28 members present
Meeting called to order at 9:10 am.
Introductions were made.

Committee Reports

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR’S REPORT:
Michelle Mitchell and Anne Ward
Packet stuffing for the back to school packet was finished in one day for the first time ever this year. Beaver days went very smoothly. We would like to see the “letters” for the lines at the photography section hung higher on the wall so the students can see them. It also needed to be made clear that students needed to obtain their activity sticker before being photographed for their ID.

We have gotten lots of volunteer forms back this year. Karen Cunningham will be entering the data and giving the volunteer lists to the chairs of the different committees/events.

As a volunteer committee, Michelle would like to see us set some goals this year. We will discuss this more at the end of the meeting, under meeting results/goal setting.

COUNSELING: Judy Johnson
These first two weeks have been extremely busy. The registrar moved and has been replaced, but the new person does not start until September 26th. They have had temp help in and also have a number of volunteers returning who have helped in the past.

The counseling office has a list of all the colleges who are visiting our campus in September and October. You may also get the information from the web site.

CLASSROOM AND DATABASE:
Karen Cunningham
We have found chaperones for the field trips Karen had requested previously. Karen plans to work on entering the information from the volunteer forms this weekend, then e-mailing the list to each of the chairs.

COLLEGE AND CAREER CENTER:
Martha Callahan and Julie Noonan
We are beginning a new program this year called “Connections.” The CCC will be using volunteers who have been active in the past to mentor students from the junior and senior class and help them through the college selection and financial aid process. They have 17 volunteers already committed and plan to assign each volunteer 10 students. The goal would be for these volunteers to work with their group of students from fall of their junior year through the end of their senior year (a two year commitment). Other CCC volunteer opportunities will remain the same as last year. This would involve filing, helping students that come in, computer work, etc.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES: Leslie Beechwood
Leslie has contacted Mr. Nieslanik to determine what activities she needs people for-dances, back to school night, etc. The homecoming dance is October 22nd.

NEWSLETTER: Jane Saunders
The first newsletter went out yesterday. They had 10 volunteers. They will generally send it out on the second Thursday of the month, and will meet in the conference room. (The community room is used for advisory.)

SCHOLARSHIPS: Lori Scott and Denise Velaski
The list will be updated every Wednesday.
WEB SITE: Anne Ward www.bhsvolunteers.org
Our volunteer web site has all kinds of information so be sure to look at it. Let Anne or Michelle know if there is anything you want to see added to it.

MENTORING: Denise Velaski, Rita Morgan
This program connects adults in our community with students who are struggling. The idea is to provide positive adult influence. You would begin working with your student as a freshman and carry through their whole high school experience.

(Continued from left column)

PRINT SHOP FOR ADVISORY:
This is a new activity and we are looking for someone to chair this. Because advisory is by grade level this year there is more structure. Volunteers are needed to make sure all handouts are printed. A notebook would be ready two weeks ahead of time with all the materials that need to be copied and instructions on how many copies to make.

MEETING RESULTS/GOAL SETTING:
We discussed what we would like to have occur at our monthly meetings:
It would be valuable to have different staff members in addition to the VP come in a give reports (ie. Mr. Nieslanik could give a report on activities.) It was also mentioned that it would be helpful if the meetings were shorter. Possibly we could have a business meeting first and then a discussion session afterwards. We will also start on time in the future.

VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION/PRINCIPAL’S TEA:
Our next meeting on October 7th will include a visit with Janice Adams, our principal.

Please visit our volunteer website. It has basic information like where to park, where to get a nametag and much more!

Some discussion followed about early release seniors. Apparently many have been seen at Starbucks or DQ. It was felt that if they did not have a job to go to or a reason to be released early, they could use that time to take classes and prepare for college. Possibly we could offer a variety of classes such as woodshop and auto mechanics that would interest some of our students. The school board has also discussed this issue.

VICE-PRINCIPAL’S REPORT:
Ronda Haun introduced herself. She is most recently from David Douglas High and is our new VP. Her responsibilities include facilities, athletics and activities, safety and 1/3 of the discipline issues.

She expressed her gratitude to the volunteer committee. This is her 4th school district and she has never seen such a wonderful support system.

Our enrollment this year is at 2015. We are very full in our elective classes.

Bond projections: We are pushing for support here and at the district level and in the community. Some repairs have been done on Merle Davies and the portables have begun to arrive. Terra Nova will be housed in the portables (a program for at risk high school students) and they will be used as classrooms to replace Merle Davies classes, which will close next year if we pass the bond.

Advisory is once a week by grade level this year. Students will remain with the same group, and link leaders are going into freshmen advisories.

Lockers: Students who wanted a locker selected partners and looked at their schedules with the attendance office to determine which is the best location for them. The administration is hoping the lockers will be used now that students can choose a partner. They can come to the attendance office anytime to sign up for a locker. In the future the plan is to do sign-ups in the spring.

Spirit Week is next week. We are promoting good sportsmanship and positive energy. We have added bleachers in the end zone and are hoping to encourage the middle school students to sit in them.

Lines in the cafeteria are very long. They have changed some teachers to a different lunch time to balance the number of students better. They are hoping the lines will get shorter as time passes.

There was a proposal made by the student government to schedule an extra dance to raise funds for Katrina victims. The administration at BHS denied the proposal because they did not want to set a precedent.

Upcoming Dates:
September 27-College Planning Night
October 5-Back to School Night
Mid October-Play “Mother Hicks”
October 17-21 Homecoming Week
October 22-Homecoming Dance

Adjourned 11:15