Lamoille Valley BBF Regional Council

Meeting Minutes

October 13, 2009

3:30-5:30pm

AHS Conference Room

Present: JoyceLarro, Vicki Rich, Lorraine Patterson, Linda Farr, Julia Fenwick, ColleenPalmer, Kathy Berry, Elaine Daniels, Heather Freeman, Sonja Raymond, PeterPeltz, Dianne Carter

Regional Plan Revisions

The group feelsthe regional plan is reasonable, perhaps a little much, but approved the ACTIONSof the Revised Regional Plan. The Partners, Resources, Timeline, andRecommendations to State Council all will be completed by Steering Committeeand approved by Council at a later date.

Financial Report - $3500 and $800 fromNEKLS

The $800 that cameto the Lamoille Family Center from NEKLS is earmarked for STARS-related items.

The RegionalCouncil approved the distribution of the extra $3500 coming from the State asfollows:  $2800 allocated to salary ofthe Building Bright Futures Regional Director, and remaining $700 to parentparticipation and childcare for parent participation in BBF Council Meetings.

Parent Education and ProfessionalDevelopment Committee Updates

Parent Education Committee met 10/9/09, discussed bag contents andassessed the usefulness of the bags. In past years, there have been pocketfolders with 3-prong binders with information bound in them. Parent Ed.Committee will investigate partnering with CCV AA Early Childhood or TechCenter students to revamp and create a different booklet for each age groupthat is parent-friendly. Julia looked into the cost of canvas bags which wouldbe $1.45 - $2 per bag. The Growing Up Healthy book from CDD has a veryparent-friendly layout that we could use as a model.  Also, will look into DVDs in “I am Your Child”series for signing out by playgroup participants and library users. Colleensuggested partnering with a library for canvas bags or look into sponsorship byGreen Mtn. Coffee Roasters, B&J, Council of the Humanities, Hannaford’s toget bags. Anne suggested a sticker on back of free book with library info. Kathyspoke about binders seeming to work well with her families. For estimating costof these items, Vicki reminded us that there are about 350 births/year inLamoille County.  Anne will ask RachelGlickman if BBF can purchase as the “State” and get the Staples discount.

Professional Development Committee is working on the 3-Saturday, WonderfulWorld of Wellness Spring Training including “I am Moving, I am Learning,” whichhas a music component with positive messages about healthy food and movement. Positivefeedback from family home providers has been received by those who participatedin the training and CDs. “I am Moving I am Learning” will be featured on thefirst Saturday. Rusty Keeler and Natural Playscapes (there is a trend in movingaway from play equipment to natural play areas) as well as Early Sprouts (oralternative) gardening and nutrition curriculum will be included on the 2^ndSaturday. Dianne suggested that it would be great to have folks send photos ofany changes that they make or activities they tried for the 3^rdSaturday follow-up. In the past, when folks attended all three sessions theywere given a book or materials relating to the training topic – the committeeis coming up with ideas for incentives. We have $2500 in the Direct Service Budgetfor this training, and Anne is applying for the $1500 Regional Collaborative Training.

Resurrect Kindergarten Readiness Committee

Elaine Daniels,and Diane Nichols might be possible K-readiness Committee members . It wassuggested that this be made an ad hoc committee rather than a standingcommittee. Elaine will discuss the committee with potentially interestedparties and report back to the Council next month.

 Other business and updates

Green MountainBusiness Expo –Sonja will pop in and see what this is and whether it’ssomething we might like to be at next year to publicize the work that BBF isdoing in the early childhood world.

If time allows, Committee work

Starting inDecember, half the meeting (4:30-5:30 pm) will be committee time. The groupagreed to try an agenda format with notes and announcements to read during themeeting to cut down on time. Time allotments for agenda items and a timekeeperhave been used in the past, which the group would like to try in November. 

Lamoille Valley Building Bright FuturesMeeting

Tuesday September 8, 2009

3:30 – 5:30 PM

Conference Room

AHS Building

MeetingMinutes

Introductions:  Dianne Carter, Sonja Raymond, Colleen Palmer,Linda Farr, Diane Nichols, Vick Rich, Anne Maule, Charlene Ramsey

The council wasasked by Kids Are Priority One to sponsor the State House/Open House/Step upfor Kids Day on (Saturday) October 28^th (date to be checked).  There is no obligation toco-sponsorship.  The council agreed toco-sponsor this event.

Sonja asked if thecouncil wanted to have Melissa Regal-Garritt come to a council meeting to talkabout the KAP1 priorities for this year. 

The BBF StateCouncil has given each of the regional councils a sum of money to be used tohelp update the regional plan and continue the regional councilactivities.  Each region was getting adifferent amount of money based on the size of the region.  Lamoille Valley BBF has received $3500.  While there aren’t specific guidelines forusing this money, it does need to be tied to the Regional Plan in someway. 

There was adiscussion about how to use this money. There was a suggestion to put it towards the arena in the Regional Planthat focuses on school readiness/transition. Since the council needs to make a commitment to update the regional planif they accept this money, the group had some discussion about what is the bestway to update the plan (either as a whole council or divide into subgroups).The council split into groups to take a closer look at what parts of ourregional plan that we are already doing.     

Lamoille Valley Building Bright Futures Meeting

Tuesday November 11, 20083:30 – 5:30 PM

Agency for Human Services Building