Email: wct@wcteachers.org

Website: www.wcteachers.org

Location: 280 New Hackensack Road, Wappingers Falls, NY, USA

Phone: 845-227-5065

Office Hours: Monday - Friday 12-5

Administrative Assistant: Cathy Reynolds

WAPPINGERS CONGRESS OF TEACHERS

WELFARE TRUST FUND

***IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING***

BENEFIT PROGRAMS
wcteachers.org / asonet.com

Dear Members and Retirees:

We are pleased to announce that effective December 1, 2024, the Fund’s Dental, Hearing Aid, Co/Copay Reimbursement and Prescription Drug Copay reimbursement benefits will be administered by Administrative Services Only, Inc (ASO).

BENEFITS: There will be NO change in the Fund’s plan benefit levels or provisions such as annual maximums, lifetime maximums, procedure frequencies, limitations and exclusions as stated in the Benefit Booklet. All provisions will carry forward in accordance with your claim history.

CLAIMS ADMINISTRATION: The Fund’s current third-party administrator, Daniel H. Cook Associates, Inc. (Cook Associates) will process claims up to November 22, 2024. Claims that were received but not processed by Cook Associates will be forwarded to ASO. Claims history will be transferred to ASO. We anticipate that ASO will commence processing claims shortly after January 1, 2025. ASO will honor pre-authorizations issued by Cook Associates .

Please submit all claims, regardless of date of service, to ASO.

Administrative Services Only, Inc.

PO Box 9005 Dept 251

Lynbrook, NY 11563

516.394.9400 or toll free 800.537.1238

asonet.com

CLAIM FORMS: Updated claim forms will be available to you on-line at wcteachers.org.

Should you have any questions or require assistance, please contact the Fund Office.

Sincerely,

Wappingers Congress of Teachers

Welfare Trust Fund

Board of Trustees

Buying or selling a house?

Uncontested legal separation or divorce?

Need a will?

Health care proxy?

Power of attorney?

Click the link below to see the dates and times available to speak with the attorneys or financial advisors (The financial advisors do not sell anything -- they just give advice about your financial picture). Call Cathy at the WCT Office (845-227-5065) to make an appointment.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aP5nECIdBUJI4BMQB93i477rki2ot1HY/edit

Click the link below to view the WCT Welfare Trust Fund Handbook. It covers dental, vision, legal, financial and many more negotiated benefits offered to WCT members and their dependents.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rNnueTx55oK_2PwL5t7ZhIQ9MR4GLxpL/edit

As a reminder, members are entitled to fully-paid, confidential financial meetings with a Certified Financial Planner from Stacey Braun Associates, Inc. The firm is committed to providing information, ideas, and suggestions in an effort to assist you address financial concerns and improve your financial well-being. See the attached flyer below for more information.

Click the link below to visit the WCT Store for T-shirts, sweatpants, hats, cups and many more items. There are several styles and colors to choose from.

The WCT will host a NYSTRS presentation by NYSTRS Board Trustee, Eric Iberger, on December 10th, 4:00 pm, at the Wappingers Junior High School Auditorium. Feel free to bring your spouse, family member or friend to have another set of ears present. Make sure to bring your most recent NYSTRS Benefit Profile which you should receive by the end of November. This is a great presentation for those who are potentially within 5 years, give or take, of retirement.

Click below to access the multitude of benefits that are available to you as a NYSUT member.

WCT "Rookie School" took place at John Jay High School on August 27th, 2024. WCSD hired 51 "new" teachers for the start of the 2024-2025 school year. The WCT Executive Board along with Membership Chair, Tad Herman, and our Webmaster, Nancy Beiner, welcomed the "rookie" teachers to the Union. They were introduced to the plethora of member benefits that are available to them at both the local and state level (NYSUT). We discussed what the Union does for them from contract language and salary to health insurance and Welfare Trust Fund benefits. All teachers had a chance to be assisted in completing important paperwork and signing up for our website. Belonging to our website allows them to get important communications from Union Leadership as well as access to all of the helpful information available. Also discussed was the importance of joining the Sick Bank, VOTE COPE, and reminders about professional use of social media. It was great to share a meal with all of these eager new members of the WCT. Besides leaving with a "WCT Swag Bag", they also ordered a complimentary WCT t-shirt. All in all it was a great day.

Tara Koehler and John Sammon, our 2 STEAM Professional Developers delved into the literary world and put their passions and hard work in book form. They co-authored The Tapas Approach to Project Based Learning: A Culinary Map for Educators on the Transformative Power of PBL. Pictured below was the release of their literary offering at a special book signing at Sloop Brewing at the Factory.

Aaron James Cannizzaro has arrived! Aaron was born on October 03, weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz. and is 20 inches long. Aaron is the son of Oak Grove teacher Melissa Cannizzaro.

John Jay HS hosted Ketcham HS in an all Wappingers Field Hockey game. T--shirts were sold along with an amazing array of baked goods and drinks. All proceeds went to the Kerri Roger Memorial Scholarship Fund and to contribute to the eventual purchase of a new boat for the Wappingers rowing team that will be named after her.

Once again, many thanks goes out to Rena Finsmith, JJHS teacher and Senior Building Rep, for organizing the WCT participation in East Fishkill Community Day. I've lost count how many years she has been the go-to person when it comes to getting a group of WCT teachers together to set up, take down, and stay at the table and hand out WCT gear to kids of all ages. It was a gorgeous day and our WCT swag flew off the table!!

On Friday, October 18th, the Brinckerhoff staff and students dressed up in all pink to raise awareness for breast cancer. With the sales of shirts designed by Gina Carrigan, Brinckerhoff also raised over $500 for the Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation who came to the school to collect the check.

On Tuesday, October 8th, Andrew Aydin, the author of the award winning graphic novel, Run, visited Van Wyck JHS.

This visit was organized by Aileen Basuljevic, the librarian at Van Wyck in conjunction with the Poughkeepsie Public Library Systems “Big Read.”

Mrs. Lauren Korz’s and Mrs. Laura Garrand’s classes read passages from the book, had a lesson on graphic novels and then were able to earn a visit from Mr. Aydin and receive a signed copy of the book.

Students were impressed with the visit and the book. Thank you to Michele and the rest of the Big Read Staff at the Poughkeepsie Public Library.

Gayhead teachers put a “scare” into their students at the school’s Spooktacular in October, creating the school’s first ever Haunted Hallway. Some teachers also helped by decorating their trunks and participating in the trunk or treat. Money raised from the event went to this year’s 6th grade activities.

Gayhead staff showed support for breast cancer awareness by decking out in pink for the day.

The Gayhead community celebrated Halloween and helped raise over $1,000 for local foster kids by donating the money to Fostering Hope Together.

Fishkill plains teacher Nicole “Coco” Scalzo Kandel and her husband Jason Kandel welcomed their daughter Arleigh Joy Scalzo Kandel to the world in October 30,2024.

Mom, dad, and baby are tired… but doing great!

This month, meet East Fishkill’s Ella Zumbrook, Miss New York Teen Volunteer 2024. Ella, a high school senior, combines her love of fashion and volunteering to make a difference in children’s lives. Ella is the daughter of Fishkill Elementary Kindergarten teacher, Mary Ellen Zumbrook.

Vassar Road is raising money for the Ronald McDonald House Charity again this year. The first Friday of every month is Paw Pride Day, and the Vassar Road community comes together to show our school spirit and donate pull tabs to the RMHC. RMHC uses the pull tabs to pay for families to stay at the Ronald McDonald House. In the past 2 years, the Vassar Road Community has collected over 800 pounds of pull tabs, supporting one month of families staying at the house.

The 4th graders at Brinckerhoff were so excited to make cards and crafts for our Hometown Heroes. The items were dropped off at Castle Point Veterans Hospital in Wappingers.

Brinckerhoff’s mentoring program kicked off the year with a breakfast and a Halloween themed craft. Mentors spent time getting to know their new mentee (or catching up from last year), while making creepy, fun bookmarks. One mentee said she was so excited for the first meeting, that she woke up at 4:30 in the morning!

Throughout the month of November, the Early act and Student council clubs at Brinckerhoff collected over 200 pounds of donated food items to help our local families. These items were donated to the Fishkill food pantry.

For the 3rd consecutive year, the WCT recognized our fellow SRP sisters and brothers on November 19th, SRP DAY!! Each building came up with their own way of saying thanks to our hard working union colleagues. Many thanks to building reps and WCT members who helped organize or contribute towards this amazing effort!!

Gayhead Elementary donated $215 to East Fishkill’s new 80 foot flagpole that will be constructed in town to honor our veterans. The ground breaking ceremony was 11/10 and should be up soon!

Evans’ Social Committee hosted a Woot Woot cart to help staff get through report card conference time. The cart, although empty here, was filled with sodas chips water and other treats to help anyone who needed a pick me up during these long conference days. The Social Committee is led by Jennie Turner and Kristen Glas.

On June 23rd, Amanda Ingalls, Library Media Specialist at John Jay, welcomed her first grandchild, Milo Jayne Robinson, to the family. She has been enjoying all of the cuddles and coos and looks forward to all the milestones of having a grandson. She is also helping to plan her daughter's wedding in January 2026!

Megan Cooke became a New York State VITAL Educator this summer and was accepted into the Connected Arts Network.

John Jay FFA members placed well at our very first National Virtual Competition!

Floriculture placed 25/57

Horse placed 23/68

Milk Quality placed 4/17

Veterinary Science placed 11/46

Floriculture: Sophia Seifert, Lucas Agrow, Hrudya Talasila, Avery Truet

Horse: Carly Bagdonas, Matthew Mulligan, Micah Martinelli, Connor Warman

Milk Quality: Matthew Mulligan, Jenna Lawrence, Connor Warman, Micah Martinelli

Veterinary Science: Aaden Wynne, Matthew Mulligan, Natalya Session, Jenna Lawrence

The Myers Faculty really came out for Halloween this year with many of us dressed up in the Inside/Out 2 theme to encourage social-emotional learning! The Related Services staff even has their faces down pat!! #MyersTigersRoar

As a school we formed a breast cancer awareness ribbon, designed by our amazing art teacher Alexsi Straza! Also, we had an exciting presentation for grades K-2 from the town of Poughkeepsie Police K9 unit!

On Tuesday, November 26th, the students in Mrs. La Salvia’s class at Oak Grove Elementary re-enacted the First Thanksgiving with lots of food and good friends!