Spring RA
Chris Korbel, For MEA secretary-treasurer
MEA Board member Chris Korbel, a teacher at the Information Technology
Academy, Traverse City Bay Area ISD Career-Tech Center, has served his local as
president, vice president, grievance chair and on the bargaining committee. He
has been region vice president, caucus chair and coordinating council treasurer.
As an MEA Board member, he serves on the Long Range Bargaining Committee
and on the Communications Committee. An NEA RA delegate, he also serves
on the NEA advisory committee for New Products and Programs/NEA Center
for Great Public Schools.
Top three reasons to elect Chris Korbel MEA secretary-treasurer:
Highly qualified
As you think about those things that make a candidate “highly qualified” for the position of MEA secretary-treasurer, remember how Superman was described in the opening to the old TV show:
• Faster than a speeding bullet.
• More powerful than a locomotive.
• Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
In case you couldn’t tell, I get excited about Superman. I also get excited about Star Wars and Star Trek, but these things are fictional. What isn’t fiction is my unique skill set which includes:
• Bachelor’s degree in business education.
• An MBA.
• Excellent listening skills.
• A systems approach to problem-solving.
Resourceful
In another life, I was very active in the Michigan Business Education Association, holding several leadership positions. I was the first person to plan and implement three consecutive state conventions.
When I started, the annual convention was a money loser, taking critical resources away from the organization. After three years of my leadership, this conference was showing a profit. This was accomplished by utilizing new revenue sources and increasing convention participation, not by raising the convention fee.
Initiative
In September of 1998, it was my vision to bring to the TBA Career-Tech Center, my workplace, a new Information Technology Academy. During this school year, my district believed in me enough to release me half-time to develop this program. With the district’s help, and the guidance and wisdom of a core group of IT professionals in the Traverse City area, the program began accepting students in the fall of 1999.
The success was immediate, and I had opportunities to present how this happened at the state and national level, culminating with a presentation in Las Vegas at the national conference for the Association for Career and Technical Education.
Why is this important? It is evidence of my initiative and adaptability, two key characteristics of a successful individual. I need you to believe in me, just as my district did in 1998.
Remember: You can’t miss when you vote for Chris.