NAREA BOARD MEETING – TULSA
July 1, 2009
Board Updates – 8:30 a.m. (see separate report)
Call to Order -- 9:37 a.m.
Present: Margie Cooper, Jennifer Strange, Jennifer Armstrong, Angela Ferrario, Ellen Hall, Sheri Hunt, Jennifer Kesselring, Beth MacDonald, David Fernie
Absent: Judy Abrams, Teresa Acevedo, Barb Acton, Sausan Burshan, Simonetta Cittadini-Medina,
Jeanne Goldhaber, Susan Lyon, Pat Tarr
Staff: Judith Kaminsky, Julie Sewell
Approval of Minutes
Motion to approve 2/19/09 minutes of Pittsburgh board meeting made by Angela Ferrario;
second by Ellen Hall; no discussion; unanimously approved.
Reports of Standing Committees:
Membership – See report July 2009
Annual meeting
General discussion was held regarding the need and purpose of an annual meeting of members. As members do not elect the board, it was generally agreed that offering multiple initiatives regionally each year is a goal that could better serve membership, as well as promote membership
Membership initiatives
Going forward, each initiative organized by NAREA should include a gathering of members. Membership committee could do more planning around initiatives and reach out to members in a more deliberate way. Membership committee could explore membership gathering possibilities at NAEYC (related to tour of St. Johns, NAREA pre-conference) and develop other collaborative endeavors from now to next summer conference.
Action Items
· Make annual meeting bullet in membership brochure more flexible
· Revise second bullet to say “NAEYC conference sessions and meetings developed and organized by NAREA members.”
Lifetime Membership
Recommendation made to Membership Committee to explore the possibility of a lifetime membership—we would have to analyze the costs and effects of the substantially higher rate. What would be the benefit to NAREA?
Action Item
· Membership committee will research lifetime membership possibilities.
Annual Membership Benefit CD
The Membership Committee is asking Reggio Children for images to use in a new membership CD. Jen has discussed with Lella and Amelia, and will send a letter to Reggio Children in the next week. What if Reggio says no? What is the plan? Outdoor Encounters, Part 2—children interacting with the outdoors is a hot topic along with children’s encounters/connections to food and/or gardening. There should be three or four topics in mind when requesting images to give the committee room for flexibility when creating the CD. Continue to collect images on other topics of gardening and the recycling of found objects.
Judith K. received all materials for 2009 CD from Sarah Majors and has posted some images on home page of website. All materials (images/permissions) for all membership CDs should be sent to J. Kaminsky in the future after CD created.
Action Items
· Jen Kesselring to send letter to Reggio Children requesting images for 2009 membership CD
· Membership committee to send images and materials for all membership CDs to J. Kaminsky after CD created
Membership Coordinators
Positions open in Vermont, Indiana, and Alaska. Coordinators must be current members and actively connected to the organization. NAREA needs to check the list of coordinators to see who is on it and determine how active they have been and if they are current in their own membership. We should try to develop a group of vibrant, active membership coordinators. We should also develop a clear role for them, and work to connect with and support the coordinators. What incentives could be developed for membership coordinators to attend summer conference?
Action Item
· Membership Committee will submit proposal at a future Board meeting regarding responsibilities of Membership Coordinators.
Finance – See report June 22, 2009
The current report does not reflect the majority of expenses for the summer conference. It is anticipated that the summer conference will be a loss of $60,000 to $70,000. We will absorb the loss through cash reserves, reducing cash reserves substantially.
We expect both payments from Indianapolis (grand total of $32,000) before the end of the year. On July 31st, a 50,000 Euro ($70,000) payment is due to Reggio Children. After the July payment, 100,000 Euro will have been paid with 125,000 Euro left to pay in the next 4 years. Final payment is 2013 and possibility still exists of one year of exhibit with no payment to Reggio Children in 2014.
Break – 10:25 a.m. Resume – 10:35 a.m.
Professional Development
Ongoing work on Fundamental Principles Workshops involving analysis of survey responses. The Professional Development Committee is gathering data for how to support expansion of initiative.
Proposal for Boston initiative
A proposal was presented for an initiative take place in the Boston area in conjunction with the February, 2010 Board meeting and that this meeting serve as a pilot for other Board meeting/initiatives. This idea comes from previous board conversations about supporting the location where NAREA board meetings are held in order to invest in local area coupled with reality of losing money with NAREA summer conference in Tulsa. Amelia and Lella have offered support for NAREA through such an initiative.
General board discussion that Boston is a good place to make a link with NAREA. It has a good network. We would get participants from Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maine. The Membership Coordinator is active. The initiative could be for members and to recruit new members. Susan MacDonald at Children’s Garden has been contacted regarding the use of a 300-person auditorium. She is receptive to making this happen and might be able to help support financially. Lella has proposed a tentative date of February 6, 2010. Plan to be a regional initiative to support what is happening in New England. An exhibit initiative is planned in Santa Monica in January, so this would offer something to a different region of the country. There is also a Toronto initiative with Lella planned for February 26-27, 2010. Some type of social gathering would be nice such as Friday night Board meeting with Friday evening social; Saturday initiative with Carolyn Edwards recognition. A CD on history of NAREA could be shown at initiative and could be used by membership coordinators and at NAEYC sessions.
Action Item
· Boston initiative to be planned as pilot endeavor. David F. will help Angela with connections with Boston area educators.
Exhibit – See report June 2009
Tulsa – Jennifer Kesselring submitted report on exhibit condition which was forwarded to Reggio and to the committee. Paola and Max checked exhibit; will hear from Reggio in 1-2 months on how issues will be handled. Ray of Light will not be used in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis – Ron has signed and sent contract to Margie along with certificate of insurance. Tulsa will not ship until receipt of contracts and insurance is confirmed. Jennifer Kesselring extended the insurance date to cover the few days of extension requested by Indianapolis. Ron recommends fundraising because of lower attendance at initiatives. A foundation could be formed to cover scholarships. Communication between Ron and NAREA/Reggio Children is excellent. Indianapolis will not have interactive atelier Ray of Light but will have exhibit section on Ray of Light.
Santa Monica – Mary Hartzell will join exhibit committee this month as Ellen Hall concludes her term. Ohio, Tulsa, and Santa Monica representatives will be at Indianapolis installation. Jen K. sent Santa Monica a timeline and a budget. Jennifer K. should forward these documents to Judy as well. Judy plans to put together a resource tool for the exhibit. All requests for documents should go to Judy.
Ohio – J. Biddle has expressed interest in hosting 2011 Summer Conference.
Action Items
· Board members to send suggestions for marketing exhibit initiatives to Judy K.
· Jen K. to send Judy K. budget and timeline sent to Santa Monica
· Judy will work on a document for venue hosts for developing initiatives that accompany the exhibit. Initiatives with the Italians should be the focus. (Beth and Judy think a document to guide hosts on Professional Development could tie into the research plan).
Research plan - see proposal in Exhibit report
Going forward, hosts will receive a document which will tell them up front as much as we know about the exhibit and the professional development series project connected to the exhibit, including a menu of topics, objectives, timelines, and a series of questions for exhibit host to address at initiatives. Final reports from hosts will then include initial responses to NAREA’s research questions. The questions will be addressed by each host community for a period of 5 years on an annual basis. Template for final report will be based in part on Boulder and Tulsa reports.
In summary, two efforts are now underway concurrently—(1) the development of a tool to support future hosts or those thinking about hosting and (2) launching a research plan that moves across a period of 5 years in order to update happenings in the community since the departure of the exhibit. Exhibit communities will be encouraged to think of advocacy and connections in their communities. Much appreciation goes to Judy for her role on the committee.
Action Item
· Judy to develop document that includes guide for exhibit hosts on developing initiatives and questions to address regarding impact of exhibit (as outlined in proposal)
Website – See report of June 2009
Phase 3 status:
· Board member page has been created. J. Kaminsky will contact board when ready for use.
· “Buy Now” page has not yet been developed (as a link to Amazon.com). Does NAREA want to have a link only to certain books on the website which are difficult to find such as The Hundred Languages of Children? NAREA would list actual resources, and if ordered, would get small amount from Amazon. We would list them and people buy from our page. General agreement from board.
Phase 4 website development:
· Member dialogue page would connect members to network, connect with people, and people could interact directly. There could be interest groups. Reggio educators could participate. Other scholars could be available to members. We could propose a chat room at a particular time—with a scholar, perhaps Lella.
We want guided conversation—a blog with questions/comment.
Action Items
· Judy will send an email when Board page ready to access asking for additional documents to post in order to create an archive of Board documents.
· Judy will meet with Chad regarding structures available and report at the November meeting about options.
Old Business:
International Network - See the June 12, 2009 Proposal for a New Organization of Reggio Children International Network for the year 2009-2010 and notes taken by Margie Cooper as one of the NAREA representatives of the Fourth International Network meeting in Reggio Emilia, Italy on May 28 and May 29, 2009.
Proposal from Reggio Children for an International Network. There has been an evolution of the identity of the International Network for the last 3 years. Presently, Reggio has determined that the International Network is connected to the International Center and they will partner with Reggio Mundo to further develop the structure and organization. Reggio Children wants a membership fee from Networks. For the fee, two people per network could participate in professional development initiative in Reggio each year. Reggio Children initially asked for 5000 Euro over 3 years, which changed to 2500 Euro each year per Network. Responsibilities of Networks are outlined in the proposal. The current proposal is in essence a one year holding pattern as plans are further developed with Reggio Mundo, including the process for bringing in other countries. An additional 8-10 countries have asked to join—Africa, Japan, and Israel. The current proposal would generate funds to support the planning period. Currently 19 countries/40 people participating. Discussion continued regarding NAREA’s continuing involvement in the International Network.
Motion: Angela made motion that NAREA continues to support the evolution of the Reggio International Network and agrees to pay the proposed annual fee of 2500E for the year of 2009-2010; Ellen seconded; no further discussion; unanimously approved.
Action Item
· Angela and Beth to send Reggio Children NAREA’s letter of acceptance of proposal.
New Business:
Proposal by Ellen Hall to request NAREA’s participation in 2010 National Conference of Mayors
This idea originated from a visit by Denver Mayor, John Hickenlooper to the opening of the exhibit in Boulder.
He thought it would be interesting to have presentation on Reggio philosophy at the National Conference of Mayors scheduled to meet in June 2010 in Oklahoma City.
Discussion:
Mayors do not always impact education. However, the mayors of Tulsa and of Boston, for example, have connections with early childhood education. Denver’s mayor wants the city to be child friendly. Participating mayors could encourage other mayors to attend. Mayors could possibly invite other important state-level people. Where does NAREA fit into this agenda? What are potential benefits? How does this fit within our mission? How much time would conference devote to this? When does the agenda for this meeting get finalized? When would a proposal to offer this presentation need to be submitted? Do Canadian mayors have an association? There could be a panel of mayors who have experience in education. Lella could be part of presentation.
Motion was made to approve the concept of a NAREA presentation to be made at the National Conference of Mayors. Ellen Hall will develop a document to be presented at the NAREA November board meeting detailing the project; second by David Fernie; unanimously approved.
Action Item
· Ellen Hall will submit proposal at the November meeting and will inform Jennifer and Margie if need decision before then.
Report of Co-Chairs:
NAEYC 2009
The Pre-conference proposal was originally rejected by the NAEYC. (Boulder Journey School proposal was also rejected). Amelia wrote Mark Ginsberg to reconsider, and it was then approved. We are going forward now with the task of putting together a panel. Amelia and Lella will participate with someone perhaps from DC, from Boston, from Canada, from Arizona, and from Chicago. Email Jennifer Strange with suggestions. The Pre Conference in Dallas was not well attended. Perhaps the school tour to St. Johns will improve attendance to pre conference this year. Amelia will participate in the tour, to be held in two groups (morning/afternoon), by overlapping in the middle of the two parts. Pre-conference titled, “Early Childhood Education in Difficult Times: Building Strategies and Support Systems in Varied Perspectives.” Jennifer Strange will resend proposal. Julie Biddle from the Ohio Study Groups was suggested as a panel participant. Suggestion for Board meeting at NAEYC on Wednesday afternoon following the Wednesday morning Pre-conference.