MTA Today - Fall 2015

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and your MTA membership ID number, which can be found on your MTA membership card.

Who may submit proposals?

Individual MTA members, groups of members and local associations are eligible to submit proposed amendments to the MTA Bylaws and Standing Rules.

Members wishing to use an official title representing an MTA affiliate or committee are required to submit evidence that a vote was taken by authorized representatives of the affiliate or the committee.

Current document: A copy of
the current document containing the
MTA Bylaws, Standing Rules and
Resolutions is available to any member
upon request.

Assistance: The Bylaws and Rules Committee and members of the MTA staff are available to discuss ideas for potential amendments and to provide technical assistance.

Inquiries and proposals submitted to the Bylaws and Rules Committee should be channeled through Mary Gilgallon, MTA Director of Governance and Administration. Her mailing address is MTA, 2 Heritage Drive, 8th Floor, Quincy, MA 02171-2119. Her phone number is 617.878.8213, her fax number is 617.570.4908, and her e-mail address is mgilgallon@massteacher.org.

Continued from Page 19

Bylaws and Rules Committee assistance available

Q uietly and without fanfare, the members of the Danvers Teachers Association recently
unveiled a peace garden at
Danvers High School to honor the
memory and spirit of former colleague
Colleen Ritzer.

“We wanted to do something locally, through the union, to remember one of our members who was tragically taken away from us,” said DTA President Chris Hopkins.

Ritzer, a young, vibrant educator and self-described “math nerd” who taught at the high school, was found slain outside the school in October 2013. One of her former students is on trial in connection with the killing.

Tracie Ewing, a special education teacher and technical director for the high school theater troupe, took on the job of designing the garden.

“I wanted to create a space where people can sit together, reflect and follow through on the words of wisdom that Colleen passed on to us,” said Ewing, who also serves on the DTA Executive Board.

In the courtyard outside the
school’s theater and library, the peace
garden features a bubbling water
fountain and two benches etched with
two of Ritzer’s favorite quotations:
“Being good to people is a wonderful
legacy to leave behind” and “Find
From start to finish, Hopkins said,
the project has been a “real community
effort.” While the DTA conceived of
the project and Ewing designed it,
Danvers High School alumna and local
landscaper Stephanie Halpin brought
the garden to life.

The DTA and the district shared the cost of materials, and Halpin’s company, D&S Landscaping, donated all of the labor. Halpin has also committed to doing seasonal maintenance.

The town’s Public Works Department and many others have also helped and continue to contribute their labor to the garden. Special education students enrolled in the high school’s life skills class are watering and caring for the garden on a regular basis.

Danvers High School Principal
Susan Ambrozavitch, who enthus-
iastically supported the idea when
DTA members presented it to her,
described the garden as “a nice,
quiet, peaceful way of remembering
Colleen.”
“This staff has done an amazing
job of coming together and supporting
each other in a very positive way,” she
added.

Diane Morey, a social studies
teacher who is also a member of the
DTA Executive Board, said she is
committed to spreading the word about
“anything good that has come out of
this terrible tragedy.”
Using a lighthearted, upbeat tone,
Morey live-tweeted from the annual
Step Up for Colleen 5K Walk/Run last
spring. She has also tweeted about the
Colleen Ritzer Memorial Scholarship
Fund, which benefits high school
students who plan to pursue education
degrees in college, and the new peace
garden.

Danvers Teachers
Association
members Diane
Morey, Chris
Hopkins and Tracie
Ewing, left to right,
led the effort to
establish a memorial
peace garden to
honor the memory
and spirit of Colleen
Ritzer. From start to
finish, Hopkins said,
the project has been
a “real community
effort.”
Photo by Sarah Nathan

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