The regular meeting of the Washington Geographic Alliance (WGA) Board of Directors was called to order at 6:47 p.m. by Meghan Hoyer 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) [Arrived at 7:17 p.m.], 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 June 1, 2010 was made by Heidi and seconded by Pat. The motion passed unanimously.
The total of our funds held at Pacific Continental Bank (PCB) as of July 19, 2010 is $50,441.60.
The PCB savings account balance as of July 19, 2010 is $37,576.31. There were two deposits from May 31, 2010 to July 19, 2010:
There were two withdrawals from the savings account from May 31, 2010 to July 19, 2010:
The PCB checking account balance as of July 19, 2010 is $12,865.29. There were six deposits from May 31, 2010 to July 19, 2010:
There were two checking account withdrawals from May 31, 2010 to July 19, 2010:
Our appeal of the late filing fee penalty with the Internal Revenue Service was successful. We received a full refund of the penalty we paid.
Certificate of Deposit interest rates from PCB follow. There is a penalty assessed for early withdrawal.
| Term | $1,000 - $49,999,99 | $50,000 and more |
|---|---|---|
| 30-179 Days | 0.90% | 1.00% |
| 180-365 Days | 1.10% | 1.35% |
| 12-23 Months | 1.30% | 1.60% |
| 24-35 Months | 1.70% | 2.00% |
| 36 months and more | 2.25% | 2.45% |
On June 1, Richard received the following email from Emily Schell of NGS:
"I just spoke with Tim about the LIFE Center proposing to be the new host institution for WGA. We will be sending them a planning grant application in the next couple of weeks. Tim said he would talk with Andy and Phil at the LIFE Center about your current projects/programs and the transition.
Tim said he is busy and understands stepping aside to move the alliance into its new home. However, I asked him to make sure that the Steering Committee knows that we (NGS and Andy agrees) do not want to see what you have built up (e.g., giant map, NG Live!, TC base, etc.) discontinue. So we hope that the committee members will remain committed to the vision of the alliance and work with us through this transition. Remember that the goal is a stronger, more effective alliance that affects geographic literacy throughout Washington for the long run."
On June 15, Richard and Tim received the following email from Emily Schell of NGS:
"As we prepare for receiving grant applications from alliances, I just wanted to clarify that you two will NOT be submitting any grant applications this year. I think Bob cleared this up with recent communications. We will only be receiving a planning grant application from the LIFE Center in this year's application cycle.
I know that you budgeted for the CBC costs in the current (2009-2010) grant, so we will let you know about transferring those funds when we get to the end of this year's budget cycle.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this, or other alliance business."
Bob Dulli asked that we limit our expenditures to previously approved items until the transition to the LIFE Center is complete.
In short, most of our activities except for The Puyallup Fair have been placed on hold while we await NGS and the LIFE Centerto come to an understanding about the future of the WGA.
Richard has requested free media sponsorship from KUOW for our booth at The Puyallup Fair. We were not awarded a KUOW Media Sponsorship for this year.
Richard has also added a sign-up to host our booth at The Puyallup Fair on our web site. There are 30 tickets available for those who staff our booth. We can setup before the Fair opens on Thursday, September 9. Tim offered to do the setup. Meghan will contact teachers.
We will have 1,000 beach ball world globes and about 800 "World Heritage 2009-2010" maps given to us by UNESCO for distribution. Morpac Industries, Inc. donated the shipping.
Morpac Industries, Inc. donated a new Pyramid brand tally counter model number 14300. The price is $10.99 plus tax for a total donation of $12.03.
Unless comments are made tonight, Richard will release the following:
SEATTLE (August 15, 2010) — A giant map of Washington State, measuring 22 feet by 32 feet, will be at The Puyallup Fair in the first floor of the Pavilion (building 17) from Friday, September 10 through Tuesday, September 14. The Washington State Giant Traveling Map brings with it rich content and exciting activities to enliven the study of geography, making it a fun, interactive experience.
The map, designed to be walked on by students, is one of three that are currently touring public and private schools in Washington State. The giant map, designed for grades K-12, tours with a trunk of accessories, including interactive games, geography adventures, and books that teach students about the physical characteristics of Washington State as well as its rich history and varied cultures. One of the activities included is "Grocery Store Geography," in which bean-bag-tossing skills are called upon to test students' knowledge of where foods are produced in the state.
Experiencing a map of this size can really awaken a student to the power of maps and the limitless depth of geography. Whether they are using the map to learn place names or to compare river basins, students are physically involved in a hands- and feet-on way that makes geography into an event. The result is an experience that is a cross between geography and gym class.
This Washington State Giant Traveling Map's appearance at the Puyallup Fair is sponsored by the Washington Geographic Alliance, a non-profit Washington State corporation dedicated to promoting geographic literacy in our state. For details, see www.washgeo.org.
Richard is still working on a draft replacement for our NING web site. Heretofore, he was donating the charge of $4.95 per month for the use of our domain name. Until the new web site is ready, he offered to pay the new charges levied by NING amounting to $19.95 per month.
As Meghan is leaving for China tomorrow and Pat is preparing for the Summer Institute, no new map activities have been developed.
Tim is still investigating a design for requesting and tracking the maps.
Western Washington University is willing to continue with the project without any funding. Tim will put Andy of Western Washington University in touch with Pat so she may explain the Intel Thinking Tools. This technology allows students to hold interactive meetings with the class creating the atlas without traveling to Bellingham, WA.
Richard will prepare some preliminary specifications for creation of the atlas.
The teacher's guide to the South Carolina Atlas is online at http://www.cas.sc.edu/cege/resources/atlas/Atlas CD/START.pdf
Our scaled back Summer Institute will be held between 9 a.m. and noon on Monday, August 16 at St. Francis of Assisi School, 15216 21st Ave SW Burien, WA. Clock hours will be granted free to teachers who request them. Richard will add this event to our web site and will notify WGA members about it. Tim will email information about the Summer Institute to the members of Washington State Council on Social Studies and the Association of Washington Geographers.
We received the an email from Sarah Caban of NGS requesting that we send her "Team Roles" document and "Summer Planning Calendar" to her by July 15. There is no official "form" for the team roles — simply describe in a word document, or add information about our roles to the summer planning calendar. Richard has forwarded the Summer Planning Calendar template to Meghan and Pat for reference. Please email Sarah if there are any further questions.
The deadline for ordering Colorado River Basin Maps is August 1. After discussion by the board, it was determined that this map would not be of great use to us. Richard will place an order for 40 maps, our free allocation.
Only Meghan will be able to attend the GAWeek Coordinator training at NCGE in Savannah on Friday, October 1 from 1-5:30 p.m. EDT. Richard will notify Sarah of Meghan's attendance.
The next regular meeting of the WGA Board of Directors will be held on Tuesday, September 7, 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 September 7, 2010
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