The importance of supporting your local AAPT section

Unlike the local sections of the American Physical Society (APS) such as SESAPS, the local sections of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) are completely independent organizations from the national AAPT, both legally and financially. They must be joined separately from the national AAPT, and rely solely on their respective membership dues for operating funds. They are forbidden from using the national AAPT member directory to solicit membership.

In this talk, I would like to argue that supporting your local AAPT section is extremely important if you would like to improve the physics preparedness of your incoming freshmen. Using the Chesapeake Section of the AAPT for which I am president as an example, I will show what the local AAPT sections can do to help maintain and improve the quality of physics instruction throughout the region. I hope to convince you to 1) become members of your local AAPT section, 2) get involved in their activities, and 3) solicit your department to become institutional members providing annual financial support.