Group Membership
Today I joined NAMTA (North American Montessori Teacher’s Association) and renewed my membership with AMI (Association Montessori Internationale). $50 each for one year memberships. $100 total.
It would it be nice if there was a discount for joining multiple Montessori organizations… “Join or renew with AMI today, and save 10% when you join or renew with NAMTA.”… or committing to longer term memberships… “Join for 3 years and save 15% on membership fees.”
I’ll admit that AMI has a lifetime membership option at 1100 Euros, which at today’s exchange rate is $1,741.08. Since a 1 year membership is $50, when they say lifetime they really mean you’re buying 35 years of memberships. I’m 31, so a lifetime membership doesn’t save me any money until I’m 66 years old. I admit that this calculation doesn’t adjust for inflation or the recent fall of the dollar against the Euro, but even when the dollar gets stronger I don’t anticipate ever having $1000 or more that isn’t paying rent, buying groceries, or waiting for retirement.
I appreciate AMI and all that it does, I’m simply bewildered that most major magazines have a better membership (subscription) offer than an international organization of professional educators.
