Your decision to be a member of the All Arizona School Retirees Association helps make it clear to legislators, neighbors and businesses alike, that educator retirees are important and vibrant members of our community. Collectively, you are making your presence known through volunteer efforts in the areas in which you live as well as through legislative advocacy in the statehouse. It was in this same spirit that, sixty years ago, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus founded the National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA), now known as NRTA: AARP’s Educator Community.
As a teacher and the first female high school principal in California, Dr. Andrus knew the life-long impact and benefits of a solid education; as the volunteer director of welfare for the California Retired Teachers Association, she also knew the importance of honoring commitments to, and channeling the energy and wisdom of, education professionals and others as they aged. Dr. Andrus helped make it possible for teachers, administrators, college and university professors, librarians and other school personnel to have a non-partisan, national presence. She was a tireless advocate on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. for improving health care and pensions; meanwhile, she encouraged business leaders to create meaningful products and services (such as insurance and travel opportunities) that would be of interest to mature Americans. Dr. Andrus created a national network of retired educator associations who chose to voluntarily affiliate with NRTA to share ideas, garner strength from one another and fulfill her motto: To serve, not to be served