LISD Academic Advocates

1. Call to Order and Pledge. The meeting was called to order at 7:11 pm and those in attendance recited the Pledge of Allegiance .

2. Minutes & correspondence. The minutes were read from the Aug. 25, 2004 meeting. Judy True moved approval of the minutes and Ray Cowperthwaite seconded the motion.

3. Treasurer's report. The beginning balance was $2343.14. There was income from 6 individual memberships for $30.00 and one from Leonard B. Smith (corporate donation) for $75.00. There was one expense for $500.00 for Clark Smithson (student scholarship). The ending balance was $1948.14.

4. Committee reports:

---Ray Cowperthwaite talked with Tom Glenn, school principals and vice principals about having different competitions within the school district. The principals liked the idea. They would go back and talk with their teachers. They would then get back with Tom Glenn and let him know what the teachers thought. Joe Ciccarelli (CPHS geography and history teacher) really liked the idea. He thought it could start off with mini competitions in the classrooms then have competitions between classes.

--Chris Kaye reported that Leander and Vista Ridge High Schools are in favor of starting a site base recognition committee on their campuses. They are needing someone from those campuses to start it up.

Oct. 19, 2004 is LISD College Night at 7pm at Leander High School.

5. 5. Speaker:
Ms. Elizabeth Heinzelman and students Forrest Blackwelder and Brittany Ponder spoke to us on the National competition in Latin that they attended. There is more taught in the classrooms than just language - such as history, culture and mythology. The Latin students attended area, state and national competitions this past year. Some of the areas of competition are art, dress (costume) and academics. A popular game of competition is called Certamen. This is a form of a Jeopardy buzz in game. The Nationals were held this past summer at Richmond, VA. The area competitions will be held in February 2005 this year.

A scrapbook made by the Latin Club was shared. It had pictures, programs and ribbons of the previous year (2003-2004) including going to the state and National competition. An interesting tidbit about Latin: students who study Latin increase their vocabulary scores on the PSAT and SAT by about 500 points.

6. 6. Sound off: Try to have someone from TEA come talk to us about the state accountability standards.

7. Announcements. The next meeting will be Oct. 27, 2004. The speaker is Maryann Barry a dyslexia specialist.

8. The meeting adjourned at 8:28 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Hosier
Secretary