Good Day Fellow WESTOPers, The weekend is upon us and we're all anxiously waiting for 5:00pm but the end of the 3p-5p stretch seems to never arrive. As much as we want to start the weekend and leave the office, we still love our jobs that much more. Day in and day out we're presented with the opportunity to change a student's life and we live for the moment when they look at us with their puppy dog eyes and let out those precious words, "are we getting our stipend today?" No wait, not those words, instead when they looks at us with their puppy dog eyes and say, "Thank you (insert your name here) for all that you've done for me." These moments are great and we all look forward to them but without COE's diligent efforts there's a possibility those moments would be presented to us. Therefore, the real reason for my email is to bring up several FairShare concerns and opportunities to deal with those concerns. At the moment, WESTOP is at 28% of reaching our 2010-2011 goal and with less than six months to go, we as an association and as individuals have a lot of work to do so that we meet our goal. The Council for Opportunity in Education has launched three different campaigns to assist WESTOP and all other regions meet our goal. Listed below are those campaigns. Please review each of them and contact me if you would like to take part in them but have some questions that need to be answered. 1. Welcome Back Campaign Any institution that has not been a paid member to COE since July 31, 2010 is eligible to participate in this campaign. COE has set a goal for every state/region. Please see FairShare Goals - WESTOP to find out what our goal is. The campaign is for states to get institutions/agencies that have not been a member for at least 5 months to rejoin. Please see Non-Member Institutions - WESTOP to see if your institution is not a member. If a state reaches its goal, COE will award two persons in the state a $100 gift card (most likely the fair share coordinators but it will be decided state by state). For example, if CA gets 8 institutions from the nonmember report attached, they will receive two $100 gift cards. Welcome Back Campaign flyer is attached. Not all states are eligible for this campaign, contact me to see if you are eligible. The deadline to make state goals is by March 31, 2011 (no exceptions). 2. 10 for 10 The 10 for 10 campaign is still going strong. To recap for new people, the 10 for 10 is a general campaign to get more individuals to give back to COE at a minimum of $100.00 by June 30, 2011. We encourage individuals to set up a payment plan over the Fair Share year. We have set goals for each state to promote friendly competition. Please see FairShare Goals - WESTOP to find out what our goal is. States who meet their assigned number of people to give over $100.00 by March 31, 2010 will receive up to two COE Annual Conference registration fee waivers to Fair Share Coordinators or State Presidents. Individuals can make a one-time payment of $100 or make start monthly payments by March 30th that will equate to $100 by June 30, 2011. Payments must equate to $100 by June 30, 2011 to be eligible for the campaign. For your convenience, the 10 for 10 Personal Contribution Form is attached. Thank you to those at the WESTOP - Central Cal Chapter Meeting that signed up for the 10 for 10 campaign. Your contributions will be included in the next report. The deadline to make state goals is by March 31, 2011 (no exceptions). 3. $400 Discount for Early Payment If an Institution/Agency's membership expires between January 1, 2011 through June 30, 2011 pays their membership fees before February 15, 2011, they will receive a $400.00 discount, please see Institutional Membership by Region - WESTOP to verify your Institution/Agency's membership expiration date. Membership Renewals - $400 Discount flyers are also attached. Thank you to those institutions that have renewed your membership as of 1/31/2011. Your contributions will be included in the next report. PLEASE NOTE: For anyone that inquires about still giving by the end of the year - for tax purposes - all check/credit card payments needed to be in the office by Thursday, December 23. Otherwise, they were entered into the system in January, 2011. Respectfully Submitted, Ricardo Marmolejo - FairShare Coordinator Western Association of Educational Opportunity Personnel c: (559) 355-4289 o: (559) 737-5401 e: [log in to unmask] TRiO . . . it works!