Recent Meeting (Nov. 13, 2008

November 13, 2008

Summary:
Today we had a meeting after school in room 141.

Leadership Qualities/ Responsibilities:

* Leaders are responsible to communicate with authority figures on behalf of the group and must also be available to school authority if they have a problem with anyone involved in our group so that we can efficiently resolve any conflicts.
* Leaders should open discussions/ meetings and possibly close the discussions. They shouldn’t control the whole course of the discussion, but should respond to any questions directed towards them.
* Leaders can determine dates of large group meetings or group administrative meetings.
* Be available to anyone who as questions about a meeting or the group activities.

Group Goals:

* 1 Main Goal = to help. To this I would add that we intend to build a community at E. O. Smith whose goal is to help.
* This year: build the school in Ariang working with Gabriel Bol Deng so that many Sudanese children can get an education and turn around the cycle of poverty and war.

Ideas for Fundraising:

* Change Jars. In English classrooms and room 141. Make piggy banks?
* Three day events. Maybe the carnival at the end of the year and a viewing of Gabriel’s documentary.
* Donations from Companies/ UConn
* UConn is a big part of our immediate community, and I think we can turn to UConn as a resource (donations, locations for events, speakers and ideas) as well as possibly turn to some UConn groups for advice and partnership in some fundraising endeavors.

Organization:

* Subcommittees: contact with community (Storrs, Ashford, Willington?), accountant (fill in a “thermometer” tracking our progress towards our goal?), event planning (multiple groups for events, one group to keep track of them), contact companies, going to pick up donations, transportation.
* Leaders for each subcommittee. Have to delegate responsibilities to other members of the subcommittee an make sure people in their group follow through on commitments, also responsible for addressing larger gatherings and keeping in touch with Nolan and Cassie and giving me dates, times, and any general notes.
* For room 141:
o more computers (available to students, not just staff)
o printers.
o comfortable seating (maybe one corner have a couch/ carpet/ bean bag chairs for small discussions or anyone who needs to depressurize.
o world map (big)
o cubbies or places where we can store works in progress temporarily
o sign in sheet.
* We need to develop some ground rules and a mission statement as well as defining leadership roles on various levels. Maybe a time limit for addressing a larger group so more people can speak.