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Minutes

August 15, 2002

Members Present Members Absent Others in Attendance

Sharon Banks, Lansing School District
Kelley Bishop, MSU
Paula Cunningham, LCC
Gene Fernandez, Sparrow Health System
Cordell Henderson, Hill
Jann Jencka, Ingham ISD
Owen Johnston, Bekum America
Scott Koenigsknecht, Fowler Public Schools
Chris Laverty, UAW Local 652
Larry Lloyd, Clinton ISD
Jennifer Nash, The Accident Fund
Sue Parr, Lansing Chamber of Commerce
Kathi Rypkema, Parent Rep
Gerald Stinnett, Williamston School District
Doug Stites, CAMW!
Edith Suttles, Waverly School Board
Jon Tomlanovich, Eaton ISD
Clark Volz, Maple Valley School District
Jackie Warr, Lansing School Board

Cindy Bowen, Sheraton Hotel
Brindley Byrd, Q X 2 Contracting, Inc.
Victor Celentino, Ingham County Board of Commissioners
Patricia Cook, Economic Development Corporation for the City of Lansing
Glenn Freeman, III, Greater Lansing Labor Council
David Hollister, Mayor, City of Lansing
Judy Kenney, WSYM TV-47
Vernicka Tyson, MSU
Kathy Tomlanovich, Ingham ISD
Kathy Humphrey, Ingham ISD
George Contompasis, CAMW St. Johns
Jody Bennett
Pat Jackson, CCRESA
Ralph Hansen, Eaton ISD
Tom Griffin, Eaton ISD
Karen Reiff, Ingham ISD
Jean Wheeler, Ingham ISD
William Brown, LCC
Camela Diaz, Lansing Schools
Dave Price, Lansing School Dist.
TJ Hawkins, LCC/Star Institute
Martha Finn, Eaton ISD
Jo Pamment, Haslett ESL

Staff

Karl Stearns
Sandi Carter
ITEM #1 Introduction of New Members
Edith welcomed Sue Parr, Lansing Chamber of Commerce Interim President, and Scott Koenigsknecht, Superintendent for Fowler Schools. Sue and Scott were appointed to the Career Connections Board at the September Workforce Development Board meeting.
ITEM #2 Public Comments
Kathy Tomlanovich, Director, CSTE, Ingham ISD, introduced Jean Wheeler. Jean is on loan from East Lansing Schools to Ingham ISD as the Curriculum/Career Preparation Specialist. Kathy also announced Karen Reiff’s appointment as Career Preparation Coordinator.
ITEM #3 Approval of Minutes
ACTION

Minutes approved as written.

ITEM #4 Subcommitte Reports

a.Career/Technical Education

CTE met on Sept. 11
-They are continuing to work on enrollment/capacity of CTE tri-county programs. Ralph Hansen will have data available at the October meeting. Their major focus will be to try to remove barriers to enrollment.

-They also have meet with the STRA staff to explore how they can work together. STRA is trying to increase their employer base and employer participation. More work needs to be done in the area of employer commitment. STRA outlined the four areas they need help with. Owen Johnston thanked everyone who attended the meeting.

-Concerns exist with how we are measuring success of the program. 35 Eaton ISD students completed the apprenticeship process; 8 got jobs, and 29 were placed in related work. Owen announced Bekum decided to continue the program even though they are laying off people.

-STRA is only looking for commitment from employers to interview students, not necessarily to hire them

-STRA is willing to participate in the spring event.

b.Marketing
Kathi Rypkema reported the marketing committee met yesterday. They have new members. Pat Cook has checked with the Kellogg Center on availability of rooms for the spring event (April 30th). They need more input from STRA on what their needs for space are.

WIGU
Jon T. gave a brief review of the background of our communications regarding the Dec. 3rd event. ISD superintendents are contacting their local schools to make them aware of it. It will include career development activities prior to December 3rd, activities during game day, and follow-up activities. On Sept. 3rd Ron Mason sent a letter to all elementary principals. The deadline for schools to let MSU know they want to participate is Sept.27th. MSU is looking for input on appropriateness of their materials, and we are still looking for people to serve on a referent group for that purpose. So far there has been no Career Connections involvement or credit, but MSU has no problem with that. One of the activities talked about is a poster contest on the pathways that CC RIG could coordinate.

Newsletter
Karl reported Kristen Garceau will not be able to do the newsletter, but Ingham is contracting with Blue Pencil. Linda Heard from BP has already begun writing articles for the first edition. Concerns have been expressed regarding the effectiveness. Local superintendents will receive a survey.

Edith thanked everyone who responded to the plea for help on the marketing committee. New members include:

  • Mark Mays, Lansing Chamber of Commerce
  • Gale Gower, MSU
  • Clark Volz, Maple Valley Schools
  • Cindy Bowen

c.Regional Implementation Group
A meeting for newly funded pathways districts is scheduled for October 1 to help them understand the fiscal reporting and programmatic requirements. Part of the meeting will involve introducing staff from these new pathways districts to resources from successful lighthouse districts. The meeting will include roundtable discussions on each of the four goal areas as well as fiscal reporting.

On September 24th RIG will be meeting to develop a plan and strategies for implementing goals for the next two years.

Chris Laverty requested to be placed on the October 22 RIG agenda. He would like to report on the Pathways Leadership Institute follow-up meeting he attended in August. He has information from that meeting on what other districts are doing.

d.English-as-a-Second Language
No report.

e.Evaluation
Kathy Humphrey reported for the Evaluation Team. She thanked everyone who was on the subcommittee last year. A narrative report will be available early in October. Kathy requested to be placed on the October board meeting agenda. Individual school data will be available early in November.

Plans for 2002-03 include:
-A building self assessment of progress in the four goal areas

-School/district profile

-Feedback forms from regional professional development activities

-K-12 linkage to post-secondary education

-Exploration of goal area implementation in Lighthouse districts. (recommended for the 2003-04 evaluation cycle to give new lighthouse districts a chance to get underway).f.Executive Committee Report

Committee structures were provided in the packet. Karl met with the ISD superintendents to review committee memberships and revised them to allow career preparation staff to spend more time working with local schools.

Edith invited Career Connections board members to attend any of the committee meetings. This would allow them to get more than the short review they receive at the board meeting.

ITEM #5 Public Comments
  • Cordell reported that Hill recently received ASE certification for their Auto Body (collision). Their automotive technology program has already received certification.
  • Edith Suttles and LCC received received awards at the state-wide Michigan Works! conference. Edith for Volunteer of the Year and LCC for MTEC. Paula thanked Doug for his help. In all, this region received 3 awards.
  • Williamston received an award at the Governor’s Summit for having the largest contingency in attendance. Gerald Stinnett encouraged business representatives to attend next year. The main theme for this year’s summit was the “No Child Left Behind Legislation.”
  • Sharon Banks announced Everett and Sexton hosted a national team of educators. Their visit was to see how Lansing’s curriculum interacts with the state’s.
  • Ralph Hansen congratulated the schools in the region—specifically Fowler—who scored well on the Standard and Poor’s evaluation.
  • Owen Johnston congratulated LCC on receiving and EDS grant to assist students in computer design.
  • Chris Laverty announced GM is hiring again. They have contacted former LAMP students. Out of 241 graduates, 33 have been hired. One hundred responded they were interested in production work. Will be tracking how many LAMP students have been hired.
  • Doug announced CAMW received a grant to work with MVU for distance learning. Funds will go towards exploring how auto employers can access training.
  • Larry Lloyd announced Clinton CRESA passed a voc ed millage.
ITEM #6 Next Meeting
Thursday, November 21, 2002
Capital Area Michigan Works!

Respectfully Submitted,
Sandi Carter