[Osta-board] Welcome back!

[Bernie Carlsen]

Good morning, board members!

     Welcome back to your new school year!

     Hopefully you will be promoting the upcoming NSTA Conference as 
well as OSTA to your colleagues.    Current OSTA members can get the the 
NSTA Earlybird Registration Rate of $175, but it ends September 13th.  
OSTA membership can be easily obtained on the website, 
www.oregonscience.org.   ( The nonmember NSTA Earlybird registration fee 
is $265)

     People can register today for NSTA at 
www.nsta.org/conferences/2013por/

     As an OSTA board member, you can get the NSTA reg fee comped by 
working at the conference.  Paul Zastrow <pzastrow at gorge.net> is in 
charge of volunteers, Lori Lancaster <lancaster.ld at gmail.com> is the 
Local Arrangements Chair, and Lynda Sanders <sandsciosta at charter.net> is 
the Conference Chair.  But there is a deadline for getting these comped 
registrations, so please email these chairpeople ASAP if you want a 
comped registration.

    OSTA has a financial agreement with NSTA that pays us "incentive 
revenue" for getting our members to be full-time registrants.  We also 
get a buck for for every full-time registrant over the 2000 expected 
full-time paid participants.

    OSTA will have our host table in the registration area of the Oregon 
Convention Center.  This will be our base of operations, and I hope that 
you will be able to spend your time there, greeting friends and meeting 
new people.  Mike and Holly will be running our OSTA Regional Raffle on 
Thursday with stuff from your region.  This is the time for OSTA to 
shine in the science education spotlight in Oregon.

   Enjoy this first week back with your colleagues and your classrooms.  
Thank you for all that you do for science education!

         Peace and friendship,  Bernie