THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL

February 2012 Volume 20, Issue 5 Editor: Jerrie Dooley

jemdooley@austin.rr.com

BETA ZETA BUZZ

FREDERICKSBURG, TEXAS

Meeting:
Monday, February 27 4:00 p.m. - Social 4:20 p.m.- Meeting Fbg. Elementary Library
F

Presidents Message

Hostesses:
Helen Usener-Lead Margaret Bierschwale Emily Bierschwale Ann Pfeiffer Marsha Pape Sheila Bingham Tisha Clements Program: A Visit from Local Author, Donna Ketchbaw on her book, Savannahs Choices Purpose 2: To honor women who have given or who evidence a potential for distinctive service in any field of education. Purpose 7: To inform the membership of current economic, social, political and educational issues so that they may become effective members of a world society.

MISSION STATEMENT

Step into the Spotlight

Please join my friends and me on the red carpet as we "EXPERIENCE LAS COLINAS!" I REALLY want YOU to go! The mood will be ELECTRIC as we step out, strike a pose, and take advantage of every (photo) opportunity! The Texas State Convention offers EXCITEMENT, ELEGANCE, ENTERTAINMENT, ENERGY, ENCHANTMENT, and ENLIGHTENMENT this year. Were going early and staying late so we wont miss any of the events on the A List -- beginning with the Wednesday night Soiree and ending with the glitter and glamour of the Founders Banquet. The Omni Mandalay is the EPITOME of relaxation! In addition to the tours, workshops, and breakout sessions, were taking gondola rides on Lake Carolyn and enjoying spa services at the renowned Mokara Spa! Hopefully, Beta Zeta will shine when the awards are presented, and well bring home a few Grammies. Ill have your back as we fight off the paparazzi at this Delta Kappa Gamma premier EVENT! Tammy Vitek, President
Are you ready to sign up for Convention? If Tammy has convinced you to join the merry group going to Las Colinas on June 21-23, then sign up here: http://tsoconvention.weebly.com/registration.html. Mail the form by May 7 for the lower price. Tammy and Jerrie have reserved 4 rooms at the luxurious Omni Mandalay for 8 members to share. Tell Tammy if you plan to attend and want to share a room. We will carpool to Irving to keep expenses down as much as possible. Its always a real treat to get away and have some fun with your DKG sisters.

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International promotes professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education.
VISION STATEMENT

Leading women educators impacting education worldwide.

Service: Bring items for

the Boys and Girls Club

Music: All You Need is

Love Beta Zeta website: www.betazeta.weebly.com State website: www.alphastatetexas.org International website:
www.deltakappagamma.org

Special thanks to Carolyn Otto for many of the pictures of members used in this newsletter.

President Tammy is winding down her biennium. Who will lead us next? Check out page 3 to see who answered the call to be our new officers. We vote on Monday and install them at Founders Day in March.

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CASA: A Special Kind of Volunteering

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Share DKG; Invite a Prospective New Member
Have you been thinking of someone who would be a great addition to Beta Zeta? Invite them to our next meeting! We would like to add more members from middle and high school, private schools as well as teachers with 5 years experience or less. Besides classroom teachers, other areas can include teaching assistants, college and LVN/RN instructors, in fact, anyone who works in or has retired from the education field. Approved at the last international convention, there is no minimum number of years teaching required or limit on how long since a person retired. Forms are available from Janet Hext if you have a new member to nominate. Members will vote on prospective new members at the April meeting. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! February Tammy Vitek 3 Helen Weiss 4 Catherine Davis 17

Program Chairman, Karen Loeffler, introduced our January speaker, . Dianne Oehler, who is the Executive Director of Hill Country CASA, which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. Dianne captured our attention and hearts with information on the special role of these volunteers in helping the court system keep the best interest of the child in mind when assigning placement of abused or neglected children. Dianne called the role of the CASA volunteer a very grown-up kind of volunteering. A CASA volunteer is carefully vetted and trained to give the court system vital information about a child who may need a foster care placement. In an overburdened Child Protective Services system, the CASA focuses on one child, gathers information by talking to the child, teachers, counselors, etc. and compiling a report to be used by attorneys and judges who make decisions about the best placement for the child. CASAs fill a vital role to insure each child gets to live in a home that is safe and nurturing. Our member, Suzanne Wessels, became a CASA volunteer shortly after retiring. Suzanne says, I knew that CASA was always asking for volunteers, and it seemed like it would fit in with my experience in education. It is a very worthwhile activity that helps the child that you follow until the case is resolved. You also get ongoing training. There is a great need as child abuse seems to be increasing. Suzanne urges others to give it a try. For more information or to apply to be a CASA volunteer, contact Donna Oehler at 830-896-2272 or email hccasa@ktc.com. Visit the state CASA website at http://www.texascasa.org/.

Vondell Jordan-25
March

Andrea Hudson - 23
Where Are They Now? Recognizing the need for great new teachers, Beta Zeta awards a grant-in-aid of $500 each year to an education student who will student teach during the coming school year. Our last 2 grant-in-aid recipients are both employed in the education field while waiting for openings as elementary teachers. Our 2010 recipient, Noel Clark, graduated in December 2010 and is a special education teaching assistant at Fredericksburg Middle School. Our 2011 recipient, Kim Baiza, who just graduated in December 2011, is employed as a long-term substitute in Junction ISD. Both ladies are gaining valuable experience in their jobs. Our 2009 recipient, Miranda Bosquez, is in her 2nd year as a special education teacher in San Antonio. This coming year, there are no Texas Tech at Fredericksburg students who will student teach as all the senior students are teaching assistants who are exempt from student teaching and will graduate in August. So we need to look in the broader community for student teachers who are attending colleges away from Fredericksburg. Contact Janet Hext at jhext001@austin.rr.com if you know of a deserving candidate.
Founders Day 2012 Founders Day is just around the corner on th Monday, March 26 . We will install our new officers, th celebrate Beta Zetas 77 birthday, and honor our founders. We will also enjoy a salad supper provided by the hostesses. This is our final fundraiser for the year to fund our grant-in-aid, so please give Tisha $7.50 or send to her at 306 W. Ufer St. If you cant attend, but want to support the grant-in-aid program, then please give Tisha a donation to this fund.

BETA ZETA BUZZ

Look Whats Coming Up!
A Visit with Author Donna Ketchbaw

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Answering the Call Six wonderful Beta Zeta ladies answered the call from the Nominating Committee and said Yes to serving in an office for the next two years. They bring years of experience and dedication to our organization. We will vote on officers at the February meeting. The slate of officers to be presented for a vote by the members is:

Intrigue, romance, and revenge are words used to describe Donna Ketchbaws first published novel, Savanahs Choices. Donna will talk about her book and motivation to become a writer at the February meeting. A resident of the Hill Country, Donna grew up in the south, and her first career was as a speech pathologist in area schools. As a young woman, she was also a finalist in the Miss Texas pageant. Besides writing, she spends her time in her garden and playing with her grandchildren. From the Amazon website, here is a description of Savannahs Choices: Savannah's Choices illustrates how a simple choice, made without regard for its consequences, dramatically changes one young woman's life. Choices pave our destiny. If you don't risk anything, you risk everything. Savannah's choices were born of terrible pain that hardens her resolve and makes her determined to survive in spite of it. That choice, right or wrong, set Savannah on a journey that is exciting, devastating and exhilarating. More than a love story, it also captures the romanticism and ruggedness of the southwest, and offers a different view of the traditional Southern woman.

President: Karen Loeffler is fairly new to DKG, but she wasted no time getting very involved. She st is currently 1 VP and has enriched our meetings with many outstanding programs. She has also attended numerous state conventions. She is always quick to volunteer whenever a need arises. 1 VP in charge of programs: Helen Usener has been a faithful member for 13 years and served several bienniums as Human Growth and Services Chair. She is responsible for developing our Boys and Girls Club project that is still going strong. 2 VP in charge of yearbook: Andrea Hudson, a 10 year member, is currently in this position and did an outstanding job of creating a streamlined yearbook that is attractive, efficient, and informative. A former membership chairman, Andrea is always willing to serve in a leadership role. Recording Secretary: Beth Luckenbach has served DKG as a member for 7 years. She has participated in several state conventions and most recently served as the yearbook chairman in 2008-2010. Efficient and meticulous, Beth can always be counted on for her help whenever needed.
nd st

Need money for education?

State: Texas State DKG has almost $2 million in scholarships. The deadline to apply is March 1. Applications are at
http://www.alphastatetexas.org/scholarships.html.

Beta Zeta: Get a $100 scholarship from Beta Zeta for conferences, workshops and continuing ed. Contact Janet at

Corresponding Secretary: Amy ONeil has enjoyed membership in DKG for 23 years! A loyal member, Amy is always willing to serve, and is currently the recording secretary. Her experience will be an asset to this group of officers. The new president will appoint the treasurer and parliamentarian.

jhext001@austin.rr.com for information.

BETA ZETA BUZZ

Helping Opportunities for Beta Zeta

Page 4

United Through Reading

Each year, a new unifying project is chosen for the state DKG convention. Last year, members across the state put together Treasure Boxes of goodies for chronically ill children in South Texas. Beta Zeta members generously donated enough items to fill over 20 shoebox size containers. Hundreds of boxes were donated from members across the state. This years project is one surely to elicit the same response. Members are asked to donate new childrens books to be used in the United Through Reading military project. The books and donated writable DVDs will be used to allow a separated parent who is serving a deployment to be videoed reading the book. The DVD is then given to the family of the person to be enjoyed again and again. Feedback on this program has shown that the DVDs of the parent ease the stress of separation and allow the children to stay connected to their parent during the long separation. This award-winning program was started by a teacher in 1989. Betty Mohlenbrock experienced firsthand the stress of raising a child while her military doctor husband spent long deployments in Vietnam. She also taught children who struggled with reading. Her vision was to do something to ease the separations and also to encourage reading to and with children in their homes. Since that time, over one million families have benefitted from this program. Visit their website for more information and a touching video: http://www.unitedthroughreading.org/. Click on the video under Program Overview. Thank you for continuing to help the Boys and Girls Club. Please bring items to the meeting. Money and gift cards are also greatly appreciated.

How You Can Help Bring new childrens books to the next few meetings. Donations for the DVDs and more books will also be accepted at meetings or by mail to Tisha Clements at 306 W. Ufer St. The members who attend the convention will take these with them to donate from Beta Zeta.

Putting the Special in Special Olympics

Make plans now to take part as a volunteer in the Special Olympics meet in Marble Falls on Thursday, Apr. 5. Beta Zetas who volunteered their time to participate last year came away with a glad heart and a renewed sense of what is good in this world. In Texas, the mission of Special Olympics Texas is to provide year-round training and competition in sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community. Sign up to volunteer one day of your time for this special event.

Floye, Beth, Leatrice, Jan, Joanne, and Linda show their musical side with rhythm instruments and a lively rendition of Lean on Me.

Janet and Jerrie look over brochures for recruiting new members.

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Beta Zeta Chapter Minutes January 23, 2012 The January meeting of Beta Zeta met on January 23, 2012 at Fredericksburg Elementary School. Tammy Vitek called the meeting to order, and Janie Immel presented inspirational lessons for life. There were 37 members and one guest present. Hostesses were Andrea Hudson, Evelyn Weinheimer, Karen Loeffler, Floye Burnett, Elena Howard, Jo Dodd and Carolyn Kuhlmann. CASA: Helping Children in CPS was the program. Karen Loeffler introduced Diane Oehler, Executive Director of Hill Country CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) in Kerrville. Mrs. Oehler talked about the number of children served in the Hill Country, the role of CASA and its volunteers, and how to become a CASA volunteer. BUSINESS MEETING: The minutes of the November meeting were approved as printed. The treasurers report showed a balance of $1,857.15 in the checking account, and the CD balance of $1,956.93. The report was filed for audit. CORRESPONDENCE: Janet Hext read a thank you letter from the Boys and Girls Club. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Grant-in-Aid/Scholarships: International scholarship applications must be postmarked by Feb. 1, 2012. State scholarships guidelines and applications are due by March 1, 2012. Personal Growth and Services: The Special Olympics will be held in Marble Falls on April 5, 2012. Jo Dodd is in charge. Legislative: No report Nominations: Delores Klussmann presented nominations for new officers. President - Karen Loeffler Vice President in charge of Programs - Helen Usener Vice President in charge of Yearbook - Andrea Hudson Recording Secretary - Beth Luckenbach Corresponding Secretary - Amy ONeil NEW BUSINESS: rd The 83 Texas State Organization Convention will be held at Las Colinas on June 21 - 23. Please let Tammy know if you are planning to attend. They are looking for singers and instrumentalists and artists. They are also looking for anyone interested in presenting a breakout workshop. The Unifying Project will be the United Through Reading Program. Members will donate books and writable DVDs. Catherine Davis volunteered to purchase the DVDs since they come in large quantities, and members can pay her for them. Members can start bringing books to the next meeting. Joanne Davis talked about the fundraiser for the ASTEF Foundation. It will be a week long cruise out of Galveston October 14 - 21. More information is available on the state website. Retired Teachers association has $500 to donate to classrooms, and a $500 scholarship to donate to a relative of a retired teacher. Helen Weiss has a birthday Feb. 4. She is living at Knopp Retirement Center at 103 E. Trailmoor if you would like to visit or send her a card. Brag box and prize drawings were held, and Lindy Haley led the closing song, Lean on Me. The next meeting will be Monday, Feb. 27, 2012 at Fredericksburg Elementary School. The program will be Savannahs Choices, a novel by our speaker, Donna Ketchbaw. Respectfully submitted, Beth Luckenbach for Amy ONeil, Secretary Tammy Vitek, President