Please let me know your thoughts about this draft agenda.
DRAFT
Cumberland Townwide Learning
Meeting Agenda
November 8, 2010
Welcome and Introductions
Updates from the Council of Collaborations
Feedback from RIDE on RTTT application re tlc - Donna
Facebook Page – Lisa
Development of database (Lisa and Karen- have you been able to make progress or should I remove for now?)
Dissemination of Business Cards –Rosemary
Report and Updates from September Meeting
Blackstone Valley Watershed Council Event on October 16 – postponed until spring- John
Historical Cemeteries Clean up on October 30 - John
Boys and Girls Club Duck Event – Tamara
McCourt Advisories and the interactive website about the Blackstone Valley National Park Service – Andrew (pending confirmation re: implementation)
Classroom Connections – Group Discussions
Linking TLC to community service learning-secondary schools
River classrooms-elementary schools
Next Steps – Group Discussion
Meeting with RI Foundation
Options for meeting spaces
Next meeting
Adjourn
Friday, November 5, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
meeting summary 9.13.2010
Hi Everyone:
I am posting the meeting summary from September 13th. Is anyone planning on attending the Duck Race next weekend. Should we have tlc cards to hand out to people? Thoughts?
Rosemary
Cumberland Townwide Learning
Meeting Summary
September 13, 2010
Elizabeth Conley, Andrew Anderson, Elise Geddes, Donna Morelle, John Marsland, Mike Scalzy, Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Donna reported on the Back To School Event at BF Norton held on August 23rd. Many families attended the event. Families who visited the table could view the website and received a business card with the website and Facebook page information.
Lisa Beaulieu developed a Facebook page for Townwide Learning. There are 90 people who “like” the page thus far. Lisa, Karen Freedman and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat administer the page. We’d like to include all upcoming events related to learning. The Back to School Event, Franklin Farm Antique Tractor Show and Vidbel’s Circus are past events that were posted. Upcoming events include a walkabout and clean up at Ballou Historical Cemetery on October 30th and the Boys and Girls Club Duck Race on October 17th.
Rosemary shared the business cards developed for the Back To School Event. The group suggested that all Public School Teachers and PTO representatives receive a card to promote Townwide Learning. Rosemary gave Donna a box of cards for distribution.
A Townwide Learning event involving canoe lessons and river classrooms scheduled for October 16th has to be postponed until the Spring. John Marsland of the Friends of the Blackstone planned to provide canoe lessons to groups of up to 24 people at a time. The event would run from 10:00am-4:00 pm with hourly canoe lessons. The groups discussed possible sign up strategies. Rosemary contacted the Blackstone River Tourism Council’s Pat McAlpine who agreed to host two “river classrooms” for free. Although the lessons would be offered at no cost to participants, we discussed asking for a donation to help support various efforts related to the Blackstone. For example, Pat McAlpine is interested in offering river classrooms at Cumberland Hill and BF Norton School, however the cost is $250.00 each. We discussed linking efforts like the cemetery cleanup with community service opportunities for high school students. Townwide Learning initiatives could help create a stronger foundation for community service efforts at the high school and middle school.
John Marsland and Mike Scalzy shared information about the walkabout and cleanup at Ballou Historical Cemetery. This effort will help clean up a town asset, provide historical information about former residents buried there and raise funds to support middle school sports in Cumberland. An article was recently published in the Valley Breeze concerning this event at
http://www.valleybreeze.com/Freecol/Spts-9-16-CL-middle-school-sports-cleanup-with-pic. The walkabouts will occur at 8:30am and 1:00 pm and last for one hour. Local businesses are asked to sponsor youth involved in the clean-up effort.
Mike and John also shared information about an interactive learning program from the National Park Service about the heritage and history of the Blackstone River. This program has been used by the Boys and Girls Scout Programs. Andrew was going to pilot the program as part of the advisories at McCourt Middle School related to “who we are.” The program can be accessed at www.nps.org. All who complete the program receive a pin and other items from the National Park Service.
The next meeting will take place on Monday November 8th from 6:30-8:00 pm at the Boys and Girls Club of Cumberland – Lincoln in the upstairs conference room. We are looking for other Townwide Learning partners to host future meetings. Please let us know if you are interested by responding to this email.
Respectfully submitted:
Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
I am posting the meeting summary from September 13th. Is anyone planning on attending the Duck Race next weekend. Should we have tlc cards to hand out to people? Thoughts?
Rosemary
Cumberland Townwide Learning
Meeting Summary
September 13, 2010
Elizabeth Conley, Andrew Anderson, Elise Geddes, Donna Morelle, John Marsland, Mike Scalzy, Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Donna reported on the Back To School Event at BF Norton held on August 23rd. Many families attended the event. Families who visited the table could view the website and received a business card with the website and Facebook page information.
Lisa Beaulieu developed a Facebook page for Townwide Learning. There are 90 people who “like” the page thus far. Lisa, Karen Freedman and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat administer the page. We’d like to include all upcoming events related to learning. The Back to School Event, Franklin Farm Antique Tractor Show and Vidbel’s Circus are past events that were posted. Upcoming events include a walkabout and clean up at Ballou Historical Cemetery on October 30th and the Boys and Girls Club Duck Race on October 17th.
Rosemary shared the business cards developed for the Back To School Event. The group suggested that all Public School Teachers and PTO representatives receive a card to promote Townwide Learning. Rosemary gave Donna a box of cards for distribution.
A Townwide Learning event involving canoe lessons and river classrooms scheduled for October 16th has to be postponed until the Spring. John Marsland of the Friends of the Blackstone planned to provide canoe lessons to groups of up to 24 people at a time. The event would run from 10:00am-4:00 pm with hourly canoe lessons. The groups discussed possible sign up strategies. Rosemary contacted the Blackstone River Tourism Council’s Pat McAlpine who agreed to host two “river classrooms” for free. Although the lessons would be offered at no cost to participants, we discussed asking for a donation to help support various efforts related to the Blackstone. For example, Pat McAlpine is interested in offering river classrooms at Cumberland Hill and BF Norton School, however the cost is $250.00 each. We discussed linking efforts like the cemetery cleanup with community service opportunities for high school students. Townwide Learning initiatives could help create a stronger foundation for community service efforts at the high school and middle school.
John Marsland and Mike Scalzy shared information about the walkabout and cleanup at Ballou Historical Cemetery. This effort will help clean up a town asset, provide historical information about former residents buried there and raise funds to support middle school sports in Cumberland. An article was recently published in the Valley Breeze concerning this event at
http://www.valleybreeze.com/Freecol/Spts-9-16-CL-middle-school-sports-cleanup-with-pic. The walkabouts will occur at 8:30am and 1:00 pm and last for one hour. Local businesses are asked to sponsor youth involved in the clean-up effort.
Mike and John also shared information about an interactive learning program from the National Park Service about the heritage and history of the Blackstone River. This program has been used by the Boys and Girls Scout Programs. Andrew was going to pilot the program as part of the advisories at McCourt Middle School related to “who we are.” The program can be accessed at www.nps.org. All who complete the program receive a pin and other items from the National Park Service.
The next meeting will take place on Monday November 8th from 6:30-8:00 pm at the Boys and Girls Club of Cumberland – Lincoln in the upstairs conference room. We are looking for other Townwide Learning partners to host future meetings. Please let us know if you are interested by responding to this email.
Respectfully submitted:
Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
tlc update
Good Evening Everyone:
The Boys and Girls Club of Cumberland Lincoln can host our next expanded group meeting scheduled for Monday, November 8th form 6:30-8:00 pm. I will get out notice out for the tlc list soon.
John Marsland had to cancel the Blackstone River Canoe event because it conflicted with he set-up of the Boys and Girls Club Duck Race. The event will be rescheduled for the spring. I had contacted Pat McAlpine of the Blackstone River Tourism Council and they could provide 2 "River Classroom" offerings at this event. They are also looking for some support for classroom based activities at BF Norton and Cumberland Hill School.
We also discussed linking town assets such as the Friends of the Blackstone River with community service learning projects. John and Dee will continue to discuss this effort. A clearinghouse of community service opportunities would be helpful for staff and students.
Thank you to Donna for submitting our final report to the RI Foundation.
Rosemary will follow-up with the RI Foundation and arrange a meeting including Lisa and Karen to discuss next steps in our work. We discussed exploring 501 C-3 status, development of a business plan, another large town wide learning event,adult education, and fundraising. We talked about including Jude and Carol in key discussions to focus our next big steps.
Also, I mentioned that I would draft an article related to our efforts for the RIASCD Leading Edge Journal focused on ASCD's whole child initiative. The journal has been postponed for this year and will be printed next year. I will do the article but wanted to let you know that there is time.
The Steering Team should meet before the next large meeting on November 8th.
Respectfully Submitted:
Rosemary
The Boys and Girls Club of Cumberland Lincoln can host our next expanded group meeting scheduled for Monday, November 8th form 6:30-8:00 pm. I will get out notice out for the tlc list soon.
John Marsland had to cancel the Blackstone River Canoe event because it conflicted with he set-up of the Boys and Girls Club Duck Race. The event will be rescheduled for the spring. I had contacted Pat McAlpine of the Blackstone River Tourism Council and they could provide 2 "River Classroom" offerings at this event. They are also looking for some support for classroom based activities at BF Norton and Cumberland Hill School.
We also discussed linking town assets such as the Friends of the Blackstone River with community service learning projects. John and Dee will continue to discuss this effort. A clearinghouse of community service opportunities would be helpful for staff and students.
Thank you to Donna for submitting our final report to the RI Foundation.
Rosemary will follow-up with the RI Foundation and arrange a meeting including Lisa and Karen to discuss next steps in our work. We discussed exploring 501 C-3 status, development of a business plan, another large town wide learning event,adult education, and fundraising. We talked about including Jude and Carol in key discussions to focus our next big steps.
Also, I mentioned that I would draft an article related to our efforts for the RIASCD Leading Edge Journal focused on ASCD's whole child initiative. The journal has been postponed for this year and will be printed next year. I will do the article but wanted to let you know that there is time.
The Steering Team should meet before the next large meeting on November 8th.
Respectfully Submitted:
Rosemary
Monday, September 6, 2010
steering team meeting reminder
Hi Everyone:
Just a quick reminder that we will meet Tuesday, September 7th from 6:30-8:00 pm in the Superintendent's Conference Room.
See you then.
Rosemary
Just a quick reminder that we will meet Tuesday, September 7th from 6:30-8:00 pm in the Superintendent's Conference Room.
See you then.
Rosemary
Friday, August 27, 2010
Fidelity Investments Board Development Program
The Initiative for Nonprofit Excellence at the Rhode Island Foundation posted the Fidelity Investments Board Development Program schedule of classes. The schedule includes classes for board development, board engagement and fundraising.
Take a look. It might be something that steering committee members will be interested in.
Click the post title to access the information.
Take a look. It might be something that steering committee members will be interested in.
Click the post title to access the information.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
tlc update and next meetings
Hello Everyone:
We need to meet as a steering team soon to discuss our next event, organizational capacity, and plans for the coming year.
The back pack event went well. TLC business cards were distributed with the website and facebook information. If you haven't already, you can like Cumberland's TLC on facebook. We were able to link to the internet so that people could actually see the website. There was alot of interest in what we are doing.
I spoke with John Marsland about a partnership event with the Friends of the Blackstone, Blackstone River Watershed Council. He suggested a family oriented event with canoe and kayaking instruction and park rangers who could provide information about the history of the Blackstone. There would be hands on activities about the fish ladder project, storm water, and river life (bugs) ect.
The main event would be near the Stop and Shop. He confirmed that Saturday, October 16th is a good date.
He also talked about organizing a great outdoors pursuit. We may be able to add this type of idea into the next big event.
John also asked for TLC partnership for a clean-up event at the Elder Ballou Cemetery on Halloween weekend.
I would like to suggest a Tuesday September 7th meeting for the Steering Team and a Monday, September 13th meeting for the larger TLC group. Please let me know if this will work for you or suggest more doable dates.
Rosemary
We need to meet as a steering team soon to discuss our next event, organizational capacity, and plans for the coming year.
The back pack event went well. TLC business cards were distributed with the website and facebook information. If you haven't already, you can like Cumberland's TLC on facebook. We were able to link to the internet so that people could actually see the website. There was alot of interest in what we are doing.
I spoke with John Marsland about a partnership event with the Friends of the Blackstone, Blackstone River Watershed Council. He suggested a family oriented event with canoe and kayaking instruction and park rangers who could provide information about the history of the Blackstone. There would be hands on activities about the fish ladder project, storm water, and river life (bugs) ect.
The main event would be near the Stop and Shop. He confirmed that Saturday, October 16th is a good date.
He also talked about organizing a great outdoors pursuit. We may be able to add this type of idea into the next big event.
John also asked for TLC partnership for a clean-up event at the Elder Ballou Cemetery on Halloween weekend.
I would like to suggest a Tuesday September 7th meeting for the Steering Team and a Monday, September 13th meeting for the larger TLC group. Please let me know if this will work for you or suggest more doable dates.
Rosemary
Sunday, July 4, 2010
quick message
Check out Julia Steiny's article in the pro jo today, sound alot like Cumberland's twlc effort.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
there ain't no rest for the weary or wicked
It all depends on the day. :)
We need to find another date to meet to organize the work for the database and calendar. Donna, Lisa, Alice and I met with Marcia Green this morning. She is going to run the information in the VB. We also need to get a letter and template out to the "big list" of World Cafe invitees too. We need to decide what we are going to do at the Back to School Event. What dates work for you over the week of July 19? Please advise as soon as possible. We should include people who said they would work on the calendar and the multicultural group too.
I'd also like to select a date for our "commemoration" and would like to know what works for all of you the week of August 9th.
Lazy days of summer...I think not. We all should find some time for a little rest and relaxation.
Take Care,
Rosemary
We need to find another date to meet to organize the work for the database and calendar. Donna, Lisa, Alice and I met with Marcia Green this morning. She is going to run the information in the VB. We also need to get a letter and template out to the "big list" of World Cafe invitees too. We need to decide what we are going to do at the Back to School Event. What dates work for you over the week of July 19? Please advise as soon as possible. We should include people who said they would work on the calendar and the multicultural group too.
I'd also like to select a date for our "commemoration" and would like to know what works for all of you the week of August 9th.
Lazy days of summer...I think not. We all should find some time for a little rest and relaxation.
Take Care,
Rosemary
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Cumberland Town Wide Learning Community
www.cumberlandtlc.org
June 21, 2010 6:00-7:30 pm
Meeting Summary
Donna Morelle, Ryan Pearson, Alice Clemente, Lisa Beaulieu, Paul Ouelette, and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Lisa shared a template for collecting information for a TWLC data base of organizations and resources in Cumberland. The group provided feedback on it. The group also began a calendar of events list for the fall (attached). The time period is September –December 2010. The calendar and database form will be distributed to all World Café invitees with a response date of late July. The calendar will be distributed at the Back to School Event at BF Norton on August 21st. We still need to determine how the printing of the calendar will be supported. We will contact Marcia Green about an article in the Valley Breeze re: an update of Town Wide Learning and to elicit broader input for the data base and calendar of events
Opportunities for collaboration were identified including:
Learning component related to Election Day
Link multi-cultural work with SAT/PSAT exam-importance of taking the exam etc.
Look at federal and state laws that may drive learning opportunities example is new legislation for RI school curriculum dealing with storm water
Boys and Girls Club Events
CHS administrator teaches knitting
Land Trust
Conservation Commission
We talked about having an interactive web based calendar where offerings could be viewed by organization and by dates.
Also a list of family activities that are always available could include information such as the hiking trails at the Monastery and Diamond Hill.
Once we have a database we discussed an event where resources would be centralized so that people could learn about town offerings. Paul shared information about a Family Resources in Woonsocket event that focused on transportation for employment. Bike transportation, safety issues, and vegetable oil power were among the topics. Paul also shared information about a curriculum he delivers through the NRI Camber of Commerce called Choices designed for middle school students to help build financial literacy. Navigant Credit Union offers CU for Reality, another support for financial literacy. The National Guard Rock Wall and State Police Safety exercises linked seatbelt use and impaired driving would also be offered. Lisa previously share shared information about the MIT Splash program which offers a variety of math and science based offerings for youth over the course of a day. We could include this event in our next grant application which we will be starting soon.
The Multicultural Group met and decided that rather than do something separately we could perhaps do something at the Back to School event.
Rosemary followed up with Paula Maloney (principal) and Lynn Stephan (PTO treasurer) about the idea to convene local organizations participating in the Back to School Event. To date the OCYL, Cumberland-Lincoln Boys and Girls Club, Southern Cumberland Regional Association of Parents, Cumberland School Volunteers, Cumberland Police, and Sylvan Learning and Ace It! Tutoring have signed up to participate. Rosemary will fill out a form for the TWLC to participate. Also, BF Norton is also looking for help on July 24th at the ProJo warehouse for backpack stuffing. It is from 8:00 am-12:00 pm. Please let Rosemary know if you can assist at rosemaryandsam@cox.net. Alice is going to speak with some of the organizations that she is involved with about participating in the Back to School event.
Next meeting-TBD will involve pulling together the calendar and the data base.
www.cumberlandtlc.org
June 21, 2010 6:00-7:30 pm
Meeting Summary
Donna Morelle, Ryan Pearson, Alice Clemente, Lisa Beaulieu, Paul Ouelette, and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Lisa shared a template for collecting information for a TWLC data base of organizations and resources in Cumberland. The group provided feedback on it. The group also began a calendar of events list for the fall (attached). The time period is September –December 2010. The calendar and database form will be distributed to all World Café invitees with a response date of late July. The calendar will be distributed at the Back to School Event at BF Norton on August 21st. We still need to determine how the printing of the calendar will be supported. We will contact Marcia Green about an article in the Valley Breeze re: an update of Town Wide Learning and to elicit broader input for the data base and calendar of events
Opportunities for collaboration were identified including:
Learning component related to Election Day
Link multi-cultural work with SAT/PSAT exam-importance of taking the exam etc.
Look at federal and state laws that may drive learning opportunities example is new legislation for RI school curriculum dealing with storm water
Boys and Girls Club Events
CHS administrator teaches knitting
Land Trust
Conservation Commission
We talked about having an interactive web based calendar where offerings could be viewed by organization and by dates.
Also a list of family activities that are always available could include information such as the hiking trails at the Monastery and Diamond Hill.
Once we have a database we discussed an event where resources would be centralized so that people could learn about town offerings. Paul shared information about a Family Resources in Woonsocket event that focused on transportation for employment. Bike transportation, safety issues, and vegetable oil power were among the topics. Paul also shared information about a curriculum he delivers through the NRI Camber of Commerce called Choices designed for middle school students to help build financial literacy. Navigant Credit Union offers CU for Reality, another support for financial literacy. The National Guard Rock Wall and State Police Safety exercises linked seatbelt use and impaired driving would also be offered. Lisa previously share shared information about the MIT Splash program which offers a variety of math and science based offerings for youth over the course of a day. We could include this event in our next grant application which we will be starting soon.
The Multicultural Group met and decided that rather than do something separately we could perhaps do something at the Back to School event.
Rosemary followed up with Paula Maloney (principal) and Lynn Stephan (PTO treasurer) about the idea to convene local organizations participating in the Back to School Event. To date the OCYL, Cumberland-Lincoln Boys and Girls Club, Southern Cumberland Regional Association of Parents, Cumberland School Volunteers, Cumberland Police, and Sylvan Learning and Ace It! Tutoring have signed up to participate. Rosemary will fill out a form for the TWLC to participate. Also, BF Norton is also looking for help on July 24th at the ProJo warehouse for backpack stuffing. It is from 8:00 am-12:00 pm. Please let Rosemary know if you can assist at rosemaryandsam@cox.net. Alice is going to speak with some of the organizations that she is involved with about participating in the Back to School event.
Next meeting-TBD will involve pulling together the calendar and the data base.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Steering Team meeting 6.8.2010 and meeting summary 5.24.2010 and next s
Hello Everyone:
The next steering team meeting will be held Tuesday June 8, 2010 from 6:30-8:00 in Donna's conference room.
Here is a draft meeting summary from 5.24.2010.
Cumberland Town Wide Learning Community
www.cumberlandtlc.org
May 24, 2010 6:00-7:30 pm
Meeting Summary
Attendees: Mary Ann Roll, Donna Morelle, Linda McMullen, Rob Thurston, Elizabeth Conley, Rev. Tom Conboy, Alice Clemente, Andrew Anderson Karen Freedman, Paul Ouellette, Paula Maloney, Lisa Beaulieu, Ryan Pearson, Dee Gould, and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Donna and Paul welcomed the group and members introduced themselves.
Karen led the icebreaker to look at community assets and make one connection with the TWLC work. Results included:
• Connections with existing organizations inside and outside Cumberland e.g. Hispanic Church
• Transportation issues-connect with parent volunteers
• Children’s garden, good but limited network
• Reservoir, natural resource/ outdoor learning environment/cross generational learning
• Caring programs, how to reach people not connected
• Recognize that people move to Cumberland because they want ot be here
• Spaces to use schools, library-outside school day, non school use is a cost
• Celebrating multiculturalism
• Look at resources as an opportunity to expand learning
• Historical buildings like the monastery
• Artistic resources-art opportunities, not as many opportunities for music which represents an opportunity to grow
• School Committee polices support reduced cost for facilities for programs that benefit youth.
• Boys and Girls Club space-sense of community
• Franklin Farm, community service and meeting a need
• Great recreational opportunities, dedicated fields
• Town is developed but not overly developed
• Replicate great outdoor pursuit, partner with Hasbro
• Splash at MIT could be a model as well, bring resources to a central location
• Blackstone River Theater has local artist and classes, dance, stone carving, place for apprenticeship, potential place to bring other cultures
• Senior center, recruit volunteers to teach oral tradition
• Businesses along the bike path and river use, Kelly House is open, fish ladder program
• Educators (broadly defined) need a place to access info and resources
• Alignment with work of Mayor, Police Department, state of the art communications library
• Day of Learning
• Day of Service-Disney’s Give a Day, Get a Day
• Multicultural Day
Subcommittee Report Out
The subcommittees reported out. Lisa’s summer calendar group could not meet due to competing priorities concerning time. The work will be rolled into a fall calendar of event. It will be important to engage groups now in town wide learning as many are in budget preparation for the coming year.
The Multicultural Group met and discussed the changing demographic of Cumberland. The group is inviting representatives of Southeast Asian Development Corporation and Progreso Latino the next subcommittee meeting to discuss strategies to engage multicultural populations. One idea was to host cottage meetings in neighborhood to talk with families about their experiences in Cumberland and needs. The subcommittee is meeting again on Monday June 14 at 6:00 in the Cumberland Lincoln Boys and Girls Club.
A discussion about the north-south divide focused on opportunities to change the culture in Town. We discussed the importance of having honest communications about issues that can be counterproductive to the development of town wide learning. Town wide learning can be an opportunity to help families learn about the demographics of our town. Paul shared an example of the Blackstone Valley Restaurant Tour as a way to experience other cultures through food. A Multicultural event could help celebrate the diversity in the community.
Back To School Event
Donna and Paula shared information about the Back to School Event, sponsored by Sodexho, as an opportunity to promote TWLC. This year’s event will be held on August 21, 2010 from 10:00 am-1:00 pm at BF Norton School. All families are welcome. There will be enough backpacks for 3,000 children All host sites are required to participate in a volunteer “stuff the backpack day” held on a Saturday in July. This activity engages families and ideas related to connecting with town wide learning were discussed such as replicating the Great Outdoors Pursuit or bringing representatives from town resources and programs to the school. The school does this already as part of the Back to School event but this would be a more expanded effort.
The group discussed the possibility of holding the event at a more central town location such as the Monastery. It was decided that for this year, the event would be help at BF Norton. Transportation ideas were also discussed to help ensure that families that live in other parts of town could attend the event.
Many in the group were eager to pilot some activities for town wide learning. Donna and Rosemary will meet with John Marsland, President of the Blackstone Valley Watershed Council to discuss potential town wide learning events this summer.
Next Meeting Date June 21, 2010 6:00-7:30 pm Summaries of World Café discussions.
The next steering team meeting will be held Tuesday June 8, 2010 from 6:30-8:00 in Donna's conference room.
Here is a draft meeting summary from 5.24.2010.
Cumberland Town Wide Learning Community
www.cumberlandtlc.org
May 24, 2010 6:00-7:30 pm
Meeting Summary
Attendees: Mary Ann Roll, Donna Morelle, Linda McMullen, Rob Thurston, Elizabeth Conley, Rev. Tom Conboy, Alice Clemente, Andrew Anderson Karen Freedman, Paul Ouellette, Paula Maloney, Lisa Beaulieu, Ryan Pearson, Dee Gould, and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Donna and Paul welcomed the group and members introduced themselves.
Karen led the icebreaker to look at community assets and make one connection with the TWLC work. Results included:
• Connections with existing organizations inside and outside Cumberland e.g. Hispanic Church
• Transportation issues-connect with parent volunteers
• Children’s garden, good but limited network
• Reservoir, natural resource/ outdoor learning environment/cross generational learning
• Caring programs, how to reach people not connected
• Recognize that people move to Cumberland because they want ot be here
• Spaces to use schools, library-outside school day, non school use is a cost
• Celebrating multiculturalism
• Look at resources as an opportunity to expand learning
• Historical buildings like the monastery
• Artistic resources-art opportunities, not as many opportunities for music which represents an opportunity to grow
• School Committee polices support reduced cost for facilities for programs that benefit youth.
• Boys and Girls Club space-sense of community
• Franklin Farm, community service and meeting a need
• Great recreational opportunities, dedicated fields
• Town is developed but not overly developed
• Replicate great outdoor pursuit, partner with Hasbro
• Splash at MIT could be a model as well, bring resources to a central location
• Blackstone River Theater has local artist and classes, dance, stone carving, place for apprenticeship, potential place to bring other cultures
• Senior center, recruit volunteers to teach oral tradition
• Businesses along the bike path and river use, Kelly House is open, fish ladder program
• Educators (broadly defined) need a place to access info and resources
• Alignment with work of Mayor, Police Department, state of the art communications library
• Day of Learning
• Day of Service-Disney’s Give a Day, Get a Day
• Multicultural Day
Subcommittee Report Out
The subcommittees reported out. Lisa’s summer calendar group could not meet due to competing priorities concerning time. The work will be rolled into a fall calendar of event. It will be important to engage groups now in town wide learning as many are in budget preparation for the coming year.
The Multicultural Group met and discussed the changing demographic of Cumberland. The group is inviting representatives of Southeast Asian Development Corporation and Progreso Latino the next subcommittee meeting to discuss strategies to engage multicultural populations. One idea was to host cottage meetings in neighborhood to talk with families about their experiences in Cumberland and needs. The subcommittee is meeting again on Monday June 14 at 6:00 in the Cumberland Lincoln Boys and Girls Club.
A discussion about the north-south divide focused on opportunities to change the culture in Town. We discussed the importance of having honest communications about issues that can be counterproductive to the development of town wide learning. Town wide learning can be an opportunity to help families learn about the demographics of our town. Paul shared an example of the Blackstone Valley Restaurant Tour as a way to experience other cultures through food. A Multicultural event could help celebrate the diversity in the community.
Back To School Event
Donna and Paula shared information about the Back to School Event, sponsored by Sodexho, as an opportunity to promote TWLC. This year’s event will be held on August 21, 2010 from 10:00 am-1:00 pm at BF Norton School. All families are welcome. There will be enough backpacks for 3,000 children All host sites are required to participate in a volunteer “stuff the backpack day” held on a Saturday in July. This activity engages families and ideas related to connecting with town wide learning were discussed such as replicating the Great Outdoors Pursuit or bringing representatives from town resources and programs to the school. The school does this already as part of the Back to School event but this would be a more expanded effort.
The group discussed the possibility of holding the event at a more central town location such as the Monastery. It was decided that for this year, the event would be help at BF Norton. Transportation ideas were also discussed to help ensure that families that live in other parts of town could attend the event.
Many in the group were eager to pilot some activities for town wide learning. Donna and Rosemary will meet with John Marsland, President of the Blackstone Valley Watershed Council to discuss potential town wide learning events this summer.
Next Meeting Date June 21, 2010 6:00-7:30 pm Summaries of World Café discussions.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
MIT's Spash Program
As discussed at our last meeting, MIT's Splash program is a unique way for middle and high school kids to learn more about subjects of interest; from math to science to social science and beyond. A program like this could be applied to a town-wide learning event where learners (of a range of ages) could enjoy classes offered by our Town's talents. By working on an activity like this, it would afford TLC members the chance to work and learn with the community and would afford townsfolk the chance to benefit from that partnership.
http://esp.mit.edu/learn/Splash/index.html
http://esp.mit.edu/learn/Splash/index.html
Monday, May 17, 2010
meeting summary 5.10.2010
Cumberland Town Wide Learning Steering Team
Meeting Summary
5.10.2010
Dee Gould, Donna Morelle, Tom Kenworthy, Ryan Pearson and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
The group reviewed the meeting summary from the April 5th meeting. Donna will send out to the larger group with a reminder about the next meeting date, May 24, 2010 from 6-7:30 pm in the Hayden Center.
Rosemary provided a brief update from the multi-cultural subcommittee. Andy Anderson led the group. Tamara Burman and Lind McMullen attended. The group discussed holding neighborhood meetings to engage families in town wide learning. The next meeting of this subcommittee will be held on June 7th at 6:00 pm in the Boys and Girls Club. Andy will provide an update for the group at the May 24th meeting.
Donna discussed the Back to School event at BF Norton as a potential event to promote town wide learning. This idea will be discussed at our next meeting on May 24.
No one at the meeting knew the status of the summer learning calendar. Rosemary agreed to ask Lisa to provide an update on the summer learning calendar. Rosemary will ask Lisa to post the calendar on the website if its completed or near completion.
If there has not been progress with the summer calendar, the group thought it would be better to do a fall calendar. Rosemary will also ask Lisa to post the assets and the Arpil 5th meeting summary on the web. The group also discussed posting upcoming meetings such as multi-cultural subcommittee meeting planned on June 7th at 6:00 pm at the Boys and Girls Club.
We discussed transition and funding again. Donna reminded the group that the final report to the RI Foundation has not been completed. She will start it and send it out to the steering team for feedback and input. Once the report is finished, we can speak with the RI Foundation about potential next steps. Funding is essential to keep the momentum going especially as more ideas are generated to build this effort.
The group then discussed the working agenda detailed below. In preparation for the assets icebreaker activity, the assets list needs to be converted to labels that can be placed on index cards. Lisa has the most recent copy of the assets. Rosemary will ask Lisa if she can do it. Donna thought that Cindy could assist too.
Finally for the evening of May 24, Lisa please bring the poster sheets from the World Café, Paul please bring easel and paper so that we can record the feedback/ideas and Donna please bring the assets and world cafe summary discussion summaries for distribution.
Cumberland Town Wide Learning Community
www.cumberlandtlc.org
May 24, 2010 6:00-7:30 pm
Working Agenda
Welcome and Introductions Donna and Paul (10 minutes)
Participants introduce themselves in pairs and then introduce each other to the group.
Housekeeping details such as the website and posting of work from the World Café and upcoming meetings etc
Ice Breaker – Assets Tom (20 minutes)
The “noun” assets are placed on the table and participants take 4-5 each. In pairs discuss:
Why is this asset on the list?
What purpose does it serve?
What services or activities are offered?
This discussion is repeated with the “values” assets.
Participants share out from their respective discussions one connection with the TWLC work. Record on easel paper.
Subcommittee Report Out
Summer Calendar of Learning Lisa (10 minutes)
Multicultural Group Andy (10 minutes)
Back to School Event- Promote TWLC Donna (30 minutes)
Share the information about the Back to School event and have a group discussion about work related to TWLC- secure support for participation etc. Record on easel paper.
Summary of the Evening’s Work and Next Steps Donna and Paul (10 minutes)
Next Meeting Date June 21, 2010 6:00-7:30 pm Summaries of World Café discussions
Adjourn - Participants will leave with the summaries from the World Café discussions.
Meeting Summary
5.10.2010
Dee Gould, Donna Morelle, Tom Kenworthy, Ryan Pearson and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
The group reviewed the meeting summary from the April 5th meeting. Donna will send out to the larger group with a reminder about the next meeting date, May 24, 2010 from 6-7:30 pm in the Hayden Center.
Rosemary provided a brief update from the multi-cultural subcommittee. Andy Anderson led the group. Tamara Burman and Lind McMullen attended. The group discussed holding neighborhood meetings to engage families in town wide learning. The next meeting of this subcommittee will be held on June 7th at 6:00 pm in the Boys and Girls Club. Andy will provide an update for the group at the May 24th meeting.
Donna discussed the Back to School event at BF Norton as a potential event to promote town wide learning. This idea will be discussed at our next meeting on May 24.
No one at the meeting knew the status of the summer learning calendar. Rosemary agreed to ask Lisa to provide an update on the summer learning calendar. Rosemary will ask Lisa to post the calendar on the website if its completed or near completion.
If there has not been progress with the summer calendar, the group thought it would be better to do a fall calendar. Rosemary will also ask Lisa to post the assets and the Arpil 5th meeting summary on the web. The group also discussed posting upcoming meetings such as multi-cultural subcommittee meeting planned on June 7th at 6:00 pm at the Boys and Girls Club.
We discussed transition and funding again. Donna reminded the group that the final report to the RI Foundation has not been completed. She will start it and send it out to the steering team for feedback and input. Once the report is finished, we can speak with the RI Foundation about potential next steps. Funding is essential to keep the momentum going especially as more ideas are generated to build this effort.
The group then discussed the working agenda detailed below. In preparation for the assets icebreaker activity, the assets list needs to be converted to labels that can be placed on index cards. Lisa has the most recent copy of the assets. Rosemary will ask Lisa if she can do it. Donna thought that Cindy could assist too.
Finally for the evening of May 24, Lisa please bring the poster sheets from the World Café, Paul please bring easel and paper so that we can record the feedback/ideas and Donna please bring the assets and world cafe summary discussion summaries for distribution.
Cumberland Town Wide Learning Community
www.cumberlandtlc.org
May 24, 2010 6:00-7:30 pm
Working Agenda
Welcome and Introductions Donna and Paul (10 minutes)
Participants introduce themselves in pairs and then introduce each other to the group.
Housekeeping details such as the website and posting of work from the World Café and upcoming meetings etc
Ice Breaker – Assets Tom (20 minutes)
The “noun” assets are placed on the table and participants take 4-5 each. In pairs discuss:
Why is this asset on the list?
What purpose does it serve?
What services or activities are offered?
This discussion is repeated with the “values” assets.
Participants share out from their respective discussions one connection with the TWLC work. Record on easel paper.
Subcommittee Report Out
Summer Calendar of Learning Lisa (10 minutes)
Multicultural Group Andy (10 minutes)
Back to School Event- Promote TWLC Donna (30 minutes)
Share the information about the Back to School event and have a group discussion about work related to TWLC- secure support for participation etc. Record on easel paper.
Summary of the Evening’s Work and Next Steps Donna and Paul (10 minutes)
Next Meeting Date June 21, 2010 6:00-7:30 pm Summaries of World Café discussions
Adjourn - Participants will leave with the summaries from the World Café discussions.
Monday, April 19, 2010
TWLC, John Dewey and our next meeting date
Hello Everyone:
I think that John Dewey (philosopher 1859-1952) would have loved our TWLC efforts. He said: "What the best and wisest parent wants for his (her) own child that must the community want for all of its children. Any other idea is narrow and unlovely; acted upon it destroys our democracy."
I'd like to schedule our next meeting for the steering team. Please let me know which dates work best for you in May as follows, 4, 5, 10,11,12, or 13. I'd rather not go into the next week because our meeting with the large group is scheduled for May 24th. Meeting earlier will allow ample time for any preparatory work that needs to happen before the meeting. We also need to confirm a place.
Take care and take time to enjoy the school vacation week,
Rosemary
I think that John Dewey (philosopher 1859-1952) would have loved our TWLC efforts. He said: "What the best and wisest parent wants for his (her) own child that must the community want for all of its children. Any other idea is narrow and unlovely; acted upon it destroys our democracy."
I'd like to schedule our next meeting for the steering team. Please let me know which dates work best for you in May as follows, 4, 5, 10,11,12, or 13. I'd rather not go into the next week because our meeting with the large group is scheduled for May 24th. Meeting earlier will allow ample time for any preparatory work that needs to happen before the meeting. We also need to confirm a place.
Take care and take time to enjoy the school vacation week,
Rosemary
Friday, March 26, 2010
meeting summary
Please let me know if you have changes, additions, and/or suggestions to the agenda.
Meeting Summary
March 24, 2010
Lisa Beaulieu, Tom Kenworthy, Paul Ouellette, Donna Morelle, and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Using the draft agenda from the last meeting, the group talked through a working agenda.
We decided against the nine dots activity from the Art of Possibility and instead decided to ask participants to share a memory from the World Café. This activity will serve to reconnect the participants and us to a shared experience. Tom suggested another introductory activity that we will use at the May meeting. Assets such as the Franklin Farm would be written on an index card. Participants would be paired and discuss what they know about the asset (e.g. have you visited, historical significance, current use, etc).
As we discussed the agenda, we realized that we were trying to accomplish too much for an initial meeting with new members. We discussed the website and determined that a premiere of the site would be the best way to begin. (BTW, I did remind the group that this idea was in fact our original plan for this meeting.) Lisa will take the participants through a tour of the site. This will be followed by a group discussion on how to launch this site to the broader population including all World Café participants and town residents.
We will set the dates for the next two meetings with the group which means that the steering team will need to meet in the interim weeks to plan. The Town Assets would be the May agenda focus and the World Café summaries would be the June agenda focus. Packets will be made for all participants with these summaries to take home. This approach will give us time to finish categorizing the assets. Please try to move this work along as quickly as possible.
We talked about the necessity of demonstrating collaborative leadership at these meetings. All steering team members will have opportunities to lead pieces of the agenda over the course of the next three meetings.
Paul offered to bring the easel and pad for the group discussion. Donna will bring supplies including name tags, index cards, pens and sharpies. Donna will bring some of the summary working sheets from the Café. These sheets will be hung around the room. Participants can browse through the sheets before the meeting begins.
Ryan will be asked to check on internet access, availability of a projector and any restrictions on hanging paper with library administration.
Lisa will post the World Café summaries and the newly categorized assets (once completed) on the website.
Rosemary will draft a simple agenda for Cindy to send to the participants. A RSVP will be requested.
Linda and Rosemary are continuing work on the creation of a word file with all of the index card summaries.
The final working agenda is:
Town Wide Learning Community
April 5, 2010 6:30-8:00 pm
Agenda
Welcome and Introductions Donna and Paul (20 minutes)
What was your most memorable experience at the World Café?
Rengage group to the shared experience that brought us together
Summary of Efforts to Date Rosemary (5 minutes)
A brief summary of events leading up to this meeting to provide a context for the evening’s work
Premiere of Cumberland’s Town Wide Learning website Lisa (15 minutes)
Share the major communication effort/foundation since the World Café and use it to engage the group in a discussion of ideas and next steps
Next Steps with Communications - Group Discussion Donna and Lisa (30 minutes)
Summary of the Evening’s Work and Next Steps - Donna and Paul (10 minutes)
Next Meeting Dates – Donna (5 minutes)
May - Assets
June – Summaries of World café Discussion Questions
Adjourn
Participants will leave with a packet containing the assets and the summaries from the World Café discussions. The agenda for the evening will have the Town Wide Learning Community url.
Respectfully Submitted:
Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Meeting Summary
March 24, 2010
Lisa Beaulieu, Tom Kenworthy, Paul Ouellette, Donna Morelle, and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Using the draft agenda from the last meeting, the group talked through a working agenda.
We decided against the nine dots activity from the Art of Possibility and instead decided to ask participants to share a memory from the World Café. This activity will serve to reconnect the participants and us to a shared experience. Tom suggested another introductory activity that we will use at the May meeting. Assets such as the Franklin Farm would be written on an index card. Participants would be paired and discuss what they know about the asset (e.g. have you visited, historical significance, current use, etc).
As we discussed the agenda, we realized that we were trying to accomplish too much for an initial meeting with new members. We discussed the website and determined that a premiere of the site would be the best way to begin. (BTW, I did remind the group that this idea was in fact our original plan for this meeting.) Lisa will take the participants through a tour of the site. This will be followed by a group discussion on how to launch this site to the broader population including all World Café participants and town residents.
We will set the dates for the next two meetings with the group which means that the steering team will need to meet in the interim weeks to plan. The Town Assets would be the May agenda focus and the World Café summaries would be the June agenda focus. Packets will be made for all participants with these summaries to take home. This approach will give us time to finish categorizing the assets. Please try to move this work along as quickly as possible.
We talked about the necessity of demonstrating collaborative leadership at these meetings. All steering team members will have opportunities to lead pieces of the agenda over the course of the next three meetings.
Paul offered to bring the easel and pad for the group discussion. Donna will bring supplies including name tags, index cards, pens and sharpies. Donna will bring some of the summary working sheets from the Café. These sheets will be hung around the room. Participants can browse through the sheets before the meeting begins.
Ryan will be asked to check on internet access, availability of a projector and any restrictions on hanging paper with library administration.
Lisa will post the World Café summaries and the newly categorized assets (once completed) on the website.
Rosemary will draft a simple agenda for Cindy to send to the participants. A RSVP will be requested.
Linda and Rosemary are continuing work on the creation of a word file with all of the index card summaries.
The final working agenda is:
Town Wide Learning Community
April 5, 2010 6:30-8:00 pm
Agenda
Welcome and Introductions Donna and Paul (20 minutes)
What was your most memorable experience at the World Café?
Rengage group to the shared experience that brought us together
Summary of Efforts to Date Rosemary (5 minutes)
A brief summary of events leading up to this meeting to provide a context for the evening’s work
Premiere of Cumberland’s Town Wide Learning website Lisa (15 minutes)
Share the major communication effort/foundation since the World Café and use it to engage the group in a discussion of ideas and next steps
Next Steps with Communications - Group Discussion Donna and Lisa (30 minutes)
Summary of the Evening’s Work and Next Steps - Donna and Paul (10 minutes)
Next Meeting Dates – Donna (5 minutes)
May - Assets
June – Summaries of World café Discussion Questions
Adjourn
Participants will leave with a packet containing the assets and the summaries from the World Café discussions. The agenda for the evening will have the Town Wide Learning Community url.
Respectfully Submitted:
Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
meeting summary 3.09.2010
Town Wide Learning Community Steering Team
Meeting Summary
March 9, 2010
Linda Rosasco, Karen Freedman, Tom Kenworthy, Dorothy Gould. Lisa Beaulieu, Donna Morelle, Ryan Pearson, Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Karen shared information about The Villages, a planned learning community in Florida. The Villages are zoned as a Community Development District for adults ages 55 years and older. Residents pay a monthly amount to live there, similar to a condo fee. The Villages adopt core values such as hospitality, innovation and creativity. There are multiple websites and a printed newspaper with all course offered. There are several different villages in Florida. One has a population of 70,000 residents. Each village has a town square and nightly entertainment. One of the villages has a k-12 charter school for children of people working in the village. A local business supports some activities in a community. A Residents’ Academy is offered for people to learn about government and to meet elected officials. There are aspects of this learning community that could serve as a prototype for Cumberland’s Town Wide Learning Community endeavor. One example that we discussed is ease and accessibility of information regarding opportunities offered in The Villages.
Rosemary shared information about the World Café in Reading MA which we read about in a journal article. She spoke with Deborah Gilburg of Gilburg Leadership Inc. The World Café was held in response to tensions regarding growth and development in Reading. The Reading World Café was designed to engage residents in conversations about possibilities, dilemmas, priorities and next steps for Reading. An open invitation was issued to all residents and the café was held in an athletic field house. The results confirmed the direction of Reading’s strategic plan for its administrators. Also, sixty participants agreed to continue contributing to the strategic plan agenda via small working group process. Learning about this process was useful but it still didn’t help us to think about how to continuously incorporate the World Café data in our plans to move forward.
Debroah Gilburg shared some interesting information about brain research and the World Café. The power of the World Café is in the bonds that are created in terms of feelings and experiences. The bonding helps to break down the stress response inhibiting the neocortex which is responsible for higher order thinking, creativity, vision and strategy. It is the shared feelings that people want to recreate which probably explains why some people want to experience the World Café again.
The Transition Plan and Communications Plan are standing items on the agenda. Dee and Karen agreed to assist Lisa in the development of the website. There were no additional updates at this time. The group also discussed the role of a local education fund as a resource to town wide learning in the future. Lisa will explore the development of a fund for our purposes.
The group reviewed the agenda for the large group meeting. The draft agenda included:
Welcome and Introductions
Icebreaker (nine dots exercise from the Art of Possibility?)
Building the Context
Storyboard
Assets
Group Activity
Next steps including sequence of meetings and dates
We recognized the need to “ground ourselves” in the information before we proceed with this meeting. We also discussed the need to share information with the group to help them develop their context together with us. As a steering team we need to incorporate time to revisit the data from the World Café at each meeting. We discussed using the assets to reconnect and reengage the larger group with the World Café meeting. We discussed using the summary sheets from the three questions to begin a story board with the group as a group activity. At this time, based on our research, we are not opening up the meetings to other participants outside the World Café experience. As the work evolves, there will be opportunities for broader inclusion.
Before our next meeting we will:
Review and reorganize the assets into themes. Rosemary will start and the list will be passed in a predetermined order among all group members. Everyone will be included as the list passes from one member to the next.
Donna will prepare a working agenda with times.
Linda and Rosemary will type all of the index card information in a word file.
Ryan will check the availability of the Hayden Center on April 5, 6, and 7. Rosemary will determine Paul’s availability on those dates as well. We need to make our best effort to have all steering team members at the first large group meeting.
Once a date is confirmed, Donna will send out a save the date email to the larger group.
Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday March 24th from 6:30-8:00 pm. At this time, we cal all make it! Yeah!
Meeting Summary
March 9, 2010
Linda Rosasco, Karen Freedman, Tom Kenworthy, Dorothy Gould. Lisa Beaulieu, Donna Morelle, Ryan Pearson, Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Karen shared information about The Villages, a planned learning community in Florida. The Villages are zoned as a Community Development District for adults ages 55 years and older. Residents pay a monthly amount to live there, similar to a condo fee. The Villages adopt core values such as hospitality, innovation and creativity. There are multiple websites and a printed newspaper with all course offered. There are several different villages in Florida. One has a population of 70,000 residents. Each village has a town square and nightly entertainment. One of the villages has a k-12 charter school for children of people working in the village. A local business supports some activities in a community. A Residents’ Academy is offered for people to learn about government and to meet elected officials. There are aspects of this learning community that could serve as a prototype for Cumberland’s Town Wide Learning Community endeavor. One example that we discussed is ease and accessibility of information regarding opportunities offered in The Villages.
Rosemary shared information about the World Café in Reading MA which we read about in a journal article. She spoke with Deborah Gilburg of Gilburg Leadership Inc. The World Café was held in response to tensions regarding growth and development in Reading. The Reading World Café was designed to engage residents in conversations about possibilities, dilemmas, priorities and next steps for Reading. An open invitation was issued to all residents and the café was held in an athletic field house. The results confirmed the direction of Reading’s strategic plan for its administrators. Also, sixty participants agreed to continue contributing to the strategic plan agenda via small working group process. Learning about this process was useful but it still didn’t help us to think about how to continuously incorporate the World Café data in our plans to move forward.
Debroah Gilburg shared some interesting information about brain research and the World Café. The power of the World Café is in the bonds that are created in terms of feelings and experiences. The bonding helps to break down the stress response inhibiting the neocortex which is responsible for higher order thinking, creativity, vision and strategy. It is the shared feelings that people want to recreate which probably explains why some people want to experience the World Café again.
The Transition Plan and Communications Plan are standing items on the agenda. Dee and Karen agreed to assist Lisa in the development of the website. There were no additional updates at this time. The group also discussed the role of a local education fund as a resource to town wide learning in the future. Lisa will explore the development of a fund for our purposes.
The group reviewed the agenda for the large group meeting. The draft agenda included:
Welcome and Introductions
Icebreaker (nine dots exercise from the Art of Possibility?)
Building the Context
Storyboard
Assets
Group Activity
Next steps including sequence of meetings and dates
We recognized the need to “ground ourselves” in the information before we proceed with this meeting. We also discussed the need to share information with the group to help them develop their context together with us. As a steering team we need to incorporate time to revisit the data from the World Café at each meeting. We discussed using the assets to reconnect and reengage the larger group with the World Café meeting. We discussed using the summary sheets from the three questions to begin a story board with the group as a group activity. At this time, based on our research, we are not opening up the meetings to other participants outside the World Café experience. As the work evolves, there will be opportunities for broader inclusion.
Before our next meeting we will:
Review and reorganize the assets into themes. Rosemary will start and the list will be passed in a predetermined order among all group members. Everyone will be included as the list passes from one member to the next.
Donna will prepare a working agenda with times.
Linda and Rosemary will type all of the index card information in a word file.
Ryan will check the availability of the Hayden Center on April 5, 6, and 7. Rosemary will determine Paul’s availability on those dates as well. We need to make our best effort to have all steering team members at the first large group meeting.
Once a date is confirmed, Donna will send out a save the date email to the larger group.
Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday March 24th from 6:30-8:00 pm. At this time, we cal all make it! Yeah!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
meeting summary
Summary of Meeting held February 22, 2010
Thomas Kenworthy, Dorothy Gould, Donna Morelle, Lisa Beaulieu, Ryan Pearson and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Tom shared research on fostering collaboration and expanding learning communities to help guide our work. Literature on professional learning communities is related to our work in building town wide learning and especially useful since there is not a lot of research available about next steps following a world café process such as Cumberland’s event. Research including group collaboration, developing a learning community, sustaining a learning community and expanding a learning community was explored.
Using this information, the group discussed ways to use the data that we have already gathered to reconnect the larger group to the world café event and to move forward. The importance of keeping the work manageable was discussed. Therefore, an outcome of the larger group work would be the development of three mutual and manageable goals. This would help to manage “multiple initiatives syndrome” and to measure our success with evidence of progress.
Methods to frame and share the world café information was also considered. We could use the charts to create storyboards that visually depict how the conversation evolved at the world café. We also discussed the 3C’s: Communicate, Collaborate and Cooperate along with the Cumberland is ready theme. Information on the town’s assets would also be shared as a foundation for conversation. Donna will request the word document from Carol so that we can create themes to facilitate discussion. Stewardship was also discussed as a theme. For example, restrictions on building and fields came about because open access led to damage. Changing the norms around use also means talking about contributors, caretakers, and consumers of resources. (I know, three more C’s, I couldn’t resist.) Tom shared the first chapter from The Art of Possibility which could be used as an ice breaking activity.
Transition, including the role of the steering team, should be an ongoing topic for discussion with the steering team.
Lisa shared information about communications. There are three tiers of communication including: working group, larger group that participated in the world café and the community at large. We need to address all three groups with various communications beginning with the website. Tom shared information from the Providence School Department on their three methods for all communication including, print, person, and digital media. It is important for us to explore other alternatives to web based communication especially for residents without access to a computer.
Lisa is looking for a “partner in crime” to work with her on communications. This person would help to provide ongoing feedback as communications and marketing efforts take shape.
The next meeting will take place on March 9, 2010 from 6:30-8:00 pm and the larger group meeting is scheduled for Monday March 29th at the Hayden Library. Thanks to Ryan for making the arrangements.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Thomas Kenworthy, Dorothy Gould, Donna Morelle, Lisa Beaulieu, Ryan Pearson and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Tom shared research on fostering collaboration and expanding learning communities to help guide our work. Literature on professional learning communities is related to our work in building town wide learning and especially useful since there is not a lot of research available about next steps following a world café process such as Cumberland’s event. Research including group collaboration, developing a learning community, sustaining a learning community and expanding a learning community was explored.
Using this information, the group discussed ways to use the data that we have already gathered to reconnect the larger group to the world café event and to move forward. The importance of keeping the work manageable was discussed. Therefore, an outcome of the larger group work would be the development of three mutual and manageable goals. This would help to manage “multiple initiatives syndrome” and to measure our success with evidence of progress.
Methods to frame and share the world café information was also considered. We could use the charts to create storyboards that visually depict how the conversation evolved at the world café. We also discussed the 3C’s: Communicate, Collaborate and Cooperate along with the Cumberland is ready theme. Information on the town’s assets would also be shared as a foundation for conversation. Donna will request the word document from Carol so that we can create themes to facilitate discussion. Stewardship was also discussed as a theme. For example, restrictions on building and fields came about because open access led to damage. Changing the norms around use also means talking about contributors, caretakers, and consumers of resources. (I know, three more C’s, I couldn’t resist.) Tom shared the first chapter from The Art of Possibility which could be used as an ice breaking activity.
Transition, including the role of the steering team, should be an ongoing topic for discussion with the steering team.
Lisa shared information about communications. There are three tiers of communication including: working group, larger group that participated in the world café and the community at large. We need to address all three groups with various communications beginning with the website. Tom shared information from the Providence School Department on their three methods for all communication including, print, person, and digital media. It is important for us to explore other alternatives to web based communication especially for residents without access to a computer.
Lisa is looking for a “partner in crime” to work with her on communications. This person would help to provide ongoing feedback as communications and marketing efforts take shape.
The next meeting will take place on March 9, 2010 from 6:30-8:00 pm and the larger group meeting is scheduled for Monday March 29th at the Hayden Library. Thanks to Ryan for making the arrangements.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Sunday, January 24, 2010
meeting summary and next meeting February 10th
Hello Everyone:
Please disregard my first message. Here is the corrected version of the meeting summary. I have already deleted the other one. Please let me know if I have captured everything.
Meeting Summary of the Town Wide Learning Community Steering Team
January 21, 2010
Linda Rosasco, Carol Bissanti, Lisa Beaulieu, Tom Kenworthy, Karen Freedman, Donna Morelle, Dorothy Gould, and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
This was our first meeting together following our very successful World Café and our last meeting with Carol (at least for a time).
Carol led us through the summaries of the World Café work that she provided. Each of had a chance to share our reflections on the day. Carol distributed index cards and we had to write what action we thought would have the biggest impact and the first step we need take as a group. The discussion that followed lead to the following action steps:
1)Send thank you notes to all participants of the World Café. Donna and Paul will sign the letters as co-sponsors. Rosemary and Donna will draft the letter and send it out to the group for review. The letter should be sent by the first week in February.
2)The summaries of the World Café need to connect to research, where applicable, to form a framework for our basis of action.
a.We need to continuously review the information on the cards and sheets to stay connected to the messages. Karen suggested capturing the images on shutterfly. Lisa offered to scan the images.
3)The steering team needs to research models for and definitions of “authentic collaboration.”
4)Communication is key. The district has a communications plan and Lisa will adapt of draft of the plan for our purposes. The District’s Communication Team may be an important partner at future meetings of the group.
5)Lisa also will look into website hosting and tap into resources from the Tech Club through the RI Foundation. The website will be populated with our work to date and will be a go to place for information.
6)Donna will investigate incorporating a general twlc identification in the web email rather than a specific person’s name.
7)The steering team needs to develop a transition plan to include: goals and objectives of this effort, role of the steering team, role of a broader group, identification of norms to help achieve the goals, development of a council of collaboration or some other guiding body, funding from potential sources such as RI Foundation, Annie E. Casey and Foundations for Leadership.
8)Karen will investigate The Villages and Disney’s give a day, get a day program in Florida as potential models to replicate for family based learning.
9)The steering team needs to plan a meeting in the near future with the expanded group of participant who expressed interest in the work.
Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday February 10, 2010 from 6:30-8:00 pm
Respectfully Submitted
Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Please disregard my first message. Here is the corrected version of the meeting summary. I have already deleted the other one. Please let me know if I have captured everything.
Meeting Summary of the Town Wide Learning Community Steering Team
January 21, 2010
Linda Rosasco, Carol Bissanti, Lisa Beaulieu, Tom Kenworthy, Karen Freedman, Donna Morelle, Dorothy Gould, and Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
This was our first meeting together following our very successful World Café and our last meeting with Carol (at least for a time).
Carol led us through the summaries of the World Café work that she provided. Each of had a chance to share our reflections on the day. Carol distributed index cards and we had to write what action we thought would have the biggest impact and the first step we need take as a group. The discussion that followed lead to the following action steps:
1)Send thank you notes to all participants of the World Café. Donna and Paul will sign the letters as co-sponsors. Rosemary and Donna will draft the letter and send it out to the group for review. The letter should be sent by the first week in February.
2)The summaries of the World Café need to connect to research, where applicable, to form a framework for our basis of action.
a.We need to continuously review the information on the cards and sheets to stay connected to the messages. Karen suggested capturing the images on shutterfly. Lisa offered to scan the images.
3)The steering team needs to research models for and definitions of “authentic collaboration.”
4)Communication is key. The district has a communications plan and Lisa will adapt of draft of the plan for our purposes. The District’s Communication Team may be an important partner at future meetings of the group.
5)Lisa also will look into website hosting and tap into resources from the Tech Club through the RI Foundation. The website will be populated with our work to date and will be a go to place for information.
6)Donna will investigate incorporating a general twlc identification in the web email rather than a specific person’s name.
7)The steering team needs to develop a transition plan to include: goals and objectives of this effort, role of the steering team, role of a broader group, identification of norms to help achieve the goals, development of a council of collaboration or some other guiding body, funding from potential sources such as RI Foundation, Annie E. Casey and Foundations for Leadership.
8)Karen will investigate The Villages and Disney’s give a day, get a day program in Florida as potential models to replicate for family based learning.
9)The steering team needs to plan a meeting in the near future with the expanded group of participant who expressed interest in the work.
Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday February 10, 2010 from 6:30-8:00 pm
Respectfully Submitted
Rosemary Reilly-Chammat
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Next meeting
Hello Everyone:
I am still on my TWLC high and I predict you all are too. I am looking forward to our next meeting to debrief with all of you. I've had some "mini debriefs" and / or "gushes" already with some of you.
If you'd like, and in preparation for our time together, it may be helpful to jot down any ideas, reactions, next steps, and the like related to our TWLC experience over the course of the next week and a half.
Also, Lisa suggested that we send thank you notes to all of the participants. We could sign them at our next meeting. I think some type of follow-up and acknowledgement is a great idea. Thoughts?
Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 21, 2010 beginning at 7:00 pm. Please note the time change.
It has been both a personal honor and exceptional professional experience to be a part of this with all of you. I look forward to our future endeavors.
Rosemary
I am still on my TWLC high and I predict you all are too. I am looking forward to our next meeting to debrief with all of you. I've had some "mini debriefs" and / or "gushes" already with some of you.
If you'd like, and in preparation for our time together, it may be helpful to jot down any ideas, reactions, next steps, and the like related to our TWLC experience over the course of the next week and a half.
Also, Lisa suggested that we send thank you notes to all of the participants. We could sign them at our next meeting. I think some type of follow-up and acknowledgement is a great idea. Thoughts?
Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 21, 2010 beginning at 7:00 pm. Please note the time change.
It has been both a personal honor and exceptional professional experience to be a part of this with all of you. I look forward to our future endeavors.
Rosemary
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