Seamless Education by Professional Oregon Substitute Teachers
fall conference 2025
fall conference 2025
saturday october 11, 2025
saturday october 11, 2025
Saturday, OCTOBER 11th, 2025
215 Doaks Ferry Rd NW
Salem, OR 97304
Chemeketa Eola Cellars Conference Center
8:00 AM -3:15 PM
WE NEED YOU!
Please come join us, remotely or in person, at OSTA's, 2025 Annual Fall Conference!
For 50 Years OSTA has been working for YOU!
With an all volunteer board and membership we have been able to accomplish much over five decades.
At our Fall Conference this year there will be four guest speakers, sharing, networking, breakfast and lunch, officer elections, questions & answers, and much more!
For the first time, the Fall Conference will be held at the Chemeketa, Eola Cellars, just west of Salem, in the beautiful, local Eola Hills. A fine facility with classrooms and meeting rooms that enhance the conference with Oregon's incredible landscape.
Of course, this year we are, again, offering a hybrid meeting for those who want to attend in person or remotely to stay informed. Attendees in either group may earn PDU’s if they are collecting them to renew their teaching license.
Help us help you! Join us, and participate when you can with your Oregon Substitute Teachers Association!
Click the button on the left to REGISTER.
See you soon!
Only members in-good-standing are eligible to vote at conferences or become board members.
If your membership has lapsed, please consider rejoining us as a “Continuing Partner.”
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OSTA's Mission
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OSTA's Mission 〰️
OSTA connects, advocates, educates, promotes, and supports the Oregon substitute teacher community and nurtures substitutes to achieve the highest standards of integrity and professional ethics. With consistency, and substance we promote the welfare and education of every Oregon student, and Oregon teachers through the active cultivation of connectedness throughout the state. Founded in significant experience, backed by contemporary academic research, factual data, and objective information OSTA advocates in government, districts, and the broader community to effect positive change in the profession and Oregon education culture.
Do you ever feel that people don’t understand what being a substitute teacher really means? Sharing our experiences can greatly help improve support for substitutes. Email us at ostasubs@hotmail.com if you need support. Join and come to Office Hours to provide it. We meet every Thursday all year round.
Together, we stay healthy and whole for Oregon students.
join or renew for access to Sacred office hours zoom link
how does OSTA support substitutes?
Sacred Office Hours for camaraderie and practical advice about all aspects of what substitute teachers do
Legislative work in Salem and through other awareness building activities
Training, PDU’s and honoring a Substitute Teacher of the Year
Most substitute teachers aren’t unionized. OSTA is your professional organization. Board positions and committees are open
Get active with osta!
Links to Newsletters: Edition 1 & Edition 2, EDITION 3
Print an Osta flyer to hang up in school staff rooms
Renew to get a member’s only passcode for more surveys and polls
The 2025 Substitute Teacher of the Year has been chosen
Congratulations to all the outstanding nominees! Thank you for sharing your time and talents with Oregon’s students!
Register for Fall Conference and Meet this Year’s recipient!
CATIE THURBER-BROWN
2024 SUBSTITUTE TEACHER OF THE YEAR
The Oregon Substitute Teachers Association is the only professional organization working exclusively on behalf of licensed Oregon substitutes
OSTA is open to all licensed substitute teachers in Oregon. We invite you to join us today!
Since 1975 we have been committed to raising the image and professionalism of substitute teaching and to increasing economic benefits.
Walter Ricks
Substitute Teacher of the year 2007
~ Rest in Peace ~
Walter Ricks, 4/5/1933-12/23/2024
A valued friend and OSTA member
Written to honor his achievement in 2007; insight into who he was and what he stood for throughout his life
Walter Ricks, a Lincoln and Tillamook County substitute teacher whose students call him “Abuelito” (Little Grandfather) was selected as OSTA’s outstanding substitute teacher for 2007. He was recognized at the Legislature on Oregon Substitute Teacher Day May 9 and at the Lincoln County School Board May 8.
Teachers, administrators, secretaries, and students all love him. Some even say the schools could not run without him. One student told him, “Mr. Ricks, if I were a magic person I would make you live forever.” How does he engender such affection? By taking the hardest jobs and sticking up for students who need extra encouragement. He even takes pies in the face on the last day of school—all for fun.
Walt Ricks started teaching in 1959 in a three teacher elementary school in California’s high Sierras, moving to Trinidad, CA the next year for 18 years, teaching a few years in each of eight grades. For twelve years, he assumed the vice principal’s duties which included Acting Principal and Superintendent when his boss had a fatal heart attack.
For 15 years, he left teaching and became a business owner of a pet shop. During that time, he served eight years on the school board. In 1994, when Walt and his wife Dixie moved to Otis, OR, he volunteered to guide a Hispanic student through the eighth grade. Since then he has been a substitute teacher in grades 8-12 and all subjects in Lincoln City and Nestucca Valley. He connects with students by volunteering on the chain gang for Taft High School football games. In extra time, he tends to chickens and building projects on their two acres.
Walt uses his experience as an administrator to save the day when other teachers are having a difficult time with students and no administrator is available. All agree that when he is in the school, learning continues and problems are quickly solved. He well deserves the honor of Oregon Substitute Teacher of the Year!
