ACSA recruiters enjoy another record year
When ACSA ended a third year in 2016-17 with record high membership , the anecdotal evidence was that the Member Recruitment Team is working .
Senior Director of Member Services and Support Margarita Cuizon can take pride in the advent of both the recruiting team and its counterpart , the ACSA Ambassadors . The ambassadors are retirees whose job is to reduce drop-outs , ensuring new members are welcomed into the association and that they discover the benefits they need most .
Lemons
Out of the 2,126 new members who joined in 2016-17 , only 63 dropped out , resulting in a 97 percent retention rate compared to 80.5 percent the year before . ACSA ended 2016-17 with 18,314 members , an increase of more than 700 from 2015-16 ’ s record high .
“ It ’ s the conversations we have with people that really hit home ,” Cuizon said . “ Our Member Recruitment Team can give member benefits a ‘ life ’ and a relevant place in a person ’ s career that sometimes they can ’ t see on their own .”
The ACSA Member Recruitment Team includes Deborah Burke , Lillie Campbell , Michael Dennis , Penny Fraumeni , Sherman Garnett , Patricia Lasarte , Bob Lee , Charlene Lemons-Shivers , Ann Kilty , Felton Owens , Korby Olson , Alice Petrossian , and Anne Welsh-Treglia . These are longtime ACSA leaders , whose lives and careers have benefitted from membership . They know what to say to sign people up .
“ I have an opportunity to talk to individuals I have a connection with , as an administrator myself . I share my own experiences and concrete examples of how ACSA helped me ,” said Lemons-Shivers , who has been the recruitment leader since the team was formed in 2013 . “ I tell them about professional learning . If they want to be a curriculum director , I can tell them what to do .
“ We have a supermarket of benefits and services . I expose them to legal services , liability insurance , job academies , cutting edge training , mentoring , proactive government relations , pension protection , equity networking and more .”
Lemons-Shivers began her career as an elementary assistant principal , and advanced her career to become director of alternative education for Sweetwater Union High School District in San Diego . She ran learning centers at each high school and a model dropout recovery program .
She recruited 177 new members in 2016-17 , and more than 600 in four years . Her territory encompasses all of Los Angeles Unified , where ACSA has traditionally been seen as redundant to the local Associated Administrators of Los Angeles . But Lemons-Shivers knows ACSA is the next level . Having a voice at the state and federal levels is important to all education leaders , particularly at the Capitol and with the California Department of Education and State Board of Education .
“ I have to tell them why ACSA is different ,” she said . “ We are the ones fighting on their behalf . We want you to have your voice .”
Team members have to convince potential recruits that they can ’ t do without ACSA , said Penny Fraumeni , who brought 126 new members from Los Angeles County in Region 15 to ACSA last year . She , too , starts by describing benefits and goes on to tell her own stories and those of friends , as well as experiences in ACSA , including awards and conferences .
“ The main thing is to portray positive energy and enthusiasm for ACSA ,” Fraumeni said . “ You have to truly love ACSA to do this kind of recruiting , and basically I do .”
Anyone who knows this former California National Distinguished Principal , state Principal of the Year , and lifelong educator serving students for more than 38 years , knows she is nothing if not infectious . She is a consummate cheerleader for the association .
“ I think I was born to convince everyone to do something ,” she said . “ I have been told over and over that I could ‘ sell igloos to Eskimos .’”
Ann Kilty , another recruitment leader , covers Monterey , San Benito and Santa Cruz counties in Region 10 . She signed up 88 new members last year .
“ I think that most of the membership team recruits in the same way ,” she said . “ We are staunch believers in the organization , so it ’ s easier to ‘ sell ’ something that is so meaningful in our lives .”
With only four charters to serve , Kilty tries to attend each meeting . She brings
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September 4 , 2017 EDCAL 5
The ACSA Member Recruitment Team , Ambassadors and Member Services staff celebrates another record year in association membership .
updates on charter membership and leaves applications and literature on ACSA that can be taken back to districts .
“ If they have questions or concerns , they know me , so I can get back to them quickly ,” she said .
She also attends region board meetings . She said recruiters go to any meeting where leaders congregate .
“ I want them to have a name attached to the application , so they can connect immediately ,” Kilty said . “ I also write a thank you note to new enrollees to reinforce the personal connection , since this organization is truly all about relationships more than anything else .”
Kilty served as a principal of alternative education in North Monterey County USD from 1987 to 2004 and retired as executive director of alternative education for
Monterey Peninsula USD in 2012 , before joining the Member Recruitment Team .
“ All of the recruiters work really hard to share the message and importance of ACSA for educational leaders ,” she said . Some of them have huge areas to cover , so they spend lots of hours in traffic going from one district to the next . There are challenges in geography and access in every area of the state .
“ The background of the MRT is incredible – the wealth and breadth of experience accounts for many , many years of teaching and administration that would be hard to match in any organization or private industry . In other words , even though I had a ‘ good month ,’ all of the team works amazingly hard to share something that we are so committed to .” cess model that combines the importance of working on student engagement and well-being and the researched link of these factors to academic success . There is now a complete program for students in school that includes student assessments , as well as teacher strategies and approaches to transforming classrooms to strength-based educational settings , where high achievements is obtained and students report higher rates of engagement and well-being .
The Leading with Strengths Workshop facilitated by Paul Porter , a certified Gallup trainer , is designed for school administrators , administrator teams , and teachers who want to learn how to leverage their strengths rather than simply identifying and correcting weaknesses .
The one-day workshop is scheduled for Friday , Oct . 20 , at the Sonoma County Office of Education , from 9 a . m . -3 p . m . The registration fee includes a continental breakfast , lunch , and the 2.0 StrengthsFinder book .
To register for the workshop , visit ACSA ’ s website , and click on the Professional Learning tab . Contact Sue Periera at speriera @ acsa . org for additional information .
This article was written by workshop facilitator Paul Porter .
professional development calendar www . acsa . org | 800.608 . ACSA FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ACSA ’ S PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS , CALL 800.608.2272 . ACSA ’ S PD CALENDAR IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT WWW . ACSA . ORG / CALENDAR