Have you ever stopped to think how much we learn from our friends? It has been said a friend is one who knows your idiosyncrasies, yet still loves you. I think about those people who are the very closest to me. They have been there for me when I’ve gone through the depths of heartache, the heights of joy, and all times in between. Friends like these are a very special gift. When I think of

all the life lessons I’ve learned, as I’ve observed them respond to challenges in their own lives, I’ve learned much. April is a great month to do something kind for one of our friends. At our luncheon last month, Nancy Rohm announced the challenge that the Altrusa organization is sponsoring, promoting kindness over the weekend of April 2-3 in Richardson. Though I realize that the newsletter will arrive after that weekend, I would still like to similarly challenge each of us to make the entire month a time to really focus on doing a kindness for our friends, and also for strangers with whom we come in contact. We can learn much from doing this, and also find opportunities to laugh, plus certainly improve our quality of living.

If you missed the March luncheon, all I can say is, I’m really sorry. We had an absolutely fabulous program. Dave Tanner entertained us with Irish songs, as well as, an historical overview of Ireland. This was all with an Irish lilt and Irish music playing in the background. Our programs have been really outstanding, and I hope you will make our upcoming April luncheon a priority. We will be receiving an update about the upcoming bond election from Dr. Kay Waggoner, RISD Superintendent, and from Karah Altman, PR Director. This will be a highly informative meeting, and you will have an opportuni-ty to hear firsthand how the funds will be utilized.

April 10-12, thirteen members from RRSP will be traveling to the Westin Galleria Hotel in Houston to represent you at the TRTA State Convention. Those serving as delegates are Tobi Bray, Melanie Cottam, Tonna Duke, Carolyn Downing, Marian King, Sallie Loop, Jack Noteware, Nancy Rohm, Laura Snow, Liz Zsohar, and Dana Gant. Also attending are Louise Link and Nowell Loop. When you see these folks, please express your appreciation for their willingness to go.

I hope to see each of you at the April 21st luncheon. The menu really sounds yummy. How about House Salad, Rolls/ Butter, King Ranch Chicken Casserole, Baked Beans, and Chef’s Choice of Des-sert? I’m hungry already! Please call in your reservation today. Remember, the deadline is April 13.

Dana Gant, President

April, 2016 Volume 26, Issue 6

RICHARDSON RETIRED SCHOOL PERSONNEL An Affiliate of the Texas Retired Teachers Association

FFFROMROMROM THETHETHE PPPRESIDENTRESIDENTRESIDENT ---

Live, Laugh, Learn

April Meeting

Date: Thursday, April 21, 2016

Time: 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Location: Highlands Springs, 8000 Frankford Rd. (at Coit), Dallas, TX 75252

Program: RISD Superintendent, Dr. Kay Waggoner - Bond Election

Lunch Reservations: Call 214-890-6989 by 6:00 PM Wednesday, April 13

Page 2 RICHARDSON RETIRED SCHOOL PERSONNEL

April Program—Dr. Kay Waggoner, RISD Bond Election

Dr. Kay Waggoner, RISD Superintendent, and Karah Altman, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, will be our guest speakers at the April meeting. They will be discussing the upcoming bond election and how our public schools will be affected. These administrators have supported RRSP in every way. Now we need to show our appreciation and respect by making every effort to be present at this meeting on April 21st. We need the information they are presenting to make educated decisions when we vote. We also need to be able to articulate the issues involved to every other voting citizen we know.

Dr. Waggoner has made time in her super busy schedule to come to us. We must be present and support her. Melanie Cottam, 3rd Vice President, Programs

Treasurer’s Note

As of press time, we have over 150 new and renewed members for 2016-2017 TRTA/RRSP. Thank you so much. All the names have been added to the database for TRTA, but will not be processed by Austin until the end of April.

If you have not sent your renewal, now is a good time! Please remember to make out your member-ship checks to “Richardson Retired School Personnel”, or to “RRSP”. Most of you will owe $45 (or $47 with mail fee for the yearbook/directory) which will cover both RRSP and TRTA dues unless you have made other arrangements to pay TRTA. Give TRTA about 2 months to process new memberships and renewals, and then to send out annual membership cards to anyone who is not paying monthly. TRTA members who pay 1/12th of the TRTA dues every month will receive a permanent TRTA membership card. TRTA processes thousands of renewals and new members, but it takes time to update their rec-ords.

Once again, please be understanding as I try to collect lunch money from those who make a reserva-tion but for whatever reason are unable to attend the meeting and are unable to cancel before the res-ervation deadline. Following the April meeting, I will try to reach you if your name is not marked “paid” on the reservation list so be sure we mark your name at the check-in. If there is an error in bookkeep-ing, please accept my apologies. It is far from a perfect system. If our records are correct, we ask that you cover that $10 cost as that reservation must be paid by RRSP even if you are not there.

It is an honor to serve all the educators and staff who were invaluable in the lives of so many young people (my children included.) I believe that TRTA and RRSP are building a better retirement for all of us. I welcome any questions, so please contact me with any questions (or comments) you might have at 469-626-3232, or email to sallie.loop@att.net. My mailing address is:1810 Frankford Rd, Apt 214, Dallas, TX 75252-6868

Sallie Loop, Treasurer

“In the meantime, get to know your legislators and candidates.”

Page 3 RICHARDSON RETIRED SCHOOL PERSONNEL

Membership

Our 2016-2017 membership campaign has begun. Thanks to all who have renewed your membership for the 2016-2017 year. Do not be left out of the next yearbook because you forgot to renew before June 15, 2016. RRSP meetings stop over the summer months and are replaced by vacations, both of which help you forget your membership renewal. Why wait? Renew now. Your current 2015-2016 membership is good through June 30, 2016. If you became a new member since mid-February, your dues have been applied to the year 2016-2017 so you do not need to “renew.”

The “Diamond Plus” program is open to all members who pay their TRTA dues monthly either through payroll deduction or bank draft ($2.92 per month). Benefits include: permanent membership card, Diamond Plus newsletter, eligibility for quarterly prize drawings, and hassle-free TRTA member-ship renewals. The program helps TRTA use your funds for legislative activity to protect your retire-ment benefits more efficiently by decreasing paper, printing and mailing costs. Forms to join TRTA and payroll deduction authorization may be found online at www.trta.org. Click on the FORMS tab and chose Membership Forms from the drop down window. Local dues (currently $10.00) would be paid yearly to Richardson Retired School Personnel (RRSP).

A copy of the membership form is attached to the newsletter. Please complete a separate form for each person in your household who wishes to renew or join. Membership forms will be available at the April and May meetings. You may turn in your forms and check at the meeting to save postage. If you need a membership form mailed to you, please call or email me at 972-668-4522, (cell 214-663-6835) or bjwestberg@aol.com. Should your address, phone number or email change, please notify me so that our current membership data list is correct.

Our April meeting will be Thursday, April 21st at 11:00 at Highland Springs located on Frankford just east of Coit. The deadline to make lunch reservations is Wednesday, April 13th at 6:00pm. If you have an emergency and cannot attend the meeting for which you have made a lunch reservation, please call the RRSP hotline and leave a message. There may be time to remove your name. The RRSP lunch reservation hotline number is still 214-890-6989. Of course, you are always welcome to attend only the meeting (about 11:30) without having lunch. Please help us give Highland Springs an accurate count of those who are expected for lunch.

Barbara Westberg, 1st Vice President, Membership

Renew your membership by June 15, 2016

to be included in the RRSP yearbook!

Please consider helping the board communicate with our members by signing up for the telephone committees. Volunteers are needed for our summer calling commit-tee (involving one contact with a reminder to those current members who have not renewed their membership by mid-June) and winter calling committee (who call a list of members with meeting reminders prior to fall and spring meetings). You may volunteer for either committee, or both! Calling does not take much time, and is so important for our communication links. I will have sign-up sheets at the April meeting, along with some edible “incentives” for those who sign up!

From Your Treasurer

Children’s Book Project

Page 4 RICHARDSON RETIRED SCHOOL PERSONNEL

What a spring! Heat, cold, hail, rain, wind, cold again; gorgeous flowers, popcorn trees….all beautiful and long-awaited. We hope your Easter was happy and chocolaty!

Mary Westfall, our assistant treasurer, took a serious fall in early March and is recovering from a broken pelvis. She is undergoing rehab at HealthSouth on Frankford Road in Dallas. She would per-haps enjoy cards or calls, since her rehab may take from six to eight weeks.

Carole Kilduff has sprung back from a leg surgery and is getting around very well, even doing some RV travel with her sister.

A. J. Hilliard, Jay Hilliard’s father, passed away in February at age 92. He had a 34-year career as principal of several elementary DISD schools. Jay Hilliard was a consultant for the Gifted Program and Pearce feeder schools. He was later assistant principal at Brentfield, Mark Twain, Big Springs, and Richland elementaries.

Ilene Enochs’ grandson, Austin Enochs, has passed away. His service was in The Woodlands March 12. Ilene was Language Arts Coordinator for RISD for several years.

One of the creators of RISD’s first special education program has died. Superintendent J. J. Pearce asked Betty Jo Zeibig and two others to design the program. Jo then became Coordinator of Spe-cial Education at Region 10 Education Service Center. Later at UTD she co-authored a book on teacher training for visually impaired students. After working at Region 9 in Wichita Falls and Region 18 in Midland, she worked with the Department of Defense Dependents Schools insuring military base schools’ compliance with special education guidelines. That position required extensive travel to base schools around the world.

Pat Lankford passed away on March 18 in San Antonio, and funeral services were held on March 23 at Restland in Dallas. Pat was the Executive Assistant at O. Henry Elementary and retired in 2000 after 27 years with RISD. In 2014, she relocated to San Antonio to be close to her daughter and two grandsons.

Don Hiett passed away peacefully from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. His service was to be held at Waterview Church of Christ March 26.

Maxine Amstutz, former Earth Science teacher at Lake Highlands Junior High, has passed away. Her service will be at Sparkman Hillcrest on Greenville Avenue April 2 in Richardson.

Our thoughts and prayers are with these families.

Jeannette Winkelmann, Sunshine Committee Chairman

Member News & Notes

RICHARDSON RETIRED SCHOOL PERSONNEL Page 5

Health and Protective Services

Page 6 RICHARDSON RETIRED SCHOOL PERSONNEL

Shingles, continued

Liz Zsohar, Health and Protective Services Chairman

My dear fellow RRSP members, I hope you are enjoying this beautiful time of the year in Texas. We might not experience drastic changes in temperature as one season moves into another, but as our southern winter blends into spring, we are definitely aware of the changes taking place around us by viewing the differences in the colors; bare, gray-brown tree limbs give way to light and then dark green. Plants and flowers, waking from winter, burst into the most beautiful colors; soft shades of pastels or brilliant hues of red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo and violet. As I see the new growth spring forth from the drab, gray of winter, I am refreshed and energized. I am grateful for each new day and all the blessings I enjoy.

When I substitute or volunteer in the Richardson ISD schools, in my community, or in my church, I realize that I am giving back only a tiny portion of the abundance of blessings that have been given to me. I might slow the pace down a bit or pause for a “breather” in this lovely time of the year, but I will continue to give back, as long as I am able. How many countless others, before me, gave of their time and energy so I can stand where I am today and enjoy the beauty and the blessings that are all around me?

Tobi Bray, Community and Volunteer Services Chair

Community and Volunteer Services

“In the meantime, get to know your legislators and candidates.”

Page 7 RICHARDSON RETIRED SCHOOL PERSONNEL

Oh, April door prizes will shine.

We’ll hand them out after we dine.

You’re needed to bring

A cute little thing

So more people can says, “Thanks, that’s mine.”

The jackpot for limericks is rising.

The total for you we’re revising.

April limerick? No,

So in May there’s more dough.

Thirty bucks for your limerick devising!

Since we had no entries for April, the prize goes up from $20 to $30 for the winning limerick asking for May door prizes. You can email me, or see me at the April meeting. You wouldn’t want the chance for $30 to slip by, would you?

Carolyn Downing, Door Prizes, cdowning28@gmail.com

April Door Prizes

Thank you for showing such generosity this school year! By placing your dollars and checks in the pop-corn containers, you have helped to place books in the homes of the first and second graders at Aiken Elementary, Mark Twain Elementary, Stults Road Elementary, and Thurgood Marshall Elementary. The children will be taking the books home in May where they can enjoy them over the summer months. This may also influence other family members. Books will have been sent to the homes twice this school year. At the May meeting, the collection for next year begins for the purchasing of books this summer.

The Book Project Committee will be meeting on May 11 to sort the books for the different campuses and delivering them to the schools. We will meet from 9:30 to 12:00 noon in order to accomplish all of this. We are always looking for more help so please feel free to join us. All the meetings are at my home: 2906 Ambleside Lane, Richardson 75082.

Laura Snow, 2nd Vice President, Book Project

972-669-0531, lauraleesno@yahoo.com

Children’s Book Project

See you on April 21!

Richardson Retired School Personnel (RRSP) Established in 1979

An Affiliate of the Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA)

MEMBERSHIP FORM 2016-2017 (Deadline: June 15, 2016 for yearbook inclusion)

PLEASE: PRINT AND USE ONE FORM FOR EACH PERSON. Complete Part I with the contact information. If you are retired and receiving a TRS (Teacher Retirement System) annuity, also complete Part II (TRS Retiree Members). If you are not a retiree, complete Part III (Associate Members) instead. Complete Part I; then complete either Part II OR Part III. I. Contact Information (Everyone will complete this section) NAME _______ ______________________________________________________________________________ (Ms., Mrs., Mr., or Dr.) First Name Middle Name/Initial Last Name ADDRESS __________________________________________________________________________________ Number and Street or PO Box Number Apt. # City State Zip 9-digit PHONE NUMBER ______________________________________ (for directory unless “unlisted” indicated) EMAIL ADDRESS (Print please)________________________________________________________

Send my RRSP newsletter via email? □YES □NO (Select one)

Contact me by phone with meeting reminders (in addition to email reminders)? □YES □NO (Select one)

BIRTHDAY ________________________________________________________________________ II. TRS Retiree Members (Retirees receiving a TRS annuity)

Select ONLY ONE of the following three categories: Annual Cost for 2016-2017:

□ New Member in 2016 of TRTA and RRSP $45.00 (total for both) ___________

□ Renewing (within 3 years) Member of TRTA and RRSP $45.00 (total for both) ___________

□ RRSP dues only;’16-’17 (TRTA dues must be already paid*) $10.00 (RRSP) ___________

* TRTA Life Members(LM), or pay TRTA directly by payroll deduction(CM) or bank draft (DM) If you want us to mail your yearbook/directory, please add: $ 2.00 ___________

RETIREE TOTAL DUE ___________

III. Associate Members (Not receiving an annuity; still working for the schools/friend/spouse of a retiree)

Select ONLY ONE of the following three categories: Annual Cost for 2016-2017:

□ New Associate Member of TRTA and RRSP $40.00 (total for both) ___________

□ Renewing Associate Member of TRTA and RRSP $40.00 (total for both) ___________

□ RRSP dues only;’16-’17 (TRTA dues must be already paid**) $5.00 (RRSP) ___________

** TRTA dues paid by monthly bank draft (draft instructions have already been submitted) If you want us to mail your yearbook/directory, please add: $ 2.00 ___________

ASSOCIATE TOTAL DUE ___________

Your check will be made out to Richardson Retired School Personnel or to RRSP for the total amount from Part II or Part III. Please mail your check and this form to our treasurer at:

Sallie Loop 8010 Frankford Rd, #214 Dallas, TX 75252-6868