Pre-retirement Seminars 

RTAM Pre-retirement Seminars in

Winnipeg and Brandon story and Photos by John sushelnitsky chair of Membership & chapter liaison

Teachers planning to retire in June met with members of the RTAM Board in Winnipeg on April 21, 2012 and in Brandon on April 28, 2012. Here are some of the comments in reply to the evaluation sheets; 1. Did the seminar meet your expectations? Yes! ( almost without exception.) 2. Which subjects were particularly helpful to you? Information on RTAM,health and dental insurance, the COLA. 3. Was the power point presentation effective? It kept things moving but gave time for questions. Since I am a visual learner I remember/understand more when I see the information. 4. Was the question and answer activity useful to you? Yes, there was time given for everyone to ask whatever question. 5. How could the seminar be made more useful to teachers considering retirement? More people need to be here. More advertising. 6. Do you think that RTAM will have a useful role in your retirement plan? Why?

Yes. It's important to have RTAM working together with the Society and the government. Thanks for all the work that you do.

In Winnipeg, John Sushelnitsky hosted the seminar and gave a presentation on Pensions. A COLA presentation was given by Anne Monk. Benefits and insurance plans were detailed by Shannon Patershuk of Johnson Inc. and Ted Poulter, Chair of Benefits. Greetings and evaluation forms were looked after by Dolores Hébert. Dolores also gave a fine summary at the of the seminar on the work that RTAM has done for retired teachers.

In Brandon, John Solomon of Swan River, hosted the seminar. John Sushelnitsky presented the background to the issue of Pension and COLA. Pat Bowslaugh of the Benefits Committee covered the details of all the insurance programs. Judy Olmstead greeted the participants, made her own muffins for the occasion and looked after

the evaluations. At both seminars, there was attention paid to the work done by all committees of the Board, in particular travel, wellness and communication.

Perhaps the success of these seminars could best be summed up by the lady who approached me and asked if she could join RTAM before she retired! Thanks are due to all the Board Directors and committee members who gave up their Saturdays to talk with the seminar participants.

Shannon Patershuk and John Crouse of Johnson Inc.