The Speech

On Friday night of the OEA Representative Assembly I made this speech:

Good evening! I am Judy Trohkimoinen and it is a privilege to be here with you tonight. This weekend we will set OEA’s course for the coming year and make important decisions about how we work together as an Association, our quest for adequate and stable funding, and other important issues that impact public education. I know I am preaching to the choir. We all understand these issues because we face them daily. As an Association we have always worked together to find solutions and we will continue our efforts for years to come.

I’ve spoken with many of you during my year long campaign as I’ve traveled from Baker City across Region III. I can identify with you and want you to know me. My qualifications and experiences speak for themselves so tonight I will share a snapshot that might give you some insight as to my character and values.

The first time I visited the Principal’s office I wasn’t breaking the rules. No, I went of my own accord. There was a change to the playground rules that I thought was unfair. After complaining about it to no avail I decided to take action. I wrote a list of reasons why the rule was unfair and spent most of a Saturday afternoon working on the project. On Monday morning, I marched into the Principal’s office and asked the principal to organize an assembly so I could speak to the student body and rally them to my cause. There would be no assembly; there would be no change in the rule; but he did listen respectfully. I’ve often wondered what he might have said to the school secretary after I’d left his office. You see, I was a second grader.

As an 8-year-old I saw what I thought was an injustice and I set out to correct it, not by throwing a fit but by making a plan and sticking to it. In that moment I became an advocate, a title I wear proudly to this day. It is no wonder that I became an Association leader! Some things just don’t change!

Now is a time when we need strong advocates because many of us are fighting for our professional lives. We nurture and support students every day whether we are in the classroom, the lunch room or the bus barn but we are bogged down by senseless regulations from No Child Left Behind, rising health care costs and salaries that aren’t keeping up with inflation. We work in a crumbling infrastructure with sick buildings that are a danger to both students and staff and we struggle to make ends meet. Still we survive and thrive against the odds.

If you make me your Region III Vice President I will give you my best and most focused effort. I will listen to you, our members and leaders. I will be your advocate to the OEA Board and Executive Committee. I will be your advocate in Salem as we work to find solutions for adequate and stable funding, for affordable health care and finding state responses to the federal NCLB. I will work with President Wolf and the rest of the Executive Committee to find the best solutions to meet the needs of members from Portland to Paisley; from Eugene to Umatilla and from Brookings Harbor to Baker City. I will support and respect the OEA President, Vice President and Executive Committee but most of all; I will support and respect the will of the members as represented by you sitting here tonight.

I am asking for your vote. Vote Judy T. for Region III: Judy Trohkimoinen, for OEA Region III Vice President. Thank you!