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.