Terry’s Update

March 18, 2020

1. Coronavirus Info
2. RAT Info Update
3. FEA Europe Election Results
4. VLTP
5. Women’s History Month
6. Mark Your Calendar
7. Traveling for Spring Break
8. NEA Foundation Award (Deadline 1 April)

1. Coronavirus Info — As you all now should have been told, tomorrow you should be able to work from home. This is a stressful time, and the addition of this virus does not make it better. During your time ‘teleworking’ should any issues arise that need attention, please know that all your FEA representatives will be online as well as available per phone should you need anything. The teleworking is rather new to most, and there will be a learning curve, and that is why all will be available to do anything we can to assist or get the assistance you need. Please take care of yourself, your family, and do not hesitate to contact FEA with any questions. Should you have NOT received the guidance from your admin and wish to have it please contact your FRS or Division Representative.

2. RAT Info Update — After applying for the TOPS orders Feb 4, then receiving the TOPS orders approximately 10 days later, I was able to make my reservation/s with Sembach CTO. I then awaited the DTS orders from that date and per the last update, they were ‘working on the orders, but had a back log’. I can now report that I received my DTS orders on 14 March. The DTS orders have come as two different sets of orders. One with my name on them as well as a bit more dollar amount (per diem piece) and the orders for my wife. It has taken a more than a month for everything, but the Sembach CTO reserving my flights I needed, have made things a bit less stressful. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help, and as of now, this will be the final update on obtaining RAT, until we need to apply for payments.

3. Europe FEA Election Results

Division Representative EE1: William Buckley
Division Representative EE2: Stephen James
Division Representative EEW: Anita Lang
EE1 Human & Civil Rights Coordinator: DiAnna Martinez
EE1 Human & Civil Rights Coordinator: Holly Vance
EEW Human & Civil Rights Coordinator: Nadine Moore-Wiley

Europe Human & Civil Rights
Patricia Hannon

FEA Representative to the NEA Representative Assembly
William Herb
William Buckley
Danielle Rodriguez
Romy Kerstetter
Tom Bohler
Rebecca Zubia

Vote totals will be published on the FEA website at this link

4. VLTP — I have noticed more and more names of members being approved for VLTP coming in to my mail box. The Voluntary Leave Transfer Program allows us to donate leave to others who have exhausted their own leave, generally due to illness of either themselves or of family members. I often wonder if the stresses of our job situations don’t help to acerbate this situation. Regardless, the deeper we get in to the school year the harder we find it to donate, as we can only donate APL days at this time, a situation I would hope we could eventually have changed. If you are in a position to do so, please consider helping these members who often find themselves in rather dire straits. You merely need to pick a recipient and fill out the forms that you will get in your school office. You’ll feel good for having done it.

5. Women’s History Month — This is Women’s History Month. Since 1910, March 8 has been observed as International Women’s Day by people around the world. Thus, March was chosen for National Women’s History Month in the United States. This link will provide you with many useful tools to celebrate this month.
click here

6. Mark Your Calendar
March 29 — Europe Daylight Savings Time begins
April 1 — April Fool’s Day
April 4-11 — Spring Break for most European Schools except SHAPE, AFNorth, Kleine Brogel
April 12 — Easter Sunday

7. Traveling for Spring Break — While we will most likely not be traveling during the upcoming Spring Break, here are some travel tips to help get ‘caught up on’ as you have time. Make sure you have copies of all your passports and other important documents stored separately from the originals when you travel. Make sure you have up-to-date contact information in your wallet or purse in the event of an accident or sudden illness, etc. You may want to include local (European) contact information as well as stateside contacts. It is also a good idea to let a colleague know your travel plans and contact numbers in case of emergency. And, should you find yourself ‘stuck’ in an airport then the guide that you can find here might prove valuable. Sleeping in Airports

8. NEA Foundation Award — Each year the NEA Foundation Awards for Teaching Excellence recognizes educators whose professional practice and advocacy for the profession are exemplary. All state affiliates, including FEA, are allowed to nominate one candidate a year (we are looking for a nominee for 2018 — our 2017 nominee was Michael Pope from Japan). The application is attached and the deadline for submission of all materials to FEA is April 1, 2020 and should be sent to the Washington FEA Office at 1201 16th St. NW, Suite 117 Washington D.C. 20036 or scanned to Gary Hritz at (ghritz@nea.org). For further information see the attachments.

Terry McClain
FEA Europe
Area Director