Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English Language Arts

Executive Board Meeting Minutes-DRAFT

Saturday, February 19, 2005

Howard Johnson Hotel, Wisconsin Dells

 

Present:  Jacki Martindale, Tom Scott, JoAnne Katzmarek, David Beard, Orin Mueller, Dianne Graff, Mari Sue Bethke, Trista Dauk, Bonnie Frechette, Lynn Aprill, Marti Matyska, Chris Van Hoof, Carol Conway-Gerhardt, John Zbikowski., Susan Dobbe Chase, Gerhard Fischer, and Ruth Wood

 

 

I.  Call to Order and Approval of Agenda

President Jacki called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Tom moved to approve the agenda with the addition of the NCTE High School Teacher of Excellence Award.  Carol seconded the motion; the motion carried.

 

II.  Secretary’s Report-Chris Van Hoof

Carol moved to approve the minutes from the September 25, 2004, Executive Board Meeting.  Tom seconded the motion, and the motion was approved.

 

III.  Treasurer’s Report-Scott Oates (via written report)

Scott submitted a written summary of the current budget. After discussion, Mari Sue moved to receive and record the budget report.  Tom seconded the motion; the motion carried.

 

IV.  Committee Reports

A.     District Director Liaison-Mary Graber (in abstentia)

Currently, the term of office for District Directors is two years, and everyone takes office at the annual business meeting. With the move to a fall convention next October, terms will need to change.  JoAnne made a motion to recommend suspending the bylaws pertaining to terms of office during the transition to a fall convention to allow for shortened terms. (This will require a vote at the annual business meeting.) District Directors elected in April would hold office until fall of 2006, and those currently serving, would be up for election in October, 2005. Carol seconded the motion, and the motion carried.

 

B.     Membership

                                                               i.      Membership secretary-Judy Knoll is no longer interested in the position.  Cindy Johnson, with the help of Scott Oates, is willing to do this work for the spring convention.  

                                                             ii.      Executive secretary/association manager position-John shared a draft of a written “job description” with the group. Tom moved to put the position out for bids based upon an itemized list of the duties discussed.  Lynn seconded the motion; the motion carried.  Jacki appointed John to get bids from a variety of organizations, including CESA 7. John will present this information at the next executive board meeting.

 

C.     Publications and Website

                                                               i.      Jan/Feb. Update-This issue did not get published.

                                                             ii.      Spring Update –This issue will include a call for proposals for the fall convention as well as other fall convention information.  Lynn and Roxanne will decide whether to include a follow-up to the spring convention depending upon deadlines. This issue will be sent to current members only, and it must reach schools before the end of the year.  

                                                            iii.      Wisconsin English Journal

1.      Spring issue-David Beard presented a written summary of ideas for the journal’s future. After discussion, the group decided the spring issue should focus on Marquette High School and a summary of Dr. Beach’s speech from last year’s convention.   

2.      New editor-After discussion, the group decided to have the Publications Committee, made up of Ruth, David, Roxanne, John, Susan, and JoAnne (chair) do the following: (The group plans to meet at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 21 before the executive board meeting.)

a.       Advertise for the editor position.

b.      Establish a process and timeline for selecting an editor.

c.        Create a publications timeline for the Update and WEJ for next year.

d.      Define a vision/purpose and audience for the WEJ and Update.

e.       Provide a recommendation on electronic vs. print publication.

f.        Discuss the possibility of publishing award winning student writing in future publications.

3.      Thank you-Mari Sue made a motion to thank David for his presentation and help with recent issues of WEJ and Ruth for her efforts and dedication to the WEJ. Trista seconded the motion, and the motion was heartily approved.

 

D.    Professional Issues-Gerhard Fischer

                                                               i.      Ad Hoc committee on PI 34

1.      Professional organizations, like WCTELA, have become interested in providing content mentoring, which would be a supportive but separate effort from PI 34.

2.      The ad hoc committee discussed ideas such as welcoming new members at conventions, hosting post convention sessions which emphasize English content connected to the state teacher standards, aligning and advertising all sectionals in relation to the teacher standard(s), and offering a sectional for mentors/mentees. Carol also mentioned the possibility of connecting with existing CESA License Renewal Support Centers.

3.        Gerhard will attempt to contact someone from the foreign language group and have him/her present what they have been doing. We will try to arrange the meeting for Saturday morning, April 23, with follow-up discussion to occur at the summer retreat.

                                                              ii.      Writing –Gerhard would like to be proactive rather than reactive, so he is interested in putting a group together to look at writing issues.  If you are interested in being part of this discussion, contact Gerhard.

 

V.     Liaison Reports

A.     Awards-Carol Conway-Gerhardt

                                                         i.      General information-Carol has contacted the awards chairs, and all of them are pursuing the awards.  Announcements are on the website and were mentioned in the convention overview.  Awards information is due on March 19. Last year’s Promising Young Writers will be invited to this year’s spring convention.

                                                       ii.      Awards are scheduled for 3:45-4:30 p.m.

                                                      iii.      NCTE High School Teacher of Excellence Award- District directors should nominate someone based on the following guidelines:

1.      WCTELA membership

2.       Length of service to profession

3.       Professional involvement/service outside of the classroom

Send nominations to Joanne or John by March 18. John, Carol, Joanne and Jacki have agreed to review applications.

                                                     iv.      A reminder of all the awards announcements, including a version of the NCTE High School Teacher of Excellence Award, which Carol will modify, will be sent to John who will post to it to the website with a link to the listserv.

 

VI.  Officer Reports

A.     2nd Vice President-Lynn Aprill

Lynn gave a written and oral report on Friday night.  The convention will be the same weekend as the book festival, so Lynn is trying to do some coordination with that group. Michael Day has been confirmed as the keynote speaker. In addition, Lynn is looking for funding to support Jeff Golub as a luncheon speaker.

 

B.     1st Vice President-Bill Schang (in abstentia)

Kylene Beers will be the keynote speaker, and Kylene Beers and Robert Probst will be doing a joint session. Bill and Marti plan to get together on March 31, to finalize the schedule. Penny Parsons will coordinate hospitality ; Marty will speak to her about her responsibilities. Mary G. and Mari Sue volunteered to do table decorations.

 

VII.                       New Business

A.     Professional Development Opportunity

JoAnne shared information about the Reading Research Symposium on June 17 and 18 at the Pyle Center.  She encouraged everyone to attend and share the flyer with others.

 

B.     Recognition

In recognition of Judy Knoll’s years of service as membership secretary, Marti Matyska will send flowers, thanking her for her work.

 

C.     Next meeting

The next executive board meeting is Thursday April 21, at 6:00 p.m.at the Madison Marriott in Middleton.

 

VIII.                     Adjournment

Tom moved to adjourn, and Mari Sue seconded the motion.  The meeting adjourned at 11:50 a.m.