To All Members of the GFT:

Welcome back to school!  Hopefully all of you have had a relaxing and restful summer.  This school year will be a very eventful one in the District.  There are a lot of new things happening in Garfield this year.  The Pre-K has a new starting time, the Middle School is trying out block scheduling and all of us will be impacted by the District’s transition to the State-mandated teacher evaluation system.

Those of you who participated in the CPR Training will be receiving your cards shortly.  They were sent over the summer and have been signed by the instructor.  In addition, the AFT pocket calendars are in and will be sent to individual schools this week.

The GFT is planning to expand our Professional Development offerings this year.  We will once again be offering CPR Training.  We will also host a retirement seminar.  Keep in mind it is never too early to plan for retirement.  We will also offer AFT endorsed instructional strategies PD starting in the second half of the year.  All of these programs will be announced via e-mail and in-school postings.

You are all encouraged to utilize the GFT Website.  If you investigate some of the links you may find some helpful information about our national organization.  There is a link with information about student loan forgiveness.  We would also encourage our members to share any information they may have so it can be distributed to the whole district.

Finally, all of you realize this is a Presidential Election Year.  I will be forwarding all of you information I receive from the State and National AFT Office’s regarding the AFT position on issues in this election.  Please take the time to read them and make an educated decision based on what is best for you.