LISD Academic Advocates

1. Call to Order and Pledge. President Elizabeth Frey called the meeting to order at 7:05 and those present joined in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

2. Minutes and Correspondence. Minutes for August 28 meeting were approved as read and will be posted to the website within 5 days. Receipt of a thank you note from Nancy Scott, one of the August speakers, was noted.

3. Treasurer's report and budget. In the absence of the treasurer, Chris Cavalli noted that she and the other auditors have completed the review of the 2001-2002 financial records. With the exception of $4.75 owed to E. Frey for copying expenses, all other transactions appeared to be in order.

4. Membership report. In the absence of the membership chair, Erika Mittag noted that we currently have 50 paid members. Chris Kay volunteered to create certificates to present to our previous corporate sponsors when calling on them to contribute for the current year. Invoices could be sent to non-paid members. A public relations plan is needed to advertise our organization and gain more members. Ideas included making presentations to the PTA's, creating a brochure, and making posters for all of the schools..

5. Discuss speaker topics. Given the feedback of attendees at the last meeting, Gifted and Talented is still a topic of high interest. Possible speakers/topics include the director of the Round Rock TAG program, Alicia Russell on how middle school curriculum is preparing students for AP/IB programs, learn more about a possible middle school IB program, learn more about the collaboration between LISD and ACC, what does a strong elementary science program look like, update on the differentiation program at LMS.

6. Update on "Next Steps" - current district programs addressing accelerated learners. Chris Cavalli and Erika Mittag will be meeting with Monta Akin, Anita Cotter, Alicia Russell and Kathy Wood on September 26. We reviewed the list of topics from the June meeting to highlight specific questions of interest to Academic Advocates members.

7. Summary of Roger Taylor workshop. Erika Mittag described the workshop held in Georgetown on September 21. Dr Taylor's website is http://www.rogertaylor.com/ He specializes in curriculum design for differentiated instruction that is effective for both gifted and talented students as well as at-risk and special needs students. The focus is on research based teaching techniques in integrated, interdisciplinary, holistic learning addressing the diverse learning styles of multiple intelligences. Dr Taylor is an enthusiastic and energetic presenter and the program was very inspiring.

8. Update regarding Spelling emphasis mandated by the Board for this academic year Elizabeth Frey described the recent action by the School Board to emphasize accurate spelling across the curriculum. Pam Waggoner, school board member, also clarified the board's expectations.

9. Round table discussion. One member was curious about how students were being encouraged to participate in the current election activities.

We agreed to keep introductory information prior to any speaker program as short as possible.

10. Announcements:
a. Next meeting, Wednesday, October 30, 2002, 7 p.m., CPMS Library
b. TAKS meetings : Thursday, Sept. 26, 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at Leander Middle School Library;
Monday, Sept. 30, 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at Cedar Park Middle School Library
c. Renew Hill Country News paid subscriptions; designate Academic Advocates for the $10 education organization donation

11. The meeting adjourned at 8:32 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Erika Mittag
Secretary