I'II keep this message brief, but I hope you SD English teachers will take a minute to read it.
SDCTE has been limping along lately, but I believe we're headed in the right direction again at last. John Kinyon, who was elected president of SDCTE at the Spring Meeting in Rapid City a year ago, left the state last summer, and at the request of Steve Hamersma, the past-president, and the other officers, I agreed to serve as president for 1984.
I've just received a letter from George Staley, the editor of our SDCTE publication English Notes. As you are aware if you're reading this message, George has once again put together an excellent journal of ideas for teaching by SD teachers. If you didn't receive a copy of last year's issue, which was centered on teaching composition, please contact me, and I'll send you a copy. Because of the quality of that issue, I am keeping it in print for awhile, so anyone who joins SDCTE this year will receive a copy of that issue as well as of the current issue.
SDCTE will have three meetings this year. Dr. Ruth Foreman of SDSU is planning a meeting for eastern SD; Bernie Bell, the SDCTE vice-president, is planning a meeting in Spearfish on March 31; and I'm putting together some sessions for a meeting at Winner on April 13 and 14 to be held in conjunction with the SD Basic Skills office and the SD Reading Association. I hope many SD English and language arts teachers will be able to attend these meetings. (The schedule for the Spearfish meeting is included in this English Notes.)
I'II be working on some sessions for the SDEA Convention this fall. At that time, we'll elect a new president. I want to recommend that SDCTE consider revising its constitution to allow for two vice-presidents (one in eastern SD and one in western SD) and for two spring meetings in each of the vice-president's locales.
Many of you responded to my December letter asking you to pay
your 1984 memberships, and several of you wrote offering to help with SDCTE.
I appreciate your responses and promise to write each of you who wrote. Now I need you to get busy recruiting new members,
writing articles for next year's English Notes, and offering to participate
in the SDCTE conference. One last note is that on March 23 and 24, Bernie Bell of Spearfish Junior High, our vice-president, will be
attending an NCTE leadership meeting in Madison, WI. Bernie should be able to learn
a good deal about NCTE affiliate management and about assistance to affiliates like
SDCTE.
Stewart Bellman
BHSC, Spearfish