WDEC
Annual Board Meeting
Wisconsin Dells &
WISLine
October 22, 2009
5:15 P.M.-7:30 P.M.
Members participating: Mary Joslin, Mary Jo Hite, Gaye
Tylka, Susan Hintgen, Mary Peters, Wendi Schreiter, Ruth Nyland, Jenny Johnson,
Donna Miller, Lori Wittemann, Marianne Daw, Crystal Albright, Andrea Murry .
I.
Executive Reports
Call to Order:
Mary
called the meeting to order at 5:25 P.M.
Secretary’s Report:
The
minutes from the last annual meeting were reviewed. Marianne made a motion that
the minutes be approved; Wendi seconded it, & the motion carried. The
minutes from the last regular meeting were reviewed. Mary Jo made a motion that
the minutes be approved; Lori seconded it, the motion carried.
Election for New Vice President
& Transition To New President
Mary
made a motion to approve a unamious vote that Pam Morrison be elected Vice
President of WDEC. By a unanimous voice vote the motion carried. Marianne
seconded the motion & it carried. Mary Joslin officially handed over the
position of WDEC President to Mary Jo Hite.
President’s Report:
Mary Jo
just returned from Albuquerque, NM, attending the DEC National Conference.
Arlene Wright received the Rose C. Engel Award for Excellence in Professional
Practice. Barb Wolfe received the Merle B. Karnes award for Service to the
Division. Mary Jo reported that she attended DEC Subdivision groups and several
topics were discussed including a decline nationally in DEC membership and
ideas for how to increase it. A brochure titled "Success Stories" was
given out. The DEC success stories are designed to illustrate the link between
evidence-based practice and positive child and family outcomes for children
birth to 8 years old. DEC is looking for stories to be submitted by families
and professionals thatare based on actual events. Mary Jo will send Jenny the
brochure to put on the WDEC website.
Parent Representative Report: Stephanie Peterson was not
present & there was no report.
Student Representative: Open Position
Ruth
Nyland is working on getting a student to this open position in the near
future.
Treasurer’s Report:
Marianne
shared some challenges of having the most accurate treasurer’s report at this
time including her move, award winners needing to be reimbursed & some
other needs. Marianne indicated that we have $5.19 in savings, and a balance of
$1220.53 in the checking account. We have a total of $11,424.28 in assets. Mary
made a motion that the report be accepted as presented, Mary Jo seconded it and
the motion was carried.
Vice President’s Report: There was no report as the
transition is made & a new person takes the position.
II. Standing
Committee Reports
Membership: Nancy P. was not present; no
report was given.
Governmental/ CAN Coordinator:
Donna
Miller talked about stimulus money & achieving test scores & wondering
if the state of WI is asking us to implement practices at the early childhood
level. We discussed as an organization, do we need to weigh in on the
issue/idea of “Race to the Top.” A
discussion of kindergarten being law in WI resulted in some brainstorming about
our role & responsibility as early childhood teachers to address these
issues. Mary proposed for us to discuss mandatory kindergarten, testing, &
how teachers are compensated by results of test scores. Mary suggested emailing
Donna for more information.
Coalition for Early Learning
Representative:
Susan
Donahue discussed at its October 1, 2009 meeting, the Wisconsin Early
Learning Coalition discussed at length what features of a Quality Improvement
and Rating System it would like to see. The Coalition believes that the more a
childcare quality improvement system includes these features, the more support
it can garner from its broad constituencies. The Wisconsin Early
Learning Coalition believes that all Wisconsin families should have voluntary
access to the necessary supports to assure their children have a Great Start.
Susan reported that the coalition is request strong support for two crucial
efforts under consideration in the Senate: 1) The Early Learning Challenge
Fund, included in H.R.3221; and 2)Legislation supporting voluntary,
evidence-based home visiting programs. The coalition is requesting this support
through contacting our local senators. Donna
made a motion to accept the letter on behalf of WDEC- Susan will send a letter
back to Dave Edie, Coordinator, & provide support from WDEC. She will put
Mary Jo’s (WDEC President) name on it.
Public Information:
Postcards
were sent out to the members announcing the new WDEC website, which can be
found at www.wdec.org. Jenny made a proposal
to pay website professionals $300 for the year to manage the site. In addition,
$65 was requested to pay for domain name registration for the year. Mary made a
motion to give Jenny $365 for the year to support the WDEC website/publicity;
Crystal seconded the motion & it carried.
Professional Growth &
Development:
Gaye
shared the reasons behind aligning the JoLyn Beeman in alignment with Mary
McLean
DEC
Recommended Practices. This is a change from times past when we had a separate
lecture series for JoLyn but DEC is presenting this document & WDEC needs
to be there to support it. Marianne was concerned that this topic would not be
informative & affirmative nor would it draw a wide variety of people. In the
past, JoLyn has been a fundraiser for WDEC & doing it at DEC sponsored
conference would not be appropriate. Gaye proposes to postpone JoLyn to next
year while still supporting the DEC with bringing Mary McLean & the book to
Wisconsin. Gaye made a motion to postpone JonLyn Memorial Lecture series to
2011 & this year work with our partners (like CESA#1) & support a
training with DEC & Recommended Practices. A discussion regarding of the
pros/cons of holding JoLyn in 2011 was held between members. After the motion
was made, a verbal approval was posed; the motion passed unanimously.
Early Childhood Education &
Care Conference:
The
Conference is a success. Andrea is wonderful to work with & has included
many workshops on disabilities. Over 20 Birth-to-Three people attended as well.
Teacher Education/Student Project
Coordinators: There
was no report.
III.
Ad Hoc Committee Reports
Jenny Lange Scholarship Committee:
Mary
said that a 3rd scholar has been nominated. She plans to attend in
the ceremony in December & get a picture to post on the website. Mary will
be selling t-shirts & bags with WDEC logo as a fundraiser.
.
WDEC History Committee:
There
was no formal report or new news to share.
IV. Liaison
Reports
Birth to 3 Liaison:
Lori
discussed several points:
1. ARRA
Funding- state finance committee approved funding to initiatives &
Birth-to-Three hopes to have money by the end of the year.
2. LEA
Notification- November 11th will be the training for PPS/RSN &
County Birth to Three. She hopes to have it posted on the web- FAQs, etc. The
meeting will be recorded since since several people can not attend. Lori hopes
this will clear up some issues within the organization.
3. PPS-
(Program Participation System) has been in place for a year & the pulling
data component is now in place. Lori is looking forward to review the data from
the past year.
4. Three
items passed the governor’s desk including a request for more fiscal dollars
into the county to support children with special needs. A request for federal pull
down funds to be used & a Birth-to-Three waiver were also discussed but are
still in the planning stages.
5. WI
(part B & C) has been asked numerous times to present at coordinator
conferences at in DC & Philly. Joint & individual presentations have been
done across the country using WI as the model. WI is doing an excellent job
serving children with disabilities & being honored for it.
Birth to 3 Representative: Janice was not present, and there
was no report.
DPI Liaison: There is no representative at
this time.
Collaborating Partners: Therese was not present; no
report.
Infant Mental Health: Therese was not present; no
report.
Early Childhood Leadership- PST
Liaison:
Gaye
& Mary reported on these updates throughout the discussion of JoLyn Lecture
Series & supporting DEC Recommended Practices. Mary and Gaye remain focused
on supporting the early childhood indicators.
Head Start Representative:
Mary Jo
reported that HS’s conference will be Feb. 15 & 17. Mary Jo discussed some
of the funding & programs that were applied for, such as Early Head
Start, in certain areas of the state.
The status remains to be announced.
Professional Development
Committee:
There
was some discussion with Andrea, Mary & Gaye of moving from
lecture/workshop to another format from DEC. The idea of a morning session
& then afternoon sub groups was discussed. Like family practices &
NAEYC accreditation, on going assessment practices was discussed. Andrea made
suggestions for next November in Madison as being a good time to bring in for
JoLyn Beeman lecture series. Andrea would like to hear what are critical issues
for upcoming issues. It was discussed that Center for Social Emotional
Foundations for Early Learning will be a highlight in the state for the next
two years. Andrea requested to partner with WDEC in the future to help set the
tone for the WECA conference next year. Gaye suggested looking at “Learning to
Lead” as a way to discuss consultation models, sharing, co-teaching, &
partnership from this perspective. Mary suggested that Andrea get together a
sub group together to discuss this more thoroughly.
WEAC
Reps:
No
report.
Tribal
Child Care Association-
OPEN
POSITION
V. Old Business:
No old
business.
VI. New Business
Jayne B.
has been in the hospital. Jen will send a card on behalf of WDEC.
VII. Adjourn
Marianne
made a motion to adjourn, Gaye seconded it, and the motion carried. The
Annual/Board meeting was adjourned at 7:30 P.M.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Jenny
Johnson
Jenny
Johnson, Secretary/Webmaster