Greetings to all who till the same earth,

As I began to consider my message my mind ran wild. What to say? There are so many subjects, missions, victories and challenges to discuss. I chose to tell a story.

It was a summer day in Oklahoma. It was a day, like most summer days, but this day would change my life. The phone rang. It was a school superintendent from a district, from a town I had never heard of. I did not know how he found me. I declined his offer. I hung up the phone. He called back. Then he called again. I reluctantly agreed to meet with him. He was persuasive. I arrived the day before classes began. The secretary told me my room was on the second floor and she thought there were some books on a shelf. I was alone and on my own.

As I look back on that first year, I want to apologize to my students. I was quite possibly one of the worst teachers in the history of education. I had no training, no support, and no idea what I was doing.

The next summer Dr. Lois Lawler-Brown allowed me to join her department. One of the many things that Lois did for me was to have me join OFLTA. Lois, Darcy Pippins, Jason Fritze and I were “wheels up,” as we used to say, before dawn on many a Saturday morning headed for an OFLTA workshop or conference. As I reflect on those times, I realize that in the beginning I did not even know how those early morning carpools would come to impact my classroom. I now know.

One day Lois told me I should give a presentation at an OFLTA conference. I was terrified. Today, I have given many presentations on the state and regional levels. I have hosted many teachers from across the state in my classroom, logged hours of phone calls and emails to fellow teachers, mentored student teachers and perhaps most importantly, told colleagues what Lois told me. Join OFLTA. It has been a glorious, emotional, and fulfilling journey. Thank you to all stakeholders in my journey.

I tell this story not because it is about me, but because it is about you. What will you do with the support of your friends and colleagues in OFLTA? More importantly, what would you do without that support?

Accomplished teachers do not work in isolation. Please join me this year in reaching out to a colleague. Offer help. Ask for help. Collaboration is a key component to our success in, what a remarkable man, Arlen Gill, once described to me as, a truly noble profession.

Thank you for what you do to enrich the life of each student. I look forward to a remarkable year.

E. Russell Ray, NBCT, WLOE; President, OFLTA

“The ox is slow, but the plow is sure.“

I wish to further thank Claudio Larragoite, Teresa Bell, Elise Robillard, Kelly Stone, Rebecca Borden, Larry Steele, Mike Xu, Hugh Himwich, Stacy Southerland, Desa Dawson and the OFLTA board members.