, 2017

1pm

Christ Church

Port Republic, MD

Lunch at 12 Noon

P A G E 2

No matter

your age,

it’s always a

good idea to

talk to your

health care

provider if

you have a

question

about the

difference

between

natural

changes in

the brain

versus the

appearance

of more

significant

symptoms..

tions or card games—may take a little longer.

Age 50 to 60

Conceptual understanding, language and vocabulary is still sharp.

The ability to understand how things work, can remain strong, as can creativity and wisdom.

Financial literacy is still strong, but may begin to de-cline after age 60.

Tip: Now is a good time to shore up your future with financial planning.

Age 60 to 70

Knowledge, experience, reasoning, creativity and problem solving can remain strong.

Changes in our 50s continue into our 60s. Cognitive processing speed may take longer as some parts of the brain may be shrinking.

Age 70 and Beyond

Many individuals' reason-ing, creativity, language and procedural memories will remain sharp.

For some, genetic predis-position, lifestyle and health issues will begin to show no-ticeable effects. Early signs of brain issues like Alzhei-mer’s and dementia can occur, sometimes even at earlier ages.

Engage Your Brain

" The brain is like a muscle. When it's in use, we feel very good." by Carl Sagan

Thinking clearly about brain health means knowing how to keep you on top of your game. It also means being able to discern between scientific principles of brain health—and popular myths and legends.

The Changing Brain

The only constant about your brain is that it’s always changing. Change in brain function is to be expected as you age. Even after your brain reaches maturity, it’s still changing.

It’s called “brain plasticity”—as we experience the world, practice habits and learn new information, our brains change, grow new connec-tions and repair broken ones. As we age, our experi-ences and knowledge keep our brains working, devel-oping and learning.

Understanding that not all changes are a sign of concern is important. We all lose our keys and forget people’s names. We do it throughout our entire lives. It’s not until we’re older that these com-mon mishaps cause us worry. It’s also important to know there are several other rea-sons lapses in memory occur like certain medications, lack of sleep and excessive alco-hol. Change in brain function is to be expected as you age.

How the Brain Changes

Our brains are always work-ing—and always changing as we age. Here's how: Birth to Age 10 Our brains reach 90% of their adult size by age 5 as cells become bet-ter at communicating with each other.

Age 10 to 30 Our brains reach maturity in our 20s, as the reasoning, planning and impulse-control areas are fully formed. Complex reasoning, long-term memory functions begin to peak, and creativity may be at its highest.

Age 30 to 40

Even though there are rarely any outward signs, brain volume begins to slightly decline as neurons (the brain cells) start to shrink. It’s a very slow and gradual procesThe first signs of gradual decline in brain volume begin to show: short-term memory may be less sharp.

Reactions to complex stimuli—things like challenging calcula-tions or card games—may take a little longer.s.

Age 40 to 50

The first signs of gradual decline in brain volume begin to show: short-term memory may be less sharp.

Reactions to complex stimuli—things like challenging calcula-

1. Call Loujeania Johnson (410-586-1066) to reserve lunch. Lunch is

$17.00 and always DELICIOUS! 2. Bring a Retiree with you!

March 8th, 2017 CRSPA Meeting Highlights

P A G E 3 M A Y 2 0 1 7

At the beginning of our 2016-17 membership year, CRSPA established and requested each member to help us in achieving our “one new member for each current member” goal. As of March 2016, we had 178 members, and in April 2017 we had176. Sadly, we have lost several of our treas-ured Calvert County educational leaders. On their behalf, I ask each of us to renew our efforts to help us grow and achieve a smaller but just as worthy goal of 189 (+15) members this Spring/Summer. We are working on a website and the possible sharing of member to member information in order to make it easier for us to contact each other for ride sharing (especially for our Emeritus and more senior members) and collegiality.

Please note that the MRSPA dues have increased to $45 for the 2017-18 year. Our CRSPA $10 dues remains the same for a total cost of $55 for the 2017-18 membership year.

Below is a list of the CCPS 2016-17 retirees. Our sumptuous luncheon buffet meeting on Wednesday, May 10th, will offer a great opportunity to invite and bring a retired colleague from this or past years with you .

Listing of 2016-2017 School Year

Current Retirees Patricia Ariemma George Leah Susan Baker Elaine Linsenbigler Barbara Billman Clavenda Mason Romona Crowley Tracy Nelson Michael Dvorsky Barbara Nerich Philip Fedorchak Kristie O’Connell James Hall Roxanne Parker Cinda Hass Maureen Pieringer Mary Jo Ireland Julie Roehm Ella Mae Johnson Wanda Riffe Kevin Jones Michele Shedd Patricia Keefe Diana Sullivan Barbara Krieder Donna Watts

Membership Update 2016-17 CCPS Retirees by Sherry Burcham

Retiring July 1, 2017

Toni Chapman Letty McNulty Mary Chase Laura Miller Debbie Hance Margaret Smallwood Lori Idol Patricia Wahl Wynne Maksimovic

Janice Weamert Terrance McCleaf

Lisa Wright

Future educators will be granted $1,000 scholarships to the colleges of their choice by the Calvert Retired School Personnel Association. These students will be selected for their academic excellence, extra curricular activities, and desire to become a teacher. If you know someone who meets the crite-ria, please encourage him/her to apply for this scholarship. Direct students to their guidance counse-lors for more information and the application process.

Ann Brown, a recent deceased member of CRSPA, worked extremely hard each year to ensure the suc-cess of this scholarship program. As a result of Ann Brown’s death, the committee is a little later than usual in putting the applications and information in the four high schools. Nonetheless, CRSPA is expecting to award a scholarship to one student in each of the high schools.

CRSPA Scholarship