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February Minutes - subject to approval
Minutes
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
The monthly meeting of the CPS Parents’ Association Board for February 2007 was held in the Smith Room on Wednesday, January 10. Approximately 30 members were in attendance. Also attending were Head of School Murray Cohen, Director of Development Mary O’Neill, Dance Faculty Member and Department Head Stefani Berger, Drama Faculty Member Salil Singh, and Director of Forensics Lexy Green. President Debby Barach demonstrated her improv skills by opening the meeting at 7:03 PM without the help of the traditional bell.
Stefani Berger: Stefani discussed the importance of the Dance program at CPS within the overall CPS curriculum. She noted that most learning processes at CPS are visual, and concentrate on the left side of the brain, whereas the Dance program, athletics and other physical activities concentrate on the right side (the undersigned would note at this point that being left-handed, he can truthfully say that he is in his right mind). The Dance program is unique, in that it focuses on mastery of the nuance of the movement, which is a different emphasis than athletics.
Stefani summarized the contribution of Dance with the statement that Dance connects the body, mind and soul. She noted as one indication of the maturity of the Dance program at CPS that there are male students in every class, which speaks well of our school. Stefani then reviewed upcoming highlights. The music tour will involve 125 students, musicians and dancers alike, and will take place from March 1 through March 3. The group will provide four performances at senior centers, schools, and at the Monterey Jazz Bash by the Bay. The Dance Showcase will take place later this spring (April 27 and April 28 to be precise), and will involve students at all levels of the Dance program.Salil Singh: Salil noted that the upcoming production by the Drama department will be “Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” (hopefully at least a slight exaggeration for those of us contemplating payments for our childrens’ future education). He said that this production has the added benefit of enabling the students to explore and ponder life stages. Salil thanked the parents for the support which they provide the Drama department, including providing dinners during tech week and attending the performances. Parents can also help in other ways, including costume design.
Salil also paid tribute to Charles Neifeld, who heads the Drama Tech program. This program enables the school to put on more elaborate and professional productions than would otherwise be possible. In response to a question, Salil mentioned that Drama Tech is an excellent avenue for students who may consider themselves too shy for the stage but would still like to become involved in drama productions. He also noted that it is not uncommon for students to wind up on the stage after being involved earlier with Drama Tech.
In addition to the upcoming production mentioned above, “Ash” will be revised in the June-August time frame before the show hits the road for Edinburgh. CPS was invited to the Edinburgh festival in recognition of the consistently high standards of the Drama Department’s productions. CPS is one of 40 high schools in the US which was invited to this year’s festival, so this is obviously a high honour (Scottish spelling intentional). Salil mentioned that there will probably be a Scottish Night as a fundraiser, which will include Scottish arts and food (including NO haggis for the squeamish).
Head of School: Murray Cohen focused on a ceremony which took place earlier today to recognize faculty and staff members who had achieved either 30 year service or 20 year service milestones since the most recent similar ceremony, which took place in 1997. As of that date, there were 13 faculty members who had been recognized for at least 20 years of service. Of those 13, six have remained on staff with at least 30 years experience. These remarkable individuals are Murray, Joy Crisman, Andy Dean, Bosky Frederick, Marsha Gardner and Gretchen Garlinghouse. There are 13 additional faculty and staff members who have reached the 20 year milestone since 1997. This list includes Sharona Barzilay, Alicia Benito, Graciela Benito, Linda Desimone, Jeannie deVries, Lew Douglas, John Faggi, Marta Ginebreda, Arthur Lane, Martin Marks, Diane Munro, Kurt Patzner and Susan Swerdlow. We are indeed fortunate to be able to attract and retain such talented individuals.
Lexy Green: Lexy described the recent expansion of the Forensics program at CPS. Previously, the program concentrated on formal debates in either the policy or Lincoln-Douglas modes. Now, thanks to requests from students, the program includes oratory, impromptu discussion, and like offerings. The Forensics program has expanded to 30 weekend events, including more local competitions while continuing to compete successfully at the national level. Lexy mentioned that the Forensics staff is trying to figure out how to serve all the students at their various levels and in their various forums, and that the team is getting stretched somewhat thin as a result.
Lexy noted that one potential source of relief would be more parent involvement in the non-curricular aspects of the program, such as travel arrangements. We could have had a debate amongst those present on the topic of whether the parents would be willing to help, but every single person wanted to argue in the affirmative. Forensics families should look for Lexy to reach out for assistance in the future.
Lexy mentioned that 70 students were in the program at the start of this year, and that 50 students remain in the program. She noted that these are fairly typical levels of participation at the school. The only formal class offering at CPS is the beginning class. More advanced levels are by appointment (during free periods). To receive academic credit, students need to compete in at least two debates per semester. Also, students can begin the Forensics program in any year at CPS, although if a student wants to compete successfully at the national level, he or she needs to start early in their CPS life.
Lexy views the numerous Forensics awards that CPS students receive as a corollary result of a successful academic program, rather than as an end in itself. Lexy also mentioned an exciting new phase in the development of the Forensics program, with the opening of the Julia Burke Debate Center on campus. This new space triples the amount of space dedicated to the program.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes previously distributed for January were approved with two modifications- first, to insert Flip’s reminder on the forthcoming Periscope deadline, and second, to fix a sentence which had a verb but no subject. As I mentioned at the meeting, this is clearly an instance of getting what you pay for- sorry for the oversights.
President’s Report: Debby Barach mentioned that bullying seems to have surfaced on campus. This is not a frequent occurrence, and appears to be more likely amongst the female students. Ayize will be covering this topic in his monthly discussions. Please contact Denise Mollen Strother if you would like further background.
Committee Reports:
Safety Committee (Flip Jubelirer) – the number of chaperones at the snow trip was increased to 29 from 24 in prior years. Reports are that other than the normal incidents which can occur while pursuing mountain sports, the trip went smoothly.
Nominating Committee (Diana Staring) – the nominating committee for next year has been formed, and will meet later this spring. One gaping vacancy for next year is auction chair. Please raise your hand to Diana if you are so inclined.
Auction (Jerri Mariott)- we are still looking for donations, particularly wine (which always sells well). Donations can be dropped off at the main office, with the donor form (template form is available on the school website). The committee is also looking for help setting up, as we transform the auditorium and gymnasium for this special evening.
Parent Education - Lynn Ponton, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at UCSF, will speak on Tuesday, February 13. Her topic will be adolescent risk taking, behavior and sexuality. This event will begin at 7:30 PM in Buttner Auditorium. The talk will be open to the community. The committee would appreciate donations of cookies and the like for this event.
Athletics – Debby mentioned that parents should be on the lookout for an article addressing conflicts between sports and other extracurricular activities.
Book Fair (Rebecca Byrnes)– the book fair will take place March 9 through March 11. The committee is looking for more books and for help staffing this event. Rebecca mentioned that at the conclusion of the last day, books will be available for donation to appropriate non-profits. If you know an organization which could use this opportunity, please let them know.
Care Boxes (Jacqui Richter) – 56 boxes were sent last week. Thanks to all for their help.
Diversity – the diversity committee is co-sponsoring the next LiveTalk with Van Jones. Also, please contact Aixa Gannon if you are interested in attending the 7th Day Adventist event on March 31.
Drama Dinner (Chris Werme) – the next dinner will be March 29, which is preview night for the upcoming production discussed by Salil (see above).
LiveTalk – there are two LiveTalk events in the near future. First, Van Jones, the executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, will speak on February 15. His topic will be the politics of hope in urban America, focusing in particular on green development. This should be an extremely relevant and interesting discussion. The following event, on February 22, will be the traditional Oscar preview night with Harry Chotiner.
Periscope (Flip Jubelirer) – the next deadline is February 8. The deadline for the following issue is March 15, with the final pre-summer issue deadline being April 30. Please keep these deadlines in mind to receive optimal publicity for your event.
Freshman Reps (Marguerite Croptier)- the next social is tentatively scheduled for April 22, from 4-6 PM. The team is looking for a location.
Sophomore Reps (Denise Mollen Strother) - there will be a social on April 29 from 4-6 PM. This team is also looking for a location.
Junior Reps (Tori Lawrence) - there will be a meeting in the near future to review plans for graduation. The senior parents present (including yours truly) would note that there really is no such thing as too extravagant when it comes to the class of 2007 (just kidding).
Senior Reps – the next social will occur in May. The most likely date at present is May 20, but this is subject to change.
Upcoming Events: Please make note of the following events in the relatively near future-
Cabaret Night- Friday, February 9 (postscript- a splendid time was had by all).
Parent Education Night- Tuesday, February 13- Dr. Lynn Ponton- further details above.
Live Talk- Thursday, February 15- Van Jones
Live Talk- Thursday, February 22- Academy Awards Preview Night- further details on both these events above.
Diversity Meeting- Monday, March 5
Next Parents’ Association Meeting- Wednesday, March 14- guest speaker will be Preston Tucker, talking about technology at CPS.
Auction- Saturday, March 17
djournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:57 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Recording Secretary
Handouts for February 7 Meeting: Parents’ Association Financials through February 7, 2007
Form to request payment or reimbursement
