Gamma Gamma Ray
Newsletter of Gamma Gamma Chapter
www.gammagamma75.org
April, 2024
Important Dates to Remember
Tuesday, April 23 – DKG Book club discussion of The Violin Conspiracy, at 7:00 via Zoom
Thursday, May 9th – Gamma Gamma’s Annual Spring Celebration of Membership
Wednesday, May 15th – Deadline to register for the Creative Arts Retreat
June 18th-20th – Creative Arts Retreat in Bloomington, IL
July 9th-13th – International Convention in National Harbor, MD
Announcements
Book Club News
On Tuesday, April 23rd at 7:00 we will be discussing The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb. This book follows a young black musician on the rise and the theft of his priceless heirloom violin. For May 28th we will read and discuss Rachel Maddow’s book Prequel. An American Fight Against Fascism. Maddow traces the history of fascism in American before and after World War II. We have no selections past May, so suggestions are welcome. All book club discussions are on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 7:00 via Zoom.
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From our Treasurer…
Members need to remember to bring two separate checks to the May Banquet. One check for Membership dues ($84 for members, $42 for reserve members, and an extra $5 for a member that receives her newsletter via U.S.Mail) and the other for the banquet dinner ($38). If you also are planning to give to the Kenneth Young Center, you will want to bring another check for your donation.
All vouchers, with receipts, need to be given to Linda Stolt by June 1st.
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Committee Choices 2024-2026
If you have not done so already, let your current committee chairperson know if you wish to stay on that committee for the next biennium. If you are wishing to make a change, list your top three choices of committees and give it to your chairperson. (An email or text is fine.)
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45th Annual Creative Arts Retreat
The Creative Arts Retreat will take place on June 18-20 at the Double Tree Hilton in
Bloomington, IL. You may not consider yourself as a creative person, but you might be surprised what you can do! (I found Zentangle to be fun and doable for someone who can only draw stick figures!) It is also fun getting to know our DKG sisters from around the state! Registration forms can be found online on our DKG state website www.dkgil.com The registration deadline is May 15th.
If you are planning on attending, you must reserve your own hotel accommodations. Call: 309-664-6446 Use the code: 95U or Creative Arts Retreat 2024. Online hotel registration is https:/hil.tn70vk60
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Leadership Academy
At the virtual state convention, Dr. Margaret Trybus introduced the Leadership Academy Certificate Program that the Illinois state organization is launching this summer. Over three Saturday mornings in June, the 1st, 8th, and 15th, six sessions will be conducted. Participants may register for one, two, or all three Saturdays, but must attend all three Saturdays to earn the Leadership Academy Certificate.
All sessions will be virtual and each is 60 minutes long. The cost is $40 for all three mornings, $30 for two mornings, and $20 for one morning. PD Credit will be available for up to six hours.
I will be sending (soon!) more details about the Leadership Academy as well as registration information in a separate email. This sounds like an exciting learning opportunity!!
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COMMITTEE REPORTING
Society Business (Finance, Rules, Research)- Joan Gazdic, jmtg@att.net
The Society Business Committee formulated a tentative draft of the Chapter 2024-2025 Budget based upon an Estimated Fund Balance as of July 1, 2024. The Executive Board approved of this tentative 24-25 Budget on April 11. A copy is attached to this newsletter. Please review this tentative budget that will be voted upon at our Annual Spring Celebration Banquet on May 9.
The budget will be adjusted after June 30 when all expenses within this fiscal year have been processed and membership dues have been received. The accuracy of our proposed 24-25 budget is dependent upon paid expense records and total chapter membership. So, please submit vouchers for committee expenses promptly and pay your 24-25 dues to our chapter treasurer before the end of the fiscal year June 30. Our adjusted chapter budget is due toILSO on August 1. It will be presented to our Executive Board in August and then emailed to all members.
Membership, Madelynn Brossard, rtb1445@yahoo.com
We would like to welcome Jackie Lukasik who is a retired teacher from District 300 and Jillian Minninni who is one of our collegiate members who will now transfer to an active time member. Vivian Zhao another collegiate member will be becoming an active member in the fall when her mentor can be there.
Educational Excellence-Scholarship -Denise Pawelczyk, dreismom2@yahoo.com
*Our application selection committee met and is happy to announce this year’s grant/scholarship recipients. Interestingly, all three recipients were referred by Gamma Gamma members, and are all planning on attending IL State University! Our 2024 recipients are:
Gamma Gamma Recruitment Grant
Kaylee Cotton, who was referred by Carol McHale. Kaylee currently attends Plainfield East High. She plans on majoring in elementary education. Her mentor will be Jane Jedlicka.
Anne V. Fussell Memorial Scholarship
Emily Mobley, who was referred by Linda Stolt. Emily is a senior at Dundee Crown High School. She plans on majoring in music education; with hopes of becoming a band director one day. Her mentor will be Cindy Sheely.
Nancy J. Harmon Memorial Scholarship
Samantha Karner, who was referred by Rose Karner. Samantha is attending Woodstock High School. She will be majoring in elementary education. Her mentor will be Glenda Klein-Mali.
*Three of our collegiate members will be graduating this year from college! Vivian Zhao will be graduating from University of IL–Urbana Champaign. Jillian Minninni and Giselle Menjivar will be graduating from IL State University. At this point, Vivian and Jillian have decided to transfer their membership from collegiate to active.
*No applications were received for the Chapter Scholarship or Love of Learning Stipend. There will be no 2024 recipients.
Programs- Rose Marie Mincey rmincey@comcast.net / Judie King, judo1108@aol.com
If you plan on attending the spring banquet on May 9, you should have already emailed your food selection to Karen Mirro. Payment will be collected at the banquet. Please note, if you sent in a food selection with a positive RSVP, you will be responsible for payment, even if you do not attend.
Communication, Deb Hopp, debhopp@comcast.net
This is a reminder about disposal of old/outdated yearbook/directories. Please dispose them as you would confidential material: shred the entire document. The front cover has information about our access to our website. There are photos and personal information throughout the yearbook/directories. As a group, we need to be aware of identity theft and scams.
Just a reminder, if you want to submit a current photo of yourself for the 2024-2025 yearbook/directory, please send it to Pat Riley. I will be available at the banquet on May 9th to take photos for the yearbook/directory. Please let me know it you want me to take your photo. Also please verify your information (phone numbers, addresses, employment) in the 2023-2024 yearbook/directory. If there are any changes, please notify me so I can pass on the new information. This will help us get ready for the 2024-2025 yearbook/directory.
Service and Special Projects- Cindy Sheely, sheelyj@sbcglobal.net
Our May fundraiser is the Kenneth Young Foundation in Elk Grove. The foundation’s annual run/walk is being held at Grove 26 in Busse Woods on June 22 at 10 a.m. Kenneth Young fosters for healthier communities through counseling, treatment, support, and recovery services for adults, families, and children. Please bring your donation to this worthy charity to our banquet, and make the check payable to Kenneth Young Foundation.
Special Projects is proud to announce our nominee, Rep. Anna Mueller, for the Certificate of Legislator Commendation has been accepted. Rep. Mueller represents the 43rd District of Illinois. She has worked toward legislation on pay equity, good-government reforms, environmental protection, increased funding for public schools, and increased access to healthcare. Rep. Mueller has also supported pro-choice legislation, care for the elderly and disabled individuals, and help for young victims of sexual assault. Our committee will be presenting the certificate to Repair, Mueller later this spring.
Also, we will be presenting the Literacy Award to past DKG member Mary Stitt. Mary has been a teacher and principal in Arlington Heights. She has worked tirelessly for children’s and seniors issues. Mary has also been active in participating and supporting polio immunizations for children in many countries in Africa and Central America, as well as working toward clean water and medicines in those countries.
Care Team News:
Please contact Glenda Klein-Mali (and Rose Karner) if you have any news for the Care Team. We also love to hear your good news and celebrations! Let us know what you would like shared with your Gamma Gamma sisters.
Many of our chapter sisters have health issues or other situations they are dealing with which prevent them from coming to meetings. If you haven’t heard from a Gamma Gamma sister in a while, please take a moment to call or email her. We can all do our part to check on our members and support them when they need us most.
To all our Gamma Gamma sisters, don’t forget to let us know if you need our support-
The Care Team
Opportunities
**To our Gamma Gamma members who are in need of Professional Development credits (PDs), check out the “What’s Happening in DKG Illinois the Week of…” that is forwarded from Bev Johns! There has been, and will continue to be, opportunities to acquire PD credits by Zooming in on some of the programs listed.
Rose’s Ramblings
This past weekend, the DKG ILSO held their first ever virtual state convention! Kudos to state president Linda Adcock and the convention committee! They did a wonderful job of planning, organizing, and executing the many events, speakers, and break-out sessions on Zoom throughout the weekend! The convention lived up to its theme of “New Day, New Opportunities”. Attendees had opportunities to – learn through numerous workshops, speakers, tech training sessions; to experience fellowship – joining a game of Wordies, Zentangle, book discussions; and to experience the celebration of our members’ lives, anniversaries, and accomplishments!
Some Take Aways from this year’s convention:
-Over $4500 was raised for the M. Josephine O’Neil Arts Award at the virtual Women in the Arts Auction!
-The DKG State Choir did a great job providing music for the convention! Thank you to our members Holly McKee, the choir director, and Mary Wrobel, member of the state Music Committee, for your leadership! A big “Thank You” also goes to Kris Beaudette, Peggy Gire, Gerie Kay, Rose Karner, Mary Jane LaBahn, and Jillian Minnini for volunteering their time and talent to participate in the DKG Choir!
-Gamma Gamma won the virtual attendance award with 18 members participating in the convention!
-Our chapter was recognized for our contribution to the Schools for Africa initiative.
-Our DKG ILSO is dedicated to the development of our members’ leadership skills with the development and implementation of the Leadership Academy Certificate Program.
(More details will be sent via email this week!)
Websites to Remember
(Hold down control key and click to activate link)
Gamma Gamma chapter: http://www.gammagamma75.org
Illinois State Organization: http://www.deltakappagamma.org/IL
International: http://www.dkg.org
Zoom links for DKG-ISO programs: http://www.ilsozoom.weebly.com (Note: this is a change.)
http://www.YouTube.com. Subscribe to this channel: Delta Kappa Gamma, Illinois, Key Women Educators. Many/most of the slide shows from Zoom programs are saved to this channel. The Zoom sessions are not recorded, but the slides that the presenters used are all saved here, for your convenient viewing.
Facebook Pages to visit:
DKG-Gamma Gamma Chapter
DKG-Illinois Key Women Educators
The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International
DKG-ILSOWIACAR- This is the Facebook page for the Illinois State Organization Women in the Arts Creative Arts Retreat (virtual.)
Gamma Gamma Chapter 