Scholarship Clearinghouse

The Junior League of Midland, Inc.’s Scholarship Clearinghouse program is off to a great start this year!  Our team of seven mentors is busy meeting with high school seniors and walking them through the scholarship and financial aid application process. 

This process can be overwhelming for students as they try to sift through the thousands of scholarship applications available to them.  Our mentors sit down one-on-one with students  (and sometimes parents) to help them narrow their focus on scholarships that are the right fit for them, both at the local and national level.  We maintain a scholarship database, compiled and updated by committee members over the years, which students can browse through and find scholarships applicable to them.

Our mentors also discuss the financial aid process: how and when to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.  This application can be daunting for parents and students, especially first generation college students.  By explaining the process and the importance of this application, students are more likely to fill out the FAFSA and therefore, have a greater shot at obtaining federal financial aid such as grants and student loans. 

To sign students up for these informative sessions, our mentors attended Dawg Days at Midland High School and Rebel Muster at Lee High School in August.  We also attended the College Forum Night at Midland College earlier this month where we met students from all over the local area who are interested in going to college and of course, finding ways to pay for it. 

In addition to helping students find local and national scholarships, we also encourage them to fill out an application for JLM’s very own scholarship, which we award to deserving students in the spring.  

We are excited to help another generation of students in their pursuit of higher education.  It is very fulfilling to know that these students are gaining a greater chance at achieving their college goals by finding money to pay for college.  We certainly feel we are doing our part to keep kids in school at every age and every stage!  

-Megan Yancey, Active Member

 

Reading Olympics

It’s 4:50 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon.  I am headed south on Garfield en route to the Boys and Girls Club for our weekly Reading Olympics session and I’m excited.  Our book tonight, Book Fair Day, is one of my favorites and my daughter’s as well.       

As I get out of my car, I grab my Junior League bag and walk in looking closely at those kids being picked up.  I think to myself, “Are they one our Reading Olympics kiddos?” I spot one.  She is.  This little girl is begging her mother, “Please let me stay!  I really want to stay!”  Sadly, her mom tells her, “No.”  The little girl gets into the car in tears.   My emotions are mixed.  I wish the Mom had told her she could stay.  She would have loved Book Fair Day.   On the other hand, her sadness tells me that we are accomplishing our goals… creating a love for reading one book at a time, and a fun and caring environment for these kids.   

As I enter the building on week four, I feel at home.  The kids are moving around, as they normally do, and I am greeted by several Reading Olympics kids.  They give me hugs and ask, “Are we starting yet?”  I tell them, “Soon.”  “What’s the book tonight,” one asks.  I responded, “You’ve got to come and find out.”  After several hugs and hellos, I make it to our room.  Set-up has begun and before long we will welcome more than 30 kids into our Reading Olympics session.  Some will be repeat visitors, while others are newcomers as they have stood in the hallway watching and decided to join in the fun this week. 

We have welcomed kids, sung some songs, and heard our book of the evening read by our guest reader.  Now it’s time for “team time.”  My black team joins me in our normal spot on the floor.  We take attendance and begin our weekly ritual of journaling, discussing, creating, and sharing a snack.   The participants and I discuss how we find the perfect book to read.   After discussing several tips, I hand out some Scholastic Book Club flyers.  The excitement begins. “This looks like a good one,” exclaims Andrea.   I calm them down and tell them we are going to practice.  I want them to pick out five different books, using our tips, from the flyer.  The questions start coming at me faster than I can respond.  “Do you think I will like this one?”  “What about this one?”  “Mrs. Amber have you read this one?”  I feel a little like Dewey Booker from our story.  Slowly, but surely, my group circles the five choices of  books they think they will like.  One little girl at the end says, “I wish I could get these books.”

In just four short weeks, we have created an excitement about reading and books.  We are creating a love for reading, one book at a time.                 

-Amber Davidson, Active

President's Blog: Why We 'Due' What We Do

For the Junior League of Midland, September is the unofficial start of the League year. We transition into our new placements on June 1, but we don’t start having General Meetings until the third Tuesday in September. September also begins with a Ways and Means fee notice for all Active League members. This fee is due on October 1 of every year. For many years I wrote my $150 Ways and Means fee check automatically without a thought as to why I was paying the fee. I knew the fee was a requirement as an Active member but I never questioned why it was needed. As time went on, I took on leadership roles and I began to understand why this fee came about.

Many Leagues ask their members to sell things or buy things to contribute financially to their Leagues. Some Leagues require their members to buy cookbooks and sell them. Many of these members find themselves stuck with a closet full of cookbooks because everyone they know has already purchased one from them or another member.  Other Leagues require their members to buy tickets to their events and attend them. This was the case for the JLM for many years. Charity Ball was the primary fundraiser for our League for decades. Each member was required to purchase a ticket to the event and attend the fundraiser.  As time went on, being required to purchase a ticket to and attend the event became unpopular. The members of the League stressed that they would rather pay a simple fee than be required to sell things or purchase event tickets. The JLM instituted the Ways and Means fee as a reaction to this sentiment. The Ways and Means fee helps to defray all of the costs that the League incurs. Our fundraiser supports our community projects, but the League still has other expenses. We maintain our building, have an office manager that receives hourly wages, and we must purchase supplies to keep things running. The Ways and Means fee helps to make all of this happen. As a side note, the Ways and Means fee is not required of Provisional or Sustaining members. Provisional members instead pay a Provisional Course fee of $100. Sustainers are exempt.

Each member of the League (Provisionals, Actives, and Sustainers) is also required to pay Annual Dues, which must be received by April 1.  Dues for the JLM are $90 and are meant for the following League year, beginning on June 1. If dues are not paid by May 1, membership in the League will not be continued the following year.  $43 of the $90 fee goes to our parent organization,The Association of Junior Leagues International. The remainder of the dues goes into our general fund to support operating expenses.

Financial support of our members is critical to the Junior League of Midland. The purpose of this article is to let our members know exactly WHY they are asked to make financial contributions every year. A financial commitment of a combined $240 every year (for Active members) is a big pill to swallow, but it is definitely a commitment worth making. The JLM offers payment plans to our members who need that option. We also have a “Fairy Godmother Fund” that members can apply for if they need financial assistance. We truly appreciate our members and their contributions to our League, both financially and in their commitment serve the Midland community through League involvement.

 

-Michelle Dinger

President, 2014-2015

Growth Groups

We are excited to share with you something new in the League, Growth Groups!

How many of you have come to a General Meeting and scanned the room trying to find a familiar face among the crowd? If this is you, you are not alone. Actually, you are in the majority. The Junior League of Midland, much like our town, has seen significant growth over the last few years. We want the Junior League of Midland to always feel welcoming and continue to have that close-knit feel that it has had in the past, resulting in many lifelong friendships. How do we achieve this?

Through Growth Groups…

Growth Groups is an exciting new pilot program starting this fall.  It will consist of small social groups open to every Active member. Each small group will consist of Active members with varying years of service to our League. It is our hope that through these Growth Groups you will build strong friendships while learning more about our wonderful organization. Each group will meet a few times during the 2014-2015 League year. These meetings can be anything from going to lunch, dinner, happy hour, out for coffee, bunco, book club, or even sitting together at General Meetings.  Growth Groups are very casual and not meant to be a significant time commitment.

 

How do you sign up?

If you are interested in joining a Growth Group please email us at

growthgroupsjlm@gmail.com by October 17.
Please email promptly if you are interested, as this is a pilot program with limited space.

 

We are very excited about our “growth” and hope you will consider growing with us.

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