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2014 Fall Minutes.docx (Includes Executive Council minutes, general business meeting minutes, High school meeting minutes, etc)











Fall 2011 General Business Meeting Minutes
Arkansas Communication and Theatre Arts Association
Fall Convention
September 17, 2011


On a crisp and cool morning, ACTAA members assembled on the mountain for the annual Fall meeting.

Called to order by President Dawn Tucker, the minutes were approved and accepted. First Vice President Mary Richardson rose for her report and thanked the membership for attending and specifically showed appreciation to all those who presented at workshops.

Don Dancer, our First Vice President Elect announced he would be directing the 2012 Fall Convention in Heber Springs at the Red Apple Inn. He joked that there would be a Friday night curfew so members would be physically and mentally attend the Saturday morning business meeting. Second Vice President Jannetta Carney thanked those who placed their dates on the common calendar and was excited to report that two tournaments have been added to the schedule: A forensics and debate tournament at the University of Central Arkansas and a forensics tournament at Searcy High School.

Reports by our Executive Secretary and Treasurer were presented next. John Gale spoke about the work that has been accomplished regarding the membership listserve. The Treasurer’s report was printed and distributed to the membership.

Sara Cooke, our lovable Archivist, tapped the water glass for the ARCHIVE MOMENT! She encouraged anyone who has memorabilia from our organization to submit the items to her. Her shared moment this time was: The first meeting of our association was the State Festival in 1939 at Hendrix College organized by the Arkansas Teachers of Speech. In attendance was Miss Margaurite Pearce (later Metcalf). What is so amazing is that she was in attendance in 1991, being honored for her lifelong service to our organization.

Immediate Past President Tim Hollis rose and expressed his appreciation to everyone who was helpful during his tenure.

Professional Development Coordinator Jennifer Akers encouraged everyone to obtain the available professional development sheets in order to receive credit for attending the workshops and seminars.

Jannetta Carney of the Audit committee had no report. On behalf of Callie Ham, Scholarship Chair, Jessica Skordal reported that everything was in order. Sara Cooke questioned about last year’s recipient who did not follow through and pick up her financial award. Cooke encouraged the committee to give that money to another worthy recipient when that happens.

The Ethical Practices Chair Jannetta Carney submitted a written report to John Gale, Executive Secretary.

Jennifer Salazar, Demo Day Chair rose to speak on behalf of our fall activity for interested students of forensics competition. She announced that Christy Armbrust will be the new Demo Day Chair.

Student Congress Director Don Dancer encouraged everyone to attend Student Congress, to be held November 6-8, 2011. He reiterated that this experience is so good for students, and encouraged colleges to become active as well.

President Tucker rose to make a report on Tournament of Champions. The TOC will be held April 20-21 at Cabot High School. Changes were made for the following year, including that students could now qualify by breaking one time to semis, instead of twice to semis or once to finals. Another change is the addition of IPDA to the TOC.

Archive MOMENT!!!! Sara Cooke rose to give us a tidbit from the past of ACTAA. In 1959, the business meeting had a grand total of five people attending. A year later, their membership almost doubled! That meeting had 9 members.

Publicity and Promotion Chair Jane Balgavy submitted a report to the Executive Secretary John Gale.

This report thanked Mary Richardson for such eloquent promotional items given to convention attendees. Professional Standards Chair Pat Treadway submitted a report on behalf of those who served on the Department of Education’s committee to

Mentoring and Recruitment Chair Jennifer Akers reported that the New Member Breakfast was a rousing and tummy-filling success! The association added 33 new members this year, and many were assigned a mentor to help them throughout the year.

And, an ARCHIVE MOMENT! Sara Cooke gave us another interesting tale from our pastundefinedan email exchange between Gwen Brooks and Mary Richardson. It appeared Sara didn’t understand why the membership didn’t respond with gales of laughter, but this recording secretary felt a little uneasy that she had access to these emails. Big Brother Archivist is watching!

Nominations Chair Callie Ham was not able to attend due to the impending birth of her first child, a baby girl! Julia Woods rose to distribute ballots for solicitations for the 2011-2012 Nominating Committee.

Tim Peerbolte rose to deliver a report on the Debate Topic Selection Committee. His journey to Denver was an excellent experience, and the topics chosen for 2011-2012 are: Civil Rights, Infrastructure, Immigration, Entitlement Reform and Higher Education.

Delaine Gates, our AR Thespians Liason reported that the Thespian Festival would be held January 26-28, 2012 at Alma High School. She enthusiastically invited all to attend!

Jim Evans encouraged all members to publicize to their students the Arkansas Debate Institute which is held at the University of Arkansas at Monticello the last week of July. He thanked Callie Ham and Julia Woods for their teaching excellence in leading the campers, and solicited other teachers who might be interested to apply.

In old business, Mary Richardson rose to explain a fee change, which is a constitutional amendment. The change involves changing new member price to $10. Per year; regular member is $30. Per year; Institutional Membership for 5 or less, $120; 6-10 $180.; 10 or more, $220.

Dr. Bob Brady from the U of A Fayetteville pointed out that the “10 or more” membership should be read “11 or more”. The motion to amend was made by Mary Richardson, seconded and the body voted to amend.

The original constitution amendment was passed with the amendment.

Under new business, Tim Peerbolte reported the results of the nomination committee voting. Next year’s committee is Ashley Tarvin, Chair; Brandon Higdem, and Christy Armbrust.

In new business, Tim Hollis rose to encourage teachers to explore the National Forensics League. He was excited to share the opportunities that organization provides. Pat Treadway rose to announce that Parkview High would once again pair with the Clinton Library to host a debate and forensics tournament in January. Dr. Greg Blakey shared that Audition Day 2012 will be held at the University of Central Arkansas in January. He said many colleges and universities would be there to solicit students to their speech and theatre programs.

President Tucker invited the members to use the TOC blog on the website to make suggestions and comments. Kim Stanley rose to send birthday greetings across the room to 49-year old Terri Valentine, who was spending time on her birthday to attend ACTAA. The members cleared their throats and belted out a harmonious rendition of “Happy Birthday”, rivaling any contestant on America’s Got Talent.

Christin Pitts spoke on behalf of the THEA Foundation scholarships that are an excellent opportunity to acquire scholarship monies. Scholarships can be obtained in performing arts, visual arts, and creative writing. Auditions are January 7 for performing arts scholarships, the deadline to turn in visual arts applications is January 17, and creative writing deadline is January 30. Online registration begins November 15, 2011 on the THEA website.

With these announcements completed, and the lunch buffet looming, President Tucker entertained a motion to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned 10:46.

Respectfully Submitted,
Jane Morgan Balgavy, Recording Secretary



Additions to the Minutes:

During the lunch buffet, two minute-worth items were announced:

Nominations committee member Tim Peerebolte announced that Helen Strickland from Little Rock Central was elected First Vice President Elect Elect.

Mr. Wesley White from Russellville High School was honored as the ACTAA Administrator of the Year. His award was presented by the trio of Amber Hodges, Jannetta Carney and Jennifer Akers. Mr. White’s address to the membership upon receiving the award was a moving, sincere speech that showed his love for students and for teachers of speech and drama. It is always so rewarding to honor those administrators who support us!





Arkansas Communication & Theatre Arts Association
Fall Convention
September 11, 2010


President Tim Hollis called the meeting to order and asked for a moment of silence in memory of the
ninth anniversary of 9/11. He then asked the minutes be read. Dawn Tucker made a motion the minutes
be approved. The motion was seconded and the Spring 2010 minutes were passed as read.

President Hollis presented his officer report by thanking Mary Richardson for an excellent conference.
He read a letter from Kent Summers, National Federation of High School Speech and Debate,
honoring Angie Wooley for her work on the Debate Topic Selection Committee. Interim First Vice
President Mary Richardson then gave her report thanking everyone for attending the conference and
asked everyone to complete a conference survey before leaving. She announced that next year’s fall
conference will be held September 15-17 at Mt. Magazine, an ACTAA favorite gathering spot. She then
encouraged everyone in the meeting to sign in so we could gain an accurate count for voting purposes.

Mary continued by saying there would be a summer workshop again in 2011, and invited everyone to
attend. She then addressed the issue of contacting association members by email. She asked everyone
to respond to emailsundefinedeven brieflyundefinedto make sure the email was received.

Second Vice President Gwen Brooks gave her report indicating that all members received the 2010-2011
Calendar of Events in their convention handout. Executive Secretary John Gale’s report thanked
members of the Executive Council for supporting him in his endeavors, and Executive Treasurer Debra
Catton gave the details of our financial status. John Gale rose to speak on behalf of the Journal Editor
and encouraged someone to edit the journal.

Archivist Sara Cooke gave us an archive moment concerning Conley Hall from 1992. We all chuckled.

No report from Recording Secretary Jane Morgan Balgavy, who continued to happily record. Prentice
Dupins, our webmaster, reported it is now possible to create a secure members site. A password will be
given later. He then shared specific information that will help us better navigate our site. The details can
be found in his report he submitted to President Hollis. No report from Past President Ashley Tarvin.

Jennifer Akers rose to speak as our Professional Development Coordinator. She met with the Dept. of
Education this summer and received approval for all of our PD hours. Jannetta Carney has no report on
Audit. Sara Cooke, Scholarship Chair, reported that scholarships worth $500. Are available to one
forensics and one debate senior each year. It is not a requirement to major in speech or debate. There
is also a scholarship available to a teacher pursuing continuing education. North Little Rock West teacher
Brandon Higdem was the scholarship recipient last year. A scholarship for Speech/Theatre/Dance juniors
or seniors is also available but none applied. Mary Richardson thanked those that gave to the
scholarship fund. John Gale reiterated.

Jannetta Carney had no report to give for Ethical Practices. I guess we all were very upstanding and
ethical. Jennifer Salazar, Demonstration Day Chair, gave an energetic report to encourage all teachers to
bring students to Demo Day, to be held September 18th at Henderson State University.

Don Dancer rose to give the report for Student Congress. He said invitations were available for pick up
on a nearby table. The cost for High Schools is $75. Colleges will pay $100. Student Congress will be held
October 31 through November 2.

Tournament of Champions 2010 and 2011 reports were given. In Scott Kuttenkuller’s absence, Tim Hollis
reported on the 2010 tournament and labeled it a success. Tim Hollis reported that the 2011 will be
April 16-17 at Fayetteville High School. Jane Morgan Balgavy rose for publicity and promotion
committee and commented on the nice ACTAA cups Mary had ordered for convention attendees. New
banners are forthcoming with the new ACTAA logo.

Pat Treadway, chair of Professional Standards, reported that many states are not going to a common
core curriculum, and Arkansas is going to be the 35th state to do so. Course outlines were worked on this
summer, and these standards will be distributed most likely by the beginning of 2011. Pat said these
standards are lofty, but they are things we already do.

The Mentoring and Recruitment committees, both chaired by Jennifer Akers, gave reports. Jennifer said
that new members were treated to fun bags, prepared by committee member Callie Ham. Jennifer
Salazar worked to solidify mentoring responsibilities.

Sara Cooke, Chair of Nominations, announced that Don Dancer was elected First Vice President Elect
Elect, and Jannetta Carney was elected Second Vice President. Since Mary Richardson rose to fill Scott
Kuttenkuller’s place as First Vice President and take over the convention, she would now go back to her
original position as First Vice Elect, and Dawn Tucker would assume the position of First Vice, advancing
to President for the 2011-2012 year.

Tim Peerbolte rose to give the Debate Topic Selection Committee Report. He will go with Angie Wooley
next summer to the DTS meeting. ETA Liason Delaine Gates gave her report, relaying that the Thespian
convention will take place January 28-29, 2011. No report by John Gale, Editorial Board.

Tim Hollis reported on the High School meeting that took place the day before. Insert stuff here.

John Gale reported for the college meeting. He indicated that college members want to establish
relationships with high school teachers to better serve students. They would like to have smaller, longer
inservice sessions, and would like to present academic/artistic presentations at convention venues.
Claudia Beach added that they would also like to be presenters for some sessions.

Debbie Ashcraft, Education Ad Hoc Chair, reported that she is not at liberty to say anything at this point
concerning the standards, but an announcement will be forthcoming.

Sara Cooke announced that new members of the Nominations Committee are Callie Ham, Chair, Julia
Woods and Tim Peerbolt.

Mary Richardson reported on Constitutional Amendments. She encouraged everyone to read those,
mainly concerning changes regarding our name change be reflected in our constitution.

In Old Business, Pat Teadway moved that we accept the Constitutional Amendments. Claudia Beach
seconded. Sara Cooke questioned the “detailedness” of the mission statement, and Jennifer Akers said
that the Dept of Ed wants detailed information in that statement regarding professional development
matters. Sara then wanted to discuss Section 5, Revision 2, and asked that we don’t let our committees
lose power to make decisions concerning their specific areas. Pat Treadway responded that they
certainly don’t want that to happen. She then moved to amend by adding the word “Substantive”
before the word “rule” in Section 5, Revision 2. No discussion, and the amendment was approved.

We returned to discussion and Debbie Ashcraft pointed out that we really need the position of
Professional Development Coordinator. With no other discussion, the motion was moved, and passed
unanimously. We then had an ARCHIVE MOMENT! Sara Cooke rose to say that a small group of speech
and drama teachers used to meet in each others homes to make the decisions that led us to today. It
was a tender time to remember those that helped us grow to be who we are today.

IN New business, Mary Richardson moved to raise Student Congress fees for colleges from $60 to $100.
Discussion ensued and the motion was passed unanimously. Julia Woods moved to pass the 10 TOC
revisions, with Callie Ham seconding. With no discussion, the motion passed. Debbie Ashcraft moved
that the AD Hoc Education Committee stand down. With no discussion, the motion passed.

In announcements, Greg Blakey from UCA invited everyone to attend the Audition Day. Christen Pitts
said that date would be January 8, 2011. He encouraged teachers to send their students, since this was a
great way for those students to get scholarship money.

Debbie Ashcraft rose to say the Arkansas Bar Association sponsors a Mock Trial. We are under
represented in this arena. February 26th is the date of Mock Trail this year, with State following on
March 5. If you are interested in learning more about mock trial, see her, Pat Treadway, Don Dancer or a
few others who participate. Pat Treadway said that Jordan Tinsley, a former Central Debater, is now
working to recruit ACTAA members to attend.

Christen Pitts encourages everyone to attend the Arkansas Dance Network, THEA foundation, dance
coalition, Jazz Dance Workshop with Bill Hastings will be October 9th at UALR, and Oct 10th at the U of A
Fayetteville. Dancers must pre-register online at theafoundation.org. Space is limited.

Gwen Brooks asked that everyone write down their performance shows for calendar inclusion. Julia
Woods encouraged everyone to get their hotel reservations for the Tiger Eye Classic.

Conley Hall moved to adjourn. Tim Peerbolte seconded. The vote was unanimous. We adjourned at
10:05 am.

Respectfully Submitted,
Jane Morgan Balgavy
Recording Secretary


Arkansas Communication and Theatre Arts Association is a non-profit professional organization serving educators of Oral Communication, Debate, Forensics, Theatre Arts, and Dance in Arkansas.

Address:

ACTAA

1818 N Taylor St, Ste B

#307

Little Rock, AR  72207

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