UPMSA Board Meeting

Wednesday, February 27, 2001

Wahlstorm’s Restaurant

Call to Order President Jolene Hetherington call the meeting to order at 4:35.

Introduction of Attendees President Jolene Hetherington, Mather; Secretary Paula Diedrich, Bothwell; Treasurer Sue Trebilcock, Negaunee; Judy Mattson, Aspen Ridge; Dianne Alto, Newberry; Suzanne Hindman, Gwinn; Cheryl Gustafson, Bothwell; Sara Moyle, Graveraet; Iris Katers, Graveraet; Carl Wozniak, UPCED; Linda Greenberg, UPCED

Amend/Approve Agenda No changes made

President’s Report

Jolene noted that she would continue being president for two years, however there is a need to find a president-elect at this time.

A review of the Board Policies and Guidelines is due. Cheryl Gustafson will research the option of using the old disk and changes will be discussed at the upcoming board meetings.

A budget must also be discussed and approved to better fit the future goals of the UPMSA.

Secretary’s Report

The minutes of the September 13, 2001, meeting were reviewed. Motion made to accept the minutes as presented was made by Judy Mattson and seconded by Cheryl Gustafson. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report

The treasurer’s report was distributed. Motion made by Dianne Alto to accept and seconded by Judy Mattson. Motion carreid.

Conference 2001 Wrap Up

Copies of the comments from the October 2001 conference were distributed. It was noted that all the suggestions for speakers will be followed up by this fall’s conference committee.

Conference 2002

Speaker: Paula brought up the option of not having a Thursday evening banquet due to poor turnout and the fact that the banquet does not produce a profit. A breakfast and/or luncheon speaker is being discussed and looked into at this time.

Fees: A discussion was held regarding who should received the conference fee waived if there are two more people doing one presentation. It was agreed that all presenters will have the conference fee waived at this time.

Cheryl also brought up the point that the food should be quality and that the amount budgeted possibly could be increased for this fall’s conference, but no motion was made at this time.

Registration: Jolene Hetherington is not going to be responsible for registration at this year’s conference as her duties of president require her time. Brian Kirst, Munising, is will to develop the website as in previous years. The board is looking for someone that will receive and input the registration information into the website. This discussion was tabled until later in the meeting at which time Linda Greenberg, UPCED, agreed that she would be willing to handle registration if the board/conference committee agreed. This will be determined at the May meeting.

NMU Credit: This topic was discussed again. Linda stated that the contact time at the conference is not enough to allow for credit.

Iris Kater’s letter: Iris attended the meeting to better explain her letter to the superintendents. It focused on the concern that all the fall conferences were separate entities and there has been some complaining that they should collaborate more. The board’s feelings were the cost of having our conference at NMU would result in us no longer being able to have a conference. The conference committee is all volunteer and rotates along with the host school. We also want to keep our identity as the UPMSA. Finally, we believe that the conference should be at a middle school due to the fact that on the fall conference evaluations, the chance to see other middle schools is one item that is listed frequently. It was agreed that the board and conference committee would continue to work with the other fall conferences in finding ways to collaborate including continuing to invite all level of educators and administration to present at and attend the UPMSA conference.

The superintendents are concerned that some teachers are either not attending or leaving all the fall conferences early. It was agreed that we would work with the superintendents and support them since this is a concern or the conference committee also.

The Joint Conference Committee was scheduled for the following morning, and the board agreed that our concerns should be presented but that Jolene, Cheryl, and Paula would work together with the other conferences as much as possible.

 

Conference 2003:

Aspen Ridge would be the next school to host the conference if the rotation does not change. The board also asked if Gwinn would be willing to host the conference. No commitment was made.

Middle Start Update:

Carl informed the board that the Middle Start Phase II grant funding has been approved. The 3 year grant totals $385,000 with $144,000 the first year, $126,000 the second, and $110,000 the third. The actual budget dates have not been finalized but it is hopeful that the budget will begin July 2002. Student achievement, development and equity are the general concerns of the grant. School reform and incorporating current Middle Start programs such as Hi-C and Real Reading are also goals of the grant. Professional development is included but this does not include supporting the conference except to bring in speakers and allow time to share resources and communicate. The U.P. is divided into three vertical sections and each section should have 3 networking times a year. These could include drive-in conferences. Other suggestions included education of school boards. Any school that has continued to take the Middle Start survey is eligible to receive funding.

Carl is also looking for a few good retired teachers that would be interested becoming resource people in the Middle Start ways. It would be approximately 40 days a year including a few in the summer months.

Website:

Paula and Cheryl will check with Jason Vivian to see if he is still willing to work on the website. Updates including information about the upcoming conference need to be made.

Building Leadership:

The board would like all middle-level schools to have a building representative. The newsletter has been mailed and it was noted that the list of representatives was not the current list. Jolene will check with Charlene and also remind her that the newsletter goes to all conference attendees and schools with middle grades.

Promotion of UPMSA:

We need to continue to inform the northern lower peninsula and Wisconsin about our conference and association.

Incorporation:

Jolene will speak to an accountant about this process. Cheryl stated that the attorneys spoken to early have said that we must either be under the MAMSE umbrella, which was not acceptable to MAMSE, or we must file the NFP paperwork.

 

Future Goals of UPMSA:

Drive-in conferences will be possible with the Middle Start Phase II grant. Instead of a scholarship for a college student, Cheryl presented the idea of providing mini-grants to middle level educators. Campus chapter, Caring for Kids Award, Network and Technical Outreach Assistant/Advocacy Teams were other ideas presented. Jolene is in the process of having UPMSA join NMSA and has asked for the paperwork. A MAMSE affiliation was rejected previously by MAMSE as they will only recognize our organization, not have us become an affiliate.

Next Meetings:

Wednesday, May 8, 2002

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

Adjournment:

Judy Mattson motioned the meeting adjourned. Dianne Alto seconded. Motion carried and meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Paula Diedrich