On Friday February 12^th (not summer news – but we want to brag) nine GSLC students went to East Pond and had a great day of ice fishing. For many of our students this was a first time experience. A special thanks to Mr. Reese and to Mr. Andre for his willingness (and ability) to drill holes in the thick ice.

Overview:

The Board of Directors met on Saturday, December 5, 2009.   The meeting covered all areas of business including:

General:

Our holiday concert made the front page of the local section in the Morning Sentinel and Duane Burbank was nicely quoted on our commitment to next year's Festival of Trees.   Readers, a list of people who would like to volunteer for the event is being kept for Duane and his volunteers to contact after the first of the year - call Natalie Jones at 238-4004 if you're interested.   The Colby College   Linda Collinson and other volunteers are working hard to pull this evening together and I encourage everyone to attend and please bring a friend.

Music department head, Vivian, has been working with us on putting together a lovely evening of music on Friday, December 18th at 6:00 pm.

Natalie Jones and Troy Frost are scheduled to speak at the Skowhegan Rotary in December - thank you for coordinating this Howard Sevey.   The entire leadership team continues to have many 'informal' communications with local community members as well as attending more formal meetings/events. 

Update from the Strategic Action Committee (SAC):

The SAC has completed several meetings and reports regularly to the GWH Board.    Data gathering in the form of meetings with people and groups in the community continue.   The effort in these meetings is to explore options for GWH to leverage our resources, diversify our revenue streams and change our business model to contribute to the core mission to "provide a home and a helping hand".   Results from the web survey are expected by the end of December.   The committee is on schedule to provide a 'Recommendations Report' to the board in February/March

Education:

There are no major changes to the enrollment for GSLC since last month - current enrollment 17.   We continue to receive referrals and inquiries.   Natalie Jones, Anna Perkins, and Troy Frost are meeting with area special education directors who refer students to our program.

We find that many of our students perceive themselves as social outcasts and have very low self-esteem.   One of our primary goals with each student is to provide enriched experiences to help foster a more positive self image.   Toward this end students attend a variety of therapeutic group sessions that challenge them to improve their social interaction skills.   We know from our interactions with students that many spend their entire amount of free time outside of school isolating themselves in front of computer or gaming screens.   They rarely actively engage with peers, the outdoors or their community outside of school.   This school year, GSLC is offering an "Outdoor Experience" class.   Our staff has a variety of interests and a profound enjoyment of the great outdoors of Maine and they model this relationship for our students.  To support this effort, a few of our education staff submitted a letter to some retailers requesting donations of winter gear and apparel which would allow our "Outdoor Experience" class to enjoy a wider variety of activities on campus.   Our own Kathy Hunt has been busy coordinating a Coats for Kids drive in her neighborhood for our students.

The teachers spent November 23 as an in-service day getting a Therapeutic Crisis Intervention refresher, some tips on writing Individual Education Plans (IEP), and updating their Professional Teacher Action Plans.

Troy attended the Maine Principal's conference, a regional Alternative Education Association meeting, and the Maine Rising Task Force conference

Troy's eye opening statistic for the month is: high school dropouts are eight times as likely to go to prison as compared to graduates.

Physical Plant: 

Bob Berry's team continues to winterize and button up buildings for the upcoming winter season!   We have received 13 boiler sections under warrantee and they will be installed at Averill High and Swasey this month.   We have also installed an additional door on the second floor corridor at the high school to maintain a lower temperature in the unused space and save fuel costs.

The winter equipment (plows, sanders, etc.) was prepared and ready to go!   The installation of three new road gates is completed and they add another layer of security to the accessibility of the campus.   We are still working on the sale of vehicles.   The forestry thinning is progressing according to plan.   There have been and continue to be prospects, tours and proposals involving our physical plant. 

We continue to book weddings and concerts at Moody Chapel.   Readers, please check our website periodically regarding concerts at the Chapel - after the Chapel Concert on December 18th, we have a Colby Community Concert on February 21, 2010! 

Development:

Pat Zlotin is chairing the Annual Fund drive, which we affectionately call The Beaver Campaign - He works when he works; he plays when he plays; he is strong on individual efforts; yet labors for community good!   All of the letters and emails have been sent out and we have begun making phone calls.   It has been wonderful to talk with many of our supporters and catch up with them.   Readers if we do not have your up-to-date contact information, please send it to Natalie at njones@gwh.org and please consider GWH for a donation - send a check or money order to "Good Will-Hinckley, PO Box 159, Hinckley, ME   04944".   Thank you in advance for your support!

Museum:

The Board approved an ad-hoc Museum Committee.   The Committee will focus on providing guidance on the policies, procedures and operations of the Museum moving forward.   The expectation is that a formal Museum Committee will be considered at the annual meeting.   The current Museum Advisory group will consider joining the Board Museum Committee and Don Marden will assign a Board Member to the Committee