Response from the RCBOE

We received the response from the RCBOE through snail mail and through the Board's Agenda for May 11, 2007. The Meet and Greet was held January 18, 2007 and all Board members were present except for the Board President, Mr. Jimmy Atkins and Board Member, Marion Barnes. Their flight was delayed due to inclement weather.

We waited patiently on the Board to work with the many administrators who work in the Tower of Power to provide us with the correct responses to the questions presented. We ended up with a response that we had to submit to the State School Superintendent. Who can answer these questions if the School Board, the School Board Attorney, the administrators making $100, 000-$140,000, and the State Superintendent can't?

The response (or lack of) from the Board is available from the BHS PTSA web page for 2006-2007 Accomplishments http://bhsptsa.googlepages.com/accomplishments.

Congratulations to our Talent Showcase participants

Congratulations to all of the Butler High School students that particpated in the Talent Showcase. It was a great family oriented event that brought out students, parents, teachers, and community supporters. You are all winners!

Do you want to see who won? Check out the BHS PTSA In Action web site http://bhsptsa.googlepages.com/ptsainaction

Update on the questions presented to the School Board Members

After 90 days, we finally received a response from the Interim Superintendent's secretary in reference to the 15 questions we presented to the School Board Members in January 2007.

The 15 questions are still posted on the Butler HS PTSA website.
http://bhsptsa.googlepages.com/accomplishments

The School Board has narrowed the Superintendent selection down to 30. We will see how this event pans out.

Thirty (30) candidates have applied for the position, with ten (10) of them being from Georgia. The remaining twenty (20) applicants are from fourteen different States. Eighteen of the candidates hold Ed. D. degrees; seven of them hold Ph. D. degrees, while the remaining applicants hold Educational Specialist and/or Master Degrees.

The Georgia School Board Association will review the individual applications for completeness prior to making a presentation to the Board of Education. GSBA conducts a thorough evaluation of all applications using the criteria established by the Board of Education. The names of any particular candidate will remain confidential until the list has been reduced to the final candidates, following interviews by the Board of Education.

Advocacy Week

Advocacy should be a year-round concern. Use this special week to build skills and enthusiasm for not only talking about our issues, but also to do something! Reach out to your elected officials-especially the members of Congress in their home districts-to talk about issues. By getting organized, knowing the facts, and we can powerfully build participation at the local level.

Your federal legislators have local offices in their home districts…just waiting for you to call, come by, and visit!

Do you as an advocate, citizen, and voter know the answers to these questions?
• What is your congressional district?
• Who are your Senators and your Congressional Representative?
• Where is the home office(s) located?
• What are their phone numbers and email addresses?
• Who are their office managers and staff members who work those offices, serving the Congressmen and you the citizen and voter?

Don’t know the answers to these questions? Use this link to find out who your representatives are from local representation to statewide officials.

http://www.ciclt.net/gapta/main.asp?PT=po_lookup&Client=gapta

Set up an appointment with your Congressman and both Senators. If the elected official is not available, get an appointment with an office staffer. They will meet with you, take all your information, and give it to the Congressman or Senator. Knowing the office staff is very important!

PTA Advocacy Week February 19-23, 2007

Random Acts of Kindness Week

February 12-18 2007

What are you doing to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week?

Need some ideas? Want to see what others have done or are doing? Check out http://www.actsofkindness.org/

Need an inspirational quote? http://www.actsofkindness.org/inspiration/quotes.asp

Upcoming BHS PTSA Events

Welcome back to the rest of the school year!

January 18, 2007 6:30 - Meet and Greet session with our school boardmembers. We have six confirmed RSVPs.

January 20, 2007 5:30 AM GPB Television: Achieving Success Inside GAPublic Schools http://www.gpb.org/public/education/achieving/

February 8, 2007 - GA PTA Day at the Capitol. If you can't make it, keep informed through the Capitol Watch link http://www.georgiapta.org/

February 15, 2007 at Glenn Hills Middle School, 5:30 Book signing, 6:30 Guest speaker, Mr. Randy Gaschler is the author of Parent Driven Schools. Mr. Randy Gaschler will speak to our community on how one parent is more powerful to child's education than a room full of PhDs and 11 Ways Public Education is Failing Our Kids (and How a Motivated Parent Can Turn That Around). For more information about the book and Mr. Randy Gaschler , click on the this link http://www.parentdrivenschools.com/meet.htm

This is just a brief overview of upcoming events. For more information check out the BHS PTSA website http://bhsptsa.googlepages.com

RC BOE Members are invited to our Meet and Greet

On December 14, 2006, the BHS PTSA Officers attended the Richmond County Board of Education meeting. Each School Board member was issued a personal invitation on BHS PTSA letter head inviting them to attend our Meet and Greet Session at BHS.

Many people are watching to see how the School Board members participate. The RSVP date is set for January 5, 2007 after the school break. The big event takes place on January 18, 2007.

We are seeking to improve parental and community involvement while holding this event.

My apologies to my fellow bloggers for not keeping our blog up to date. We have made many improvements to our website and invite every one to visit and pass the link on to those who can fill our Teacher Wish Lists.

RC BOE seeks opinions on superintendent

Before Richmond County school board members develop their qualifications for the county's next superintendent, the public will have two more opportunities to voice their opinions on the issue.

The Georgia School Boards Association, the group contracted to help conduct a national search to replace former Superintendent Charles Larke, will hold a series of four public forums to elicit input from the community on who should take the helm of the 33,000-pupil school system.

The next two forums are scheduled for Nov. 28 at Hephzibah Middle School and 7 p.m. Nov. 28 at Glenn Hills Middle School.

So mark your calendars and spread the word.

Veterans Day

There are many things we can do to celebrate Veterans Day throughout the year.

Take a moment and send an email, provide pet foster care, send a care package, donate blood, donate frequent flyer miles, or volunteer in your community.
You can check out some of these links:
America Supports You http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/
US Department of Veterans Affairs http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/
US Army
US Marines
US Air Force
US Navy
Operation Military Pride
Xerox provides a Let's Say Thanks campaign http://www.letssaythanks.com
Armed Forces Network (AFN) http://www.usafns.com/email.shtml

Here are a few practical ways to honor these heroes this Veterans Day
• Write a veteran a thank-you note, or send a letter to an entire VFW or American Legion post.
• Write a letter/Send an email to a Soldier currently serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
• Talk to your children about who veterans are, what they do and what their service means to our country.
Thank you Veterans! We will never forget.

Spooky to Be Hungry canned good collection and upcoming Blood Drive

Butler High School is collecting canned goods for the Spooky to Be Hungry program. There are other collection points throughout the CSRA.

This organization is run by volunteers. Check out their website at http://www.spookytobehungry.org/faq.htm

There are Spooky food drives in Richmond County, Columbia County (Evans, Martinez, Grovetown, and Harlem), Aiken, Burke, Edgefield, Lincoln, McDuffie, and Warren Counties.

Another event at Butler High School this week: Blood Drive, 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Please come support this event.