Minutes of the WVTESOL Executive Board Meeting

March 15, 2003

The annual meeting of the WVTESOL executive board was held at the RESA III Building in Dunbar, WV at noon on Saturday, March 15, 2003. Attending the meeting were Clark Egnor (President), Dara Shaw (Vice-President), Susan Walsh (Secretary), Nancy Person (Treasurer), Barbara Davis (Adult Ed/Literacy Representative) Annita Ward (K-12 Representative), and Cathy Shank (Conference Chair). Missing was Nega Debela (Higher Ed Representative).

The minutes of the previous annual executive meeting (April 20, 2002) and the executive board planning meeting (August 12, 2002) were read. As these had been e-mailed to the members for comment and correction before they were posted on the WVTESOL website, they did not need to be approved.

Cathy Shank reported on the WV Adult Education Association. WVAEA did put ESL issues on its roster. There was a conference planning committee meeting the previous day which made plans for the next year’s conference. The theme will be "Health and Literacy". Cathy commented that this theme allows for many tie-ins with ESL. The location of the conference has not been decided. If it is held at Stonewall Jackson, it will be the first week of November; if it is at Canaan, it will be on the last week of October. Four slots are available. Clark made a motion (seconded by Barbara Davis) that Cathy be appointed our official liaison to WVAEA; the motion passed unanimously. Cathy said she would announce when the call for presentations is made, probably by using the website. She suggested that she could pass around a pamphlet about WVTESOL if one were available. Annita offered to produce the pamphlet. From a discussion about ways to publicize WVTESOL came another motion, to create links with other organizations in order to exchange and disseminate information. Some of the suggested links would be with WVAEA, WV Foreign Language Association, Three Rivers TESOL, Ohio TESOL, and WV Reading Association. This motion also passed. Finally, it was moved that the first linkage be made with WVAEA, with Cathy Shank as the liaison; this motion also passed.

The next issue of old business was K-12 advocacy. Annita mentioned that the "No Child Left Behind" legislation addresses this concern. There was more discussion about being advocates for LEP students. Dara moved that we make a Standing Committee for K-12 Advocacy and mandate that the committee produce a fact sheet relevant to LEP students in public schools. This fact sheet would be sent to any schools which are not in compliance with the law. The committee would also be empowered to do other activities that they deem important. The motion passed unanimously.

Clark discussed the newsletter; it was supposed to be published twice a year, in the Fall and Spring. He moved that the times be changed to Winter and Summer issues. This motion also passed.

The next item of old business was our application to TESOL. Dara indicated that she had applied under the assumption that we already had 50 paid memberships. In fact, we have about 42. The board agreed that we may still be able to get to the magic number before the current year is out.

Clark indicated that he is willing to continue working on the WVTESOL website. The current officers’ terms expire on April 30, 2003.

The committee looked at the ballots that the secretary had prepared for the election of officers. It will be necessary to take nominations from the floor, as there were offices without candidates.

It was moved to have the 2004 annual conference at Salem International University. Barbara Davis, Annita Ward, and Susan Walsh will be the committee to host the conference.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:12 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Walsh, secretary