The regular meeting of the Washington Geographic Alliance (WGA) Board of Directors was called to order at 6:47 p.m. by Tim Scharks in the home of Richard Kennedy and Heidi Morgan, 18825 6th Avenue SW, Normandy Park, Washington.
Present: President Tim Scharks of Green River Community College (GRCC), Vice-President Meghan Hoyer of St. Philomena School, Treasurer Heidi Morgan of the National Geographic Society's (NGS) Grosvenor Council, Secretary Richard Kennedy of the NGS's Grosvenor Council, and Director Pat LeRoy of St. Francis of Assisi School.
A motion to approve the draft minutes of the Board of Directors meeting of January 12, 2010 was made by Tim and seconded by Meghan. The motion passed unanimously.
The Chase checking account balance as of February 28, 2010 is $0.00 as this account has been closed. There was one deposit during January:
There was one withdrawal during February:
The total of our funds held at Pacific Continental Bank as of March 8, 2010 is $53,323.07.
The Pacific Continental Bank savings account balance as of March 8, 2010 is $20,988.95. There were two deposits from February 1, 2010 to March 8, 2010:
There was one withdrawal February 1, 2010 to March 8, 2010:
The Pacific Continental Bank checking account balance as of March 8, 2010 is $32,334.12. There were five deposits from February 1, 2010 to March 8, 2010:
There were two withdrawals from February 1, 2010 to March 8, 2010:
Heidi and Richard donated the $37.00 fee to Checks in the Mail for the checks and deposit slips for our new Pacific Continental Bank accounts.
Tim signed and submitted our informational tax return (IRS Form 990-EZ) on February 16.
The annual report was due December 31, 2009. Due to school and his son's illnesses, Tim asked Richard to complete the annual report. He did and it was submitted on January 20, 2010.
GRCC transferred all of our remaining funds of $31,163,52 to our account to Pacific Continental Bank. WGA expressed its thanks to GRCC for the assistance given us since 2006.
The 2010 Annual Alliance Meeting took place on Tuesday, February 23 - Saturday, February 27 at National Geographic Headquarters in Washington, DC. The meeting started on Tuesday evening and concluded at noon on Saturday.
On February 23, meeting registration and a hospitality suite was held at the Beacon Hotel. On February 24, we were welcomed by NGS President and CEO John Fahey and given an overview of the meeting by NGS Vice-President of Education Danny Edelson. Following them were Jon Rouch and Joyce Chinn who discussed the 2025 goals and the process of formal strategic planning.
NGS is retiring Geography Action! It will convert into a curriculum program to support NGS's growing suite of tile maps with an emphasis on teaching about mapping in the classroom. Previous years' Geography Action! materials are currently available on the GA! web site (http://nationalgeographic.com/geography-action/), which will eventually become part of the soon-to-launch redesigned Education web site As NGS winds down the ambitious five-year My Wonderful World campaign, they will maintain central aspects of the national program including the My Wonderful World e-newsletter, blog, and web site (http://www.MyWonderfulWorld.org/). This year NGS is significantly resurrecting the Geography Awareness Week program—the theme is “Freshwater”—it will go “back to the future” and become NGS's major annual public outreach focus. NGS's new Education web site will be the online destination for GAWeek materials and activities.
It was the board's consensus that Meghan and Pat be our Geography Awareness Coordinator. Tim will ask David Blacketer of Southridge High School to be a Geography Awareness Coordinator.
A Capacity Building Course will be held the third week of June in Phoenix, AZ. We have no other details on this course. NGS is asking each alliance to send four members to this course. We discussed who would be attending this course to represent our alliance. In addition to Tim and Richard, we should consider sending Kyle Dye of Marcus Whitman Junior High, Dr. Chris Kent of Spokane Community College, Dr. Pat Buckley of Western Washington University, Chris Alejandro (the Governor's Higher Education Policy Liaison) and Gilda Wheeler of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction where she is the environmental sustainability expert.
Pat Pasqual and Kim Patton of the Foundation Center gave a talk on fundraising for strategic planning. We were also given one day's free access to the professional edition of the online Foundation directory. Each alliance is expected to conduct fundraising activities to cover the cost of some of their planning activities.
Before a seated dinner sponsored by NGS, we were given a briefing on the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act (TGIF) status by Chris Shearer of NGS.
Thursday, February 25 was "Hill Day." None of the appointments were requested materialized so we dropped by the following offices:
There are currently 100 TGIF cosponsors in the House and 21 TGIF cosponsors in the Senate. After Hill Day, we attended the Educational Products and Programs Showcase back at NGS.
On Friday, February 26 there was a panel discussion on "What is Geography Literacy and How Are We Approaching It?" While the discussion was of interest, it did little to define Geography Literacy or how to measure it. The remainder of the day was spent in panel discussions of what other alliances are doing in the areas of:
Saturday, February 27 was spent watching demonstrations of:
Finally, an information discussion was held with Alliance Coordinators who have had success with different fundraising strategies.
Richard's unreimbursed meeting expenses of $1,486.49 are:
A motion to reimburse Richard for $1,486.49 was made by Tim and seconded by Pat. The motion passed 3-0 with Richard and Heidi abstaining.
Tim's unreimbursed meeting expenses of $61.52 are:
A motion to reimburse Tim for $61.52 was made by Richard and seconded by Heidi. The motion passed 4-0 with Tim abstaining.
Meghan and Pat reported that no new map activities have been created.
Tim will discuss his design for requesting and tracking the maps. Tim has also been in communication with TC Barbara Purn of Villa Academy. Her school will borrow the Giant Map of Washington.
Tim will see if Google has a calendar widget that we could use.
A motion was made by Tim and seconded by Meghan to establish an account with United Parcel Service to facilitate the transportation of our giant maps. The motion passed unanimously.
The discussion on strategic board development and planning process strategy continues. A draft board commitment form follows and needs to be finalized by the board.
I, ____________________________ (print name) agree to the following during my tenure on board of the Washington Geographic Alliance:
Mission and Purpose
I firmly believe that geographic literacy is vital to the education of our children and I will actively support the Washington Geographic Alliance in its pursuit of this goal.
Participation in board meetings
I will attend and actively participate in at least 75% of all board meetings, except in case of family or business emergency.
Fundraising
I understand that fundraising is a major responsibility of a board member. I will participate when asked in cultivating and maintaining donor relationships. This may include letters, email, telephone calls, personal visits, house or office parties, and personal visits.
Personal Gifts
I will give what is for me a significant donation on a (monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annual) basis of $______ (fill in amount). I will also make the following in-kind contribution(s): _______________________.
Committee participation
When asked, I will attend and participate on at least one committee/work group.
Media/Political
When requested, I will write letters to the editor and articles for publication. I will also contact my local, county, state, and federal representatives as need to support the WGA's goals.
Board Development
I will nominate at least one viable board candidate or work group participant annually.
Notification and Response (on-going)
If someone phones, faxes or emails me for information, I understand that it is my responsibility to respond in a timely and professional manner
I enthusiastically agree to participate in all the above board activities.
____________________________ ____________________________
Signed Date
| Board Needs | Scharks | Hoyer | Kennedy | Morgan | LeRoy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic: | ||||||
| Men | X | X | ||||
| Women | X | X | X | |||
| Latino | ||||||
| African Amer | ||||||
| White | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Asian | ||||||
| Other | ||||||
| Budgeting | X | X | ||||
| Finance Mgt. | X | |||||
| Fundraising | X | |||||
| Web Skills | X | |||||
| Public Policy | X | |||||
| Constituents: | ||||||
| Elementary | X | |||||
| Middle | X | |||||
| High | ||||||
| University | X | |||||
| Public | ||||||
| Private | X | X | ||||
| Retired | ||||||
| Cong. District: | ||||||
| 1st | ||||||
| 2nd | ||||||
| 3rd | ||||||
| 4th | ||||||
| 5th | ||||||
| 6th | ||||||
| 7th | X | |||||
| 8th | X | |||||
| 9th | X | X | X | X | ||
| Background | ||||||
| Board exper | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Donor | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Fundraiser | X | |||||
Demographic characteristics would be nice to have. All other characteristics are must haves.
All board candidates must have the ability to follow through on assignments.
A motion was made by Richard and seconded by Meghan to purchase 1,000 inflatable beach ball globes from NGS. The motion passed unanimously.
Tim mentioned that an excellent steering committee member would be Patricia K. Bosh, a retired social studies/science middle school teacher. She was also a National Geographic Society Teacher Consultant and the former Ohio GeoBee Coordinator.
There are two National Geographic Education Foundation (NGEF) 2010/2011 grants for which we may apply. The first, for operational support up to $20,000, is due July 1. The second, for strategic planning seed funding, is due September 20 if WGA has completed the Capacity Building Course before August 20, 2010.
The next regular meeting of the WGA Board of Directors will be held on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 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 April 27, 2010