President's Blog

Issue Based Community Impact

One of the pleasures of being a part of the Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI) is the ability to take advantage of their conferences.  They allow attending delegates to learn, grow, and bring back valuable knowledge to Midland. Every year, the President attends two conferences, the President-Elect three conferences, and the President-Elect-Elect two conferences. In addition, we send delegates to the Organizational Development Institute (ODI) series. ODI delegates are generally up-and-coming League leaders. They attend a certain track based on either their current or future position in the League. Delegates report  what they have learned and we do our best to implement AJLI’s recommendations.

 Almost a decade ago AJLI began recommending, through these conferences, that Leagues adopt an issue called a Focus Area around which to design the majority of their community projects.  The intent was that having a clear focus would enable Leagues to be more successful. Focus Areas allow Leagues to tell the community, members, and donors exactly what they are doing to make an impact. After a great deal of research by our PR&D committee, in 2006-2007 the focus area of “Family Education” was chosen. This was the area where it was determined that our community had the greatest needs. In 2007-2008 two new projects were created (Face the Race and Family First) using the Focus Area as a guide. These projects, as well as our other projects, were evaluated in 2011-2012. Family First was not renewed and ended in 2012.  Due to the loss of Family First and the substantial increase in our membership over the past few years, new projects were needed. Last year, the PR&D committee did an extensive amount of research concerning new projects. After contacting multiple agencies, they found a common theme in that most agencies were seriously lacking in volunteers. Due to this finding, last year we created a partnership with the Rays of Hope Grief Centre.  The Junior League of Midland, Inc. now runs a Journey Summer Camp session and a HopeWorks session. We also created a partnership with Centers for Children and Families to provide facilitators for their KidsFirst program.

Jessica Louder and April Marshall both attended the ODI conference in the spring of 2013. After attending a powerful session on the topic of Focus Areas, they stressed that we should take our Focus Area even further. Now called an Issue Based Community Impact (IBCI) statement, AJLI recommends that the focus of our League be even more detailed. “Family Education” was deemed too broad of a statement. AJLI has stressed that the more detailed the statement, the more likely a League is to be successful. With the knowledge that even more new projects were needed in the future, Jessica and April were asked to head up an Ad Hoc Committee to research community needs and create an IBCI statement. In the summer of 2013, these women invited past presidents, past PR&D Chairmen, the 2013-2014 PR&D Chairman, Rooney Mestas (who was able to supply previous research done over the past two years), several current Actives, Alison King from the United Way, and myself to participate in this Ad Hoc Committee. Over the course of the summer, it was found that education is still a huge need in the city of Midland. Within that area, Keeping Kids in School was the standout issue where committee members felt that our League could make the biggest impact. Our goal is not just to keep potential dropouts in school. Our wish is to keep every child in school, from the cradle to college. Our Active membership voted and chose the IBCI  “Keeping Kids in School-Every Age, Every Stage” as the statement under which we will operate. We will do this by focusing on three different areas: self-esteem, literacy, and college/career preparedness. We plan on having 70% of our community projects within our IBCI statement area. This leaves 30% available to tackle other community needs. I would like to thank Jessica and April for taking this Ad Hoc Committee on and for doing such a great job!

As I mentioned earlier, we went into this year knowing that we would need another new project or two to meet the demands of our growing membership. The PR&D committee was able to operate under very clear guidelines when forming these new projects. Face the Race will be expanded to all four junior high schools in Midland next year, focusing on self-esteem. The new Reading Olympics project will be a partnership with the Boys and Girls Club and will focus on literacy. Scholarship Clearinghouse will begin a partnership with Midland College’s See MC event and will focus on college and career preparedness. Our new Volunteers in Midland program will continue to address need that was discovered last year, the need for volunteer participation.

I attended a session at AJLI’s Winter Leadership Conference in January on transitioning to an IBCI framework. The number one thing that I took away from the session was the need to educate the membership, the community, and donors about our statement. One of my goals for the next year is for every member of our organization to be able to tell anyone exactly what it is that we do. We Keep Kids in School-Every Age, Every Stage.

Welcome to our Provisional Class!

The Provisional Training Team has been meeting this summer to plan the coming year. We are so excited to meet all of you and welcome you to our organization.  Your first year will probably be the busiest and most time consuming year of your League career. So with that in mind, here are a few tips to help you through your first year as a member of The Junior League of Midland, Inc.:

·         Ask lots of questions! If you don't understand something, that's OK! One of the main points of your first year is to learn about the League, what we do and how we help our community.

·         Introduce yourself, especially at General Meetings. Active members want to meet you! We are happy you have decided to be  part of our organization and would love to get to know you.

·         Don't be afraid to speak up. During our General Meetings we discuss  many issues. If you have a question or opinion then voice it! Provisionals are not able to vote, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't participate in the discussion. Everyone's opinion counts and deserves to be heard.

·         Communication is key!  Answer emails and return phone calls.  League members have very busy schedules, communication through email is very important. Please respond in a timely manner.

·         Be mindful of your absences. Provisionals are allowed two (2) Provisional Meeting absences and two (2) General Meeting absences. If you are concerned about this, contact me.

·          Be on time,  10 minutes after our meetings begin you will be counted absent.

·         It's OK if you make a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. I have no doubt I will make many this year. ;) Nobody is perfect and none of us expect you to be.

·         When in doubt, contact your Trainer. We are here to help you so don't be afraid to ask.  The Committee has over 15 years combined experience within our League; if we don't know the answer we will find someone who does!

I’m excited for a great year,

Myranda Pachlhofer

Provisional Training Chairman

Journey Camp

Many times in life we take journeys we are not expecting, one of the hardest of those is the journey of loss. Loss is even harder on the young. During the week of July 28-August 1, 2014, The Junior League of Midland, Inc. partnered with Rays of Hope to give 35 children an opportunity to travel around the world and work through grief with their peers.

This was one child’s journey:

“Day one, I ventured to Mt. Everest, Challenge Mountain, we did many activities including making snowflakes and a marshmallow challenge. There I was able to learn how to face challenges in my life and how to cope with them.

Day two, I ventured to Jamaica, Ocean of Emotion, we did many activities including coconut corner and
a message in a bottle. There I was able to learn how to express and work through different emotions.

Day three, I ventured to the Amazon, Jungle of Anger, we did many activities including volcano explosion and angry bowling. There I was able to learn how to work through anger and ways to express it.

Day four, I ventured to the Black Forest, Forest of Fears, we did many activities including zapping fear and stomping away fear. There I was able to learn that everyone has fears and how to cope with them.

Day five, I ventured to New York, City of Change, we did many activities including name that tune and navigating a maze of change. There I was able to discuss changes and how to work through them.”

One of the joys of a trip around the world is the experience of the art and music different cultures have to offer. This trip was no different; each day the children had the opportunity to take part in a different culture’s art and music. This also served as an outlet for feelings and a little fun. One of the most important things we hoped to get out of this partnership was impacting the lives of young children. What we didn’t count on was the impact the children had on us.

Face the Race 2014

Face the Race is one of the many community projects presented by The Junior League of Midland, Inc. It consists of 10 after school sessions and culminates in a 5K race. Face the Race began seven years ago at Goddard Junior High and has grown considerably since that time. In 2011, Abell Junior High became part of the Face the Race family, and this year, we are excited to announce that Alamo Junior High and San Jacinto Junior High will be the newest additions. For those keeping tally, Face the Race has now expanded to include all four Midland junior highs. This expansion has been aided by a grant from The United Way of Midland. Now every 7th and 8th grade girl attending public school in Midland has the opportunity to be a part of our amazing program.

This summer, our 27 member Face the Race Committee has been working diligently to plan an exciting new year for our participants. A newly designed session timeline will allow for more time to mentor the participants. We have created a new training program which will encourage measurable and attainable running growth. One new session will include mentors showing old pictures and relating memorable junior high moments from their past. Hopefully, this new session will allow mentors to be
more relatable and aid in developing a closer relationship with the participants. Other session topics include discussions on healthy eating, relationships, our bodies, etiquette, career options, personality differences, and bullying.

One of the many perks of Face the Race is that every participant that completes the program receives a
pair of running shoes, a race shirt, a pair of athletic shorts, and other essential running gear. In order to receive these items, a participant must attend at least 8 sessions.

It is incredibly rewarding to watch our young participants complete the 5K run at the end of the program. The growth each individual makes is tremendous. Face the Race gives its participants a group to belong to, allows them to discover their potential, encourages a positive sense of empowerment, and creates healthy habits that last a lifetime.

Mark your calendars for this year’s race, which will take place on November 15th at 9 a.m. at the
Scharbauer Sports Complex. Our race theme is “Fit & Fabulous 5K” where glitter, bold colors, animal
print, boas, and tutus are highly encouraged! Come out and support our participants!