Region 10

John Stocks addresses the audience at the Joint State Conference in Eau Claire.

Our first Joint state conference with Minnesota occurred at the Best Western Plus Conference Center in Eau Claire on Tuesday, November 19 and it was a big success. Over 70 retired educators from both states attended and participated in multiple lively and engaging sessions.

This unique one-day conference featured John Stocks as our Keynote Speaker. Stocks is the immediate past Executive Director for NEA and now is serving as Special Assistant to the NEA Executive Director focusing his work on the 2020 Presidential Election.

Stocks spoke about the critical importance of Wisconsin in the upcoming presidential election and gave us ideas of how we can help elect a pro-public education president. In addition, he warned the audience how social media is driving the election’s narrative with false and misleading ads and postings.

In addition to John Stocks, NEA-Retired President Sarah Borgman welcomed us and reinforced our power as retired educators. Break-out sessions on Identity Theft, Traveling, a special moderated forum of both states’ leaders, and a special upbeat and fun session by Sarah Borgman were also part of the day.

There was a delicious lunch and time to Mix and Mingle with colleagues and friends from our neighboring state. At the end of the conference there were Door Prizes awarded, also.

Minnesota leadership expressed an interest in hosting a similar conference in their state next year. We look forward to more collaborative work with them!