What’s up?
With
the
Annual Meeting scheduled for April 28 at 11 a.m. the Executive Board is
focusing on some strategic and “big picture” issues facing La Causerie. Some of our priority discussion items are
described below. We welcome your input now, as planning is underway. Also, our meeting time in April will be
short, so please take the time to chat with a board member and get your
two
cents in ahead of time!
Nominating
Committee. The board is appointing a
Nominating
Committee to prepare a slate of officers for election at the Annual
Meeting. Cerise Harris, secretary, and
Thad Carver, treasurer, have completed their terms and have asked to go
off the
board this year. The vice president
position is also open. The other officers are eligible for another term
and have
indicated willingness to serve longer. If anyone is interested in
joining the
Board and helping to steer our club through the coming year, please ask
an
officer for clarification of what is involved for each position.
Anticipating
growth. The Board is taking a
business-like
approach to anticipated growth and has generated budget projections by
playing
out various scenarios. We project
significant growth in the Spanish Department, already demonstrated by
our need
to hire Bill
Lozano
for an additional section of Advanced Spanish Conversation this year.
Because we need to plan for classroom space
and teachers, planning must take place now.
Annette Howard has proposed several options to add new classes
and
rethink old ones. We also turned away
students last fall in Beginning Italian and French.
La Causerie tries to keep classes small for optimum benefit to
members, but this raises our costs, as most members take multiple
classes.
Meeting
member needs. Some
note that beginner language students
“get the short end of the stick” at La Causerie. While
they pay full membership, they can generally take only one
course. In addition, it is difficult to
make progress with only one hour of class a week. The
Board is considering scheduling changes that would allow
beginning classes to last an hour and a half.
This, of course is contingent on space, teacher availability and
cost.
It has also been suggested that we could add a “Language Lab” hour to
help
beginning students with their pronunciation, perhaps run by a more
advanced
student volunteer. It has also been suggested that we add an
Intermediate
Italian Conversation. All these
decisions require planning and indicate another reason for the Board’s
business-like approach.
Need for
professional help. The
Board is considering hiring an outside consultant to manage the
enrollment
process next fall. This is a huge
undertaking for any volunteer, and needs to move beyond the shuffling
of
hand-written papers. Computerized enrollment would not only set up our
Livret,
it would also easily produce the class rosters and let us know when a
particular class is nearing the “full” point so we can start a waiting
list and
consider an additional section. Members
who want to make a class change would simply turn in a “drop/add” form,
which
would then open up a spot for someone who is waiting.
While
members indicate they would prefer to volunteer rather than to pay for
services
like this, finding volunteers to tackle large, complex tasks has proven
difficult. The Board has recruited
volunteers heavily, without much success, leaving other board members
to pick
up the slack. Professional help may be
our only recourse.
Fee
Increase in 2006-07 School Year. As discussed at the Fall
Membership meeting, membership
cost has only gone up only $10 in over six years, while costs of
everything
else have gone up and up. Also, we have increased teacher salaries and
expanded
course offerings several times. In addition, next year we will have two
more
weeks of classes than in the past (due to calendar changes made at the
fall
membership meeting). For all these reasons, the Board anticipates that
fees for
the upcoming year will increase by at least $40 for regular members.
Assuring
quality teachers stay involved. Helene will return to
France next
year (after having a July baby here in KC, she informs us), so the
Board is
looking for a replacement. We all know
she can’t be replaced, but we’ll do our best to find another
teacher. Nina has announced her
intention to stay with us, even after her baby arrives. However, the
Italian
department may need to add another teacher, as her having to teach five
hours
straight this year caused some scheduling difficulties (and
limitations).
Teacher contracts and textbook decisions will be completed in May,
before we
all disperse for the summer.
Updating our by-laws.
Merrill Toms is carefully reviewing our By-Laws and has
engaged member (and lawyer) Susan Gardner in this effort.
This is important to be sure that this
important document supports our efforts to meet La Causerie’s current
mission.
Proposed changes will appear on the agenda for the April membership
meeting,
but your input is needed now (not at the last minute, in a short
one-hour
meeting). The By-Laws are included in
your Livret. If you have
suggestions, please share them with Merrill now.
Developing
a marketing plan. Letting others know about
La
Causerie is important to keeping our membership strong.
Dalene Bradford, head of publicity, is
putting together a marketing plan that will make best use of our
limited
resources, yet get the word out to key constituencies.
There will be plenty of roles for volunteers
(like distributing fliers to libraries, and cards to friends). We plan to invite prospective members to the
Spring Fête, so think about who might be interested in taking classes
next
fall.
The
Spring
Fête will be held on April 28 at noon, after our Annual Meeting (which
will
include election of officers, updates to the By-Laws and other
important
issues.)
The
Board
decided to reprise (and expand) the travel slide show that was so
popular at
the Holiday Fete. So, send in three to
five of your favorite (digital) travel photos and we’ll add them to our
existing group of slides. Photos can be
of ANY travel (not just European) and are special if they include
people (like
you). They can be of your family or
people you met along the way, gorgeous scenery or fabulous food. Graceful gazelles or daffy ducks.
Whatever you’d have fun sharing. We’ll
show it before the Annual Meeting
starts—and afterwards.
Sorry,
but
photos MUST be digital. If you have
photos in other formats, Kinko’s or a friend may be able to help you
scan them
into a computer.
Email them to (see print
version) by Friday, April 21.
La
Causerie
has its own mailing address (separate from the church). Please make a
note in
your Livret. 6320
Brookside Plaza, #253, KC, MO
64113. Our box is checked weekly for
mail.
Ah! We’ve enjoyed the wide range of treats at
Friday classes, but seem to be having a mid-year slump some weeks. Don’t let your classmates down.
Most EVERYONE indicated that they would
volunteer to bring treats during the year, so step up (and follow
through)
now.
Please
sign
up in the Fireside Room to help with this much appreciated service.
Anastasia
Thompson has a list out for members to indicate that they will bring
treats or
help with set-up and clean-up for our Friday treats.
Member Marti Moore has
put us on to some great training
offered by Concordia College in Minnesota. They operate Concordia
Language
Villages www.concordialanguagevillages.org
which
provide a range of opportunities to learn or practice a language. While
many of
their programs are for children, they have quite a few for families and
adults. Check out the Elderhostel
programs and the weeklong immersion programs in French and Spanish in
the fall.
Other contact info:
901 8th Street South, Moorhead, MN 56562
1-800-222-4750
In
the
believe-it-or-not category, there is a website for people learning
Klingon.
Yes, the language of those alien beings on Star Trek.
Klingon claims to be the only artificial language created by a
trained linguist. Go figure.
http://www.kli.org/ They are a Pennsylvania nonprofit and have
by-laws (which is how we found them, searching for by-laws samples of
language
groups).
Upcoming
Alliance
Française Programs.
On Friday, March 10 from 6 to 8:45 p.m.at Rockhill Tennis Club members will watch “La Gloire de mon père” based on Marcel Pagnol’s childhood in Provence. Those saying for dinner will discuss “The Consants of French Civilization Revealed in the Film.” Reservations required by March 7.
On
Friday,
March 17 (same time and place as above) the group will view “Le Château
de ma mère,”
with a discussion following at
dinner. Reservations required by March 14.
On
Sunday,
Marcy 19, 5 – 8 p.m. a Rockhill Tennis Club, “The Congo Brazzaville,” a
presentation by two people originally from the Republic of the Congo.
They will
address the etymological, historic and artistic aspects important in
understanding
the Congo Brazzaville but not normally covered in US press coverage. Dinner and discussion to follow
presentation. Reservations required by March 15.
For
reservations: EMAIL:
rsvp@afkc.org CALL
1-816-221-2049 (and choose option 3).
Please spell out your last name on the answering machine. Indicate if you will attend the dinner
(guests will order from the Rockhill menu ranging from $4 for soup or
salad to
$18 for a steak dinner.)
Round
Trip
Imports invites you to a book signing with Sarah Dunant on Thursday,
March 2,
12:30 to 1:30, complete with Italian snacks. Dunant, author best-seller
"The Birth of Venus" will sign her new book "In the Company of
the Courtesan," (historical fiction, set in Renaissance Italy). Mary
Lies,
owner, called with a special invitation to our members and mentioned
that they
also import lovely things directly from Italy. Find them at 33701 W.
83rd, in
downtown Desoto, KS. Visit their website for contact info and a map: http://roundtripimports.com/
NOTE:
NO
CLASSES will be held on Friday, April 28 (due to the Good Friday
holiday at the
church).
All
programs are at noon, unless otherwise noted.
A group generally goes out to lunch with the speaker after the
program
and everyone is welcome to participate.
March
10 Two Programs will be held
French
Program in
the
Fireside Room Speaker TBD
Italian
Program in
the
Library. Maria Cristina Pilla
will speak in Italian. She is an
engineer from the Emilia-Romagna area of Italy who is in KC to consult
on a
project with Black & Veatch. No
lunch is planned following this program.
March
17 Italian Program
in the Library. Alberto
Meloni will speak in Italian, March 17, on
the life and art of Michelangelo. Mr.
Meloni is director of the St. Joseph
Museum
March 24
Spanish Program
Debbie Harris (Cerise’s daughter), will speak about “Seven Years
in
Ecuador". Debbie married and had a daughter in Ecuador. She will tell us about teaching school and
adventures such as hiking Tungurahua, floating on the Napo River from
Coco and
traveling to the poor man's Galapagos.
March 31 English Program By popular demand, Helene Genuyt will reprise her presentation on “The Gardens of Versailles,” this time in English. Helene returns to France later this year, so there won’t be a third repeat of this.
Académie
Lafayette
invites you to An Evening in Paris
In the heart of Brookside sits a school devoted to giving children a great education in one of the most academically challenging environments of any public school in Kansas City. Académie Lafayette opens its doors to every child in the Kansas City, Missouri School District. This diverse population of kindergarten through eighth grade students spends the entire day (with the exception of one hour for English) learning in French. Teachers from France, Belgium, Canada and several African countries teach in their native tongue, sharing the intricacies of their language and the love of their cultures.
On April 1, 2006, they will hold an adults-only fundraiser. An Evening in Paris transforms the school into a Parisian bistro, decorated by Fiddly Fig and J'Adore, with food from a variety of award-winning restaurants (40 Sardines, Le Fou Frog, Boulangerie Philippe, and Gene Deming, executive chef, Mission Hills Country Club). They welcome donations for the auction and invite you to attend.
Contact Mary Ann Deming at (see print version)
Then
tell
your department chair who is responsible for taking care of issues that
need
attention (such as class schedules and curriculum ideas).
Here’s who they are and how to contact them:
Department
Chairs:
Italian – Carol Dirkes
(see
print version)
French – Peggy Rooney (see
print version)
Spanish – Annette Howard (see
print version)