School Advisory Council
Meeting
November 15, 2006
In attendance: Dan Kennedy, CSM Charles Thomas, Robert
Lechner, Ken Cowles, Jann Vasiloff, Col.
Steve Cork, Bill Race, Chuck Turner, Hirra Dunn, Pat Pillot, Jim Young, Vera
McClaugherty, Madalyn Andrews, Robert Graham, Cadets Katherine Valdesuso, Kyle
Seeger, John Miericke, Kaitlin Jeffrey, Ryan Thompson, Jack O’Reilly
Chairman Ken Cowles called the meeting to order at 11:05 a.m. The October minutes were approved with the addition of “no new business.”
Commandant’s Report: Col. Cork reported that the SMA drill meet went very well with 15 schools from across the state sending teams to compete. The SMA placed third overall. He commented that a major reason for the success of the meet was due to parent participation and the numbers that volunteered. Jann Vasiloff mentioned that a lot of thanks were due Monika Wysocka who was in charge of feeding over 60 judges who participated that day. Col. reported that the Creative Chefs event went well and we should realize a substantial donation to the school from the generosity of the event holders. Last year’s money was put towards the capital campaign and he envisions that this year’s donation will be put to that use again. Those monies contribute to the upkeep and improvement of the current facility. Again, he mentioned that parent participation was instrumental in the success of the event. Financially the school continues on firm footing. He relayed comments on the success of Veterans’ Day and the school’s participation in honoring veterans that he received from the general public, and he reiterated that we must always stay focused on the reason behind Veterans’ Day and who we are honoring.
Headmaster’s Report: Mr. Kennedy reported on the overwhelming success of Veterans’ Day and that the event continues to get better every year with more participation each year. This year veteran, John Wood, was honored. Mr. Wood is a survivor of the Bataan Death march. There have not been any new offers on our property to date, but the property on Fruitville does have another offer on it so the search will continue for a new site for the school. Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings visited the school on 10/27 and that visit went very well. Mrs. Maria Brotherton, a parent at the school, arranged that. She is also in charge of the care packages being collected from the community and sent to the troops overseas which culminates this week.
Old Business: Mr. Cowles reported that the girls’ lacrosse team could use more players and allowing girls from other schools to play is a possibility. Due to a shortage of referees when the girls’ team plays all their games will be played in one day in the same location. Mrs. Brotherton has offered to provide the uniforms for the girls. Currently the practice fields that are used by the men’s team are costly so they are looking for a field for free and/or help in fund raising to meet the costs. Scheduling was done for this year; there will be 12 games on Friday and Saturday nights, most home games, so Mr. Cowles encouraged everyone to attend and encourage the SMA students to come out and support the team. There has been a good response to fielding a middle school team which would act as a feeder for the high school teams.
Prof. Lechner presented the version of the Vision, Mission and Beliefs statement that the committee for the SACS accreditation finalized at their last meeting. He complimented the committee on their hard work and stated that he felt that it was certainly a collaborative effort and one the members took very seriously. He mentioned that they were all pleased with the final document. It was given to the school faculty for their input and those changes, if appropriate, are reflected in the final version. A motion was made and seconded to accept the Vision, Mission and Beliefs statement as presented. Motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Bill Race complimented Prof. Lechner on the superlative job he did in bringing the committee together and guiding it to its final goal. He also asked if other schools have similar documents. Prof. Lechner said that the vision and mission portion are required in the district’s SIPs so that all schools have at least that portion which are available for reading on line.
CSM Thomas commented on the success of the SMA participation in McIntosh Middle school’s Veterans’ Day celebration on 11/10/06. Prof. Lechner complimented CSM Thomas on the speech he gave to the gathering. CSM Thomas wanted everyone to know that Maribeth McDermott did an outstanding job putting together SMA’s event on 11/11/06. He suggested the next time supplies are sent to troops overseas that we send phone cards instead since they will travel faster and easier and it is something everyone can use. The next major event for SMA is the RFR inspection in February. This is a huge undertaking as this is the year to have Cadet Command on site for the inspection. We must pass in order to retain our Honor Unit with Distinction rank.
New Business: Cadet Valdesuso asked if anything was being done about the damage to cars in the off campus site. Col. Cork reported that a staff member will be present during arrival and departure time.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:40 a.m. There will be no meeting in December due to the holiday break; the next meeting will be January 17, 2007 at 11:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jann Vasiloff, Recording Secretary