President’s Message-State of the Union

February 2007

As I make the transition from Treasurer to President I would like to say thank you to the membership for their support during my time in service to KSFA. Mahalo nui loa to outgoing President Larry McElheny for his years of dedicated service. Larry has consistently led us to the high road and held us there throughout the challenges of our birth and growth into a respected Association. He has been steadfast in his focus on our students and the values that help define us as teaching professionals. Thanks to Bill Follmer and Moana Leong as they continue in their roles on the executive board and welcome to Arlis Legler as Treasurer. To all past and present members of the Representative Assembly your commitment and counsel is appreciated.

All successful organizations need a focused vision, persistence, courage, and a willingness to engage in effective communication with all stakeholders. Our KSFA Constitution expresses the essence of our vision: “Kamehameha Schools Faculty Association exists to articulate the professional concerns of Kamehameha teachers, and to express their strength and pride. In partnership with trustees, administrators and parents, and guided by the spirit of Pauahi’s will, it places the educational needs of students above all other considerations”.

Our Hawaiian values of pono, laulima, and mälama provide a foundation upon which we strive to build relationships and establish trust. Such relationships indeed require persistence and courage as we adapt and evolve in the face of the ever-changing landscape that is the Kamehameha Schools. Those of us in leadership roles cannot navigate this change allow. We need the support and commitment of our membership if we are to improve our association and continue to be effective and relevant.

Recent discussions in the Representative Assembly meetings have shown that effective communication is an ongoing challenge. As we approach the upcoming negotiations we will be working on more effective ways to communicate with our membership, however to be successful we need this communication to flow both ways. Results from our recent survey will help to formulate our negotiation strategies and we will be asking for continued guidance as we proceed.

It is important to remember that the union looks to the welfare of our membership as a whole and therefore may not always seem responsive to unique individual concerns. Therefore, it is essential that individual members strive to establish effective relationships within their respective units and to support each other. To paraphrase an effective leader “ask not what your union can do for you, but what you can do to support your union and its vision for the future”.

In closing, I would encourage you to visit our website, http://www.ksfaculty.org. It will be updated in the near future to reflect the changes in the Representative Assembly and is a good source of information about KSFA.

— Don Kroessig, President