NOTE: Be sure to read the FAQ’s toward the
end…your burning question might be addressed.
We have a record-setting enrollment for this
school year--152 members participating in classes. In addition, we have quite a
few Associate Members who join us for noon programs and social activities. Our Publicity Committee did a great job
getting the word out about La Causerie.
The bad news is that some classes are filled to
capacity. There is both a physical
capacity (some of our rooms are very small) and an optimum teaching capacity
(we want everyone to have the chance to speak since we focus so much on
conversation). So it may be difficult
to place members in the classes they want.
If you want to make a change to another class, or
if you are not yet enrolled, please contact Linda Rei to see if there is space
available before you attend a
class. Linda Rei: 816-931-0301 We make every effort to suit your needs, but we do face real
limitations.
Membership
meeting
There
will be a membership meeting on Friday, October 27, from 10 to 11 a.m. in the
Fellowship Hall. NO classes will meet
at that time and all faculty members are requested to attend the meeting. This is a great time for members to meet
each other and learn more about the club you now belong to. As an all volunteer
organization, membership understanding and involvement is critical to our
success.
According to our By-Laws, La Causerie holds two membership meetings each
year. The other, held in the spring, is
our Annual Meeting where elections take place.
It will be held in the 11 a.m. class slot (and will not interfere again with the 10 a.m. classes).
Have a
facilities issue?
Then tell a board member, not
someone who works at the church. They
request that La Causerie issues, suggestions and requests be funneled through
Inez.
Champs-Elysées is here
Well,
not the monument. The audio magazine Champs-Elysées has arrived for
Cyprienne’s Cafe Conversation at 11 a.m.
The price will be around $55 (we’re checking on it) so bring a blank
check with you on Friday. Mary Lew
McCarty will be collecting your payments and distributing the materials.
And, no,
we haven’t broken our new textbook purchase policy for this one class…this
particular teaching tool (a monthly magazine and CD) requires a group purchase.
Several times a year each
department holds noon programs featuring speakers in their language. If you
know someone who would make a good presenter, please tell a board member. We tend to prefer native speakers but the
programs can be on any topic the speaker is comfortable with. We’ve heard about Versailles and Peru from people
who grew up there, the political situation in France, Italian Renaissance art
and much, much more. You can help set
up interesting listening and conversational opportunities by hooking us up with
people you know. You don’t have to
arrange anything (unless you want to), just open the door for us.
Noon programs are often followed
by Dutch treat lunches with the speakers. Participation in lunch is optional
and is arranged on the spot that day.
No advance RSVP necessary.
Having tasty snacks to get us through our Friday
morning studies depends on you. You don’t have to feed the entire school—three
or four other members will contribute, too.
Just a few years ago our snacks comprised instant coffee, hot tea and
Hy-Vee cookies (if we were lucky). Now you enjoy freshly brewed, good quality
roast coffee and tea, a range of tasty and healthy treats plus the opportunity
to contribute to our bake sale, both financially and otherwise. But it requires member involvement.
Veronica Bergonzoni organizes this and thanks
those who signed up on Friday. If we
missed you last week, there is always a sign up sheet on the snack table and
you can choose to bring a sweet or savory treat. Or contact Veronica directly to help: (see
Livret for contact info)
Former La Causerie member
(and Spanish student) Kerry Noel died after a fight with cancer on Saturday,
October 7, 2006.
Homework
Homework assignments are
now being posted online by our faculty.
To find assignments, go to www.lacauserie.org. Click on WIKI in the tabs at the top of the page, find your language
and select your class. If you’re not
getting access to homework online, talk to your teacher.
Parking Help
If there are no available
spaces when you arrive, be aware that parking is allowed on the Missouri of
State Line on 64th Street and on 63rd Terrace. We’re not the only ones who use the church
parking lot, so we can’t control that space. But parking should be a bit better
now that the lot has been resurfaced and lines have been drawn.
Handicapped parking is available in the circle drive at the
front of the church. Enter the front
door and take the elevator to the basement for classes. People in the church office are glad to help
you find and operate the elevator.
Oct. 20 Classes Meet
Oct.
27 Classes Meet (except from 10 am to 11
am)
10 am to 11 am Membership Meeting in fellowship hall
Nov. 3 Classes Meet
Nov. 10 Classes Meet
Nov. 17 Classes Meet
Nov. 24 Thanksgiving Holiday; no classes
Then tell your department
chair.
*Please note that Carol
Dirkes is out of town until November. Contact Inez in the interim.
Executive Board Members
2006-2007
President: Inez Pennington (see Livret for contact info)
First VP: Linda Rei (see Livret for contact info)
Second VP: Veronica Bergonzoni (also
Chair of Hospitality) (see Livret for contact info)
Secretary: Joan Daniels (see Livret for contact info)
Asst. Secy: Dalene Bradford (newsletter and publicity) (see
Livret for contact info)
Treasurer: Linda Lyon (see Livret for contact info)
Asst. Treas: Mary
Lew McCarty (also Book Chair) (see Livret
for contact info)
FAQ’s we’ve heard this year
Why are snacks and coffee in the hall
this year (and not in the Fireside Room as they used to be)? Why are we meeting
in odd spaces, like the stage, sanctuary and chapel?
We have expanded the range of classes offered this
year to meet member needs. At 10 a.m.,
for example, we need seven (count ‘em, seven)
classrooms. We used to require a mere
four or five. This is one of the costs of progress.
Putting snacks in the Fireside Room was good for
relationship building, but caused us to give up our very best teaching
space. Trying to run a class behind the
closed divider (with snack service on the other side) didn’t work for student
concentration. So we took the lesser of two evils and made the Fireside Room
available for our largest classes.
This year we also lost access to one room that was
needed exclusively for the preschool lunchroom (due to Kansas child care
licensing regulations). So we had to be
creative in our use of space. We’ll
just have to roll with it.
Why doesn’t La Causerie find space
somewhere else?
We’re an odd renter in that we only need space one
day a week. So finding a landlord who
has seven to 10 rooms available one day a week is difficult. Two years ago the
board searched for a different site, but the rents they found were more than
double that offered by our current, wonderful and supportive landlord. Given
our growth, we are always on the look, however. If you have an idea, tell a
board member.
When do classes actually begin and
end?
Most classes begin on the hour and end at ten till
the hour. The obvious exceptions are
the one and a half-hour French classes.
This is necessary so that students can change classes efficiently. Since most rooms don’t have clocks, students
should remind teachers ten minutes before the class ends. Teachers should then assign any homework and
end the class so the next class can begin on time.
Why was it so cold inside last Friday?
The church either has access to either heat or to
AC. As in most large buildings, they
cannot change back and forth on the spur of the moment. Last week’s cold weather hit before the
church had converted to heat. A church
group decides when this will take place.
Since it can turn warm again after the heat is turned on, our advice is
to dress in layers until the weather settles into a predictable pattern.