Watts Awarded ECUU’s Member of the Year Award

Erin Watts, president of the Linn-Mar Education Association (LMEA), was recently presented with the 2017 East Central Uniserv Unit’s Member of the Year award.

The award is intended to honor a member from a local association who is not only an outstanding educator but also active as an association leader.

Watts was nominated by the LMEA executive committee’s Nicole Redington (vice president); Sheri Crandall (treasurer); Amy Tristano (member-at-large) and Karla Christian (the school district’s chief human resources officer).

According to the letter of recommendation, Watts has been a member of LMEA since she started working at Linn-Mar 14 years ago. For the last five years, she has served as the LMEA president and held the position of vice president prior to that. “Watts is extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of leading a union and our rights as teachers,” said Crandall, “When needed, she works very closely with our ISEA representative Jeremy Kunz.”

Crandall also added that Watts attends every board of education meeting, making sure she is informed about what is going on in the district. She attends the legislative assembly and delegate assembly for the collegiality it offers as well as keeping herself and our organization informed.

“She took the lead and initiative to convert our members to EFT before it even became an issue in the legislation,” said Crandall, “She is always on the front end of whatever needs to be happening to protect the teachers and inform us of what is happening. She prefers to be pro-active rather than reactive.”

This type of leadership is what keeps our organization thriving. “There is no one more deserving of this recognition,” she added.

Congratulations on this well-deserved award!