The regular meeting of the Washington Geographic Alliance (WGA) Board of Directors was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Richard Kennedy in the home of Richard Kennedy and Heidi Morgan, 18825 6th Avenue SW, Normandy Park, Washington.
Present: Vice-President Meghan Hoyer of St. Philomena School, Amy Chertock of Shorewood High School, Heidi Morgan of the National Geographic Society's (NGS) Grosvenor Council, and Secretary Richard Kennedy of the NGS's Grosvenor Council.
Treasurer Charles "Chip" Dodd of Shoreline Community College (SCC) was unable to attend due spring quarter teaching commitments. President Tim Schultz of Green River Community College (GRCC) and Genya Parks of Lawton Elementary School were unable to attend.
A motion to approve the minutes of the Board of Directors meeting of February 20, 2007 was made by Meghan and seconded by Amy. The motion passed unanimously.
Vice-president Meghan Hoyer made the following report. "On Friday, March 9, 2007 I attended the Washington State Council for Social Studies (WSCSS) on behalf of Geography Action! and the Washington Geography Alliance. I was a presenter at their first breakout session of the day. My presentation was about Geography Awareness and how to promote and teach geography education in K-12 grade classrooms. I also presented numerous Internet resources from National Geographic and other geography sites. The presentation included information about the 2006-2007 theme of Celebrate Africa! and details about the WGA Summer Institute in July. Handouts were given to each participant that included Africa maps, a My Wonderful World poster, a National Geographic beach ball globe, the Washington State educators toolkit for teaching geography, a WGA institute registration form, and a number of other resources. The attendees in return gave me great feedback to use at future workshops, and their email addresses for continued information about WGA events and resources. This was my second presentation at a WSCSS conference/in-service for social studies educators. My goal is always to increase the importance of geography education in Washington State classrooms and to make the attendees aware of the plethora of resources available to them.
The WSCSS works to educate Washington State teachers in all areas of Social Studies. They hold many workshop opportunities each year and publish a quarterly newsletter that shares social studies learning opportunities for educators. With continued communications we will be connected with the WSCSS and added to their circulations of information about ‘geography' education."
President Schultz made the following report. "The WSCSS is the state's largest teacher organization supporting social studies education in Washington State. Previously, the WGA dropped off materials for a 1-day in-service presentation at Seattle University on February 3rd. Both Meg Hoyer and Tim Schultz attended on separate days to promote the Alliance and especially the Summer Institute. Meg reported good attendance at her session on Geography Action! and Tim met a number of teachers interested in the Alliance and the Summer Institute.
For future Alliance participation in the spring conference/retreat of the WSCSS, the Alliance should consider sending one representative for one or two days, as it was relatively inefficient to send two representatives for two separate days."
The NGEF Alliance meeting in Washington, D.C. presented a great opportunity for the Alliances, including Washington, to make their presence known on Capitol Hill. Tim Schultz arranged meetings and met with the staff of Rep. Jim McDermott and Sen. Patty Murray to request their sponsorship of the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act. Follow-up emails have yielded few results.
The next day and one half was a frenetic series of meetings involving most of the branches of National Geographic, with presentations from a variety of programs and divisions (from NG Entertainment to J.A.S.O.N. to NG Live!). A large portion of the conference was devoted to brainstorming activities to help the NGEF understand what the Alliances needed and how they could best be supported.
Tim networked with a number of alliances, most notably California, Oregon, and Utah. Additionally, he got to know the Alliance coordinator from Puerto Rico and began discussing the possibilities for a teacher exchange.
WGA board members Chip Dodd and Tim Schultz attended the Washington State GeoBee finals at PLU on March 30th. Chip served as a judge and Tim observed the event. The GeoBee is an incredible event and Tim and Chip expressed their desire to help promote the GeoBee in the future.
On March 29, Richard contacted Rep. Shay Schual-Berke (D-33rd) and asked her the status of the budget proviso for the Washington Geographic Alliance endowment. She replied "It is not in any budget, I will gladly try again next session, think we will have a good foundation on which to move forward. I'm sorry I wasn't able to move it further this session." Richard said he would continue to work with her after the current session.
H.R. 5519 and S. 1376, introduced in 109th Congress, are "dead." The Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act was reintroduced in the 110th Congress as H.R. 1228 and S. 727. All cosponsors must be renewed. Richard and Heidi visited the offices of Reps. Adam Smith (WA-9th) and Raul Grijalva (AZ-7) in Washington, DC on March 14 asking them to become co-sponsors again. Rep. Grijalva became a co-sponsor on March 21. Rep. Smith's decision is pending.
Richard and Heidi offered to fund a WGA reception at the E. B. Foote winery in Burien on Thursday, August 23. The board suggested a starting time of 6 p.m. Richard will be contacting the winery to finalize arrangements.
Due to the absence of three board members, no final decision was made. Of those in attendance, two logos stood out and are attached. It was asked that the apple globe could somehow contain a state outline. Richard will ask Chip for the original artwork files.
Tim's email detailed some of the costs. Itemized list of costs for the summer institute would include but not be limited to:
A rough cost estimate for each person's room and meals would be $450 for the entire institute. A rough cost estimate for the fixed costs is $1,400 for the entire institute. Assuming the attendance of twenty persons, the rough cost estimate is $10,400 for the entire institute.
Meghan and Amy mentioned that the current application form needs revision. A location to write the reasons for wanting to attend the institute was recommended. In addition, a principal's signature and not a recommendation should be required as principals are often too busy to write letters of recommendations. Richard will propose some changes.
The workshop conflicts with our summer institute. Meghan has applied to attend the Geography Action! Workshop.
Meghan mentioned that she will be able to represent the WGA at the Study Canada K-12 Summer Institute scheduled for June 24-29. A motion to fund Meghan's tuition of $530 was made by Heidi and seconded by Amy. The motion passed unanimously.
Richard has completed the IRS Form 1023 for obtaining tax-exempt certification for the WGA. The form awaits Tim's signature.
The next meeting regular meeting of the WGA Board of Directors will be held on Friday, May 11, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. in the home of Richard Kennedy and Heidi Morgan, 18825 6th Avenue SW, Normandy Park, Washington.
Respectfully submitted,
/ss/ Richard T. Kennedy
Richard T. Kennedy
Secretary
Approved May 11, 2007