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                   SWEIO—An Epitaph

 






         
When the last speaker left the stage at Monona Terrace on February 25, 2012, the Southern Wisconsin Educational Inservice Organization closed its doors after 121 years of annual conventions.

            SWEIO, known for most of its tenure as SWEA (Southern Wisconsin Education Association) was created by the state of Wisconsin in the late 19th century to fill a need for staff development among the state’s teachers. It covered twenty counties of southern Wisconsin, while a handful of similar entities covered the rest of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. (Only one, NWEA, based in Eau Claire, had as successful a run as SWEIO, and it ended its tenure at almost the same time).

            Centered in Madison, for many years SWEIO used Madison schools as a home base, using multiple facilities to deliver training on timely topics at its signature fourth Friday in February conventions. While at one point drawing more than 10,000 participants, SWEIO attendance started tapering off in the seventies and eighties. The convention was consolidated into one location, the Dane County Coliseum, then settled into the newly built Monona Terrace for its final run.

            Because of its broad base, SWEIO was able to attract top talent to headline its convention, while at the same time charge very little per person. Annual dues never exceeded $20 and the final 2012 convention was free. Most of the speakers at SWEIO conventions addressed timely topics in curricular areas such as math and reading, or focused on skills necessary to all teachers, such as discipline or organizational skills.

            But every SWEIO convention within memory contained rising stars, achievers, one-hit wonders, and fading personalities who were household names in their era. Here are a few of them. Journalists: Edwin Newman, Linda Ellerbee, Daniel Schorr, Jack Anderson, Dr. Bob Arnot, Joel McNally; Sports figures: Reggie White, Vince Lombardi Jr., Al McGuire, Dick Bennett, Don Morton; Silver screen idols: Mia Farrow, Mike Farrell, Danny Glover, Ben Vereen, Henry Winkler, Richard Dreyfus; Writers: Frank McCourt, Robert Fulghum, Erin Gruel, Michael Feldman, Homer Hickham; Astronaut Mark Lee and Alan Ladwig from the Teacher in Space team; and Civil rights activists: the Brown sisters (Brown vs. Board of Education), Mary Frances Berry, Coretta Scott King.

            Active teachers made up the vast majority of SWEIO attendees, but other members of the education community were welcome. The last administrator left the SWEIO Board of Directors in the 1970s. Student teachers and retirees were allowed in for free. Support staff participants increased somewhat as they gradually became unionized.

            SWEIO had contested elections until fairly recently, when declining interest forced it to rely exclusively on a small, but dedicated, Board of Directors. At the end, virtually all of them had retired from teaching. The final convention, ironically, focused on the future. It was in collaboration with the Department of Public Instruction and the University of Wisconsin on the topic of Global Education. It spent down SWEIO’s treasury and fulfilled a commitment to the convention facility.

            SWEIO’s demise was probably inevitable given prevailing trends. Similar “sit and git” conferences such as the WEAC convention also shut down recently. Staff development was no longer delivered in one-shot doses to teachers from multiple districts at the same time. By the 1980s school districts preferred to provide their own staff development and had the resources to do so. At the same time, staff development was no longer considered the province of the teachers themselves as the focus changed from self-improvement to school improvement.

            Finally, as the political environment grew increasingly toxic, SWEIO lost its last anchors, the two largest districts in Dane County. Sun Prairie’s participation had already been dwindling when Madison suddenly exited during the turmoil of 2011. With that SWEIO lost 80% of its funding and the ability to continue the convention.

            It was a great run, and those of us left to turn out the lights thank you for all your support, encouragement and participation over the years. It has been a labor of love for us and we will miss it.

 

Jeri Kortkamp, Executive Secretary

Ashley Schultz, President

Bob Ayer, Treasurer

Glenn Schmidt, Communications

Brion Pagel, Program Chair and Web Editor

Ann Perry, Membership Rep

Nancy Richter, Membership Rep

Barb Grabow, Membership Rep

May 2012

 
 





Ann Perry: Membership Letter



       

   
March 29, 2012

Dear SWEIO past and present members:

Thank you for your help over the years.  Without the support from many individuals, school districts, and exhibitors, the 121 years of successful conventions would not have been possible.

We did have enough resources and location commitments for this year’s 2012 specialty convention on Global Education, co-hosted by UW-Madison and DPI.  It drew 319 people and featured such luminaries as Tom Still, Neil Heinen, Gilles Bousquet, Tom Guerin, and Tony Evers.  It was a great convention and represented an elegant exit for the Southern Wisconsin Educational In-service Organization.

Due to changes in districts’ commitments to in-service and the loss of funding, SWEIO will no longer be able to provide an annual conference.

SWEIO Executive Board Members are in the process of closing down our remaining responsibilities and assets and looking back on all the fine speakers, friends, professional colleagues, and facilitators we’ve had the privilege to meet.

Please don’t hesitate to contact Ann Perry at annmperry@hotmail.com, or call (608-756-5778) if you have any questions.



 
       
 





Past President Ashley Schultz Reflects on the Impact of Sweio






                                 
          Growing Up With SWEIO

     In my final president’s letter I would like to take the opportunity to reflect on the wonderful experience I have had being able to grow up within the SWEIO organization.
     My father, Bob Ayer, has been the treasurer of SWEIO for my entire life. Since SWEIO was such a big part of our family, it was only natural for me to spend the last Friday of every February with a large group of educators.  I had the privilege of knowing the SWEIO board members and getting to meet some of the exceptional talent that was presented on the various stages that SWEIO used.  Whether it was listening to Coretta Scott King on the main stage of the Civic Center or Henry Winkler on the main stage of the Monona Terrace, I was in the audience enjoying every minute of it. 
     Some of my favorite SWEIO memories come from occurrences off the main stages. When I was younger, I loved knowing that the gourmet lollipop vendor would always be there with a lollipop for my sister and me.   When I was in high school, Richard Dreyfuss taught me that rubber bands can be cleverly used to fix shirt sleeves that are too long.  Then when I was in college, Caroll Spinney and Oscar the Grouch taught me that you are never too old to be able to play.
     In 2008, I took the next step in becoming a part of the SWEIO family and joined the board as a membership representative.  I became the president the next year and had the joy of working with the people that had watched me grow up for all those previous years.
     With SWEIO coming to an end, so too is a part of my life.  I will miss seeing that large group of educators on the last Friday in February and I will miss having the chance for any future generations to be able to grow up with SWEIO in the way that I was privileged to.  
     As a final note, I leave you with a reminder that another fabulous SWEIO speaker instilled in me.  As Corwin Kronenberg’s yellow buttons always said,  "I make a difference."  Even though SWEIO won’t be there in the future to help remind you of this, I hope that everybody who reads this farewell is reminded each and every day that what you do does make a difference. 









 
 

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