State of the League Address

This address was given by President Michelle Dinger at the September 16 General Meeting of the Junior League of Midland.

As you all know, every January the President of the United States gives a State of the Union Address to let everyone know where we stand as a nation and what the President’s plans are for the year.  I am in no way comparing myself to the leader of the free world, but I would like to give a quick “State of the League” address to begin our year together.  For those of you who were not able to attend the May meeting and have not read about our theme, I’d like to introduce it again.  Our theme for the year revolves around the idea of finding the potential that exists within all of us to do great things.  I have been fortunate enough to find many supporters throughout my time in our League who showed me that I possessed potential that I did not see in myself. They believed in me and helped me to see the spark that existed within me. This spark drives the passion that I have for service.  This year my goal is for every member to find their own spark and realize the potential that they have within themselves to do amazing things!  There are so many women within the League that are here to offer support and encouragement. As I gaze out into the crowd, I can think of dozens of ways the women I see have impacted me and made me want to strive to be the best version of myself everyday.  Your spark and potential is already living within you, and some of you put it out on full display for all of us to see everyday. If you are one of these people, I treasure that about you! If you aren’t quite convinced about your inner spark, all you need to do is open your heart and mind, and I promise that the women of this League will help to strengthen your spark and help you fully realize all that you can do.

For many of us, the League year began months ago. The 2014-2015 Board of Directors spent an evening in late April attending a Board Retreat. Laurie Johnson of the Non-Profit Management Center facilitated the retreat along with me. The Board learned how to responsibly run our organization so that we may lead to the very best of our ability.  The Board of Directors has already met three times to make several decisions that impact the League. We will continue to work together as a Board to ensure the future of our League. The Leadership Team (which consists of the Board and the Chairman of all committees) met for two nights in early June for a retreat. At the Leadership Retreat, all Chairmen were trained on how to lead their committees and about the “ins and outs” of the League. On the committee level, Laura Nodolf and her Public Relations Committee have been been working diligently all summer long to create a “Social Media” Campaign that will change the way we communicate among ourselves and with the general public. I could not be more excited or more encouraged by what they have accomplished in just a few short months. The brand new Volunteers in Midland Committee led by Jessica Louder has partnered with several other non profit organizations in town. Our partnership gives support to these non profits with Junior League volunteers to help their programs and events successful. Jessica Rule and the rest of our Tumbleweed staff mailed out the first issue of our publication with a new design artist and a new layout. Wasn’t it amazing? The Tumbleweed Committee will continue creating the magazine each month. This year will feature an extra issue in March and they will implement much needed technical and digital changes to the publication.

Ashley Lamb and her Rummage Sale Committee have been tagging, organizing, sorting, and labeling all summer long for our sale that will support the Endowment Fund Campaign. Our Provisional Training team led by Myranda Pachlhofer, has also been hard at work getting ready to start a brand new Provisional Course that will train our new members to conquer community needs. They began a few weeks ago and things are going great!  And finally, we have already completed one of our community projects for the year. Journey Summer Camp was held the week of July 28-August 1 at Rays of Hope Grief Centre and was tremendously successful. I was able to be a part of this experience and I’d like to say how proud I am of Chairman Angela Burton and each and every member of our League that made Journey Camp possible. The director of Rays of Hope shared with us that two years ago, before our partnership began, they served 12 children at Journey Camp. This year we served 35 kids. We tripled the amount of kids that are able to experience this camp that focuses on giving kids tools to cope with loss and change.

We have accomplished so much in three short months since our League year officially began in June, but we’ve only just begun to find our spark! This year we will gift the community with eight more community projects. Volunteers in Midland will continue to provide opportunities to serve throughout the year. Don’t forget that each Active member is required to volunteer four (4) hours of service through the Volunteers in Midland program. We will present two Suits with Skills programs, one in the fall at Safe Place led by Erin Armstrong and one in the spring led by Rebecca Patterson at Buckner Family Place.  We will also partner with Rays of Hope again to present two HopeWorks sessions. Ellen Wheeler has generously agreed to Chair both sessions, one in the fall and one in the spring. Face the Race will expand to all four Midland junior high schools this year. Marina Stanaland and Megan Newton have worked on the project all summer. I can’t wait to see the impact that this will have on the lives of 7^th and 8^th grade girls in our community. Jennifer Lopez’s Reading Olympics Committee began sessions at the Boys and Girls Club this month. They are focusing on fostering literacy and a love of reading. KidsFirst, Chaired by Diana Culp, partners with Centers for Children and Families and will begin facilitating visits between children and their non-custodial parents very soon. The Scholarship Clearinghouse Committee hit the ground running with a brand new Chairman, Megan Yancey, who took over in July. Scholarship Clearinghouse has big plans this year to impact more lives. We can’t wait to see what they accomplish!

Our In-League placements will also do great things this year. Paige Evans, Michelle Garcia and the rest of their committee will present our 4^th Annual Shotguns and Stilettos Fundraiser this year. The Spring Fling Market portion of S&S will move to the new facility at the Horseshoe Arena and provide vendors and shoppers with an excellent experience. Our Clayshoot and Bash will provide a fun and exciting way for our community to come out and support us, as well as allow us to generate the funds we need to “do what we do.” Monica Tucker will lead our Nominating Committee that will be separate from the Placement Committee for the first time in 13 years. They will be trailblazers and set the standard for electing our future leaders. Our Placement Committee, led by Ashley Boren, will look differently than it has in the past. Each advisor will take on more advisees and provide social experiences and support for our members. Natalie Cargile’s Project Research & Development Committee will evaluate our programs this year and make sure we are living up to our potential. Elizabeth Rainey and Anna Hawkins will write grants to generate funds and allow our programs to be successful. Charity Rohlfs will work to improve our building and make sure that we are presenting a quality facility that can be used not only by us but also the rest of the community.  Mary Baker will lead the Advisory Planning Committee to make positive changes to our League. Webmaster Kate Wolbert will continue to work with Digital Cheetah to improve our website. She will also offer trainings so that we all will learn to navigate our new system. And lastly, Caroline Spears and her Arrangements team will create spark-filled training experiences for us and ensure that our meeting time together is fun and beneficial.

Thank you all for giving your time and resources to this wonderful organization. Together we can put a spark in the city that we live in and love. I sincerely appreciate each and every one of you. I am looking forward to a wonderful League year!

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!

Leadership Team Retreat

On June 3 and June 5, I had the privilege of presenting a Leadership Team Retreat. The JLM’s Leadership Team consists of the Board of Directors and the Chairmen of all standing committees. The first evening of the Leadership Team Retreat was held at JLM’s Headquarters and consisted of training our League leaders on how to run their committee meetings, make notebooks for each committee member, and effectively take minutes during each meeting. Every member of the Leadership Team signed a Code of Ethics form and had the opportunity to write down goals for themselves for the year.

The JLM operates under a Council System, which was also presented to the Leadership Team. Our councils are Finance, Community, Membership and Education. Learning about our Council System shows our leaders how to be involved in their council. This is important because this is the avenue where we develop our strategic plan for the year. We have a four-part strategic plan that is created by the Chairman of each council and its members. Each council discusses areas where members would like to see improvements in the League. Several strategies are formed using this information. Goals are listed as to how to implement the change desired. At the end of the League year, we will evaluate each strategic plan to see if the goals for the year were accomplished.

The second evening of the Leadership Retreat was held at Shared Spaces. Shared Spaces is a new building in town that houses several non-profits and has fabulous meeting spaces. The second evening focused on our new Social Media Campaign. SDB Creative Group presented a training session on how our League could make a greater impact by turning to social media to advertise for ourselves. Several Chairmen gave updates on what they hope to accomplish in the coming year and let everyone know event dates. Our Finance Vice President presented the budget. Each member was trained on how to read and understand the budget, as well as the best ways to utilize their funds.

I’d like to include a few of the goals listed by members of the Leadership Team:

HopeWorks Chairman, Ellen Wheeler:
I want to pass along my passion to my committee members. My goal is to continue my support of Rays of Hope after my placement is complete. I will remind each committee member of the impact they are making on the children in our program to better their lives.

Suits with Skills Buckner Family Place Chairman, Rebecca Patterson:
I will help women realize their potential to create a better life for themselves and for their families. I will inspire them to have confidence in themselves and realize that they are the masters of their own future.

Nominating Chairman, Monica Tucker:
My goal is to run an efficient, high-integrity, fair committee. I strive to be a leader: strong, positive, knowledgeable, and firm yet respectful and fair.I am so inspired by the drive and passion of the members of the Leadership Team.

I can’t wait to see what everyone will accomplish this year. I truly believe that all members of our League will “Find their Spark and Realize their Potential” when they have such amazing women leading the way!

-Michelle Dinger
President, 2014-2015

Don't forget to bring your fabulous wares to the League for the Rummage Sale!

 The Rummage Sale Committee will be accepting donations on the following dates: 

• Tuesday, July 22nd from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Saturday, August 16th from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• Saturday, September 6th from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• Tuesday, September 16th from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The Rummage Sale Committee is respectfully requesting that members hold all large furniture donations until the week of the sale. They have so many wonderful donations and are running out of room. Please feel free to continue to bring your other items.