GFA PA Meeting Thursday, April 16, 2009 8:00 Oak Room Attending: Joy Hoffman, Berkeley Soper, Kim Rummelsburg, Mary Jean Koster, Bonnie Hirschfeld, Rita Kruk, Kersti Crawford, Olivia Lovelace, Bonnie Paige, Molly McGrath, Sherron Velez, Susan Shack Sackler, Alison Lew, Katie Traynor, Tara Backe, Roberta Conroy, Bevo Tarika, Nancy Saipe, Wendy Nixon, Monica McNally, Silvia Durno, Carol Wilson, Susan Doelp, Brooke McIlvaine The meeting started at 8:10. Minutes from the February PA meeting were approved. In addition, the amendments to the PA By-Laws were voted on and approved. Janet Hartwell spoke and provided some highlights of student and faculty life. She said the extracurricular activities represent the best of independent education. Included in these activities is the Diversity Conference of Independent schools which GFA recently hosted. Over 350 people attended from 20 schools. Just over 40 students from GFA were there. The keynote speaker was a slam poet who writes poetry acted out through drama. GFA students also provided traditional Chinese and Indian dances and Janet felt this entertainment moved the conference to another level. Flik underwrote the food. The event provided great exposure for the school. Another event which she mentioned was the first World Religion Symposium day. The purpose was to expose different religions and give a perspective of how they affect our world. The keynote speaker was the Chaplain of Exeter who spoke of his dealings with people of all faiths and no faith. This event also showcased performances- both music and dance- representing different religions. Janet felt this was a good first step and if it is done again, especially for the Upper School, it would need to go into more depth on the various religions. She also touched on a gift to the school of $50,000 per year to fund various faculty members in further pursuing their knowledge/interests and be able to bring this back to the classroom. She cited examples including teachers traveling this summer to pursue further knowledge of impressionistic painters and various alternative theories on the Odyssey. GFA has applied to the Ford Foundation for a matching grant for this gift so more of this teacher enrichment could take place. Finally, Janet thanked everyone for their involvement in the school. Susan Doelp mentioned that Grandparents Day for the lower school is Friday, April 24. Grandparents have wanted to spend more time in the classroom and the day has been devised that way. Amy Eppes and Linda Lee-Gabel are the chairs. Spring Market Day is May 1. Monica McNally spoke about the plant sale where they will be selling flowers, tomatoes and herbs. Parents can pre-order plants on the web or by filling out a form in the lobby of the school. There will also be a middle school food sale, a potting shed, planted pots where the pots have been painted by kids in lower school. In the evening, Sylvia Durno or organizing a casual adult only evening at school with the Big Green Pizza Truck. The cost is $30 per person. On Sunday, May 3 the 4th Spring into Spring race will be held at 9:00 a.m.. Carol Cheswick Wilson said they are having a hard time getting sponsors. This year they will do both races simultaneously. They need volunteers on the day of the race. This is the only financial aid fundraiser of the year. Bevo Tarika spoke about the 5th annual Horizons fundraiser on June 8. It is a golf and tennis event. The charge for golf is $750 and for tennis $150. If someone wants to come to the cocktail party/auction it is $100. They are looking for volunteers and for auction items such as golf rounds and sports tickets. All funds raised go to Horizons and Horizons exists at GFA solely on the support of individuals who contribute to the program. The MS/US Art show is tonight. On May 17, GFA will host a community art show which includes art of current students and alumni. The college book group meets on April 15 at 8:15. Bonnie Hirschfeld spoke about Learning to Look which she has been organizing for ten years. It is a program of interactive art learning based on the permanent collection of art at the Met. She is posting new pictures on the bulletin board of the current 5th graders working on the Egyptian vases this past winter. Susan Doelp mentioned that the Cross Over Breakfast for the board is on May 14 and the Cross Over Luncheon for the class parents is on May 21. Both are at the Fairfield Historical Society. Ben Gott, 6th grade English teacher and 7th grade dean, spoke about social networking through technology. He defined a digital native as someone who has grown up socialized in technology which has changed the way kids act. This is versus a digital immigrant which is someone who was socialized in pre-digital ways. Ben mentioned that he keeps all his e mails/instant messages for ten years by downloading them on a disc at the end of each year. It allows him to refer back to them, if he needs to. Kids today don’t always understand that it is better to talk face to face rather than to text, im, e mail, etc.. He discussed the popularity of Facebook which now has 200 million active users which is projected to grow to 300 million. It is the fifth most visited site on the Internet. It has changed the way students share information about themselves. Ben gave examples of how it can be useful but also how it can be damaging. Photos and news posted on it can be damaging in themselves and forwarded to others. Facebook can allow students to portray a reality that they created. Individuals have actually ‘framed’ others by putting damaging photos on it. The default setting is to let everyone in a community see your Facebook. In order to change this you have to manually go in and change that default so no one can see your profile. As a parent you can say you can go on it, ‘if’, for example, I can see your profile page, list of friends, etc.. His suggestion was to also keep chargers away from kids at night, as a way to police them. The meeting concluded at 9:40. Submitted by Mary Jean Koster, Secretary