As a Chinese proverb says, “If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.” One of our central missions at the American Philatelic Society is education: education of our members and the public about stamps and stamp collecting. Given the myriad of subjects within philately, it’s an incredible challenge. We’ve made great strides in the past six years, thanks in no small part to our education director, Dr. Cathy Brachbill.
Cathy Brachbill (right) with YPLF members and Alex Haimann (left) met Warren Buffett at StampShow 2019.
Cathy jokingly refers to her retirement this summer as her “second” retirement, but that’s not right. Cathy is an educator at heart, and no matter where she’s planted, she will always be one. After more than 30 years as an educator and administrator with the Bellefonte Area School District, Cathy officially retired from the district in 2012. She joined the APS staff three years later to lead our education department. The work she’s accomplished will be meaningful to APS members for years to come.
Within the education department, we serve collectors of all ages. Cathy focused on the work of youth education, from Stamps Teach, helping educators in the classroom; Young Stamp Collectors of America, the young collectors club; and the Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship, our year-long program for collectors ages 16 to 24. Our goal was to provide greater rigor and increased value to the educators and young people participating in the programs. Putting stamps in the hands of youth collectors only has so much value if they’re not engaged in learning with them.
Cathy worked to increase participation in our annual Summer Seminar for adult collectors, bringing in more than 100 attendees for the last in-person session in 2019. Unfortunately, ongoing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic have left us to cancel events or conduct distance learning for the past three years. I hope she will join us when we open the ceremonies for Summer Seminar again in 2023.
One of her significant contributions is the introduction and growth of the Collecting and Connecting Central Academy, known as C3a. In 2019, we launched an online learning platform to provide live and on-demand courses. Today, we host more than 2,100 accounts on the platform and nearly 400 monthly users. It’s good progress, and we aim to increase participation in the years ahead. There are a wide variety of courses available for APS members for free. We invite you to take advantage of the available courses, and please share your experiences at [email protected].
In seeking a new education director, we’ll be looking for someone to build on Cathy’s legacy of online education. Our education programs rely on advanced collectors passing knowledge to others. We continue to recruit educators for courses and topics for members. We welcome suggestions and volunteers for future classes.
As part of the leadership team, Cathy has provided invaluable insights and experiences in areas outside of education. She has been an integral member of our management, and her presence will be missed in the halls of the APS. I know Cathy will continue to be part of the APS family long after her tenure as education director. I hope you will join me in thanking Cathy for her years of service to the APS and her contributions to our education mission.