Dear Members,

Welcome to another school year! For the Association, we've been hard at work since July with our Summer Camps and haven't stopped since! We had very strong numbers at both our middle and high school camps this year - plus an amazing staff and a wonderful group of student leaders. You can view pictures on our site!

Now that things are well under way in your building, it is time to start thinking outside those walls. The fall often brings new members, new advisers and of course, a new student body. For an effective leadership group, make sure you have all the tools you need. We have some wonderful workshops prepared for this fall - for both advisers and students!

Our new Charity of the Year, Penrickton Center for Blind Children, is excited to be a part of Michigan's youth leaders and their drive to help others! The Board of Delegates even created a challenge for this year and we hope you'll join in on it!

The awards are all updated and ready for you and your students to attack with vengeance! Good luck to all schools who work towards these wonderful goals and especially to those extraordinary students, advisers and principals who get nominated for various awards. Keep in mind that this year, the awards must be RECEIVED by our office no later than FEBRUARY 27, 2009. This is different in years past, when we had a "postmarked date". So mail your materials EARLY, no waiting until the last minute!

Keep checking the website for updates, announcements, news and more! And don't forget, as a member, you have the ability to sign into the site and ask questions of other members and answer their questions, so jump in and explore!

Welcome again to a new year - we hope to be able to service each and every one of our members in some way throughout the year. Take advantage of the resources in our monthly newsletter (and view the archives for even more), call the office when you're stuck in a situation with a student, parent or administrator, attend workshops and recognize those around you through our awards programs and products.

We wish you well this year and look forward to seeing many of you throughout the year!

Kadi Pojeta
MASSP Coordinator of Student Leadership Services & Website Operations