Vice-President Andrea Battle called the meeting of
the Amherst Club to order at noon on Tuesday, April 7th, 2015, and welcomed us
all, since President Roger Webb is under the weather. Andrea announced that
there will be a short board meeting after lunch today.
Some small committees will form to review possible
changes to the Cabaret fundraiser for 2016. Anyone who is interested in
participating in one or more aspects of the event should let Andrea or Roger
know.
Next week is our Awards Luncheon, when we welcome
representatives from the non-profits chosen to receive our largesse. As many as
possible of us should be there to congratulate the winners and wish them well
as they receive their checks.
Announcements:
Amherst Club member Lois Barber is
one of the finalists in the upcoming “The Best of Valley Voices” to be held at
the Academy of Music, Saturday, April 18th, 7:30 pm. Lois will be telling a
story that she shared with the Amherst Club last September. The show is a
fundraiser for New England Public Radio. Nine other storytellers from the
Valley who won preliminary rounds will also be telling their stories along
with a story shared by seasoned raconteur Bob Reiser, and the unique sounds of
the one-man-band, Matt Lorenz as The Suitcase Junket. Tickets at the Academy of
Music website or box office.
Raffle: Ann
Levinger won the wine. Barbara Freed won the $10.
Speaker:
Barbara Freed introduced
our speaker, educator Alton Sprague. Al has a long and varied career both as
K-12 teacher and administrator, ending as a school superintendent in
California, and interim superintendent in Amherst. He reflected on his varied experiences
attempting to get the best from the four resources available to our schools:
time, space, money and people. He
pointed out the anachronistic schedule our schools still follow, with the long
summer break needed when children worked on their family farms, but completely
useless and deleterious now. Al supports
year-long schedules, with short breaks during which children will not forget
much of what they have learned. He laments the
disconnect between what is taught in college schools of education and
what happens in K-12 classrooms, and bemoans the over-emphasis on high-stakes
testing. He also wishes that additional resources could be made available for
the gifted and talented students as well as those with difficulties in
learning.
Your scribe, Linda
Honan |