Board announcements, meeting minutes, etc.
Remember that the next general meeting of the Challenge Parents Association, as well as our annual “Beyond Challenge” presentations will be on Wednesday, December 1 at 6:30 p.m. in the Terrace Park Library. If you wish to review the minutes of the last meeting ahead of time, click here.
90 seconds of your time NOW can make a lifetime of difference for your child.
The immediate future of gifted education in Washington state is in peril.
Governor Chris Gregoire, in an attempt to deal with the larger than projected revenue shortfalls and the reduction in tax revenues that resulted from the outcomes of the recent election, has put together a list of suggested cuts (and only cuts) that she has sent on to the legislature for their consideration. Included in the six program cuts are four that are education related, and one of them (the least expensive program on the list) is funding for gifted education in Washington.
In order to implement these cuts, the legislature would presumably have to change the legislation currently scheduled to go into effect in September that includes gifted education as a mandated component of basic education in this state. It would also put the brakes on the work of the Highly Capable Program Technical Working Group, which just presented it’s initial recommendations to the Quality Education Council last week on how to bring Washington into the forefront in the provision of education for gifted students in the US.
This is critical, as without state funding, gifted programming in Edmonds School District will be decimated, if not eliminated all together.
Now is the time to let our legislators know how important gifted education is for our families. Historically, the legislators who represent the families in the Edmonds School District service area have been supportive of gifted programming and have voted to continue funding with each biennium. We urge you to contact them directly to let them know that “unfunding is unacceptable” for gifted students. Our students do what they can to convince our legislators of the value of our programs (why participation in Gifted Education Day is so important), but it is up to those of us who have the right to vote to lobby for them.
The expectation is that the legislature will be called back into special session before the scheduled January reconvening. Please utilize the links below to contact your legislators and let them know how you wish them to vote. You can email or phone them.
This is urgent! The legislature could be called back into session any day now. The more they hear from their constituency, the better-informed their voting will be.
Please take 90 seconds now to contact your legislators.
Challenge Parent Association Board of Directors
CPA Board meeting 11/04/10 – Ginger Everhart’s home In Attendance: Sue Wilson-Schmitz, Ginger Everhart, Pam Gaspers, Tracy Hannuksela, Tina Marohn Treasurer’s report (Tracy Hannuksela) We have raised $5,326.00 in funds […]
CPA General Meeting – 9/30/2010 6:30 p.m. Terrace Park Commons
In Attendance: Mary Freitas, Ginger Everhart, Sue Wilson-Schmitz, Pam Gaspers, Tracy Hannuksela, Tina Marohn, Denise Schmitz, Elizabeth Donnelly, Bret Haggen, Laurel Water, Ruth Kenney, Diane Moline, Marilyn Hall, and 29 parents.
Introductions
Minutes from 6/18/2010 meeting accepted and approved
Principal’s report (Mary Freitas):
Mary is excited to see the new year get off to such a great start. She is witnessing a lot of positive community building throughout the school and is grateful for the parental support. She mentioned that teacher parent conferences are coming up soon during the last week of October and encourages all parents to participate and connect with their student’s teachers.
Mary updated us on the work being done by the Highly Capable Technical Work Group. They will be communicating the needs of gifted funding, identification and funding models to our state legislatures. A couple of key leaders in this are Mary Ruth Coleman, Carolyn Callahan and Karen Rogers. Detailed information and meeting minutes can be found on the OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) website http://www.k12.wa.us/HighlyCapable/Workgroup/default.aspx. This could have a huge impact on gifted education. We have a good program at Terrace Park, but it is not the case everywhere.
WAETAG – Parent Track being provided by NWGC and will be held at the Bellevue Hilton Hotel on October 15th and 16th. Saturday the 16th is the parent track schedule. For more information and registration, please visit their website: http://www.waetag.net/
Treasurer’s Report (Tracy Hannuksela):
A Budget Spreadsheet 2010-2011 was handed out to attendees.
Our Fund Drive for this first semester has raised $5,326 so far. Last year we raised about $6,400 at this time. We have switched to only two fund drives this year and with the low numbers so far, we are a little behind. The board will re-evaluate our fund drive process at our next board meeting. Deadline for the Fall Fund Drive was today, but we are always accepting donations and we also encourage families to see if their companies match their contributions.
Teachers can apply for grants to help supplement materials for the classroom and in many cases for multiple classrooms. Board reviews each grant request. Teachers also receive a $300 classroom support budget.
At the end of fiscal year we conduct an audit of the CPA budget. This year Megan Hicks and Pam Gaspers conducted the audit. Everything balanced out. The audit was reviewed and approved by vote the meeting attendees.
Vice President’s Report (Pam Gaspers):
CPA board will be renting out costumes for the Festival of the Famous in May.
We are currently selling T-shirts for Gifted Ed Day.
Co-President Report (Sue Wilson-Schmitz):
Calendar highlights
There are weekly Math Circle groups every Sunday from 3-5 on the University of Washington campus.
CPA will hold Coffee Chats almost every month on either Saturday or Sunday. Parents are encouraged to just drop in bring whatever concerns or issues they want to discuss with other parents in this community. The next one is at 1:00 p.m., October 10th at the Urban City Coffee in Mountlake Terrace.
WAETAG Conference on the 16th – Parent Track Sessions
All families are encouraged to share ideas on opportunities for family field trips. This is a great way to share interests and build community. The CPA board can post these events on our website.
Gifted Education Day will be on February 11th. We are interested in recruiting volunteers this year for the event. This is a great opportunity to get together with other families and see the state capital and learn how our legislative process works. Please contact us at challengeparents@gmail.com if you are interested in helping out at his event.
November 3rd is the IB Info night for students in this district on the gifted program track. CPA also wants to have another Beyond Challenge night talk for parents whose children are moving forward to high school and early college entrance programs.
Other opportunities for volunteering:
CPA and PTA are working together to get classroom reps for each classroom We are still seeking volunteers for this.
For PTA – Tomorrow is our Wolf Walk fundraiser and we still need more parent volunteers. Carnival is coming up on October 14th and we need volunteers to help run games and activities.
For CPA – We need volunteers for Gifted Education Day, Festival of the Famous fundraiser, and board member positions for next year.
Business meeting adjourned: 7:00 p.m.
Please plan to join members of the CPA board and your fellow parents at our monthly Coffee Chat on Sunday, October 10th at 1:00 p.m. at Urban City Coffee – 4313 212th St. SW Mountlake Terrace. This is an informal opportunity to discuss any challenges and issues of concern for parents of gifted students. Parents of gifted students who do not attend Terrace Park are welcome as well. Come share your questions, concerns, ideas, and observations.
Please plan to attend our first membership meeting of the school year on Thursday, September 30th at 6:30 p.m. in the Terrace Park Commons.
We will hold a brief business meeting from 6:30 to 7:00 (see agenda and May 2010 minutes). After the business meeting we will switch gears to a question and answer session with Highly-Capable district and school staff and faculty.
CPA Board Meeting – August 26th 6:30 p.m. Tina Marohn’s Home
In attendance – Ginger Everhart, Pamela Gaspers, Sue Wilson-Schmitz, Tracy Hannuksela, Tina Marohn
Greetings Challenge Families,
CPA is continuing our successful financial fund drive this year. These funds are used to augment classroom materials, support special activities, extend learning beyond the classroom, provide professional development materials for our teachers, enable our teachers to do more with the children in the classroom, and provide resources for gifted parenting issues support.
Today you will receive a copy of this form in your child’s take home packet. If you do not receive this form today, you may download it here and send it in with your child or mail it to the address below. Thank you for supporting CPA!
Please mail the form along with your check to:
Challenge Parents Association
P.O. Box 3371
Lynnwood, WA 98046-3371
The CPA Board is excited to begin the 2010-2011 school year with all of you in the Challenge Program. We will continue to share important information and opportunities on our Challenge Parent Association website – The Challenge Spot. Here you will find updated content with the latest information on advocacy, special events, board activities and resource links on gifted education.
You can also subscribe to this site in order to receive any new information that we post to keep up to date on all CPA activities. We hope this newly revised site will help bring our community closer together in a fun and informed way.