Minutes of the February 17^th, 2016 meeting of

The 19^th Ward Community Association Schools Committee

Attendees: John Boutet, John Laing, Dan Ross, Jay Ross, Beverly Usher, Sarah Yaworski

Approval of January minutes

Accepted

Discussion of meeting day

It was decided that this meeting on the third Wednesday was an anomaly. But I discovered I have another conflict March 9 so we need to stay at the third Wednesday. Thus the next meeting will be Wednesday, March 16.

Spelling Bee

April 9^th is the date for the 7^th Annual Spelling Bee. Study sessions have been held at the Arnett library Saturday mornings from 10-11. Pencils, erasers and highlighters with 19^th ward spelling bee printed on the side have been purchased (total cost $789) and have been given to the students attending the Saturday sessions. We also purchased a pencil sharpener. Thanks to Jay for getting this done.

We re-iterated our position that the $10,000 grant be channeled to The Community Foundation for funding Spelling Bee scholarships.

We reviewed the recommendations of the executive committee to encourage participation. Most of the proposals involved payments to participants (which could be gift certificates). We had ordered the pencils, erasers and highlighters to accomplish the same increase in participation and we will get feedback from the schools as to the effectiveness. We are planning to have t-shirts and U of R has gift bags for the children on the day of the Spelling Bee. John L was to find out what is in the gift bags. Two finalists and one alternate for grade means that for schools with grades 3-6 (3-8) there are 12 (18) potential participants. We decided that we would give the school money for a celebration of the performance of their students. If a 3-6 school has all the 3-6 finalists and alternates slots filled, then they would get $120. If a school only fills 6 of the slots, they would only get $60. The 3-8 schools could get up to $180. If all schools fill all their positions then there would be 72 participants and this incentive would cost $720.

We agreed that the use of an urban fellow to organize a summer spelling bee was a good idea and we would entertain a presentation by the Urban Fellow. It was suggested that the WFM might be a good venue.

School 16 status

Public presentations of the FMP have been made and school 16 is in the first group of 4 in phase 2.

School 44 status

The CET (Community Engagement Team) met to review progress on the receivership set of activities. Beverly has been busy with Metro Justice speaking at a press conference and meeting with the D&C editorial board on the school funding issue.

Volunteer information

Now is the time to identify someone to chair the Spelling Bee next year. They could work on this year’s Bee and meet all the involved parties.

Old/New Business

Several of us went to a C&C with Linda Cimusz, the new interim superintendent. She is getting her hands around the issues and we need to work with her.

Next Meeting

Wednesday, March 16^th (note change in the date) at 7 pm in the 19^th Ward Community Association office.