As your newly elected President, this is my first opportunity to address you in this forum.  First of all, I want to express my appreciation to our past president, Jennifer Shearer for all her hard work these past two years.  Her dedication and prerseverance, especially in the area of Educational Interpreter State Standards, is appreciated by all of us.  I hope her found memories of us will keep her warm in Alaska!  Next, I would like to say that am delighted to work with such as qualified and competent Board.  We are your elected officials, as such, it is important that we are aware of your collective needs.  You are the "eyes" of this organization.  If you have a comment and/or concern, of if you feel passionate about something (WYRID related (smile)), please contact any one of us.  We are here to represent you!

Fall Conference - Our past WYRID Fall Conference/Workshop was a great success. Valentino Vasquez, an instructor from University of Northern Colorado in Greeley was our esteemed presenter.  His topics included "Development of Technical Signs in ASL", "Use of PSE Structures", "Tutoring Techniques", and a series of hilarious stories entitled "Can You Hear Me".  Mr. Vasquez presentation was entertaining and informative.  Plus, we had the added benefit of exercising our receptive skills.  This workshop was highly beneficial!

RID Region IV Retreat - Jo Otterholt and I recently returned from Region IV Leadership Retreat.  It was held for three days in Estes Park, Colorado at the YMCA.  Region IV includes 14 states from Montana to Louisiana, plus part of Canada. Colorado's RID President, Amie Seiberlich, was the facilitator.

Why should I care?  Because Wyoming is such a sparsely populated state, being connected with neighboring states gives us a larger pool of resources from which to draw.  We may interpret in remote places, but we do not have to interpret in isolation!

One of the Retreat outcomes was the development of a Vision Statement for our region.  It states:  "The vision of RID Region IV is to promote a community that inspires personal and professional transformation by offering cutting edge and innovative opportunities that honor the evolving and diverse needs of its membership."  Six different committees were created to further this Vision Statement.  Jo is on the Resource Committee.  This committee's goal is to establish a clearinghouse of materials, training and workshops for our region.  I am on the Educational Interpreters Committee, which has the goal of providing resources/support to educational interpreters.

Regional IV Conference - If you have never been to beautiful Bozeman, Montana, now is your chance.  Montana RID has gone all out of providing Region IV states with instructive opportunities for both educational and community interpreters.  Reserve August 4-6 on your calendars for the Region IV Conference.

What's up with Ed. Interpreter State Standards? - The Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB) has taken the Wyoming Standards for Educational Sign Language Interpreter/Transliterator on and off the shelf several times.  Our past president Jennifer Shearer has done extensive research by sending out questionnaires to WYRID membership and then suggesting changes to the State Standards that reflect the concerns of our members.  These concerns has been addressed, and we are not waiting for the PTSB to act.  As we all know, State Standards for educational interpreters if not an "if", but a "when".  We will keep you informed.