LISD Academic Advocates

1. Call to Order and Pledge. President E. Frey called the meeting to order at 7:04. Those present recited the pledge.

2. Secretary's report. Minutes for March 24, 2004, were approved unanimously as read.

3. Treasurer's report. F. Hashemi reported that since December 19, 2003, we had received $80 in individual memberships and donations, $150 in business memberships and a $500 donation from the College Aid Advantage, making the April 19 balance $1,574.08.

4. Receive donation via Greg Phillips from the ONEOK Foundation. Mr. Phillips of Texas Gas Service presented E. Frey with a check for $2000 for our scholarship fund. A photo and brief story will be submitted to the Hill Country News for possible publication.

5. Scholarship committee report. C. Cavalli reported that all but one of the judges had submitted their ratings. As soon as all ratings are complete, she will compile the results and notify the board and the winners. R. Cowperthwaite made a motion to extend 3 scholarships to students and 2 scholarships to staff each in the amount of $500. M. Hosier seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Thanks to judges E. Mittag, F. Hashemi, S. Taylor (VRHS principal), N. Scott (VRHS counselor), and B. Schaffer (First State Bank).

6. Nominating committee report. R. Cowperthwaite presented the slate of officers for the 2004-05 academic year. Those nominated are E. Mittag, President, C. Cavalli, Vice President, M Hosier, Secretary, and E. Frey, Treasurer. C. Cavalli moved that the slate be accepted by acclamation and the motion passed. Additional names put forward for service are R. Cowperthwaite and Dan Mahoney, Membership, C. Kay, High School chair, and F. Hashemi, Middle School chair. The nominating committee recommended that we attempt to find five people to serve as contacts for the elementaries so that each contact would be responsible for three schools. The board will take this recommendation under advisement.

7. Program: Erika Mittag - Texas Scholars Program. Erika has presented the Texas Scholars program to LISD students for the two years that LISD has participated in the program which was designed by the Texas Business and Education Coalition (TBEC) (http://www.texasscholars.org) to encourage students to follow a more rigorous curriculum schedule in high school to better prepare them for college or other additional learning opportunities. The program consists of a one hour presentation to 8th or 9th grade students by a member of the business community, emphasizing global competition and the realities of wages and budgets. Incentives include eligibility for certain scholarships and recognition medallions as well as a special indication on the high school transcript and annual incentives for staying on track to complete the plan. For the past number of years, a Texas Scholar was a student who completed the Recommended High School plan including 3 Math Credits, 3 Science Credits, 4 Social Studies Credits, 4 English Credits, 2 Foreign Language, along with PE, Fine Arts, Technology Applications, Speech Communications, Health, and Electives. Beginning with the class of 2008 (fall 2004 freshmen), the state mandated plan will be the Recommended plan and the TBEC and the district are working on a revised program to continue to encourage students to achieve beyond the standard curriculum expectations. In LISD the program is presented to 9th grade students in their career education class as they prepare their four-year plan. District contact for the program is Camille Clay who can be reached at camille.clay@leanderisd.org or by phone at 434-5014.

8. Announcements:
a. Next meeting, Wednesday, May 12, 2004 7 p.m., CPMS Library; Dr Vickie Phelps, Superintendent of Taylor ISD and scholarship awards
b. PTA Council is sponsoring a school board candidate forum at 7 p.m. May 3 at Cox Elementary.
c. Judges are still needed for Leander High School Senior Projects on May 4 and 5. Contact Pat Pewthers at 435-8342 for details.


9. The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Erika Mittag
Secretary