Monarch Movers & Shapers

Movers and Shapers Retreat Notes

2009-08-25T15:38:00.000-05:00

Movers and Shapers Retreat Notes
August 19, 2009
Introductions
Justin Fox- Marty’s little brother; Chairman of Movers and Shapers; retired FBI agent
John Barone - Director of Communications; taught in both programs; now working with Kipp to spread word about Monarch
Marty Webb - Head of School; Never thought she’d be a principal; loved teaching; founding of Monarch was the culmination of vision that Houston needed a school like Monarch
Vicki Luquette - parent coordinator for Challenger; 17-year-old son who has been with Monarch for 1.5 years; lived in Montana for 13 years; challenges of high school brought them to Monarch
Julie Schwartz- parent coordinator for Apprentice; son (4 years old) in his second year at Monarch; stay-at-home mom with two kids; daughter is two.
Kandace Shyer- former M&S parent liaison for Apprentice; two kids; son Grant attended Monarch and will now attend public school after three years with the school
Carrie Logan- met Marty seven years ago; court reporter for 23 years; has a 14-year-old that will go to high school this year
John Hardesty - wife is on the Monarch Board; musician/composer/pianist; inspired by a student playing piano at the breakfast
Stephanie Wheatley - former parent coordinator; son Grant has been with Monarch for six years; used to live in Middle East; no services for son there; didn’t like public school; very happy with Monarch and progress son has made; art teacher (pre-k through 3rd grade)
Julie Meaux - 17-year-old son who attended Monarch for four years; he will attend public school; still here 1.5 years after son left
Marion Defalco - attended breakfast and has been in awe of Monarch ever since; taught for 8 years in 13 different states (special ed teacher); had a vision for a school like this and thinks it’s unbelievable to see a school like Monarch
Anne Proano - became involved through Marion; has grandson with autism; registered nurse
Scharlene Fox - taught school for eight years in Louisiana; had students that she couldn’t understand because of lack of training; retired FBI agent; Justin’s wife
Kipp Baxter – Monarch’s new Development Director; former broker; background with arts organizations; accustomed to raising funds

Roots and Wings
Dr. Webb shared a poem from “Seasons of Your Heart” by Sister Macrina Wiederkehr
Met Sister Macrina a year ago; told her how much her spirituality had inspired her
“Roots and Wings” is the poem that has led Dr. Webb through personal and career changes
Had trouble letting go; poem tugged on her heart and helped her.

Roots and wings
Roots and wings I’ve wanted most of all
My longing to stay and my longing to go come wrapped in the same package
I struggle

Root Pursuit
Movers and Shapers enjoyed a trivia game derived from their memories of childhood in the following categories: fun foods, TV time; playing with peers, toys and gadgets; school daze.

Root Salute
Movers and Shapers reviewed a History of Monarch and shared how they first joined M&S and what their contributions have been.
97-98 - Humble Beginnings: Monarch in a Garage.
98-99 - Our Foundation: The Level System is born.
99-00 - Making a Splash: Monarch Students build the pond.
00-01 - Into the Woods: Trails added, mapped and marked.
01-02 - Monarch Triples in Size: Dedication of Challenger.
02-03 - The Most Important Meal of the Day: The 1st MMM.
03-04 - The Business Begins: Life Academy is Born.
04-05 - Reaching Out: Our First Diagnostic Clinic Client.
05-06 - Our Resident Artist: Kate Mattheisen at the Jung Center!
06-07 - Homes of Our Own: Supportive Living Begins.
07-08 - Famous Friend: Robison receives Honorary Diploma.
08-09 - There’s No Place Like Home: Our New Campus!

If You Had Wings
Movers and Shapers brainstormed where they would like to travel to, and those who have been to these places shared their experience there, “flying” the group their in our imaginations.

On a Wing and a Prayer
Movers and Shapers wrote down their dreams for Monarch in the next five years (listed below). During lunch they shared their ideas in past tense, as if they had already been achieved.

2009-10
Accomplish the task of making Monarch a household name in Houston
Monarch receives national exposure on TV
See Dr. Webb on Oprah
Defined process for tapping into potential helping/participation/assistance of parents
Many want to be more active but don’t know how
Movers and Shapers - continued dedication and meaningful projects!
Actually work with the children
Continue to get student’s stories before the public both as fundraising strategy and as way to continue normalizing neuro-differences with general public
Continue bringing in leading edge “thinkers” in neuro-difference field (authors, educators, etc.)

2010-11
Corporate contributions of $1 million
Breakfast MMM attendance to exceed 1,000
Mega Connections Scholarship Program
1. Students
2. Potential Teachers
3. Teachers - higher ed
Brain Education Grant
PBS - program about Monarch School

2011-12
National Recognition for the Monarch School approach and Green campus!!
Completion of Phase 2 & 3 of Monarch Buildings

2012-13
Personal contributions of $20,000+ per year; recruitment of friends/corporations to attend breakfast

2013-14
Completion of funding for phases 2 & 3 of Monarch campus buildings!
Ability to accommodate all who wish to attend Monarch
Annual corporate contributions exceed $2 million
Increase number of students while maintaining all attributes that make Monarch work (individualization of learning plans, etc.)

Parting Gifts
On behalf of Monarch, John presented the group with Monarch post-its for M&S ideas, and a journal for recording all their contributions.

May Meeting Minutes!

2009-05-21T11:19:00.001-05:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers Core TeamMeeting Minutes: May 11, 200912:00 PM, Monarch Learning CenterCore Team/Faculty Members:Present: Justin Fox, Stephanie Wheatley, Carrie Logan, Marty Webb, John Barone, Shannon Woodruff, Kandace Shyer, Vicki Luquette, Mikeda Jess, Marion DefalcoProceedings:
· Meeting called to order at 12:15 p.m. by Chairman Fox.
· Lunch enjoyed by all.
· Current projects list and agenda distributed.
· Marion Defalco passed around her NASA lapel pin to receive a special thought, rub and wish for luck and good fortune from each member present as her husband Frank’s invention is currently being considered at NASA.
· Mikeda Jess was introduced as newest M&S member and welcomed to the group.
Opening greetings by Chairman Fox

· Chairman Fox introduced outline of special two-hour meeting. The first hour was dedicated to reflecting on the prior year; the second hour was dedicated to goal setting for the coming year.

Remarks by John Barone, Director of Communications

· John Barone began his presentation on reflection of the group. First he discussed a business model for a widget, and the criteria to market and sell said widget, such as:
1) finding/choosing product
2) designing and finding efficient ways to produce it
3) cost
4) hiring work force
5) targeting the market
6) functionality and appeal
7) profit
8) throwaways

· Fortunately for us the Monarch model is organic, less business-like and more relationship-based. Job descriptions at Monarch are not static; they are organic. Individuals grow in ways unique to them.
· As we reflected on the strengths of the M&S core committee, we contributed the following ideas and thoughts:
1. Common goals
2. Responsive to needs
3. Diverse perspectives
4. Dedicated to project completion
5. Enthusiasm
6. Leadership
7. Tilling new ground

· These thoughts led John to invite the group to consider possible paths and dreaming dreams for the group. The following ideas and thoughts were contributed:
1. Involving the neighborhood at the new campus
2. Relaxing the structure of the committees
3. Enlarging the group
4. Considering a name that more fits the group, such as
a) Best Friends of Monarch
b) Hearts of Monarch
c) Monarch Mates
d) Movers and Shapers Do It with Heart
e) Movers and Shapers Have Heart
f) BFFs of Monarch
5. Cohesion is based on relationship within the group
6. Involve/recruit parents by way of a standing group meeting
7. Create more energy with the parents
8. Better education to parents regarding the function of Movers and Shapers
9. Loosening up in terms of expectation and structure
10. New location/moving/new routines/new projects in a new environment will require support of M&S in order to take the workload off of the faculty. (Dr. Webb then recognized the M&S group for all of the excellent projects, both completed and ongoing.)
11. In the spirit of relaxing the structure of the group, consider that a member’s pause in attendance at meetings and/or involvement doesn’t need to result in exiting the group or guilty feelings.
12. As the group continued to consider possible paths, we included how we want meetings to look in the future. Included in those ideas were:
a) To maintain the time and place, yet make the meetings quarterly
b) To make the meetings quarterly
c) Allow for smaller groups to meet to discuss projects as needed
d) Yearly retreat, Christmas party, and additional social interaction
13. Blog needs updating
14. Social networking could be provided via Facebook

· At this point in the meeting Vicki Luquette was introduced and welcomed to the group. Vicki will be stepping in to Stephanie Wheatley’s role as one of the two Monarch parent liaisons to our M&S group. The other Monarch parent liaison for next school year will be Julie Schwartz.
· Break at 1:05 for five minutes.
· After the break, Chairman Fox invited the group to address Goals of the group for the upcoming school year. Goals included:
1. Promoting quality over quantity and nurturing the relationship within the group
2. Adopt a relationship/friend based structure
3. Retain Friends of Monarch (M&S predecessor) through communication
4. Smaller meetings and groups
5. Social networking
6. Improve communication
7. Social events
8. Recognition of group members for good work, completed projects, efforts and ideas
9. Flexibility versus rigid structure
10. Recognize individual talents and affinities of each member, instead of pigeon holing them into being assigned to one of four standing committees.
11. Accountability (Justin to maintain a master list; independently report to Justin on project’s status via email, phone or at meetings.)
12. Keep projects meaningful and doable
13. Update M&S link to Monarch web page
14. Redesign structure of group (consider meetings to be scheduled quarterly; maintain the online application for members)
15. Kickoff retreat to be held in August 2009
16. Faculty not required or needed to attend each meeting of group
17. It was definitely decided to hold meetings quarterly in 2009-10
18. Fall project: Work on dedication of new building
19. Start a Facebook page now
Justin will start the group on Facebook and be the maintainer of it
We will keep the group public so prospective members can view it
20. Discuss the possibility of renaming the group
At the meeting, the group came to the consensus to retain our Movers and Shapers name, but change the scope of the group
· After the group brainstormed goals for next year, they were asked the following question: What will the meeting structure look like?
1. Educational – staff member could present or a mini-session on Monarch could be presented
2. Celebrational – celebrating one another on accomplishments
3. Social – Could be a lot of different things (eating, scrapbooking, cookie exchange, ornament exchange, potluck, etc.)
· It was also discussed that instead of just inviting the Core Committee members to meetings, the whole group of volunteers would be invited. John, Marty and Shannon would also be invited regularly. It was noted that just because all faculty is not invited does not mean that they are not welcome.
Meeting adjourned at 2:00 p.m.

Movers and Shapers Core Committee Minutes

2009-04-16T16:09:00.002-05:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers Core TeamMeeting Minutes:

April 2, 200912:30 PM, Monarch Learning Center

Core Team/Faculty Members:Present: Justin Fox, Stephanie Wheatley, Carrie Logan, John Hardesty, Marty Webb, John Barone, Shannon Woodruff, Kandyce Shyer.

Proceedings:
· Meeting called to order at 12:37 p.m. by Chairman Fox.
· Lunch enjoyed by all.
· Current projects lists and agendas distributed.

Opening greetings by Chairman Fox

· Movers and Shapers Core Committee members were recognized with special gifts of Monarch Glen Merlot from Chairman Fox.
· Chairman Fox opened the meeting by recognizing John Hardesty’s musical success. His song “Everlasting Love,” from John Hardesty’s second CD, “Living in the Light” has made its way to radio. After one week of being promoted, it’s been picked up by over 30 stations nationwide and in Japan, England and Peru as well.
· Chairman Fox noted that the Discovery Garden at the Houston Zoo is being re-purposed by the zoo. Monarch will employ outdoor space projects at the new campus.
· Chairman Fox recognized Stephanie Wheatley, Britney McGarvey and Marion Defalco for helping to address 450 envelopes on February 23 for the Sneak Peek event at the new campus, which was held on April 1, 2009.
· Chairman Fox complimented Carrie Logan for her purchase of artificial decorative Monarch butterflies. Carrie is also testing the Monarch homepage on her personal computer.

Remarks by John Barone, Director of Communications

· A Place for All is selling well. John requested M&S group and friends go to amazon.com and St. Mary’s Press (www.smp.org). Each has an area for endorsements of the book. The more popular the book is, the longer it stays on the website, therefore increasing the opportunity for sales.
· Haven’t had an opportunity to read the book? You can read Chapter 1 for free online. Read the chapter and review that. Just get your thoughts on the websites as soon as possible.
· John Barone also requested to return to the review and click on “Was this review helpful?” for each review that is posted. This also increases popularity of the book.
· 21st Century Learning has hired John Barone to conduct workshops based on A Place for All. Mr. Barone can use the workshops as a platform for book sales. Assistance is needed to book workshops in school and faith communities. The title of the workshop is “Becoming a Better Teacher.” Please note that the Monarch philosophy and methodology is individualized to meet the needs of the school and/or faith community.
· The Monarch Hour was on KPFT, March 23rd, 2009. Mr. Barone recognized Patrick Light for doing a terrific job.
· Mr. Barone recognized Chairman Fox for his hospitality and welcoming demeanor with newcomers to Monarch, Mikeda Jess most recently.

Remarks by Shannon Woodruff, Director of Development
· Shannon updated the group with a report that John Barone and Dick Bartell have supported Monarch’s ongoing efforts with the George Foundation, advocating for funding for the scholarship fund tagged for Fort Bend County families.

Remarks by Dr. Webb
· Dr. Webb thanked all present for the successful Sneak Peek event held the night before, April 1, 2009, at the new Monarch campus. New relationships were cultivated.
· Monarch is currently in pursuit of federal funding options.
· Dr. Webb noted that the school is close to breaking even on the cost of the pavers, due in part to the sales of $2,300 from the Sneak Peek event.
· Dr. Webb recognized Stephanie Wheatley for eight scrapbooks that have been completed and delivered to TMS.

Developers Committee report by Chairman Fox
· Currently and continually working on friends, funds and updating the email list. Email list is being completed by Joe, Justin and Marion.
Builders Committee update by Stephanie Wheatley
· Stephanie announced work continues on the scrapbooks.
· Campus spruce-up (date and time TBA) will be minimal as this will be the last season at the present campus. Marty Webb to discuss with Debrah Hall best timing for spruce-up project.
· Parent coffee scheduled for 4-15-09; Stephanie created album keepsake for the parents that attend the event.

Educators Committee update by John Barone
· John noted that Miranda Bennett is preparing for her return to her duties with the Educators Committee as she continues to enjoy motherhood.

Heralds Committee update by Marion Defalco (as read by John Barone)
· Efforts continue to receive grants from Boundless Playgrounds, Peace for Children (Donald and Lisa Pliner).
· Efforts continue to enlist radio interview with Bill Gates.
· Application for new John Travolta Foundation (for deceased son Jett Travolta) was initiated.
· Play Park Structures pricing is imminent.
· The Pliners were invited to a special tour of the new campus building and grounds April 4 or 5 during their visit to their Houston Flagship store in Highland Village.
· Marion will deliver two copies plus flyers of A Place for All to Catholic churches, relatives and The St. Francis Medical Center in Illinois the weekend of April 3-7.

Meeting Adjourned at 1:30 PM

Make a Monarch Homepage

2009-02-25T14:00:00.009-06:00

Hooray for Carrie, the first of the Movers & Shapers to personalize her homepage with Monarch features (see below)! Who's next, folks?

M&S Core Committee Minutes - 2/5/09

2009-02-12T15:06:00.002-06:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers Core Team
Meeting Minutes: February 5, 2009
12:30 PM, Monarch Learning Center

Core Team/Faculty Members:
Present: Justin Fox, Stephanie Wheatley, Carrie Logan, John Hardesty, Julie Meaux, Dr. Marty Webb, John Barone, Shannon Woodruff, Linda Caruso, Marion Defalco, Jennalee Wolf and Dr. Neal Sarahan.

Proceedings:
Meeting called to order at 12:37 p.m. by Chairman Fox.
Lunch enjoyed by all.
Current projects lists and agendas distributed.

Opening greetings by Chairman Fox
• Chairman Fox opened the meeting by recognizing John Hardesty for an outstanding concert performance January 23 at Unity Church. John Hardesty announced plans for future performances in Houston, Phoenix and Austin. John also updated the group on the two music classes he has had with his student at Monarch; John is very excited and enthusiastic.
• Chairman Fox recognized Stephanie Wheatley for becoming an American citizen.
• Chairman Fox complimented Rachel Weber, Monarch Administrative Assistant at the Challenger campus, for her help in updating the M&S membership Directory, as well as ordering the tasty lunches at our Core Team meetings.
• Chairman Fox requested that in the next month, he would like everyone to bring and/or recommend a friend to the Terrific Tuesday Tours, as well as provide Shannon Woodruff with at least 10 email addresses of friends to add to the Monarch data base to receive the monthly newsletter.
• Chairman Fox has been looking everywhere for his Monarch M&S shirt. Linda Caruso let him know it is in transit and delivery is anticipated in the near future.
• Chairman Fox initiated conversation about the status of Monarch’s participation with the Houston Zoo Discovery Garden. After discussion with the Builders Committee chair, Stephanie Wheatley, input from Dr. Webb and Linda Caruso, the follow up will be Linda Caruso is to have a discussion with Richard Klein to become a liaison and create and/or arrange a transfer of the garden management, possibly to the U.S. Vets, via Operation Interdependence.
• Dr. Webb recognized Marion Defalco on her recent nomination for the Mayor’s Community Award.
Remarks by John Barone, Director of Communications

• A Place for All is selling well. John requested M&S group and friends go to amazon.com and St. Mary’s Press (www.smp.org). Each has an area for endorsements of the book. The more popular the book is, the longer it stays on the website; therefore increasing the opportunity for sales. Haven’t had an opportunity to read the book? You can read Chapter 1 for free online. Read the chapter and review that. Just get your thoughts on the websites as soon as possible
• In October, John Barone presented a Monarch homepage to the M&S group and requested that the M&S members use it on their own computers. Carrie Logan will be the M&S member to use it on a trial basis.
• The Monarch hour will be on KPFT March 23rd, 2009. The topic for presentation/discussion is ADHD.
Remarks by Shannon Woodruff, Director of Development
• Shannon thanked the following M&S members for assistance in the email update project: Marion Defalco, Carrie Logan, Justin Fox, Julie Meaux & Joe Merrill. Shannon Woodruff still has about 350 obsolete email addresses in the Monarch data base, which need updating so that the recipients may receive the Monarch monthly e-newsletters and other important information. Therefore, Shannon needs only five of us M&S volunteers, each of whom will be assigned 75 persons, to telephone those persons with the obsolete email addresses. Shannon will provide you with a spread sheet of the names and telephone numbers of these persons, as well as a brief "script" to follow. This is a much-needed project, which easily may be done from your home in approximately 2 or 3 total hours. Please email Shannon at swoodruff@monarchshool.org to volunteer this week.
Remarks by Dr. Webb
• Construction is progressing well at the new campus. There will be a faculty “sneak peek” on February 16th, which is faculty retreat day for Monarch.
• A Sneak Peek Cocktail Party (Punch & Peek?) is scheduled for Wednesday, April 1 from 5 pm to 6:30 pm. Life Academy is to cater the event. The guest list includes donors of over $1,000 and donors presently being courted. Monarch is just shy of the balance of $1 million to finance the Chrysalis building (Building No. 1).
Remarks by Jennalee Wolf
• On Tuesday, Feb. 10th, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. at The Monarch Learning Center, Jennalee Wolf, Monarch Admissions Director, will hold a luncheon training session for our initial group of M&S volunteers. Basically Jennalee will provide us at this session with the all necessary information to help her and other Monarch staff members, whom we M&Sers will accompany at various times, to help represent The Monarch School at selected expos, exhibit halls, open houses and conferences for organizations dealing with neurological differences. If you have not already informed Jennalee that you will be attending this session, please email her at jwolf@monarchschool.org if you can make it to this Tuesday session. If you cannot attend this training session, there will be another one later in the year. All are welcome, in order to learn more about most effectively spreading the word about Monarch, which is an M&S members primary job!
Remarks by Dr. Neal
• Dr. Neal discussed the recent $10,000 grant received by the Life Academy. The grant is funding a project that requires the students to give away the money to worthy charities. Life Academy students will research levels of need for various groups. They are partnering with Association of Christian Area Ministries (ACAM) to determine the projects they’d like to support. ACAM is a coalition of 12 ministries that serve the neediest in our city. Mentors from various foundations are to collaborate with the students as they determine the group(s) with the most need for the giveaway to be announced in April. More mentors are needed in the area of philanthropy, decision-making and what generates value.
Builders Committee update by Stephanie Wheatley
• Stephanie announced work continues on the scrapbooks. A project completion date of June 19, 2009 was given by Dr. Webb, as that is the date of the alumni event for Monarch.
Educators Committee update by John Barone
• John Barone requested a reinvestment in the M&S blog. He also added that Miranda Bennett is preparing for her return to her duties with the Educators Committee.
Heralds Committee update by Marion Defalco
• As usual, Marion has been heralding hither and yon.
• -Marion has contacted St. Francis Nursing School, the largest in Illinois. She is promoting “A Place for All” through St. Francis. They are very enthusiastic and receptive.
• Marion has created a binder of celebrity contacts and is researching the best methods for cultivating relationships with them. She has faxed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as she discovered the most effective method for contacting various foundations is through fax.
• She has also contacted the Peace for the Children Foundation of Don & Lisa Pliner. Lisa is a Houstonian. Marion expects a “hometown” connection through Lisa and therefore through the foundation.
Developers Committee update by Justin Fox
• Justin noted that the pending project is proceeding well for finding someone to help finance the new campus audio/visual system.
Meeting Adjourned at 1:30 PM
The next M&S Core Committee meeting will be Thursday, April 2 at 12:30 PM.

M&S Meeting Minutes

2008-12-12T16:05:00.000-06:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers Core TeamMeeting Minutes: December 4, 2008, 12:30 p.m.
The Monarch Learning CenterCore Team/Faculty Members: Present: Justin Fox, Marion Defalco, Stephanie Wheatley, John Hardesty, Kandace Shyer, Julie Meaux, Marty Webb, John Barone, Shannon Woodruff, and Neal Sarahan.Proceedings:The meeting was called to order at 12:30 p.m. by Chairman Fox. Lunch was enjoyed by all.
The current projects lists and agendas were distributed.

Opening greetings by Chairman Fox
· Chairman Fox noted that Carrie Logan will be the official keeper of the Core Team meeting minutes, starting with our next meeting on Feb. 5, 2009.
· Madelyn Browder has changed her M&S status from the Core Team to an auxiliary member.
· Scharlene Fox one month ago began teaching beading and jewelry to students of the Life Academy on a weekly basis; both teacher and students are enjoying this activity.
· The M&S shirts now are being ordered online by any M&S member who wishes to purchase one by going to www.companycasuals.com/monarchschool/start.jsp. The online directions are self-explanatory, but the payments should be made directly to Monarch via Tessa Sandlin, rather than to the online company.
· Chairman Fox urged M&S members to continue to recruit additional members to our group, as well as to think of new ways to get the word out regarding The Monarch School and new projects to help it out.
· Chairman Fox then yielded the floor to John Hardesty, who announced the following two upcoming exciting activities in which he is involved: (1) Jan. 23, 2009 concert of “John Hardesty and Friends” at the Unity Church in Houston from 8 to 9:30 p.m.; (2) music therapy/instruction with a Monarch student who has expressed a desire to sing a song at the dedication of the new campus.
· Remarks by John Barone, Director of CommunicationsA Place for All is still selling well. M&S members are encouraged to sell and promote the book whenever and wherever possible by distributing flyers where appropriate, such as to churches and religious schools. Toward this end, Marion Defalco has agreed to coordinate a strategic plan to accomplish this mission. (Marion detailed this mission later in the meeting, as is noted supra in these minutes.)
· John advised that he stands ready to individually assist M&S members in setting up a Monarch homepage on their PCs, in which he instructed us at the last M&S Core Team meeting.
· The Monarch Hour will be broadcast on KPFT 90.1 FM Radio on Dec. 8th, featuring Monarch building advisors and students discussing the topic “The Monarch School Goes Green.” On Dec. 11th Monarch students will go on a green field trip, including a stop at the A.I.A. exhibit, “Greenworks,” where the Monarch’s new campus design, including student work detailing some of the green features, is displayed.
· Jennalee Wolf, Director of Admissions, has requested Movers and Shapers members to become part of a newly-formed “Monarch Representatives Team.” After receiving formal training in Jan. 2009, at least one or more M&S team members will accompany her and/or John Barone, Neal Sarahan and Shannon Woodruff or other faculty members to various events to represent and advocate for The Monarch School. These events will include expos, exhibit halls, open houses, and conferences for organizations dealing with neurological differences. Please let John and Jennalee know as soon as possible if you wish to become part of this exciting new team!

· Remarks by Shannon Woodruff, Director of DevelopmentThe Westin Miracle Makers Morning fundraising breakfast held on Oct. 16, 2008 raised $153,000, which was over the budgeted goal, with over 700 people in attendance!
· The Fort Bend breakfast held on Nov. 13, 2008 at Sweetwater Country Club raised $36,000 and was attended by over 200 persons, which was quite an accomplishment for its second year!
· The Monarch Development Office is requesting M&S members to volunteer to assist with the updating of approximately 1,000 obsolete email addresses in the Monarch data base. It is essential to have current email addresses, particularly for the receipt of the monthly Monarch enewsletter. Shannon will provide a script for volunteers to telephone those persons with obsolete email addresses to update them, as well as to obtain new email addresses from some persons who have not provided them yet to Monarch.

Remarks by Dr. Marty Webb, Head of School
· The new campus construction is making excellent progress, as evidenced by the steel framing and roofline of the Chrysalis Building now visible. Drywall and roof work is now taking place. The building is scheduled to be completed by June 2009, in time for the Monarch summer school students. Its formal dedication is expected to occur in Aug. 2009. A “fade-in” sequence of the building’s construction will continued to be featured in the monthly e-newsletter from time to time.
· The Monarch personalized bricks and pavers campaign recently was launched and donations are starting to arrive. The campaign was launched both electronically (for those friends of the school for whom we have email addresses) and by mail (for those friends for whom we do not yet have email addresses). At the suggestion of Stephanie Wheatley during our meeting, it was agreed that at the Monarch Holiday Gift Sale on Dec. 9th a special table will be set up to solicit donors for the bricks and pavers program.

· Remarks by other Monarch staff membersDr. Neal Sarahan, Program Director of the Challenger campus, advised that Challenger’s first semester classes will finish in 12 days and everything is going very well. In fact, one Challenger student just has been recognized as a National Merit scholar!
· The Life Academy sold over $700 worth of jewelry items the students made at Unity Church’s Arts and Crafts Festival on Nov. 16. (Our participation was sponsored by Dick Bartell, executive board member originally recruited by Mover and Shaper Marion DeFalco.) The Life Academy also will host a Holiday Gift Sale open to the public at Monarch on Dec. 9.
Builders Committee update by Stephanie Wheatley
· Stephanie, Justin and Scharlene worked on November 9th on weeding and pruning at the Houston Zoo’s Discovery Garden. More maintenance is needed in early 2009.
· Work on the school scrapbooks continue, with Kandace helping. Marty noted that the dedication will not be held immediately after we move in late May. A dedication date has not been chosen at this time.
· Parents are providing faculty lunches the first Monday of each month until May 2009, with the most recent lunch provided on Dec. 1st.
Heralds Committee update by Marion Defalco.
· Marion first extended her compliments to the Monarch staff for its very professional and informative monthly Monarch e-newsletters.
· Marion has accepted an invitation from John Barone to head the promotion of the Monarch book, A Place for All. She envisions her role in accomplishing this on three levels: (1) local; (2) families and friends; (3) national and international. Marion asked for, and received, volunteers among the M&S Core Team to be responsible for specific geographic areas in the greater Houston area to promote A Place for All. Along these lines, she passed out informational packets to help advertise the book. Marion already has recruited Monica and Anne Proano to work the Hwy. 1960 area of northwest Houston.
· Marion also has been recruited to help the school get connected with celebrities to get the word out about The Monarch School. For example, she recently researched a website called “Make the Difference Network” found at www.mtdn.com. This site was founded in May 2008 by actress Jennifer Biel as a link for nonprofit fundraising with individuals and businesses looking to help. Marion already has signed up as an individual and ultimately hopes to benefit The Monarch School through her expected connections with other individuals online, including celebrities. She noted, for instance, that Justin Timberlake reportedly is involved with “green projects,” just as Monarch is with its LED certified new campus.
· John Barone then applauded Marion’s current efforts at getting connected with celebrities for the benefit of Monarch. John noted a recent successful effort at getting Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps to answer in writing 6 questions posed to him by Monarch students, which will appear in next month’s Monarch enewsletter.

Educators Committee update by Justin Fox
· Miranda Bennett has returned to work at the University of Houston, as she transitions into motherhood and her return to a more active role with our M&S group next year.
· John Hardesty’s volunteer role as a music therapist with a Monarch student is imminent, as previously noted.
Developers Committee update by Justin Fox
· In the committee’s primary role to promote both friend raising and fund raising, Justin has recruited a new M&S member who will be attending a Tuesday tour soon.
· Furthermore, an underwriter has been found who soon will donate $10,000 to help pay the cost of the audio-visual and technology of the Chrysalis Building on the new Monarch campus.Meeting Adjourned at 1:30 p.m..
The schedule for the remaining M&S Core Team meetings for the 2008-09 school year will be on Feb. 5, April 2, and May 7, 2009, all on Thursdays, from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m., at The Monarch Learning Center.

Minutes of Core Team Meeting on October 30, 2008

2008-11-03T21:45:00.002-06:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers Core Team
Meeting Minutes: October 30, 2008
12:30 PM, Monarch Learning Center

Core Team/Faculty Members:
Present: Justin Fox, Stephanie Wheatley, Carrie Logan, John Hardesty, Kandace Shyer, Miranda Bennett, Julie Meaux, Marty Webb, John Barone, Debrah Hall, Shannon Woodruff, and Neal Sarahan.

Proceedings:
-Meeting called to order at 12:35 p.m. by Chairman Fox.
-Lunch enjoyed by all.
-Current projects lists and agendas distributed.
-Stephanie Wheatley presented Miranda Bennett and Patrick Word Bennett a “Welcome to the World” gift basket on behalf of the M&S Core Committee.

Opening greetings by Chairman Fox
-Chairman Fox commended Stephanie Wheatley for replacing fabric on desks in the classroom; also commended were Stephanie and Julie Meaux for their assistance in cleaning up the Hurricane Ike storm debris on the Apprentice campus.
-Chairman Fox announced his wife, Scharlene Fox, will be teaching beading and jewelry to students of the Life Academy on a weekly basis this semester.
-Chairman Fox reminded members of the M&S committee to recruit additional members to our group.
-Chairman Fox urged M&S members to think of new ways and innovative projects to get the word out regarding The Monarch School, citing Marion Defalco as a good example of this proactive approach. Of course, all of us responding well to the various projects requested by the Monarch faculty are always appreciated, too!

Remarks by John Barone, Director of Communications
-A Place for All is selling well. It is available for $25 on amazon.com. M&S members are encouraged to sell and promote the book whenever and wherever possible. The book sells for $20, a discount of $5, if the book is bought directly from the school. John requested additional PR regarding the book by distributing flyers where appropriate, such as churches and religious schools.
-John Hardesty volunteered to take copies of A Place for All to his upcoming meeting with a bookstore manager regarding John Hardesty’s CD.
-Five schools have requested faculty at Monarch to train their staff after learning/reading of the book.
-Look Me in the Eye by John Robison has been edited for content, removing foul language and, therefore, making it appropriate for students of Monarch to read.
-Random House has hired Monarch to write a leader’s guide to Look Me in the Eye.
-John Barone presented a Monarch homepage to the M&S group and requested that the M&S members use it on a trial basis. Contact John to be walked through the loading process.
-The Monarch Hour had another wonderful broadcast on KPFT Radio on October 13th, co-hosted by John and Dr. Bryant Shaw, with the topic “Including Children with Neurological Differences in Extracurricular Activities.”

Remarks by Shannon Woodruff, Director of Development
-The Westin Miracle Makers Morning free fundraising breakfast was October 16, 2008 and it was a roaring success. So far the tally of funds raised is $147,000, with a goal of $150,000 as contributions continue to come in.
-The Capital Campaign is just $3,000 short of $5.8 million. The first phase of the new building is a $6.9M project, so overall, we’re about $1.1M shy of our First Phase goal. There are some excellent donor prospects working!
-The Fort Bend breakfast will benefit the scholarship fund. This breakfast will be held on November 13, 2008 at Sweetwater Country Club. Shannon is still in need of Table Captains for this breakfast. Please attend if possible and invite and/or recruit guests from Fort Bend. The featured student speaker will be Bailey Ferguson, and Barbara Adcock will be the featured parent speaker.

Remarks by other Monarch staff members
-Tessa Sandlin announced the website for M&S members wishing to purchase a shirt with The Monarch School logo and “Movers and Shapers” underneath. Log on to www.companycasuals.com/monarchschool/start.jsp. The website is self-explanatory; however, payment should be made directly to the school rather than on the website. Tessa also announced that the Life Academy will be selling holiday items at Unity Church’s Arts and Crafts Festival on Nov. 16 and will host a Holiday Gift Sale at Monarch on Dec. 9.

Builders Committee update by Stephanie Wheatley
-Stephanie announced the desks project has been completed.
-Stephanie is planning on going to the zoo with volunteers possibly in November.
-Work on the school scrapbooks continue, with Kandace helping.
-Parents are providing lunches until May 2009.

Heralds Committee update by Justin Fox
-Marion Defalco is on a leave of absence, but is expected to return soon..
-Justin and John Hardesty will be representing M&S at Rice University for its Volunteer Fair to be held in the spring. The September 2008 event at Rice could not be attended by them, due to Hurricane Ike. More M&S volunteers are invited to be present at such events.

Educators Committee update by Miranda Bennett
-Banner project on hold while Miranda transitions into motherhood with the precious Patrick Word Bennett.
-Blog is up and running.
-John Hardesty has volunteered to team with music therapist Kay Taylor again this school year. John offered last year but, as Dr. Hall noted, room space is the challenge. Although logistics still have to be arranged, Dr. Webb indicated there is a new targeted project for John’s musical talents.

Developers Committee update by Justin Fox
-Committee will continue to promote fund raising and friend raising for the Movers & Shapers.
-An underwriter has been found who will help pay the cost of the audio/visual system for the Chrysalis Building at the new Monarch campus..

Meeting Adjourned at 1:20 PM
The next M&S Core Committee meeting will be in early December, with the exact date TBA soon.

2008-09-11T07:43:00.002-05:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers Core Team
Meeting Minutes: September 4, 2008
12:30 PM, Monarch Learning Center

Core Team/Faculty Members:
Present: Justin Fox, Stephanie Wheatley, Carrie Logan, John Hardesty, Madelyn Browder, Kandace Shyer, Brittany McGarvey, Marty Webb, John Barone, Debrah Hall, Shannon Woodruff, and Neal Sarahan.

Proceedings:
-Meeting called to order at 12:30 p.m. by Chairman Fox.
-Lunch enjoyed by all.
-Current projects lists and agendas distributed.

Opening greetings by Chairman Fox
-Presents to all by John Barone on behalf of school faculty (champagne glass with embossed Monarch emblem).
-Chairman Fox introduced three new members of the Movers and Shapers team: Kandace Shyer, Brittney McGarvey and Madelyn Browder.
-Justin took time to recognize Penny Weiss, as she “retires” from the M&S Core Team to move to Sun Valley, Idaho. J He also celebrated Marion DeFalco, who will be taking a 6-month break from M&S. Thank you Marion and Penny, for all your hard work and service to M&S. You will be missed!
-Movers and Shapers Core Team meetings will occur about every six weeks, with a total of six meetings this 2008-09 school year. Next meeting will be in October 2008.
-Our M&S main goal will be to do whatever we can to help the school. The M&S current project list was discussed.

General remarks by Dr. Marty Webb, Head of School
-The steel beams for the first building is up and the crew is now going on to the second floor. The target date for finishing is March 20, 2009 and the school will be able to move in by the last week of May, 2009. The 2009 summer program will be at the new site.
-The Capital Campaign gifts and pledges total is $5.7M of a needed $6.9 for Phase One so the end is in sight and all help welcomed.
-There is an employment opportunity for a “one-on-one” student support staff person for a 7 year old boy. Dr. Webb distributed index cards which can be posted at churches and places of employment.

Remarks by John Barone, Director of Communications
-“A Place for All” is being released soon and will be available through Amazon.com. The Monarch School will receive a portion of the proceeds for this book. The first chapter is on the St. Mary’s press website at www.smp.org. Flyers were distributed to put out at churches, etc. Please promote.

Remarks by Shannon Woodruff, Director of Development
-The Westin free fundraising breakfast will be October 16, 2008 and all Movers and Shapers are asked to captain a table.
-The Fort Bend breakfast, which was held last year for the first time, benefited the capital campaign, but this year will benefit the scholarship fund. This breakfast will be held on November 13, 2008 at Sweetwater Country Club. Shannon is still in need of Table Captains for this breakfast!
-We already have over $13,000 in sponsorships for the Westin breakfast, and Shannon announced two new sponsors. She is working to get the entire $25,000 cost for the event sponsored. Everyone is welcome to help as well. Please see Shannon if you’d like to captain a table or help in any way.

Remarks by other Monarch staff members
-Dr. Debrah Hall reported that the school has five new staff members this year, and that the Apprentice campus has had a great start.
-Dr. Neal Sarahan reported that the Challenger campus also was off to a wonderful start this school year.

Builders Committee update by Stephanie Wheatley
-Because of a more complex school schedule, Mr. Klein and students will not be as available to take care of our garden at the Zoo so Movers and Shapers will be taking care of this. Kandace and Madelyn volunteered to help.
-School scrapbooks will be ready in time for new school opening. One scrapbook for each year of the school is being constructed.
-Plans for the twice yearly Apprentice campus cleaning are being made.
-Anything that needs fixing, the M&S team is available to help.
-No garage sales this year, but we need a schedule and volunteers for recycling IF it can be coordinated in a way that is predictable and dependable.
-Because of limited space, book donations are not being accepted right now. We do need book shelves and supportive living house furniture.

Heralds Committee update by Justin Fox
-Committee members are Susan Meek, Carolyn Trozzo and Justin Fox.
-Volunteers are needed for stuffing envelopes, filing, etc.
-The M&S shirt project is still underway. These will cost approximately $25.00 per shirt.
-Justin and John Hardesty will be representing M&S at Rice University for its Volunteer Fair on September 18th. If you would like to help, contact either Justin or John.

Educators Committee update by John Barone
-There are 98 students at Monarch for the 08-09 school year.
-This committee provides direct service with the kids such as reading to the students.
-John Hardesty has volunteered to team with music therapist Kay Taylor this school year. Logistics still have to be arranged. Dr. Hall noted that room space is the challenge.

Developers Committee update by Justin Fox
-Justin announced that the donation of the Monarch butterfly display will be ready March, 2009.
-Committee will continue to promote fund raising and friend raising for the Movers & Shapers.

Meeting Adjourned at 1:30 PM
The next M&S Core Committee meeting will be Thursday, October 23 or 30 at 12:30 PM. TBA.

Minutes prepared by Madelyn Browder.

Message from the Chairman

2008-09-09T21:18:00.002-05:00

Hello, Movers and Shapers volunteers and our faithful supporters!

Well, our M&S Core Committee has started off the 2008-09 Monarch school year in fine fashion!

We have just added three new wonderful members to our group, namely Madelyn Browder (The Monarch School's recently-retired Secretary), Kandace Shyer (a Monarch mom who is Co-Liaison between M&S and The Monarch School), and Brittany McGarvey (who will be assisting the Monarch Development office in grant writing, and whose mother-in-law is Betty McGarvey, a Monarch teacher).

We just conducted our first M&S Core Team meeting on September 4th. It was quite an excellent meeting, as we set our goals and declared our ongoing projects for the coming school year. We also welcomed our three new members, Madelyn, Kandace, and Brittany. We also bid farewell in absentia to Penny Weiss, one of our most dedicated and enthusiastic M&S members, who is moving to Idaho. We surely will miss you, Penny! A much more detailed description of our meeting will be our official M&S minutes, which will be posted to this blog very soon.

Here's wishing our volunteer group another productive, fulfilling and fun-filled year, as we strive to assist The Monarch School in a variety of ways in its mission of providing the best therapeutic, innovative day school anywhere for students with neurological differences!

Justin Fox
M&S Chairman

Message from The Chairman

2008-06-30T23:18:00.002-05:00

Hello, Movers and Shapers!

Just a brief message to let y'all know how much appreciated and successful your work with our volunteer group has been during the past Monarch school year, 2007-08.

Your enthusiasm on all of our varied projects throughout the past school year has been very impressive. We are especially grateful to our re-tooled M&S Core Committee, which has done a fantastic job for us. Also a special thank you to our two biggest boosters, Marty Webb and John Barone. Thanks so much!

As we take a slight lull during the summer months, we'll look forward to an even bigger and better effort as we head into the next school year, 2008-09!

Enjoy the summer and we'll see you soon!

Justin Fox.
Chairman, Movers and Shapers

Minutes from Core Team meeting 5-15-08

2008-05-27T08:56:00.001-05:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers
Core Team
Meeting Minutes: May 15, 2008
12:30 PM, Monarch Learning Center

Core Team/Faculty Members:
Present: Justin Fox, Dr. Marty Webb, Carrie Logan, Julie Meaux, Stephanie Wheatley, Marion Defalco, Anne Proano, John Barone, Linda Caruso, Kerstein Daigre, Stephanie Kirkpatrick

Proceedings:
Meeting called to order at 12:30 by Chairman Fox.
Lunch enjoyed by all.
Current projects lists and agendas distributed.

Opening greetings by Chairman Fox

General remarks by Dr. Marty Webb, Head of School
Dr. Webb gave us an updated report on the progress of the Capital Campaign. We have reached $5.7 million of our $6.9 million goal!
Construction is moving forward, and Mission Contractors estimates that Phase I will be complete by February 20th, 2009. If that is the case, we will move over Spring Break; if construction is not complete by then we will begin the move in late May.
Graduation is Saturday May 17th and 3:00 PM. Hope to see everyone there! Continuing our friendship with John Elder Robison, he will be at the ceremony to accept an honorary high school diploma.

Remarks by John Barone, Director of the Monarch Learning Center, and Linda Caruso, Life Academy Coordinator
John expressed his gratitude for all the help Movers and Shapers have given us this year. Thanks everyone for your hard work and dedication.
John also thanked Justin for his excellent leadership, and noted the improvements in organization and accountability the group has seen this year.
Linda also thanked the group for all their hard work this year. She had just returned from “Monarch Day” with the Rotary club at the Junior League. Some of the Life Academy students were there selling boutonnières and corsages. Thanks M&S for all your support with new projects this year, especially the travel business and the hard work at the warehouse!

Senior Class Gifts dress rehearsal by Colleen Russo and the Class of 2008
The Movers & Shapers were treated to a “dress rehearsal” of the senior class gift presentations. At graduation on Saturday, the seniors will present gifts of themselves to the Monarch community. They have been working long and hard on these gifts and presentations! The Core Team enjoyed their moving presentations, and was able to provide constructive feedback.

Educators Committee update by Justin Fox
Justin reported for Miranda Bennett that due to her pregnancy, most of her projects are in a “holding pattern.” Congratulations Miranda – it’s a boy!
Justin shared a slide show of pictures from his recent trip to China. Thanks Justin – it looks like it was an amazing trip!

Herald Committee update by Marion Defalco
Marion suggested we wait until the fall to order M&S t-shirts, since it might be easier to get everyone together. In an effort to get the order submitted a.s.a.p., Stephanie K. will coordinate with Marion to send an evite to all M&S members so they can place their order electronically.

Builders Committee update by Stephanie Wheatley
Stephanie brought some of the Monarch Scrapbooks to share – so we could see that the project really is coming along! The scrapbooks were shared with the Core Team and the senior class. Fun was had by all as we relived some of the great fashions and hairstyles of the past 10 years!

Meeting adjourned at 1:430 PM
Minutes prepared by Stephanie Kirkpatrick.

Minutes from Core Team Meeting 4/10/08

2008-05-27T08:54:00.000-05:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers
Core Team
Meeting Minutes: April 10, 2008
12:30 PM, Monarch Learning Center

Proceedings:
Meeting called to order at 12:30 by Chairman Fox.
Lunch enjoyed by all.
Current projects lists and agendas distributed.

Opening greetings by Chairman Fox

General remarks by Dr. Marty Webb, Head of School
Dr. Webb reported that the groundbreaking ceremony was a “joyous event!” Thanks to all who attended and helped bring it together.
The Capital Campaign has two large grants in the works, so keep your ears open for news!

Remarks by Shannon Woodruff, Director of Development
The Houston’s Dancing with the Stars event is approaching. This event, co-sponsored by Urban Retreat, will see its proceeds split between the Capital Campaign and the scholarship fund.
Shannon thanked Penny Weiss, Carrie Logan, and Stephanie Wheatley for the help they have already given in promoting the event. Everyone else is welcome to help as well: see Shannon if you’d like to put up posters, and feel free to forward the eTap email to your personal address book.

Presentation on the DIR® Model by Dr. Debrah Hall
Dr. Hall shared a PowerPoint presentation about the Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-Based therapeutic model, which is used at the Apprentice Campus. Thanks Dr. Hall for sharing your knowledge with us!

Remarks by John Barone, Director of Monarch Learning Center
Thanks to everyone who helped to get the John Elder Robison event off the ground. It was a fun and enlightening evening for all. John B. shared his hopes that a professional collaboration and friendship will continue to grow between John Elder Robison and The Monarch School.
John also thanked Susan Meek for her help sorting through the “legal-ese” of the contracts with St. Mary’s Press. Thanks so much, Susan!

Heralds Committee update by Marion Defalco
Marion shared how pleased she was with the outcome of the Robison event. Her promotion efforts for the event have lead to some contacts with corporations that she hopes will continue through grant applications.
The M&S shirt project is still underway. Marion passed around some samples of possible shirt designs and material. We will need to try and find a way to collect an order from all interested members.

Educators Committee update by Miranda Bennett
Miranda tested the Houston Chronicle’s “News from You” feature to promote the Robison event and found it easy to use. It will also be used to promote Dancing with the Stars.
Website proofing is still ongoing.
John Hardesty will begin working on music therapy with Kay Kahl Taylor in the summer.

Developers Committee update by Justin Fox
Justin announced that he has acquired a donation of a Monarch butterfly display from an artist who was exhibiting at a festival – just by talking to him about The Monarch School!
M&S is now a part of Volunteer Houston’s “Hands on Houston” website. Justin and John Barone have access to post short-term projects on the website to solicit volunteers.
Justin took time to recognize Julie Meaux, as she “retires” from the M&S Core Team and her position as Developers Committee chair. Justin presented Julie with a commendation, butterfly garden, Macy’s gift card, and $200,000 in cash! J Thank you Julie, for all your hard work and service to M&S. You will be missed on the Core Team!

Builders Committee update by Stephanie Wheatley
The builders have been busy with the zoo project and the AP campus spruce up day at the end of March.
Scharlene Fox will head up the inventory and organization committee for the warehouse project to make sure things run smoothly as we prepare to vacate the warehouse.

Meeting adjourned at 1:30 PM
The next M&S Core Committee meeting will be Thursday, May 15th at 12:30 PM.
Minutes prepared by Stephanie Kirkpatrick.

Apprentice Campus Spruce Up Day on March 31st

2008-04-07T10:37:00.009-05:00

On Monday afternoon, March 31st, ten stalwart volunteers successfully tackled the job of sprucing up the Apprentice campus.

We managed to move 8 cubic yards of mulch from the front driveway to the back trail, prune the shrubs and trees, remove weeds, and plant new milkweeds and other plants. Also the wooden Monarch butterfly gracing the front porch was repainted by Scharlene Fox, restoring it to its regal splendor!

Our fearless leader in this entire endeavor was Stephanie Wheatley, ably assisted by Penny Weiss, Julie Meaux, Patrice Rodriguez, Anne Proano, John Barone, Tim Johnson, Scharlene Fox, Justin Fox, and Larry Kornegay.

Thanks to all our volunteers for a job very well done!

Discovery Garden - Zoo Maintenance Crew work day, Thursday April 3

2008-04-06T22:28:00.004-05:00

After a wet and zoggy 4 months, the Zoo Maintenance Crew decided to brave the elements and re-visit the Discovery Garden at the Houston Zoo.

With shovels, rakes, pruning shears and hoes five brave Movers and Shapers coaxed the garden back into order. Fresh mulch was spread, homes were found for new plants and older plants were lovingly placed in new beds! Weeds were pulled from pathways and slime was extracted from the pond!

Justin and Scharlene Fox, Penny Weiss, Patrice Rodriguez and Stephanie Wheatley made up the Zoo Crew volunteers on this outing!

We hope to make one more maintenance visit to the Discovery Garden before the end of the school year. If you love playing in the dirt, please won't you join us on our next work day. We'd love to see you!

Stephanie Wheatley

Apprentice Campus Spruce-Up, Monday March 31 at 12pm

2008-03-24T13:05:00.002-05:00

The Apprentice Campus is in need of a spruce-up!

A volunteer work day has been planned for Monday, March 31 from 12pm onwards.

Mulching, pruning and planting will be the main tasks. Please bring your own gardening tools rake, shovel, fork, trowel, pruning shears etc., making sure to label them.

Please email me if you would like to help.

We'd love to see you there!

Thanks

Stephanie Wheatley

steph_wheatley@hotmail.com

CEC luncheon about volunteers

2008-03-19T08:58:00.003-05:00

From the Citizens' Environmental Coalition blog:

On Wednesday, March 26, Robin Blut, executive director of Keep Houston Beautiful, will be part of a panel about recruiting and keeping volunteers. The event is from 11:30 am to 1 pm at 3015 Richmond, in the first floor conference room. The cost is $15 and includes lunch. Please RSVP to ella@cechouston.org. Special diets can be accommodated.

This might be an interesting event for one or more core committee members to attend.

CNN's Young Person Who Rocks

2008-02-29T10:46:00.003-06:00

CNN.com recently featured a story about Blake Taylor, an eighteen-year-old college student who has written a memoir called ADHD & Me. The site also has a short video in which Blake answers questions from viewers.

I'm thinking he might make a great potential interviewee for "The Monarch Hour."

John Robison promotion

2008-02-28T12:37:00.000-06:00

Thank you all so very much for all you’ve done and continue to do to promote the John Robison event. All of us at Monarch are grateful for your help. Our Heralds and our Speaker Planning Team have done a bang up job of getting the word out.

It’s not too late to:

Register and attend.
Encourage friends and family to register. (Everyone knows someone who is impacted by autism, who would be interested. Whom can you call to recruit?)
Pay to sponsor someone else to attend.
Re-Forward the flyer to your personal address book.
Add the announcement below to your email footer.
Help with delivery of flyers.

If you haven’t talked to Stephanie or Marion or Justin yet about what you can do to help promote, please contact one of them immediately! There is still much to do, and the week before is sometimes the best time to catch new attendees!

With love and appreciation,

John

garage sale

2008-02-07T14:27:00.000-06:00

Mark your calendars, ladies and gents. The next Monarch garage sale is planned for Friday March 7, 9am-2pm. Soon you will be hearing from the Warehouse class about volunteer needs. For now, we're happy to take any stuff you don't need anymore and turn it into $$$.

-ranger

Meeting the Challenge of AD/HD

2008-02-07T12:01:00.000-06:00

The Attention Deficit Disorders--Southern Region is sponsoring a conference called "Meeting the Challenge of AD/HD" at the Sheraton North Houston on February 15-16. The intended audience for the program is "Physicians, Advanced Practice Nurses, Psychologists, Nurses, Diagnosticians, Social Workers, LPCs, LMFTs, Educators, Parents of Children, Adults with AD/HD and others interested in AD/HD," and speakers will include Jefferson Prince, M.D., of the Harvard Medical School, and Chris Zeigler Dendy, an author who writes about teenagers and ADD and AD/HD.

John Hardesty To Perform on Jan. 8th

2008-01-03T15:25:00.000-06:00

Year-End Congratulatory Message from Chairman Fox

2007-12-27T15:59:00.001-06:00

As 2007 is about to end, all of us Movers and Shapers can take great pride in our accomplishments for The Monarch School during this past year!

We became more finely organized, enthusiastic, and committed to helping out Monarch on various projects requested of us, as well as inspired on our own. Much of our work was made possible by the superb effort of our 4 M&S committee facilitators, namely Miranda Bennett, Marion Defalco, Penny Weiss, and Julie Meaux.

Of course, our facilitators would be the first to add that we also should highly compliment those M&S members who worked so well on their respective committees, among them Stephanie Wheatley, Carrie Logan, John Hardesty, and Susan Meek.

And, we surely must compliment our Monarch staff who advised us along the way, particularly John Barone, Marty Webb, and Stephanie Kirkpatrick.

Some of our noteworthy M&S projects for 2007 included: assisting on the Monarch Miracle Makers Morning breakfast fund raiser; helping out on the Monarch symposium; maintaining and sprucing up the Apprentice Campus and Zoo's Discovery Garden; helping out on the Challenger campus/Life Academy needs, including its garage sale; assisting Monarch Development Office matters, including the new campus capital campaign; helping out on Monarch's recycling, vehicle fleet maintenance, website proofing, music therapy, KPFT Radio's new "Monarch Hour;" improving our M&S communication through M&S pamphlet, M&S blog refinements, and Houston Chronicle's "News from You" website; M&S September retreat, graciously hosted by Penny Weiss: and our M&S holiday party in December, graciously hosted by Carrie Logan. You did an outstanding job in 2007, and you had great camaraderie in performing your tasks! So y'all now are entitled to take a well-deserved bow!

The upcoming year of 2008 holds great promise for us, especially with the infusion of some new members to complement our present wonderful M&S members. So, we look forward to it.

Happy New Year!

Justin Fox, M&S Chairman

More photos from M&S Work Day at Houston Zoo's Discovery Garden

2007-12-27T15:29:00.000-06:00

Pictured above in the first photo are the hard-working trio from the M&S Builders Committee: Stephanie, Penny and Carrie, glamorously posing in front of their newly-painted tool shed on December 8th at The Monarch School's Discovery Garden in The Houston Zoo.

In the second photo, standing from left to right in front of The Monarch bus after the work day on December 8th, are Richard, Stephanie, Justin, Penny, and Miranda.

We Heart the Discovery Garden!

2007-12-17T13:53:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, December 8, several Movers and Shapers volunteers--including two first-time participants--spruced up Monarch's Discovery Garden at the Houston Zoo. Monarch students have been doing an excellent job of taking care of the garden, but we still found things to do, including laying out this heart-shaped plot of flowers. The Discovery Garden is one of the many "faces" Monarch shows the Houston community, and it's a great way to introduce new people to the school and its mission!

VSA Arts of Texas

2007-12-14T14:45:00.002-06:00

Yesterday KUHF did a story about a program put on by VSA Arts of Texas, a "nonprofit organization that strives to create a society where people with disabilities learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts." Monarch folks might already be aware of this organization, but if not, it would be worth finding out more about it. The news story was about their efforts to support disabled artists who want to market their work, and it reminded me of Kate Matthiesen's Life Academy project. Kate would be an amazing role model and mentor for other artists in this group!

Minutes from Core Team meeting on 12/6/2007

2007-12-14T10:30:00.001-06:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers
Core Team
Meeting Minutes: December 6, 2007
12:30 PM, Monarch Learning Center

Core Team/Faculty Members:
Present: Justin Fox, Dr. Marty Webb, Carrie Logan, Miranda Bennett, Julie Meaux, Stephanie Wheatley, Susan Meek, Marion Defalco, Penny Weiss, John Hardesty, Jan McCartney, Dr. Debrah Hall, John Barone, Tessa Sandlin, Linda Caruso, Kyle Nguyen, Stephanie Kirkpatrick

Proceedings:
Meeting called to order at 12:30 by Chairman Fox.
Lunch and holiday crackers (courtesy of Stephanie Wheatley) enjoyed by all.
Current projects lists, agendas, and committee activity reports distributed.

Opening greetings by Chairman Fox
Welcomed all members, including the newest M&S recruit, Jan McCartney.
Chairman Fox shared some of the results of his MMM Breakfast follow-up calls, and noted that several people had expressed an interest in joining M&S. Justin, John Barone, and Dr. Webb have decided that the Tuesday Tour is orientation enough and that new members will no longer be required to attend an additional M&S Orientation.
Justin, John B., and Dr. Webb have also discussed revising the M&S mission statement in light of recent discussion and Miranda Bennett’s recent recommendations.

General remarks by Dr. Marty Webb, Head of School
Dr. Webb gave us an updated report on the success of the MMM Breakfast – over 700 people were in attendance, and approximately $230,000 was raised for Monarch, making 2007’s the most successful breakfast yet!
In capital campaign news, about $3.5 million has now been raised. There are several multi-million dollar proposals under review now.
The Capital Campaign committee has decided not to break ground on the new campus until we have raised enough money for all of Phase I (over $5 million in gifts and/or pledges). Builders and Developers committees will be notified as soon as we have a date set, so they can begin planning for invitations/refreshments/etc.
Monarch has yet another new vehicle – a Toyota Sequoia, donated by a Monarch family. This is a timely gift as we have also recently received a new science and environmental education trailer. The Sequoia will become its designated towing vehicle.

Remarks by Tessa Sandlin, on behalf of the Monarch Life Academy
Tessa invited everyone to the Life Academy holiday open house and sale on Tuesday, December 11th from 8:00 – 4:30. There will be over 10 tables featuring different Life Academy products and services. This is a great way to support Monarch and the hard work of the students!

Remarks by Dr. Debrah Hall, Apprentice Program Director
Dr. Hall shared a PowerPoint presentation which gave a thorough overview of the goals and structure of the Apprentice Program.
Ms. Hall is now Dr. Hall – the Ph.D. is complete! M&S members celebrated Dr. Hall’s achievement.

Remarks by John Barone, Director of the Monarch Learning Center
John shared some wonderful news – the “A Place for All” book is complete! Hooray! Now the long editing process begins.
The MLC has been in touch with John Elder Robison, author of the book Look Me In the Eye, about the possibility of him speaking at a symposium event in March. We have also offered to field some of the inquiries he and his agent receive from people and families who are affected by Asperger’s.
John asked the Builders committee to revisit some of the requests made earlier in the year for “touch-up” work in the MLC. He will meet with the Builders to coordinate these efforts.
John also thanked all the M&S Core Committee members for their efforts in improving organization and recruitment!

Heralds Committee update by Marion Defalco
Marion introduced Jan McCartney, the newest member of M&S! Jan shared with us a little about herself, and her experience should make her a great asset to M&S! Welcome, Jan – we’re glad to have you on board!
Marion told us about some of the success she has had with MMM follow-up calls. She has spoken to several people who have expressed an interest in serving as a table captain at next year’s breakfast.
Marion has been looking into new sources of funding for Monarch, especially for educational and outreach-type events such as the symposium. She has done some research on Koch Industries, and that information has been passed on to Dr. Webb and Shannon Woodruff, Director of Development.
The Doctor’s Orchestra Concert was a success for Monarch; Marion and her husband hosted a pre-party for some couples and introduced them to Monarch. It was a great way for people who had never been exposed to Monarch before to learn about what we do.

Educators Committee update by Miranda Bennett and John Hardesty
In outreach and recruitment news, one of the UST recruits is working on designing the M&S banner. Miranda has also notified the college recruits about the upcoming recurring volunteer opportunity at the zoo.
Miranda shared her progress on editing the Monarch website; proofreading hard copies of website pages has been the most successful strategy thus far. All the pages Dr. Webb identified as “priority” have been completed. Miranda suggested this might be an easy project to get recruits involved in as a “no attendance necessary” sort of project they could do from home.
John Hardesty told us some more about the music therapy project he is developing with Kay Kahl, Monarch’s music therapist. Their goal is to find a way to incorporate the spontaneous creation of music into music therapy and DIR®-based sessions, and to allow the kids to tap into it. John had an opportunity to observe some of her classes last week, and they will begin plans in earnest in the new year.

Developers Committee update by Julie Meaux
Julie thanked everyone who made MMM follow-up calls. It’s been a big help to the Developers committee and to the school as a whole.
Julie has spoken to Shannon Woodruff, Director of Development, who said she might have a lot of work the Developers could help with coming up, including sorting and dismantling packets, shredding, filing, etc. She will probably need help after the first of the year.
Julie wants to pick up a project that was discussed in the past that involves getting Monarch involved with physicians’ organizations, and other professional groups. She asked Susan Meek to coordinate with her and brainstorm on this effort. Dr. Webb suggested they contact Dr. Bryant Shaw of the Monarch psychology staff, since he is involved in groups like these.

Builders Committee update by Penny Weiss and Stephanie Wheatley
Penny thanked Stephanie for her superb handling of the Builders’ committee leadership duties while she was gone. Penny officially announced Stephanie as her Builders Committee co-facilitator.
A fleet manager has been found: Neil Kirkpatrick, Stephanie Kirkpatrick’s father, will be assuming fleet duties.
The Builders had another AP campus mini-spruce-up day, which was a great success. Debrah thanked them for all the hard work they’ve done to keep the campus looking good.
Work at the zoo continues in earnest. Painting the shed is almost complete. A parent volunteer group will be going to the zoo bi-weekly or monthly for maintenance of the garden.

Remarks by other M&S members and Monarch staff
Carrie Logan reminded everyone about the upcoming M&S and Board member holiday party on Sunday, December 9th, which she is hosting.
Linda Caruso thanked everyone who helped with the Life Academy garage sale. Their organization skills were instrumental to its success! Linda also reminded us about the Life Academy holiday open house on Tuesday December 11th. John Barone suggested that this would be a great opportunity for M&S members to bring their recruitment “buddies” to attend the sale and the Tuesday Tour!

Meeting adjourned at 1:30 PM – right on time!
The next M&S Core Committee meeting will be Thursday, January 10th at 12:30 PM.
Minutes prepared by Stephanie Kirkpatrick.

Publicity idea

2007-12-11T12:59:00.000-06:00

The Houston Chronicle website now has a "News from you" feature that allows readers to post local news and a hometown photo gallery to which people can add pictures. I don't think it would be too hard to set up a Monarch account and use it to get the word out about events at the school. (It may also be a good way to get or stay on Chronicle reporters' radar screen.) What do you think?

Life Academy Holiday Open House

2007-12-10T08:31:00.000-06:00

The Monarch Life Academy invites you to an open house and holiday gift market on Tuesday, December 11, from 8:00 to 4:30. The Life Academy students will be offering a variety of wonderful items for sale, including notecards, gift baskets, soaps, and jewelry. The Monarch Tuesday tour will be given at noon, as usual, so bring a friend!

Work Day Houston Zoo Discovery Garden - Saturday, December 8

2007-11-12T10:59:00.000-06:00

Richard Klein has requested help to get the Discovery Garden in 'tip-top' shape, in readiness for the Zoo's accreditation. The Committee will be coming on December 9, 10, 11 and 12.

He would like to organize a work day for Saturday, December 8. Weeding, pruning, painting and general tidying of the flower beds will be the order of the day.

Please contact me if you are able to help steph_wheatley@hotmail.com

Look forward to hearing from you

ps. Maybe we could kick off the Christmas Season early with hot apple cider and mince pies!!!!!...while working hard of course!!!

Minutes from Core Committee Meeting on Thursday 11/1

2007-11-08T11:33:00.000-06:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers
Core Committee
Meeting Minutes: November 1, 2007
12:30 PM, Monarch Learning Center

Core Committee/Faculty Members:
Present: Justin Fox, Dr. Marty Webb, Carrie Logan, Miranda Bennett, Julie Meaux, Stephanie Wheatley, Susan Meek, Marion Defalco, Dr. Neal Sarahan, John Barone, Kyle Nguyen, Caitlin Davis, Stephanie Kirkpatrick

Proceedings:
Meeting called to order at 12:30 by Chairman Fox.
Agenda, member directories, and email group instructions distributed to members.

Opening greetings by Chairman Fox
Welcomed all members to second meeting of the 2007-08 school year; lunch commenced.

General remarks by Dr. Marty Webb, Head of School
Dr. Webb updated us on the current progress of the Capital Campaign, and some exciting news: Rose Cullen and Kathy Cullen McCord have been named as the honorary chairs of the campaign. We have also been in talks with several banks regarding bridge loans.
Dr. Webb also requested that someone purchase wheel covers for one of the vans, which has 2 covers missing. This was determined to be a project for the Builders Committee, and Carrie Logan volunteered to take care of it.
Dr. Webb reminded everyone that the Miracle Makers Morning Breakfast is fast approaching – it is Thursday, November 8th. Members were asked to continue inviting people to the breakfast. M&S members will also be involved in making follow-up phone calls to breakfast attendees to thank them for coming to the breakfast and to get their comments. This will be a project for the Developers and Heralds, specifically.
Dr. Webb announced that planning has begun for the groundbreaking for the new campus. This will largely be a ceremonial event, and we are hoping to receive some media attention. Dr. Webb requested help from the core committee with designing and mailing the invitations, making phone calls to follow up after the invitations have been sent, and setting up for the event, providing refreshments, etc. These will be projects for the Developers and Builders, respectively.

Remarks by Chairman Fox
Justin thanked everyone again for their attendance.
Justin then reviewed some of the goals that the Core Committee had set for the year during their October retreat, which included better group communications, request forms for faculty to use when asking for M&S help on projects, and possible changes to the Movers & Shapers orientation. Some of these changes are already in effect, and some are still in progress. Specifically, Justin Fox and John Barone will coordinate possible changes to the orientation, and they asked for other Core Committee members’ input on this subject.

Remarks by John Barone, Director of Monarch Learning Center
John recounted the tale of his encounter with the evil soap dispenser. A notable quote regarding his thoughts on whether the nozzle would function like whipped cream or traditional soap: “And I applied my knowledge of soap because it wasn’t a treat, it was a cleanser!” Marion Defalco presented John with gifts of antibacterial gel and gloves.
John updated us on the progress of his book, which will now be titled “A Place for All.” He has only one chapter to go! When the book is finished, the next step will be reshaping the content so that it can be applied to other religious traditions. (It is currently written for a Catholic audience). John requested that Core Committee members start thinking about and researching ways they can help with this endeavor, including researching publishers from various faith traditions. Dr. Webb applauded John for stepping outside the box and thinking of new and creative ways to generate revenue for Monarch through the MLC.

Developers Committee update by Julie Meaux
Miranda Bennett asked Julie whether there would be a formal M&S recruitment effort at the MMM Breakfast. Julie said that one was not planned. Members began discussing the ways we go about recruiting and keeping M&S volunteers. John Barone suggested we adopt a “buddy system” approach, rather than focus on mass recruiting efforts. With this approach, each Core Committee member would invite one person to join them on all volunteer projects, because cultivating relationships is a strength of the M&S Core Committee. Julie Meaux and Stephanie Wheatley expressed concerns as to how this would relate to the parent volunteers, and members agreed that parents were a different case and that as many of them should be involved in Monarch as possible. Julie and Stephanie also expressed concern that it was hard to get outside people involved because many M&S projects are rather last-minute.
Members agreed on several steps in regard to this discussion. An invitation to join the Movers & Shapers will be a part of the follow-up calls made after the MMM Breakfast. The M&S pamphlet Miranda created will also be included in the packets handed out at the breakfast. The new faculty request system and increased efforts at communication should alleviate some of the “last-minute” feel of M&S projects and permit others to be involved.
The Developers’ next project will be volunteering with registration and set-up at the upcoming MMM Breakfast. Other Core Committee members will be in attendance, and are welcome to help if they can.

Heralds Committee update by Marion Defalco
Marion told the Core Committee a bit about another group she is involved in, called Heroes with Handicaps. This non-profit charity was founded by Jonathan and Laurilee Etterbeck in order to provide financial support for U.S. Army special needs children. Marion asked Dr. Webb if Heroes with Handicaps might be able to link with Monarch online, and Dr. Webb gave her approval. Marty advised that Monarch recently has applied for a TRIAD grant. If Monarch gets this grant, then Heroes with Handicaps will work closely to coordinate future Monarch online information to reach U.S. military families with special needs kids to alert them to the posibility that financial assistance may be available to them at Monarch.
Marion passed out flyers for the upcoming Doctors Orchestra of Houston concert for Core Committee members to hand out or post. Monarch has been chosen as the beneficiary of the concert’s revenue. Members discussed having a Monarch booth or kiosk in the lobby during the concert, and Caitlin Davis offered the use of her portable Monarch banner.
Speaking of banners, Stephanie Kirkpatrick took this time to let the Core Committee know about the plans for an M&S wall in the MLC. She asked for help designing an M&S banner to be displayed on the wall and used at volunteer recruitment events. Miranda Bennett suggested that one of the recruits from the UST event might be able to do this, as she has a background in graphic design.
Marion asked about the egg project going on at Challenger, because group members had received an email about it. Dr. Neal Sarahan explained the project: Challenger students purchase eggs from a local farmers market, and resell them. They need help purchasing and transporting the eggs. John and Justin took this time to re-emphasize one of the suggestions from the M&S retreat, which was that each project be assigned to a specific committee in order to increase accountability and reinforce the purpose of each committee. Since this project involves direct student support, the Educators Committee will be responsible for finding a suitable volunteer for this project.

Educators Committee update by Miranda Bennett
Miranda shared her reflections about her experiences at the UST and Rice volunteer fairs. In light of some of this year’s ongoing M&S recruitment discussion, she has been thinking about the way we approach potential volunteers, as well as about our role as a Core Committee to serve both the Monarch school itself and our M&S volunteers. She passed out a summary of some of her reflections, which included a pledge of service both to the school and to the volunteers. John Barone suggested that these may be incorporated into the M&S vision statement.
John Barone informed Miranda of an ongoing student service project. He, Kay Kahl, and John Hardesty recently met to discuss a plan to provide a sort of descriptive “soundtrack” during DIR and music therapy sessions. This will be used to both describe and evoke student emotions and the themes of the session. Dr. Webb heartily applauded this very innoviative effort, adding that Monarch was fortunate to have such a talented and committed musician as John Hardesty to aid Kay in this endeavor.

Builders Committee update by Stephanie Wheatley
Stephanie shared an update about the success of the Monarch garage sale that the Builders helped organize and execute.
Stephanie also updated us on the progress made so far on the Discovery Garden project at the zoo. She said that the committee is unsure how they will proceed with this project, how often they will go, etc. Stephanie also said that we could use some extra volunteers for this project, as it is ongoing and there is a lot of work do to. Dr. Webb suggested including a call for volunteers in the next issue of the Monarch e-newsletter.
John Barone asked about the status of the search for a Fleet Manager, which Dr. Webb had requested at the previous meeting. Stephanie said that Penny Weiss had been looking into that, and she wasn’t sure what the status was. Members were asked to think about possible volunteers for this position.

Remarks from Monarch staff members
Caitlin Davis let us know that 510 people have committed to the breakfast so far!
Kyle Nguyen has recently updated the Monarch website with the latest Capital Campaign information. Miranda Bennett asked Kyle about a project she has been working on to proofread the website. She said since the website is so vast, it was becoming an overwhelming project. She asked that we choose a few key pages, perhaps some that get updated frequently, for her to review. Dr. Webb agreed to this and said she would help choose ten or so pages for Miranda to review.
Stephanie Kirkpatrick created an M&S member directory, as well as instructions for creating email groups, which were handed out at the meeting but which we did not have a chance to discuss. These were created so that all M&S Core Committee members can create a “Core Committee” email group in their mail system of choice that they can use in lieu of adding email addresses individually to each group email. Please let her know if these directions are unclear, or if you need help with this process.

Meeting adjourned at 2:00 PM.
Members will hopefully see each other at the MMM Breakfast on November 8th! They will officially reconvene for the next Core Committee meeting on December 6th.
Minutes prepared by Stephanie Kirkpatrick.

Capital Campaign Up to the Minute Update!

2007-11-05T14:13:00.000-06:00

From Dr. Marty Webb:

I thought you might like to see the latest reports and happenings on the cap campaign which are posted to our website. Enjoy! Contact me with any suggestions, questions or comments, please.

Click here for the update:
http://www.monarchschool.org/DevelopmentCC.html chool.org/DevelopmentCC.html

Monarch's 1st Garage Sale is a big success!

2007-11-04T21:48:00.000-06:00

The Monarch School held its first garage sale on Friday, October 26. We had such a positive response, that we decided to hold the sale again on the following Friday, November 2. The total amount raised was approximately $550.
Thanks to all the volunteers who worked so hard to ensure the garage sale was a success; Penny Weiss, Julie Meaux, Laurilee Etterbeek, Donna Selke, Kandace Shyer, Brenna Schwartz, Gaelle Rosseneu and Choo Saik Leong. Thanks to all the Monarch parents who generously donated items. Thanks to Sara Ranger for her awesome organization and a special thanks to the students for their excellent sales techniques and muscle power!

Eggs in our Baskets!

2007-10-31T08:02:00.000-05:00

This information is from Aleta:

The Monarch math/science department is starting up its egg sales again and to be successful they are in need of some help. Every Wednesday afternoon/early evening I need someone to go to the Bayou City Farmers Market off Richmond to pick up Eggs in our cooler and drop them off for Thur so students can sale them. Is there anyone who would be available to do the chicken run?

Good Works Volunteer Fair

2007-10-11T14:34:00.000-05:00

Marion, Julie, Debrah, and I attended the Rice University Community Involvement Center's Good Works Fair on Tuesday. We talked to a number of prospective volunteers, as well as to a few people just interested in learning more about Monarch. The possibility of helping out with the Discovery Garden was especially appealing to Rice students without cars (the campus is across the street from Herman Park, so the zoo is easy walking or biking distance away). We also enjoyed meeting representatives from other community organizations and comparing posters, brochures, and giveaways. Thanks to the efforts of Stephanie, Penny, and others, our booth could more than hold its own!

Discovery Garden at the Zoo

2007-10-01T08:07:00.000-05:00

Several Movers and Shapers spent Saturday morning at the Monarch Discovery Garden at the Houston Zoo, where we spent a few hours weeding, pruning, and planting. The garden is a joint project between Monarch and the zoo, and Monarch students contribute to its upkeep a couple of times a week. By taking care of some of the more time-consuming tasks, we hope we made it easier for the kids to enjoy their work caring for this lovely spot.

UST Helping Hands Volunteer Fair

2007-09-18T15:43:00.000-05:00

Stephanie, Julie, Justin, Penny, and I hosted a very successful table at today's Helping Hands Volunteer Fair at the University of St. Thomas. We handed out lots of brochures and invitations to the Miracle Makers Morning--as well as cookies, magnets, bookmarks, balloons, and other goodies. We left with a nearly full sign-up sheet (fifteen names and email addresses!), and I'll send follow-up messages soon. I hope this will result in some enthusiastic new Movers and Shapers!

Sorry you missed all the fun--and those cookies? Join us at Rice for a similar event next month (see previous post for details). It should be even better--it's indoors!

Rice University Good Works Fair

2007-09-17T13:47:00.000-05:00

Monarch will have a table at the Rice University Good Works Fair, a volunteer and non-profit career fair sponsored by the university's Community Involvement Center. The fair will take place on Tuesday, October 9, 1:00-5:00, in the Rice Memorial Center. Please let me know if you're interested in participating for some or all of the afternoon.

-Miranda

PS Rice students mostly live on campus--easy walking distance to Monarch's Houston Zoo garden!

Minutes from Core Committee Meeting 8/30

2007-09-05T14:26:00.000-05:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers
Core Committee
Meeting Minutes: August 30, 2007
12:30 PM, Monarch Learning Center

Core Committee Members:
Present: Justin Fox, Dr. Marty Webb, Carrie Logan, Miranda Bennett, John Hardesty, Penny Weiss, Julie Meaux, Stephanie Wheatley, Marion Defalco, Dr. Neal Sarahan, Debrah Hall, John Barone, Shannon Woodruff, Caitlin Davis, Linda Caruso, Stephanie Kirkpatrick

Proceedings:
Meeting called to order at 12:30 by Chairman Fox.
Agenda and wish lists distributed to members.

Opening greetings and introductions by Chairman Fox, John Barone, and Shannon Woodruff.
Welcomed newest core member, John Hardesty, and new Monarch staff who will participate in M&S, Caitlin Davis and Stephanie Kirkpatrick. Carrie Logan presented Chairman Fox with a gift – a personalized mug.

General remarks by Dr. Marty Webb, Head of School, and Shannon Woodruff, Development Director
Dr. Webb shared about her visit to Monarch Guatemala, and noted that the opening of their school was largely successful, with 14 families enrolled so far and more community support than expected.
Update on the progress of the Capital Campaign: $3 million raised so far toward our goal of $8 million. We are in the process of looking for large individual donors who can give 6-7 figure amounts. Ellen Conikos has been hired as our new development consultant.
Shannon discussed the different functions of the Ft. Bend breakfast and the traditional Miracle Makers Morning. She asked for members’ help and input recruiting table captains and finding sponsors/ underwriters for the events.
Dr. Webb requested that members work on finding a Vehicle Fleet Manager to coordinate maintenance of all Monarch vehicles.
Dr. Webb also requested a Recycling Chief to be in charge of taking recycling to the recycling center weekly. John Hardesty volunteered to take it there; Penny Weiss also offered to take it home and deposit it in her neighborhood’s recycling program. Dr. Webb thanked them for their offers and also encouraged members to find new recruits or other M&S members to whom they could delegate some of the tasks we discussed during our meeting.

Remarks by John Barone, Director of Monarch Learning Center
John Barone let members know that everyone was free on Saturday, September 22 for our first annual M&S Core Committee retreat. Penny Weiss has volunteered to host this event at her home. John requested that everyone keep this date free on their calendars.
John reviewed a list of MLC “Honey-do” tasks, including: touch up painting in the MLC, tightening the furniture handles, and installing our projector in the ceiling. Penny Weiss offered to have her committee (Builders) take care of these projects.
John also reminded members that we are continuing to seek support from religious foundation boards for the Open Arms project, and we requested continued help promoting individualized MLC workshops at schools, churches, etc.
John proposed that committee heads submit a written report of the status of their current projects to Chairman Fox and him before the meeting, to be reviewed by each member before the meeting and posted on the M&S blog. The committee agreed, and reports are to be submitted via email the Monday of the week of each M&S Core Committee meeting.

Requests by Debrah Hall, Apprentice Program Director
Debrah requested that the core committee help with a couple of Apprentice projects, including regular pond maintenance and set-up and take-down of Room 5 on the weekends.
Penny Weiss offered to have her committee (Builders) help with these projects as well. Dr. Webb again suggested that we try to recruit people outside the core committee to help with projects when possible, and the members agreed.

Requests by Dr. Neal Sarahan, Challenger Program Director
Dr. Neal let the group know that several Monarch students are attempting to organize their Eagle Scout projects, and would appreciate any input or suggestions from the committee about possible projects.

Requests by Linda Caruso, Life Academy Coordinator
Linda let the group know about the Monarch Travel student business, and suggested that committee members inform businesses about the company so that they can use it to plan business or personal travel. The committee members took flyers with more information.

Requests by Shannon Woodruff, Director of Development
Shannon distributed Save the Date cards and table captain information for the fundraising breakfasts. She also let the committee know about the fundraising opportunity through the Houston Chevron Marathon.

Volunteer recruitment projects and plans update by Chairman Fox and Miranda Bennett
Chairman Fox has contacted 23 people who had expressed interest in joining M&S and has received 7 responses. We will have new recruits joining us later in the fall and in the beginning of next year, as their schedules permit.
Miranda Bennett updated the group regarding Monarch’s booth at the University of St. Thomas Helping Hands Job & Volunteer Fair. The fair will be on Tuesday, September 18, and several members will be in attendance. They agreed to bring decorations for the booth, as well as M&S brochures, Save the Date cards, and Monarch Travel flyers.

Educators committee update by Miranda Bennett
Miranda s looking for new recruits to assist her this year in working on various committee projects, especially since former committee member Sara Ranger is now on the Monarch staff.

Builders committee update and questions by Penny Weiss and Stephanie Wheatley
Penny and Stephanie are currently working on the Monarch scrapbooks, and have the goal of completing them by the end of the calendar year.
The group offered their assistance with the move to the new campus, and asked if this was something they could suggest at the parent volunteer meeting. Linda and Dr. Neal noted that they would need some help in sorting through the in-kind donations Monarch receives, transporting them to and from storage, and holding a garage sale to sell what Monarch cannot use. The group agreed to help with this and to enlist parents as well.

Heralds committee update by Marion Defalco
Marion updated us on her recent projects, which include making contact with charitable foundations and researching possible donors.
Marion also shared a prototype Movers & Shapers business card she had created in order to see if members might be interested in ordering the cards. Shannon Woodruff and Caitlin Davis offered to contact our new “green” printing company to produce the cards. All non-Monarch staff core committee members agreed to have the cards printed in their names.

Development committee update by Julie Meaux
Julie updated the group on her current projects, which include researching possible donors and “advertising” Monarch in the community.
Julie shared that she had helped to organize the development office at the Apprentice campus over the summer. Shannon Woodruff commented that this had been very helpful. Julie requested that staff help keep her group informed about possible projects they could undertake, especially as related to the move to the new campus.

Meeting adjourned at 2:00 PM.
Members will reconvene for the committee retreat on September 22nd.
Minutes prepared by Stephanie Kirkpatrick.

Congratulations to Justin Fox!

2007-09-04T15:19:00.000-05:00

Our Grand Poobah is once again being recognized for his contribution. This time he has been selected as a Halliburton Hometown Hero, a feature done live at the Texans' games.

They have asked to come to Monarch to film a short feature, to be shown on the big screen at this season's opening home game on Sept. 9. In addition, Halliburton will be giving $1000 to Justin's favorite charity.

Hooray for Justin! Hooray for Monarch!

Donations for Marathon Runners

2007-08-30T18:32:00.000-05:00

I think I've figured out how to find Houston Marathon participants who have selected Monarch as their charity for the Run for a Reason program.

Go to the Houston Marathon website.
Click on "Charities" on the left-side menu.
Scroll down to the Monarch logo and click on it.
You can donate directly from this page or pick an individual runner from the drop-down menu at the top. (Your browser will need to accept pop-ups for this to work.)

Shortcut: Go directly to http://www.active.com/donate/monarch.

-Miranda

PS Caitlin's page is a great example of personalization--a picture and everything!

Tim Page interview on NPR

2007-08-14T10:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I heard an interesting interview on "All Things Considered" with Tim Page, a Pulitzer-prize-winning music critic who has Asperger's. He is also profiled in this week's "New Yorker," but the article isn't available on the magazine's website, and our print edition always seems to show up late, so I haven't read it yet. The interview is worth a listen, and I think Mr. Page would make a wonderful guest on "The Monarch Hour," perhaps for a conversation by phone.

UST volunteer fair on September 18

2007-08-13T14:53:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is looking forward to another great year of moving and shaping!

I've signed up for a table at the University of St. Thomas nonprofit job and volunteer fair on Tuesday, September 18, 12:30-2:00. If anyone would like to come hang out there with me and help recruit some new M&S-ers, please let me know. I'm also in the market for suggestions for eye-catching ways to decorate the table. I'll be at the meeting on the 30th, so we can talk about it then.

Thanks,
Miranda

Greetings from M&S Chairman Fox!

2007-08-10T19:12:00.000-05:00

Hello, Movers and Shapers!

We've had a lull for the Summer break, except f0r a few notable activities, including the M&S Summer Bash at The Foxes in June, another "Monarch Hour"KPFT radio show in July, and some valuable assistance being rendered by Julie Meaux and others to the ongoing Monarch School New Campus capital campaign.

Now, as the start of the 2007-2008 school year draws near, we are gearing up for another productive M&S round of activities, starting with these four:

1. M&S Core Committee luncheon meeting on Thursday, August 30th, 12:30 p.m., at The Monarch Learning Center.

2. Proposed M&S Core Committee retreat in September 2007.

3. M&S Orientation Sessions, starting this Fall, to welcome and orientate our new members and to help fill our ranks. To this end, on August 10th Chairman Fox sent an email questionnaire to 23 prospective individuals, inviting them to formally become "active" or "auxiliary" members of our M&S group, as well as to ascertain exactly what time(s) would best suit their schedules to attend a requisite M&S orientation session.

4. Within the next month or so, our four M&S committees again will begin to convene their monthly meetings. These four committees and their able, respective facilitators are: (1) Builders Committee - Penny Weiss; (2) Developers Committee - Julie Meaux; (3) Educators Committee - Miranda Bennett; (4) Heralds Committee - Marion Defalco.

We all look forward to continue serving The Monarch School in a variety of very beneficial and exciting ways in our volunteer group. Onward and upward!

Have a nice remainder of the Summer!

-- Justin

THANK YOU!

2007-05-24T11:40:00.000-05:00

Hello Friends,
I am passing on to you a letter from Penny Weiss, one of the facilitators for the Builders Committee of the Monarch Movers and Shapers volunteer group. Along with the letter, I’d like to extend my own personal thanks for the many contributions to the Apprentice Campus Clean Up Project. It was good, hard work that resulted in a beautiful campus, ready for our Summer Program! Thank you all very much. And if we inadvertently left your name out of the thank you below, please let us know so we can properly acknowledge your contribution.

And to Penny, thank you so much for your tireless work to see this project through to its completion. (What Penny doesn’t tell you below was that she was back all day Sunday and much of Monday finishing up) You are wonderful!

Gratefully,

John

Now on to Penny’s Message:

The Movers and Shapers Builder's Committee would like to express their heart-felt thanks to all who lent their valuable time and much needed expertise to the Apprentice Campus Spruce-Up Project on Monday, May 14. Of special note are, of course, all the the wonderful Monarch kids and teachers who helped -- what a great sense of community!! Also, we feel very privileged to have had some of the top dogs of the faculty out there in the trenches with us, namely Dr. Webb, Dr. Neal and Mr. Barone -- what troopers! And the greatest gift of all was our wonderful volunteer staff: Stephanie Wheatley, Carrie Logan, Julie Meaux, Laurilee and Jonathan Etterbeek, Michelle and Joe Naccarato, Marion DeFalco, Dick Bartell, Sara Ranger, Miranda Bennett, Rene Daigre, Toby Henry and Glenda Dole!

What a GREAT team -- we had a great time and you all did a great job!! Thank you so much.

And, if all that was not enough, we had an incredible back up team who came and worked really, really hard on Saturday, May 19, to finish the job! Again, John Barone (aka Paul Bunyan) headed up the team which included the Grand Poobah of the Movers and Shapers, Justin Fox, and his darling daughter Jessica, who in spite of just graduating from U. T. last weekend (Congratulation, Jessica!) and getting married in two weeks(Best Wishes, Jessica!), still took time to come and help spruce us up; Challenger campus student J. J. Smith who brought his Mom and Dad, Jerry and Mary Jane, and even little brother Brandon to help; Doug Zimmerer (known now and forever as "Slayer of Mulch Mountain") and his son, Michael from the Challenger Program, whom dad was teaching the fine skill of wheelbarrowing; "Mistress Mulch" Michelle Naccarato and her son, Josh, from the Apprentice program; and Scott Dole who not only provided labor, but brought props (saws) to further Mr. Barone's portrayal of Paul Bunyan and Scott also bought LUNCH!!! Dr. Neal completed this fine group of sprucer-uppers and we were able to complete the Apprentice Campus Project.

The Summer Program at the Apprentice Campus will never have looked so good -- thank you, thank you, thank you to one and all.

WE DID IT!!!!

Penny Weiss Co-Facilitator Movers and Shapers Building Committee

GREAT NEWS!III

2007-05-17T12:03:00.000-05:00

There is still an opportunity to participate in the Apprentice Campus Spruce Up Project -- and even better news ALL THE HARD WORK IS COMPLETE!!

If you have a couple of hours you do not know what to do with this Saturday, May 19th, then we would love to have you come on over to the Apprentice campus and help finish the mulch hauling, weed pulling and shrub trimming!

We will begin at 9:00 AM and should be finished by around 12:00 Noon, but would appreciate any time you might have available!

Water, soft drinks and snacks will be provided. Just bring a wheelbarrow (with tires full of air), shovels, rakes, or clippers if you have them -- and if not, just come as you are!! The Movers and Shapers Building Committee, The Staff and Faculty, and the Children of the Monarch School are truly grateful for any time you have to donate!

See you this Saturday morning!

Thanks so much!

-- Penny Harmening-Weiss

Apprentice Campus Cleanup

2007-05-15T10:04:00.000-05:00

Hooray for all the M&S Heroes who spent hours and hours yesterday sprucing up the Apprentice Campus! The track, the pond, the front beds, the deck, the butterfly garden and the circle drive all look WONDERFUL!

Joining us were M&S Volunteers Marion DeFalco, Dick Bartell, Julie Meaux, Stephanie Wheatley, Penny Weiss, Carrie Logan, Sara Ranger and Miranda Bennett! Others included Monarch Board Member and Monarch parent, Glenda Dole, Monarch parents Laurilee Etterbeek and Michelle and Joe Naccarato, as well as Monarch graduates, Andy Biba and Ray Simmons.

Special thanks also to Dr. Webb, Dr. Neal, and the Apprentice and Challenger Staff who jumped in and helped, as well as all the Challenger students who worked so hard in the hot sun!

Kudos to the Builders Committee for great organization, publicity and leadership during the event. Great job, Penny and Stephanie!

Missed the event and still want to help? There's plenty of work still to be done. Please contact Penny for more info: pweiss@houston.rr.com

Minutes of M&S Core Comm. meeting on 5/10/2007

2007-05-12T10:13:00.000-05:00

Our newly formed Movers and Shapers (M&S) Core Committee convened on May 10th at the Monarch Learning Center for a luncheon meeting. The Core Committee consists of the M&S chairman, all committee facilitators and 3 members-at-large.

John Barone opened the meeting by presenting chairman Justin Fox with a congratulatory card and framed photo of Justin with Mayor Bill White, taken on May 8th at the Volunteer Houston awards ceremony. On behalf of all the M&S members, John thanked Justin for his work with our M&S group. Justin graciously accepted the gift and thanks.

Stephanie Wheatley reported on behalf of the Builders Committee that work is steadily progressing on The Monarch School (TMS) scrapbook, as well as with plans for an herb garden on the new campus. There also was much discussion on the upcoming TMS Apprentice Campus "spruce up" day on May 14th.

Marion Defalco advised that her recent Heralds Committee work includes: meeting with John and Peg Dubar, parents of U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling; planning to procure business cards for M&S members; and securing Kenny Cummins' offer to assist with the new TMS campus herb garden. Marion will continue working for M&S over the summer.

Julie Meaux stated that the Developers Committee is continuing its efforts to get the word out about TMS to the Houston chapters of the American Pediatric Society (through Julie, with the help of Susan Meek) and the American Psychiatric Association. Julie also is coordinating Developers Committee plans to assist Shannon Woodruff in the organization of foundation files, as well as helping research foundations and identifying contacts for foundation board members.

Linda Caruso requested the help of M&S members to move donated items from a local building to a Houston warehouse at a date to be announced before the end of June 2007, as well as help in finding warehouse space for these items to be donated to TMS.

Marty Webb and John Barone discussed plans to hold a retreat for M&S Core Committee members shortly after the commencement of TMS fall 2007 session.

While some of the work of the individaul four M&S committees may continue throughout the summer of 2007, the next M&S Core Committee meeting will take place in August 2007.

It was duly noted that Neal Saranan, Director of TMS Challenger Campus, graced us with his presence and wit during our meeting, while simultaneously feasting upon a gluttonous amount of dill pickles and cookies purloined from others' boxes of Jason Deli lunches!

Congratulations to all our M&S members for a 2006-07 school year full of wonderful accomplishments!

-- Justin Fox, M&S Chairman

Apprentice Campus Outdoor Spruce-Up Day

2007-05-09T10:33:00.000-05:00

In case you have not received Marty's original email regarding the Apprentice Campus Spruce-up, please find below a list of chores that need to be carried out.

Thanks and hope to see you there.

Stephanie

MOVERS AND SHAPERS
CAMPUS OUTDOOR SPRUCE-UP DAY
Monday, May 14, 2007
2:00 pm – 7:30 pm

APPRENTICE BACK YARD (OUTDOOR CLASSROOM)

TRAIL
Pull up grass that has already been edged all around the walking trail
Apply a thick layer of mulch
Add extra mulch in low areas at back (from bench to far left chalkboard)

POND
No need to empty!
Pull out half of the tall ruellia: the FRONT half
Pull all ruellia from north side. Pull one stalk at a time so the roots come up.
Pull St. Augustine that has gone past the river rock bordering the pond

WHOLE BACK AREA
Pick up branches
Pull ruellia from variegated ginger “bed”

DECK AREA
Plant new wilkweed in pots
Sweep roofs of all three buildings
Scrub tops of tupperware boxes containing sand for when deck is slick
Replace one wooden board on deck (needs a 10’ treated 2 x 4)

GARDEN IN THE SHAPE OF A BUTTERFLY
1. Plant 8 milkweed inside each “wing” (milkweed already purchased)

TREE WORK IN BACK
Cut back pencil cactus to 2’
Trim lower limbs off big center tree
Trim wax myrtle hanging over deck
Trim river birch where it is hanging over roof of admin building

FRONT YARD
Treat antbeds by fire hydrant, by rock in front of building and in front quarter bed
Move tile birdbath from under window to front section of quarter bed
Cut back live milkweed to 6”
Trim up holly tree (lower 4 branches)
Cut back celosia to 2’ tall
Cut Turks cap back, 2’ off the front
Trim two large plants in key lime bed
Divide and replant rudbeckia
Mulch front beds
Trim witch hazel to 6” below window; same height under window next to it
Trim hamillia (needs lopping shears)
Deadhead salvia
Level birdbath in quarter bed
Weed area by chalkboard: watch for poison ivy and poison oak
Pull aphidistra in same bed

DRIVEWAY AREA
Cut back volunteer “tree” growing over first and second parking places
Cut back hedge all along that driveaway

TOOLS REQUIRED
Wheelbarrows
· Shovels
· Garden rakes
· plastic garden bags
· pruning shears
· lopping shears
· hedge clippers
· one gas powered extension chain saw
· brooms

Online discussion about autism, 5/10 at 11:00

2007-05-08T09:28:00.001-05:00

The Chronicle of Higher Education website will host an online conversation with anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker, author of Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism, on Thursday, May 10, at 11:00 CDT. You can submit questions ahead of time, follow the discussion in real time, and read a transcript later.

Medical certification for family leave in TX?

2007-04-26T12:51:00.000-05:00

Jessica sent this request to the group:

"I have a mom from Alabama who is bringing her daughter here for the summer program. She has filed A State of AL Medical Certification form Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 packet to get help from being off work. I would love someone to explore this for us to see if we have the option here in TX and could share that with out parents. Can you research this for me?"

I'll look into this when I have some time, but if anyone else wants to work on it in the meantime, that would be great. Thanks!

Miranda

Apprentice Campus Cleanup!

2007-04-26T09:33:00.000-05:00

Dear Movers and Shapers,

The Builder's Committee cordially invites you to join us in an afternoon/early evening of fresh air & fun with just an itty-bitty bit of work attached!

WHERE: Monarch Apprentice Campus
WHEN: Monday, May 14, 4-8 PM (or dark)
WHY: Apprentice Campus Clean-Up Day
WHAT: Clean the trails, spread mulch, clean the pond, freshen the circle and front gardens

Water, soft drinks and snacks to satisfy your epicurean desires will be provided by the Builder's Committee.

Come whenever you can and stay for only as long as you can. If you happen to have a wheelbarrow, shovel, hedge clippers, a husband or significant other, children, friends, or neighbors that you could bring along -- all are more than welcome. Also, what a great way, to introduce them to Monarch!

Thanks so very much for your help and we look forward to seeing you on campus!!!

Penny Weiss
Builder's Committee

2007-04-13T15:40:00.000-05:00

Summary of Movers and Shapers meeting on April 12th:

At the start of the meeting John Barone gave us his first-hand account of the highly-successful, first KPFT radio program hosted by The Monarch School on April 5th; the next Monarch radio show is expected to be in June or July, 2007.

Dr. Marty Webb next provided us with her encouraging overview of the new campus capital campaign and her exciting vision for the new buildings and layout of the campus, which is scheduled to open in the Fall of 2008!

Justin and John then briefed everyone in attendance on the newly-adopted modifications to the M&S structure. Basically, there are 3 changes, as follows:
(1) M&S membership is now defined as either "active," i.e., being able and willing to attend almost all of the meetings and related activites, and "auxiliary," i.e., being in good standing, but not having the requisite time to fully function as an active member.
(2) M&S Core Committee now consists of the following members: chairman; all committee facilitators; three at-large, or non-facilitator, members. The Core Committee's primary responsibility is to guide and advise our group on all important matters and issues, and to meet periodically (ideally on a monthly basis during the school year) in order to accomplish this.
(3) M&S's four committees' primary responsibilities defined as follows:
(a) Builders Committee: will do these 3 tasks on a monthly basis: 1. clear The Monarch School (TMS) trails; 2. work in the Houston Zoo's butterfly exhibit; 3. maintain flower beds of Apprentice campus. Also it will compile a TMS scrapbook and assist the new campus, as needed and requested.
(b) Developers Committee: will work, as requested by TMS, on capital campaign and on other fundraisers; will develop new friends of TMS through monthly recruits for Tuesday tours, making influential contacts, and bringing in new M&S members.
(c) Educators Committee: will provide volunteers for Challenger campus reading program, proof read new sections of TMS website, and maintain the M&S blog.
(d) Heralds Committee: will spread the word about TMS through various mediums (electronic, radio, mail, literature), make presentations about TMS to influential persons, and gather new email addresses for etap.

There was also a discussion of how best to convey TMS faculty's "wish list," or "things-to-do" projects to our M&S group. This will be accomplished through TMS website, with oversight by the Head of School.

Finally, each facilitator of the 4 committees listed their respective recent activities and projects, and those contemplated in the near future. There was considerable input (too lenghty to detail in this brief M&S blog!) by the following faciltiators:
1. Penny Weiss, Builders Committee
2. Julie Meaux, Developers Committee
3. Miranda Bennett, Educators Committee
4. Marion Defalco, Heralds Committee

Thanks to all who attended this very informative and productive meeting!

The next M&S Core Committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 10th, 12:30 -2 p.m. at The Monarch Learning Center.

-- Justin Fox, M&S Chairman

Builder's Minutes - Thursday, April 5, 2007

2007-04-11T12:25:00.000-05:00

Present; Carrie Logan, Sarah Ranger, Penny Weiss, Stephanie Wheatley

Herb Garden - Penny Weiss gave a report on her visit to an herb garden in Fredericksburg. Marion DeFalco made the initial contact with Bill and Sylvia Varney, the herb gardeners and accompanied Penny on her visit. It was hoped that Bill Varney would be able to donate his time and expertise in developing an herb garden at the new campus. Penny and Marion quickly established that he would be unable to do this. He was however, extremely helpful with providing information on herbs, providing garden plans and expressed a willingness to provide any information we may need in the future.
Scrapbook - Penny Weiss and Stephanie Wheatley have begun work on the Monarch Scrapbooks. The intention is to devote one scrapbook to each year of Monarch's existence, chronicling its growth and development. Scrapbooks and materials have been purchased, and photographs and articles have been organized.Stephanie has contacted about 20 parents to ask them for their 'Monarch' story. Only a handful have replied so far. Stephanie said she would contact the parents again and be more specific about the deadline date. Carrie Logan suggested the idea of having an online version of the scrapbook. Marty has expressed a desire to have the stories online, but to organize the pictures would require effort from a staff member. We agreed that to have the first 10 years in a hard copy format would be the best option, though there maybe a continuity issue with scrapbooking future years.
AV System - Carrie Logan informed the group that her husband Jimmy was helping with the selection of AV equipent and systems.
Monarch residential homes - The Builder group has offered its help to refurbish and decorate the residential homes. This project is mainly under the ownership of the Monarch students. Debra Hall had mentioned that there maybe some work days scheduled in either June or July. Penny said she would follow up on this.
Mulching Project, Apprentice Campus - Fresh mulch is needed at the Apprentice campus.
Power Wash Awning - Penny stated that she would powerwash the awning at the Apprentice campus.

Educators Activity

2007-03-27T14:53:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to work with several Monarch parents and students at the monthly parent education meeting. We focused on finding information online, using familiar tools like Google and Wikipedia but also lesser-known resources available through the Houston Public Library, HISD, and other providers. The students participated enthusiastically in our discussion of internet search engines, social networking programs (like MySpace), and subscription databases. I was very impressed and pleased by their thoughtful contributions to the conversation, and I hope the Educators will have more opportunities like this soon! (Don't you all want to join us now?)

By the way, one of the most interesting things the students mentioned was the Monarch Wikipedia page. I hope they'll work on improving the page and share their expert knowledge of Monarch with the world!

A Tisket, a Tasket...

2007-03-21T10:17:00.000-05:00

...a Monarch Life Academy basket--on sale!

We are excited to announce our Spring Sale. The Monarch Life Academy students have worked hard to create a huge variety of wonderful baskets and gifts this spring. Please take some time to come by a browse for those gifts on your list.

Posted on behalf of Tessa Sandlin.

Pr/Marketing News

2007-03-19T11:13:00.000-05:00

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE! SHANNON WOODRUFF is Monarch's new PR/Marketing Team Leader! Shannon's BA is in business administration with a major in marketing. She also holds an MA degree in general business. Shannon loves wearing multiple hats as Monarch's Director of Development, and admits that she "thrives on having lots on my plate". She will take our team to new heights as our school continues to thrive!

Our internal PR/Marketing Team was formed two years ago, as we grew larger and had the need for better coordination of all publicity and marketing. The team members are:

John Barone, Learning Center Director
Linda Caruso, Life Academy
Jenny Ferguson, Capital Campaign Assistant
Debrah Hall, Apprentice Program Director
Kyle Nguyen, Technology Director
Emily Reiter, Learning Center/Summer Program Assistant
Neal Sarahan, Challenger Program Director
Bryant Shaw, Diagnostic Clinic
Jessica Stoner, Events Coordinator
Jennalee Taylor, Admissions Director
Marty Webb, Head of School
Shannon Woodruff, Development Director

Having Shannon as the PR/Marketing Team Leader will also give Movers and Shapers who have projects involving publicity or marketing a "go to" person for help and advice!

Thanks, Shannon! We are SO glad you are on board!

Search by Category and Other Blog News

2007-03-14T13:10:00.000-05:00

I'm happy to announce the debut of a new blog feature: categories! As you can see, all posts now include one or more descriptive labels, and a menu on the right side of the page allows you to select a category to view. Please start using labels when you add new posts (you can apply as many labels as you'd like to a post, and you are welcome to create new labels if needed).

Other blog news....

If you have been asked to upgrade your Blogger account to a Google account when logging in, please go ahead and do it. Let me know if this causes any problems.

Upgrading the blog caused the email alert functions to disappear. I put Blogarithm back (at the very bottom of the page), but since Blog Alert wasn't working well, anyway, I'm going to leave it off. IMPORTANT: If you use the email option and are not receiving new posts that way, please use the Blogarithm box to sign up (again).

One cool thing about sorting all the posts into categories is that it makes very clear what exciting things our group has done and is doing!

Thanks,
Miranda

Builders Minutes - Thursday, March 8, 2007

2007-03-13T18:29:00.000-05:00

Builders Minutes: Thursday, March 8, 2007

Present: John Barone, Marty Webb, Penny Weiss, StephanieWheatley

Ideas for the Builders were discussed and planned;

Landscaping – Marty Webb reported that Janet Roberts from Home and Habitat has generously donated her landscaping expertise. She will provide the design and planting for the new campus.

Monarch Scrapbook – It was agreed that compiling a Monarch Scrapbook in readiness for the opening of the new campus, should be started without delay. Retrospective albums as well as current ones will be compiled. The scrapbooks will include photographs and stories from students, staff and parents. Penny Weiss and Stephanie Wheatley will begin working on the current album. Stephanie will contact Monarch parents for their stories. Marty will provide photographs from past years. Marty also suggested the possibility of having a simultaneous, online version of the scrapbook (specifically focusing on the stories.)

Citrus Trees – Marty reported that Richard Klein plans to incorporate citrus trees in the Monarch garden at the new campus. An herb garden is also planned.

Stepping Stones – The idea of each Monarch student making their own stepping stone to be placed in the Monarch garden was discussed. Marty suggested that this project be put on hold until we know how much space is available.

Inscribed Bricks – Marty reported that this project is ‘in the works!’ Donors will have the opportunity to have their name inscribed on a brick that will be featured at the new campus.

Bird Houses/Feeders – The possibility of students designing, building and painting bird houses/feeders during the Monarch Summer Program was discussed. The finished items would be used at the new campus. Marty asked Stephanie to contact Debrah Hall to see if this project could be incorporated into the Summer Program.

School Supplies/Library Books/Teacher Wish-Lists – The importance of compiling a master wish-list for items needed at the new campus was discussed. It was decided that staff would work from the current wish-list posted on the Monarch website and continue adding to it. Marty requested that Penny Weiss remind her to email staff regarding wish-lists. The four Movers and Shapers committee groups will work together to solicit items from the wish-list.

Interior Paint Colors – Marty requested that a Builder’s sub committee be involved in the consultation with architects regarding color choices at the new campus. Marty will inform those involved, when the next meeting with the architects will be held.

Audio-Visual System – John Barone has asked the Builders to help research the best audio-visual system for the new Monarch Learning Center auditorium. Information on projectors, surround sound systems, screens, etc. is required.

Potential Life Academy Project – Stephanie Wheatley suggested a potential LA project. The company, TerraCycle invites organizations to donate empty soda bottles, in order to package their plant food. There are no shipping charges and the company donates 5c per bottle to a charity/non-profit organization of your choice ie. Monarch! Marty suggested that this would be a great business project for a Monarch student next year in addition to involving the whole Monarch community. For more information go to www.terracycle.net/bb

"The Monarch Hour" on KPFT Radio, FM 90.1

2007-03-09T12:37:00.000-06:00

On Thursday, April 5th, from 12 noon to 1 p.m., KPFT Radio, FM 90.1, will host its first program entitled "The Monarch Hour." The first program will feature Monarch staff, parents, volunteers and students informing the public about The Monarch School in a unique format.

This radio program, featuring The Monarch School, was facilitated through the superb initiative of our very own Marion Defalco, Movers and Shapers Facilitator of The Heralds Committee. Thanks so much, Marion! Please stay tuned for more information!

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR!

2007-03-06T14:39:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to Justin Fox,
Chairman of the Monarch Movers & Shapers!

Justin was recently chosen to be one of 9 people out of many nominated to receive the 2007 Mayor’s Volunteer Houston Award! Now everyone in the city will know what we’ve known all along: Justin Fox has gone above and beyond in his support of the Monarch School since day one! City of Houston Mayor Bill White will personally present the award to Justin during a ceremony at the Houston Intercontinental Hotel.

This is the second time a Monarch volunteer has won this award. Justin shares the honor with another great Mover and Shaper, Ms. Penny Weiss, who received this award in 2005! Hooray!

Monarch parent on the news tonight!

2007-02-14T08:10:00.000-06:00

Monarch parent Jonathan Etterbeek's interview with Fox News will air tonight at 9:30pm! Jonathan is a fabulous advocate for Monarch, and he's working with Marion DeFalco on a project to help many military families who have children with special needs.

We're in the News!

2007-02-07T11:54:00.000-06:00

Monarch parent Jonathan Etterbeek was interviewed regarding special education in Texas. The interview will air this Thursday at 9:30pm on Channel 9 (Fox News). Jonathan is an articulate spokesperson and advocate for families whose children's needs cannot be met by the public schools.

We appreciate you, Jonathan!

Marty

Special Friends Day

2007-02-06T08:53:00.000-06:00

You are special to us…

All Movers & Shapers are cordially invited to
The Monarch School’s 6th annual

Grandparents & Special Friends Day!

Wednesday, February 14, 2007
You may join us for all or any portion of the day. Programs will be held at
Apprentice and Challenger Campuses.

Apprentice Campus Challenger Campus
10:00am – 12:00pm 12:00pm -2:30pm
1231 Wirt Road 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Houston, TX 77055 1014 Wirt Road, Suite 210
Houston, TX 77055

Please RSVP to Jessica Stoner, Events Coordinator, at 713.479.0800 or mailto:jstoner@monarchschool.org by Feb. 10.

Opportunity to Help with Symposium

2007-02-03T12:53:00.000-06:00

I have an opportunity for anyone who would like to help make our symposium with Dr. Ross Greene a success. We are in need of approximately 1000 bottles of water to be served to our guests at the symposium and we would like to try to get them donated. Is anyone interested in helping to solicit local businesses in their area for donations of bottled water? Some businesses like Sam's Club and HEB are pretty good about giving $25 - $35 gift cards which can be used to purchase bottled water. Let me know if you are willing to help and I will provide you with a copy of the schools tax exempt letter which you will need. You can email me at jmeaux1@houston.rr.com if you are willing to help.

Hey Heralds!

2007-01-31T09:03:00.001-06:00

I have a project idea/request for you. I'm working on recruiting new volunteers from local universities, and it would be really helpful to have a simple, one-page brochure or flyer about Movers & Shapers (who we are, what we do, etc.). We have the Monarch packets, of course, which are great, but I think a piece of introductory literature about our group would be very handy for situations like this. Any chance one or more of you could work on this soon? It certainly doesn't have to be anything fancy, just short and sweet.

Thanks!

Minutes from the Herald's Committee Meeting on 1/25/07

2007-01-29T15:43:00.000-06:00

Present: Cathy Graham, Kyle Nguyen, Dennis Woods, and Emily Reiter

- The marketing of the Monarch Learning Center’s upcoming symposium entitled “The Explosive Child” was discussed at great length. Cathy Graham was able to give Monarch Learning Canter Assistant Emily Reiter some names of media contacts and suggestions of how to best promote this event. Some ideas discussed were: the importance of promoting the event before it occurs, promoting the event while it’s occurring (a television station interviewing Dr. Greene during the day of the event) and promoting the event after it is over, Ms. Graham also suggested emailing an article submission to all editors in Houston as well as a media alert.
- The Monarch Web site was also discussed. Monarch Director of Technology spoke about his recent project of posting previous news clippings about Monarch on the Web site for visitors to access. The group spoke about the electronic newsletter and the importance of making sure it’s not sent out before it’s completely ready.
- John Barone visited the group and brought up the idea of sending out monographs as a way of promoting Monarch.

Developer's Minutes

2007-01-27T18:34:00.001-06:00

Attendees: Marion Defalco, Justin Fox, Sharlene Fox, Judith Garnil, John Hardesty, Susan Meek, Julie Meaux, Jessica Stoner, Carolyn Trozzo, Stephanie Wheatley, Shannon Woodruff

New members: Judith Garnil, John Hardesty

Realtor involvement: Marion Defalco reported that she had contacted Myra Jolvit, Managing Editor of the Houston Realtor and Communications Chief. She is extremely interested and receptive to the idea of distributing information about Monarch to her clients.

Success of follow-up phone calls to breakfast attendees: Jessica Stoner stated that she had received mainly positive responses. Julie Meaux remarked that she had to leave voicemails and nobody returned her calls. Effective ways to thank breakfast attendees were discussed. Follow-up thank you notes/letters could be one method.

'The Gifts' movie Feb. 13: Group reiterated that the movie would be an excellent opportunity to educate others about Monarch. The '12 gifts' are closely alligned with Monarch's philosophy. When inviting others we need to make sure that people are aware that the venue is St. Thomas University.

Contact with PBS: Marion Defalco contacted PBS due to Dr. Eric Braverman's upcoming appearance on March 29. He is a neuro surgeon and heads up a research foundation specializing in learning disorders in children. She suggested that it would be a good idea to have Monarch staff or parents be in the audience when he gives his presentation. Marion left Monarch packets at PBS.

Educators Minutes

2007-01-26T14:27:00.000-06:00

Like Ranger, I was a committee of one yesterday, but here are a few items I discussed with others at the meeting:

We've been having trouble recruiting "mentors" to come to Monarch and speak to students about topics of shared interest. Since I suspect part of the problem is that "mentor" implies a greater time commitment than many people are able to make, we are going to continue this recruitment effort but look for "guest speakers," instead. Neal provided the list of course offerings for 2006-07, which I will try to turn into a "wish list" for guest speakers. This will be a wonderful opportunity to use your connections in the community for Monarch's benefit!
Ranger had very good idea about working with local college student volunteer programs to recruit new M&S members. I'll follow up with this at UH and possibly at Rice, St. Thomas, and/or other Houston-area schools.
Neal told us about plans for a student talent show in May. The Educators' co-facilitator, Kay Kahl, is already involved with this project, and it may present us with new volunteer opportunities. If nothing else, maybe we can all get invitations to attend!
Neal and I discussed another volunteer organization, Houston Heifers, a local group supporting the work of Heifer Project International. Monarch students use Heifer-related materials in some of their classes, and I look forward to learning more about this program.

Builders Minutes 1/25/07

2007-01-25T14:55:00.000-06:00

Just back from another Movers and Shapers meeting. I was the only Builder present so the discussions I had were with various Monarch administrators and other Movers and Shapers members.

*I asked John and Marty for a conduit. Monarch staff have begun discussing projects for the new buildings and grounds but they aren't reaching our group.

*John, Miranda and I discussed having the Heralds recruit members for both the Builders and Educators groups.

*Miranda and I met with new Movers and Shapers members John and Judith to fill them in on what the Educators and Builders are all about.

*Neil told us about some fabulous developments. Landscaping for the new campus will be donated, we will have fruit trees, and two private residences near the new campus have been donated for residence and life skills development.

"Today's Man" on April 8

2007-01-22T11:30:00.001-06:00

As part of its "Margaret Mead Festival," the Rice Media Center will show the documentary "Today's Man" on Sunday, April 8 (yes, Easter Sunday) at 9:00 pm.

Description from the Rice Media Center website:

"Filmmaker Lizzie Gottlieb looks at her brother Nicky, a young man struggling to leave the comfort and safety of his parents' home and find his place in the world. While he can calculate the square root of any number in the blink of an eye, he has trouble reading the simplest of facial expressions, making social interaction difficult. At the age of 21, he is diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism."

The film is the second half of a double feature, but the first movie, "A Map With Gaps," is only 26 minutes long, and "Today's Man" is 55 minutes, so even the 9:00 start time won't make for too late a night.

MONARCH SYMPOSIUM!

2007-01-10T08:51:00.000-06:00

Calling all Movers & Shapers!

On March 3, 2007, Monarch will welcome Dr. Ross Greene, author of The Explosive Child, as presenter for our symposium. This topic is relevant for all parents, teachers, and anyone who works with children. To save a bundle, sign up for EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION!

We also need your help in spreading the word about Monarch's Symposium. At our next meeting we will have cards that you can present as gifts to friends, family, colleagues, etc. They can also be left for people to pick up at pediatrician's offices, schools, and any other place frequented by parents, teachers, or others who work with young people.

Thanks for helping make our first annual symposium a SOLD OUT SUCCESS!

College Living Experience

2007-01-09T15:54:00.000-06:00

I came across an interesting article in the "Chronicle of Higher Education" about College Living Experience, a support program for special needs students pursuing college education. It looks like something that might interest Monarch students, so I thought I'd pass along the link to the CLE website, which provides access to the article.

"The Ultimate Gift" on February 13

2007-01-08T07:40:00.000-06:00

News from Linda Caruso:

The Monarch School will host the Houston premiere of the film "The Ultimate Gift" on Tuesday, February 13, with proceeds to benefit the school. For more information or to purchase tickets, check out the event announcement on the Monarch website. Spread the word and treat yourself and your family and friends to an early Valentine's Day present!

Monarch Movers & Shapers

2006-12-28T12:40:00.000-06:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers

A few words from your M&S Chairman Fox:

Well, as 2006 comes to a close, we can all look back and take great satisfaction in the fact that our Movers and Shapers group has made some wonderful strides in our formation and development! We already have accomplished some very good projects and have a number more planned for the future through our four standing committees.

A special thanks is in order for the extra efforts put forth by John Barone and Marty Webb, whose brainchild our M&S group is! Also thanks to Emily Reiter and to various other Monarch School staff and advisors for their continuing support for the M&S.

Kudos also to our M&S committee facilitators: Miranda Bennett and Kay Kahl of The Educators Committee; Julie Meaux of The Developers Committee; Penny Weiss and Sara Ranger of The Builders Committee; and least, but not least, FNU LNU (that's FBI lingo for "First Name Unknown, Last Name Unknown") of The Heralds Committee, since we still don't have an official facilitator for The Heralds, despite our persistent efforts to cajole Kathy Graham into that position!

Special accolades also go to Mirianda Bennett for setting up our great M&S blog.

And a special thank you to Penny Weiss for hosting our fabulous M&S Christmas party in her lovely home.

And, of course, a final word of praise for all our M&S members, whose contributions thus far are greatly appreciated by everyone, especially the students at The Monarch School. We have the good fortune to have enrolled some enthusiastic new members, who will help develop some significant projects to aid The Monarch School in 2007 and thereafter.

Here are a couple of important future dates for us all:

On Thursday, January 25, 2007, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at The Monarch School's Learning Center (TLC) an Orientation will be held for any new M&S members who have not yet attended this session. We hope to recruit some new M&S members from our ongoing telephone calls to attendees of the Miracle Makers Morning breakfast last November. An Evite.com invitation will be sent out after the first of the year to these recruits.

On Thursday, January 25, 2007, from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. at TLC a regular M&S luncheon meeting for all M&S members will be held, at which we'll have our 4 committee break-out meetings. A separate Evite.com invitation will be sent to all for this event in another week or two.

Here's wishing you and your families and loved ones a very joyous and prosperous 2007. Happy New Year!!!!!!!!

-- Justin Fox, M&S Chairman

Developers Meeting Minutes - December 7, 2006

2006-12-10T12:00:00.000-06:00

Present: Julie Meaux, Justin Fox, Jessica Stoner, Jenny Ferguson, Marion Defalco and Kim Hollard

We welcomed 2 new members - Marion Defalco and Kim Hollard
Jessica asked for volunteers to contact individuals in the Monarch data base to touch base with them and ask if they would be willing to provide us with an email address so that The Monarch School can stay in touch with them electronically via 2 news letters each year as well as other upcoming events and news
Jessica suggested that next year volunteers contact the individuals that attend the breakfast, but do not make a donation, to thank them for attending the breakfast and ask if we can get an email address and add them to the school's data base
Marion suggested we contact real estate agencies to educate them about Monarch, provide them with Monarch literature they can share with clients and possibly try to get one of the agencies to host an event with the proceeds going to The Monarch School
Kim spoke in length to Jenny regarding the capital campaign and suggested several possible contacts to help with the campaign

High School High Tech

2006-12-08T15:32:00.000-06:00

Has anyone ever heard of High School High Tech? It's a Houston-area program that bills itself as "an enrichment program for high school students with disabilities that encourages the exploration of science, engineering, and technology-related careers." I just stumbled across the website, so I don't know much about it, but it looks very interesting.

Educators Committee minutes from 12/7

2006-12-08T15:07:00.000-06:00

The Educators were a committee of one yesterday, but I had interesting and productive conversations with John Barone, Neal Sarahan, and Debrah Hall, in which we focused on possible projects for our committee. Since we're small, we'll need lots of help, so please read on and find something you'd be interested in doing!

Reading companions for students. Neal clarified that this activity can be scheduled at the convenience of individual volunteers. If you are interested, you will commit to coming to Monarch on a regular basis (can be weekly or less frequently) sometime during school hours (8:30-3:15) to listen to students read aloud. You will work with a given student for about 30 minutes, but you can meet with multiple students during a visit. Penny has done this in the past and says it's great fun! Interested? Please contact me at mhenry4@uh.edu, and Neal will help you set up a schedule.

The "Ultimate Gift" project will involve a major event on February 13. Along with other organizations, Monarch will sponsor special screenings of this film, with an event to follow. Volunteers are needed in various capacities, including planning and organization. Details are being worked out, but let me know if you'd like to be kept informed about this.

Recruiting mentors and finding internships. We're hoping to get a better sense of specific areas of interest among Monarch students, so you can volunteer yourself and your friends and families to share relevant expertise. Senior students are in the process of choosing topics for their final projects, and after these are selected, we'll put out a call for mentors to support their work, as well.

Volunteers for the Monarch garden at the Houston Zoo. The Builders have been working on this one, too, but a recent donation of materials will enable new developments in this project and opportunities for more workers. Note especially: volunteers may be able to work in the garden on weekends, as well as during the week.

We're also hoping to improve communication between our committee and Monarch teachers and administrators, so that we can find out about upcoming activities in time to call for volunteers. Watch this space!

Monarch Movers & Shapers

2006-12-07T21:23:00.000-06:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers
On December 7th, the Movers and Shapers held an Orientation session in which we added three dynamic new members, namely Marion Defalco, Kim Hollard and Malik Mott. Welcome aboard, Marion, Kim and Malik! Immediately after the Orientation we held a regular M&S luncheon meeting and came up with some good ideas. Although we may not have had quantity in the numbers of attendees, we certainly had quality!

Just another reminder of our M&S holiday party this coming Sunday, December 10th, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the home of Penny Weiss, 8411 Burkhart, Houoston, 713-545-8732. Thanks again, Penny, for graciously hosting this grand event!

-- Justin Fox, M&S Chairman

This Week's Movers and Shapers Events

2006-12-05T13:25:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to post a friendly reminder for everyone about this Thursday's Movers and Shapers committee lunch meeting. It will start with a tasty catered lunch at 12:30 and end around 2. Also, don't forget about the Movers and Shapers Christmas Party this coming Sunday at 1 p.m. at the home of Penny and Richard Weiss. If you need directions or have any questions, please feel free to give me a call - 713.933.0568. From what I hear it's shaping up to be a great time so I hope all of you can make it!

A Volunteer Opportunity from Kay Kahl

2006-12-05T10:23:00.000-06:00

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunity!
Monarch Movers & ShapersThe Educators Committee is seeking volunteers who are interested and available to partake in Monarch's Challenger Campus holiday celebration on Friday, December 15th from 9am-noon. Volunteers are needed to share information and insight to students about holiday celebrations from different traditions (Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, traditions from countries and cultures around the world). The students will be traveling to different stations during this time, and each presenter will offer knowledge to a small group in a fun, fascinating way such as speaking and showing items specific to their culture (menorahs, Christmas pickles, etc.). Speakers may want to present a brief project, recipe, or share stories. Creativity is welcome! Please e-mail Kay (kkahl@monarchschool.org) as soon as possible if you are interested or know of someone who may be interested in volunteering. Even if you are only available for an hour or 2, we'd love to have you! Thanks!

Monarch Movers & Shapers

2006-11-23T11:23:00.000-06:00

Monarch Movers & Shapers -- UPCOMING M&S EVENTS!

Thursday, December 7th, 11 am-12:30 pm: New member Orientation at The Learning Center (TLC);

Thursday, December 7th, 12:30-2 pm: Luncheon meeting at TLC for all M&S members, with breakout meetings of all 4 committees.

Date to be determined: Christmas party for all M&S members! Let's choose a nearby restaurant (or even M&S home, if anyone wants to graciously host it).

Please make every effort to attend. Also, if you have any brilliant ideas for the time and place of our proposed Christmas party, call or email your fearless M&S Chairman, Justin Fox, at 281-367-9680 (home), email: jfox7@houston.rr.com.

Movers and Shapers Christmas Party??

2006-11-16T23:05:00.000-06:00

Would any of you be interested in a Christmas get together? One of our M & S members (John Barone) suggested that we ask our chairman (Justin Fox) to host!!! Other members (myself, Julie Meaux and Emily Reiter) thought this was an excellent idea!!! (Justin, I would start making and freezing the 'petits fours' now!!!!
Any interest, comments, suggestions as to how we could pull this off?

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Email Alerts Change

2006-11-13T08:53:00.000-06:00

The Blog Alert system appears to be having some problems accepting new email addresses (as far as I can tell, if you've already signed up, you should still be getting alerts). If you are not receiving email notification of new blog entries and you would like to, please use the "blogarithm" (really, who comes up with these names?) box on the right sidebar. (I'm leaving the Blog Alert box there because I don't want to risk affecting those of you who have signed up through that system.)

Questions? Please let me know (mhenry4@uh.edu). Thanks for your patience!

KHOU CHANNEL 13 NEWS COVERAGE OF MONARCH

2006-11-09T14:56:00.000-06:00

If you missed the broadcast, check it out here on our website.
http://www.monarchschool.org/NewsArticle24.html

New York Times article

2006-11-07T10:38:00.000-06:00

The New York Times recently ran an article about students with Asperger's Syndrome attending college. "Students on the Spectrum" describes the academic and social experiences of several college students and reports on efforts many schools are making to accommodate their special needs. [I'm not sure how long the article will be available for free on the Times website. If the link doesn't work, please let me know (mhenry4@uh.edu), and I'll be happy to help you get access to it another way.]

Also, if you haven't already, be sure to check out the story about Kate Matthiesen and Adam Farris, two Monarch graduates who are continuing their education at Houston Community College.

Another Volunteer Opportunity Nov. 10th

2006-11-06T15:56:00.000-06:00

If anyone is interested in helping stuff about 700 information packets for the Miracle Makers Morning Breakfast I could use a couple of volunteers. We will be meeting the morning of Friday, November 10th at my house (not far from Monarch). If you are interested in helping please contact me at jmeaux1@houston.rr.com.

History, Vision, and Organization

2006-11-03T12:15:00.000-06:00

Posted on behalf of Justin Fox.

THE MONARCH SCHOOL
MOVERS AND SHAPERS

HISTORY, VISION AND ORGANIZATION

The Movers and Shapers (M&S) was founded in 2005 as a special kind of support group for The Monarch School (TMS).

An M&S “Core Team,” originally consisting of eleven members, met several times in 2005-2006 with Dr. Marty Webb, Head of School and John Barone, Director of the Monarch Learning Center, in order to establish the goals, structure and direction of the M&S. The M&S Core Team continues to guide the execution of the goals of the M&S, to work actively in the recruitment of new M&S members, and to oversee the M&S committees to ensure that they are functioning in ways that reflect the group’s vision and guidelines.

There are currently 26 individual M&S members. It is anticipated that this number will increase as the M&S further develops. Each new M&S recruit is first invited to a tour of TMS, then completes an application form and interest inventory, and then is approved by TMS staff. Thereafter, the M&S recruit attends a M&S orientation meeting. Then the new M&S member chooses to join and participate in one of the four M&S committees (described below), or to be available for “work groups” for specific projects.

The present M&S Chairperson is Justin Fox.

The primary purpose of the M&S group is to support the mission of TMS and assist the school in a number of creative and innovative ways.

More specifically, the M&S group is divided into four separate committees, namely: (1) The Builders; (2) The Developers; (3) The Educators; (4) The Heralds.

Each of these four committees is headed by one or two facilitators, whose main job is to convene and oversee periodic committee meetings, preferably every month. These meetings may be held at a time and place convenient to its members, such as at a restaurant, residence, office, or TMS. After each committee meeting, a brief summary of will be posted on the M&S Blog: http://moversandshapers.blogspot.com/

THE BUILDERS COMMITTEE: Includes any project that involves construction, demolition, remodeling, redecorating, maintenance, etc.

Co-Facilitators: Penny Weiss and Sara Ranger

Members: Penny Weiss, Sara Ranger

Pilot projects:

Apprentice: Grounds, pond and trails maintenance (faculty contact: Debrah Hall);
Challenger: Zoo butterfly garden support (faculty contact: Richard Klein);
MLC: Painting (faculty contact: Emily Reiter).

Items discussed in the most recent meeting of the Builders Committee on 9/11/2006:

An on-going project that the group will be organizing is the weeding and watering of the Butterfly Garden at the Houston Zoo by selected TMS students, who go there on Thursdays. Volunteers now will be organized to go to the zoo for that purpose at another time on an on-going basis.
Doing some projects at TMS involving renovation and refurbishing. For instance, some shelving will be made for one of TMS work rooms, and weeding of TMS trails will be undertaken.
Postponing of most of the ideas for projects, which were discussed at the last meeting, until much closer to TMS’ move to its new campus in less than two years.

THE DEVELOPERS COMMITTEE: Includes foundation relationships, grant writing, support for fundraising and friend-raising events, recruitment of new members, support of school outreach, etc.

Facilitator: Julie Meaux

Members: Julie Meaux, Stephanie Wheatley, Carolyn Trozzo, Susan Meek, Justin Fox, Scharlene Fox

Pilot projects:

MLC: Solicitation of off-campus workshops (faculty contact: John Barone);
Development: Tour recruitment (faculty contact: Jessica Stoner);
Events: Training in raising more money (faculty contact: Shannon Woodruff).

Items discussed at the most recent meeting of the Developers meeting on 9/11/2006:

Confirmation that the Developers Committee would serve these two purposes: (1) development of external contacts; (2) development of TMS parent community.
The following six (6) methods of developing external contacts were discussed:

Established that networking is the most effective method to publicize TMS.
Contacting school districts, particularly special services personnel.
Personal contact will be made by Development Committee members with friends and acquaintances in the education community.
Agreed that health professionals need to be contacted. One suggested method would be for TMS to donate books to doctors’ offices, with these books having details of TMS placed inside them.
Car decals with TMS logo and email address were discussed, and estimates from printers of these decals will be obtained.
It was suggested that these decals would make an excellent gift for the upcoming TMS fundraising breakfast on 11/14/2006.

It was suggested that an electronic “TMS Parent Newsletter” would be an effective method of building community spirit and school support among the Monarch parent community.

THE EDUCATORS COMMITTEE: Includes all direct service with students and faculty, including academic support, mentorship, internships, guest speakers, special events for students and/or staff, faculty support, off-campus practice opportunities, etc.

Co-facilitators: Miranda Bennett and Kay Kahl

Members: Miranda Bennett, Kay Kahl, Ami Felker, Chassidy Andrew.

Pilot projects:

Challenger: Reading room (faculty contact: Neal Sarahan);
Apprentice: Summer program support for out-or-town parents (faculty contact: Debrah Hall);
MLC: AV/DVD mentorship (faculty contact: John Barone).

Items discussed at the most recent Educators Committee meeting on 9/11/2006:

Upcoming opportunities for volunteers to work with TMS students, to include internships for the students to learn new skills and to increase their confidence.
Mentorships: Speakers are needed to give presentations or mini-workshops to TMS students. These mentors could address students’ interests and/or discuss their life experiences, with an emphasis on making decisions and overcoming challenges. Lectures, demonstrations and hands-on instruction are encouraged.
“The Ultimate Gift”: TMS students are using this curriculum to reflect on their gifts and the legacy of their family heritage. Later in the fall of 2006 volunteers can assist students with the writing and recording of their reflections.

THE HERALDS COMMITTEE: Includes Informational Technology (IT), multi-media advertising, brochure design, photography, public relations, videography, DVD production, web-site design and maintenance, email design, Monarch Learning Center (MLC) promotion, etc.

Co-Facilitator(s): None at present.

Members: Dennis Woods, Dwight Wolf, Cathy Graham, Gala Edwardsen, Chris Edwardsen

Pilot projects:

IT: network infrastructure design (faculty contact: Kyle Nguyen)
IT: website proofreading (faculty contact: Marty Webb)
MLC: email newsletter design (Faculty contact: Emily Reiter)

Items discussed in previous two Heralds Committee meetings on 5/3/06 and 9/11/06:

Website ands email content issues, including perhaps adding a calendar section to help TMS parents, committee members and others to keep up with various events at school;
Distribution of email newsletter to interested parents and committee members;
Development of speakers bureau for TMS;
Ideas for spreading the word about MLS upcoming symposium, such as making connections with leaders of local professional groups, using TMS website to promote the event, and focusing on target audiences when sending out the material, especially when contacting individuals within an ISD.

The foregoing “M&S History, Vision and Organization” was compiled on October 30, 2006 by Justin Fox, M&S Chairperson.

Interested in joining M&S? Please contact Justin Fox at jfox7@houston.rr.com

Volunteers Needed for Reading Program!

2006-10-31T15:49:00.000-06:00

Dr. Neal is looking for volunteers to listen to students read. If you'd like to help out and are available during school hours (specific days/times not yet available), please let me (mhenry4@uh.edu) know.

FYI: This is also a great opportunity to interest new recruits in Movers & Shapers. However, because this activity involves direct contact with students, new folks will need to go through the initial orientation before participating. If you find someone who would like to get involved, just send his/her contact info to Justin, and he will start the initiation process.

For projects not involving direct student contact, non-M&S people are welcome to take part before getting oriented. (All this policy stuff comes from John Barone; I'm not just making it up as I go along!)

By the way, thanks for making such great use of the blog! (I knew I'd hook you sooner or later....)

-Miranda

Developers Meeting Minutes - October 30, 2006

2006-10-31T12:19:00.000-06:00

Present: Julie Meaux, Justin Fox, Stephanie Wheatley, Carolyn Trozzo, Susan Meek, Shannon Woodruff, Jessica Stoner

Stephanie Wheatly updated everyone on the progress of a parent newsletter. It was decided that creating a parent Blog would be a good place to start for Monarch parents to interact and share information.
Discussed the possibility of having a book drive to collect books to be donated to doctor's offices (especially pediatricians) with details of the school inside the front cover. This could possibly be a service project for the kids.
Suggested that some type of thank-you event would be nice for all of those that make pledges at the breakfast on November 14th. Possibly a dinner or party.
It was suggested that Monarch might benefit from offering an annual open house in the evening.
Discussed reaching out to preschools, especially through the different churches, to help educate the community about Monarch.

Thanks to Our Awesome Volunteers

2006-10-31T12:04:00.000-06:00

A huge thanks to all who helped yesterday at the Learning Center by sticking labels on about 7,000 news letters that will be going out this week. We had several parent volunteers, Monarch staff and Movers and Shapers members who showed up to tackle this task. The work that we thought would take 1 1/2 days was completed in only 4 1/2 hours. Way to go volunteers!!!!

Builders Committee Project

2006-10-30T13:03:00.000-06:00

Members of the Builders Committee recently rolled up their sleeves and with hammers in hand, responded to a need in the Monarch Life Academy for more shelf space. Penny Weiss and I spent two afternoons hanging shelves along two of the walls in the Life Academy. As you can see from the picture, the shelves look great, and are being put to good use! The Building Committee is incredibly appreciative to Penny for driving this project. Life Academy- how are the new shelves working out for you?

Volunteer Opportunity October 30th and 31st

2006-10-26T19:39:00.000-05:00

If anyone has some free time on Monday, October 30th between 8:30am and 3:00pm and/or on Tuesday, October 31st between 8:30am and 11:30am we will be stuffing and labeling approximately 10,000 envelopes in the Learning Center for a mass mailing and could use your help. If you are interested in helping with this task please contact me. If you find you have some time to spare at the last minute feel free to just show up - I'm sure there will be plenty of work to go around.

Computers and Laptops

2006-10-23T12:27:00.000-05:00

If you have not already heard, I wanted to share the great news with all of you. The Monarch School is a member of a program called Gifts In Kind. This program allows non-profits like us to "Shop" (we don't actually pay anything) for items that we need. These items are typically donated by large corporations. These items can be anything from furniture or computers, or even office supplies. Upon hearing that ExxonMobil had donated over 400 desktops and laptops to the program, I immediately asked for 32 desktops and 10 laptops. And guess what?!?! We got ALL of them. This is great news because these computers can replace all the student computers on both campuses.

Also, we recently received a generation donation from the Viereck's (Monarch parents) to pay for a defibrillator and cabinet for each campus, and for pediatric pads for the Apprentice campus. We are thrilled that they did this for us, especially with all the news going around about schools that do/do not have them. All staff will be trained at the beginning of November on how to use them.

Studio Saturday: cARTography

2006-10-18T07:51:00.000-05:00

The Blaffer Gallery at the University of Houston is offering a free program this Saturday, October 21, which may be of interest to some Monarch students and teachers. The schedule includes guided tours of the exhibit "A Fiction of Authenticity: Contemporary Africa Abroad" at 1:00; an art-making activity, in which participants will create maps of their personal histories, at 2:00; and an opportunity to share these maps and discuss the exhibit and project with Leamon Green, a fine arts professor from Texas Southern University, at 3:30. According to the flyer advertising the program, "All art-making materials provided and refreshments are served--just bring your imagination."

Interested? Please RSVP to Katherine Veneman, curator of education (what a cool title!), at 713-743-9526 or kveneman@uh.edu.

Our Resident Artist

2006-10-17T08:48:00.000-05:00

Hello all you Movers & Shapers,

If you missed it, check out this terrific Channel 2 News Report on the success of Kate, one our Monarch students!

http://www.monarchschool.org/NewsArticle17.html

Best,

John

Blaffer Gallery programs for students

2006-10-09T15:48:00.000-05:00

Ranger has been talking to a friend of hers at UH's Blaffer Gallery, exploring possibilities for Monarch students to visit and enjoy some of the gallery's educational programming. Please take a look at the Education section of their website and let Ranger or me know if you'd like more details. (In addition to being an interesting place to visit, the Blaffer has the advantage of being on the UH campus, and a session there could be combined with a stop at another site, such as the KUHF studio, mentioned in an earlier blog post.)

Don't Miss This Great Show!

2006-10-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

Greetings all Movers & Shapers,

Susie and I went to the Hobby Center last night to see our very own Kay Kahl in Masquerade Theatre's performance of "Sweeney Todd." Kay was awesome, as was the entire cast.

The delightful show, although three hours long, captivated us the entire time, and the singing and acting were brilliant! The Houston Press had this to say in their review: "The entire cast is definitive, as is director Phillip Duggins's minimal production, which moves this classic with a relentless, chilling drive."

It's not too late to catch this masterpiece performance! There are two shows left before the show closes on Sunday.

Cheers,

John

Spreading the Word

2006-10-04T14:02:00.000-05:00

The Learning Center is looking to expand its list of contacts for this year's workshops. Because it is our first year to offer continuing education units to professionals, we're hoping to increase our contacts with special education professionals in the schools. If any movers and shapers have contacts in public or private special education or any mailing lists of professionals that they would be willing to share, please either email Emily Reiter at ereiter@monarchschool.org or call 713.933.0568, thanks!

Coaching from Cathy

2006-10-04T14:00:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to thank Cathy Graham for agreeing to lend her time and skills in public relations to mentor me in the promotion of the Learning Center. We recently met to discuss the best possible route for promoting the Learning Center's upcoming symposium. Cathy gave great suggestions for focusing on building relationships with other organizations in the community. She also suggested different ideas of how to effectively reach the Learning Center's target audience. I had a great time brainstorming with Cathy, and look forward to more meetings in the future!

Calling All Heralds!

2006-10-03T15:03:00.000-05:00

Monarch is hosting a free workshop on hair pulling and skin picking on Oct. 19. Any help in getting the word out would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

JB