Terri Rufert

ACSA Region XI President’s Message:

Welcome back to another exciting school year. I am pleased to serve Kings, East Kern, W. Kern, Inyo/Mono and Tulare counties as President of this Region. I know you are all extremely busy preparing for the beginning of school. Each year the challenges of school leadership expand. As an administrator in today's world, you need to be an entrepreneurial, service-oriented, media-savvy instructional leader, trained to lead efforts with diverse student populations, so take a moment, right now, from your extremely busy and stressful day to shut your door, breathe, savor your cup of coffee, can of Pepsi or piece of chocolate and enjoy this insightful edition of The Reporter!

Did you know that ACSA provides excellent learning opportunities to hone your leadership skills, connects you with other school leaders, supports legislation to improve education, and opposes legislation that makes school administration even more difficult? The mission of ACSA is to support California's educational leaders; to ensure all children have the essential skills and knowledge needed to excel; and to champion public education. My experience with ACSA has helped me become a better administrator and provided me the opportunity to get to know some of the finest, most dedicated and outstanding administrators around. ACSA, at the state, region and charter level, has quite a bit to offer administrators. I encourage you to take the time to see what all is offered (www.acsaxi.org and www.acsa.org).

At the region level, the board members worked diligently this summer to develop goals for the 2008-09 school year that would help us grow as an organization, continue to provide valuable professional growth and networking opportunities, provide communication and resources through a variety of avenues and continue to be a voice for what is best for our students in the political arena. I want to thank all who attended the summer planning session. Your time and dedication is greatly appreciated. A summary of our goals are as follows:

1. Membership and Involvement: “Grand” idea-“1000” members
   • Raffle $1000.00 (Each member who gets an administrator to sign-up and become a member of ACSA, gets a chance in the raffle for $1000),
2. Effective Communication,
3. Legislative Influence- Knowledge and Action,
4. Administration Support,
5. Teaching and Learning Support.

Membership in our organization is a significant experience and an investment in success. We are all in this together, so together we can and will make a difference. I genuinely appreciate the time and efforts Region XI members contribute to ACSA. If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please contact me at terri.rufert@sundale.org (write ACSA in the subject line). I challenge you get more involved in ACSA and encourage you share the benefits of ACSA with non-members. It is well worth the time and money! I wish you the best!

Terri Rufert
Region XI President 2008-2009