19th WCA Schools Committee Meeting Minutes
3 December 2024

Present: John Boutet, Jane Braband, Douglas Giebel, Dr. Phyllis Moss, and Sara Yaworsky

Dr. Moss opened the meeting by Zoom at 7:00 p.m.

School 16:
Phyllis, John and Josie attended November’s CET meeting in November and observed the after school and tutoring program run by True Impact. Both are up and running well. Phyllis estimated that approximately 30 students were in attendance.

Douglas reported that the readers organized by Susan Morehouse have been regularly reading to the Pre-K students and students with disabilities at School 16.

Right to Read:
Phyllis indicated that she and Jose would like to move forward with plans to view the film on literacy, “The Right to Read”. She is hoping that it can be shown at the gym of School 16 sometime around Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday, either 17 or 24 January 2025. License to show the film is now no longer needed as it is available on You Tube. The viewing and discussion is intended for the parent’s viewing, with light refreshments being offered to encourage participation.

School 53:
Though Phyllis initially had a positive response to the offer of tutoring help at School 53, she has not recently heard back from the principal of School 53, Dr. Djinga St. Louis, in that regard. Phyllis wondered if tutors from the Rochester Engineering Society might also be useful in tutoring at School 53 or if True Impact’s program might also be implemented there.

Spelling Bee
Douglas reported there is also interest on the part of the Principal, Djinga St. Louis, and the Vice Principal, Elisa Ruise, in having School 53 participate in the 19th Ward Spelling Bee. Email contact has been made with Scott Hunsinger, the teacher at School 53 willing to act as the coordinator for the Bee at School 53. Douglas indicated difficulty in finding a faculty or staff person willing to receive a Scripps subscription to allow electronic resources for practicing spelling to be distributed to the students.

Interest in including the 7th and 8th grades was expressed with the possibility of contacting charter schools in the ward with those grades.

Charlotte and Douglas visited Tenna Artman, the librarian at School19 who will be coordinating the Spelling Bee efforts there. Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity has selected P J Kochek to be the fraternity coordinator. In person practices at Arnett Library are planned for Saturdays from 11 am to noon set to begin 18 January 2025 and continuing until the 12 April 2025 Spelling Bee.

Library Reading Programs:
Sara spoke with Bruce Tehan regarding the possibility of reading programs at the Arnett Library. He indicated there is a successful summer reading program which would welcome tutors, but felt that programs during the school year have failed to gain much participation. The library vetting of tutors goes through city hall and seems more efficient than vetting through the school board.

Miscellaneous Discussion:
Phyllis indicated she would like to put together a brochure listing the Resources for Reading. Jane indicated that foster children have increased challenges which inhibit their learning progress. Phyllis concurred and indicated that many homeless and foster children at School 16 show those learning difficulties.

Adjournment: Dr. Moss adjourned the meeting at 8:10 pm.

Next meeting: Tuesday, 7 January 2024 by Zoom at 7:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Douglas Giebel, Secretary pro tem