Vol. 12 No. 1 Page 1 Beta Epsilon Newsletter Alpha Alpha State The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International promotes professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education. Volume 12 Number 1 Sisters Serving Others July 2016 PRESIDENT S MESSAGE Happy Summer Sisters! After the school year finished, the first trip I had was to State College, PA, to attend the Alpha Alpha Pennsylvania State convention. I believe it was an appropriate way to get my mind focused on our new biennium, serving as your president. A key word in that last sentence is serving. When I look at our chapter and members, I see sisters who are not only serving others, but I see enthusiasm and a desire to make the world a better place for others. That is why our theme for this biennium is: SISTERS SERVING OTHERS. As a chapter, I would like us to continue our wonderful projects, and perhaps even add more if there is interest and need. In addition to our own chapter projects, I know that many of our sisters are involved in service organizations or have been a part of some. At our meetings, I would like us all to become familiar with these other service groups our members are a part of, and lend our hands for helping as well. I believe this will help us learn more about each other and serve others as well. As I tell my National Honor Society students as school, This is our organization, not mine -- I say the same to Beta Epsilon as well. I look forward to serving as your president, and I look forward to hearing from all of you! Sincerely, Mari Grace 2016-2017 CHAPTER MEETINGS At the summer planning session, the executive board decided on the theme Sisters Serving Others. As you ll see, our meetings will include our members presenting on volunteer service organizations in which they serve. We would like to hear about other groups as well. At our September meeting, we will be asking our sisters about other volunteer organizations that are important to them. If you have an organization that you d like to present at a meeting, please email me.
Vol. 12 No. 1 Page 2 2016-2017 CHAPTER MEETINGS (cont.) Chapter meetings will begin at 10:00 A.M., and the chapter meeting dates and programs are: Date Program 9/10/2016 *Organizational Meeting *Ceremony of Life for Marian Carlson *Service- The Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania 10/8/2016 *Initiation *Chapter Birthday *Service Our Sisters 3/18/2017 *Service Nicaragua 4/8/2017 *Service - Sisters 5/6/2017 *Service Alzheimer s Walk The venues will be reserved soon and you will receive invitations with the information for each meeting. If you need a ride to any of the chapter meetings, please contact an officer to make arrangements. Rides will be provided. 2014-2016 BIENNIUM CHAPTER OFFICERS President First Vice-President Second Vice-President Recording Secretary Corresponding Secretary Treasurer Past President Parliamentarian Mari Grace Lingenfelter Susan Blazosky Ann Pastovic Melanie Dudak Amy Dobbins Beth Ann Andrews Marcia Erickson Leora Rager Thought of the Day, the meal s blessing and theme-related favors. If interested in hosting a chapter meeting, please contact First Vice- President Susan Blazosky by August 15, 2016. Her email address is sublazosky@gmail.com ALPHA ALPHA PENNSYLVANIA STATE CONVENTION From June 10 th to June 12 th, the 2016 Alpha Alpha Pennsylvania State Convention was held at The Nittany Lion Inn in State College. Six Beta Epsilon members including Marcie Erickson, Melanie Dudak, Ann Pastovich, Amy Dobbins, Susan Blazosky, and Mari Grace Lingenfelter attended the convention. Marcie presented a workshop on her Nancy Grove Visionary Fund Grant classroom project, in which she was the first recipient. The grant was used to create an Ancient Rome Travel Trunk that was utilized by her seventh grade world history classes. Susan Blazosky was recognized in the Album of Distinction Awards for her receiving the Pitt-Johnstown Board of Directors President s Award. HOSTESSES NEEDED Hostesses are needed for the October, March, April, and May chapter meetings. Hostesses provide the
Vol. 12 No. 1 Page 3 ALPHA ALPHA STATE CONVENTION (cont.) Amy Dobbins presented a display of our chapter projects on the display tables at the convention and also received the Nancy Grove Visionary Fund Grant. YEARBOOK First Vice-President Susan Blazosky requests that you review your current yearbook entry for corrections, additions or updates. Please submit any changes by August 15, 2016, to sublazosky@gmail.com or in writing at 132 Maryland Ave., P.O. Box 193, St. Michael, PA 15951. EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE The goals of the Educational Excellence Committee (EEC) are to develop programs, projects and activities which advance excellence in education, empower women and increase global awareness. It was also a time for all of the chapter presidents to pass on the rose to the in-coming chapter presidents. This year the committee will create and distribute pre-school book trunks and Teacher Survival Kits for early-career educators. If you would like to contribute to the projects, please email EEC Chair Amy Dobbins at dobbins400@comcast.net. SUMMER REUNION As voted on at our last meeting, Amy Dobbins is organizing a summer reunion gathering for current and past chapter members. At the summer planning meeting, we selected August 17 th at 6:30. Details and information will be in the mail/e-mail.
Vol. 12 No. 1 Page 4 BACKPACK PROJECT Our annual stuffing of the backpacks is scheduled for Wednesday, August 10, 2016, at Mari Grace Lingenfelter s home. Her address is 1210 Norwood Street, Johnstown, PA 15904. Please call or email Mari Grace if you need directions to her home. We will begin stuffing the backpacks at 6:00 P.M. Sisters are asked to bring their donated backpacks and items on the day of the event. If you are unable to attend the packing, but have donated items that need picked up beforehand, please contact Mari Grace. We will also have light refreshments afterwards. We already have several donations of backpacks and a few supplies, but we are in need of more backpacks and all school supplies. Specific items needed include crayons, spiral notebooks, folders, erasers, colored pencils, markers, scissors, pencils, pens, glue sticks, pencil boxes, tissues and compact hand sanitizers. The stuffed backpacks will be donated to elementary students in need. Please RSVP to Mari Grace by August 8, 2016, if you plan on attending the backpack stuffing. HYGIENE PROJECT We are continuing the We Care for Kids personal care project this year. Please continue to collect toiletries and personal care items for middle school and high school students. Our donations are greatly appreciated by the recipients. IN MEMORIAM Marian Carlson April 28, 2016 Marian retired from teaching after 35 years and also served as a president of our chapter. We will be having a Ceremony of Life in her honor at our September meeting. DATES TO REMEMBER Additional dates of interest and importance are: April 21-23, 2017 June 9-11, 2017 July 12-14, 2017 Creative Arts Retreat, Ludlow, PA Pennsylvania State Organization Convention, State College, PA Northeast Regional Conference Ontario, Canada More information about these events can be found on the international and the state websites: www.dkg.org www.alphaalphapa.com
Vol. 12 No. 1 Page 5 PLANNING AHEAD Our basket theme for the 2017 State Convention will be: Sisters Birthday Bash Please bring birthday-themed donations for the basket to any of our scheduled meetings throughout the year. SISTER NEWS Our sister, Betsy Wasilko s daughter, Jennifer Haigh is a novelist. She has a newly published book- Heat and Light. Amazon describes it as: Acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Haigh returns to the Pennsylvania town at the center of her iconic novel Baker Towers in this ambitious, achingly human story of modern America and the conflicting forces at its heart a bold, moving drama of hope and desperation, greed and power, big business and small-town families. If you purchase the book from Amazon, please remember to do it through Amazon Smile, and choose Delta Kappa Gamma as your organization. A percentage of your Amazon purchases will go to our society. COMMUNICATIONS If you have not already done so, please join our chapter and international facebook pages and remember to check out our chapter, state and international websites!