Minutes of the Alpha Sigma Soup Supper & Meeting on Sept. 17, 2018
Twenty-four sister friends met in the lovely garden and garage of Brenda West for a full meal provided by members. Betty Only spoke the blessing and introduced our speaker with a few anecdotes about Kevin Vaughan, Tennessee State Representative. Kevin spoke about Collierville, cows, his wife Johnna, his kids, Collierville Schools, public service, more about Collierville and more about the schools; specifically getting the municipality operational and later aspirational. He explained how the new High School was built. He called politics “a competitive sport for the middle aged”. He described the fun of running for office and winning. He reassured us about the good, smart, caring people in Tennessee government. He said the issues dividing us are more about suburban vs. urban vs. rural interests as opposed to racial differences. There is a turnover coming in November but he feels that relationships will turn into productivity if leaders treat each other the way they want to be treated. Shelby County accounts for 26% of the states GDP but middle and east Tennessee are growing faster. Point of fact; the Tennessee Constitution requires a balanced budget. Representative Vaughan addressed educators’ concerns about the troubled Tennessee (not) Ready program that is a pet project of Governor Haslam and the Education Commissioner. At this point it seems Tennessee is too invested in it to pull out so for now we hope that it begins to function properly. He also said vouchers are a discount for private schools. He reminded us that “Nobody trumps a constituent.” Call, write, and come to Nashville. Don’t be shy. Come see him. Watch capitol.tn.gov, you may even see him do an Elvis impersonation! Trish Stephenson thanked him and announced that a donation to Books from Birth will be made in his honor.
President Deborah McDurmon conducted a quick business meeting. Save these dates:
Oct. 6 - New Member Orientation is at 10 am in Betty Only’s home.
Oct. 20 - Initiation Brunch at Ridgeway Country Club at 10 am. The cost is $25, you can make your reservation by sending a check made out to Alpha Sigma to Penny Powers.
Oct. 31 - Membership dues deadline. A check for $80 made out to Alpha Sigma can also be sent to Penny Powers.
First Vice President Trish Stephenson Explained the New Teacher Goody Bag distribution
efforts last month. Each adorable bag contains our school supply donations as well as a DKG
brochure and contact information for our membership committee: Betty Only and Emily
Johnson. Trish has personally handed out 26 of these bags and has 4 more. If you know an
early career educator you can email Trish their name and school assignment. She will get a
goody bag to them.
Deborah read a lovely Thank You note from the teachers at Brinkley for all the items we
provided from their extensive Wish List. We all agreed that it was a blessing the way that effort was accomplished. Deborah created a visual display of BHUA teachers’ pictures and the fun of handing out those educational tools. The list is almost complete and before the evening ended I believe we had covered the remaining items. Alpha Sigma sisters are Angels crossed with Santa’s Elves!
Finally we officially voted by paper ballot on 6 new members.
If you have not already filled out a biographical data sheet please do so online. Thank you all
for your support!!!
Respectfully submitted by Laura Evans, substituting for Judi Sipowicz.
Twenty-four sister friends met in the lovely garden and garage of Brenda West for a full meal provided by members. Betty Only spoke the blessing and introduced our speaker with a few anecdotes about Kevin Vaughan, Tennessee State Representative. Kevin spoke about Collierville, cows, his wife Johnna, his kids, Collierville Schools, public service, more about Collierville and more about the schools; specifically getting the municipality operational and later aspirational. He explained how the new High School was built. He called politics “a competitive sport for the middle aged”. He described the fun of running for office and winning. He reassured us about the good, smart, caring people in Tennessee government. He said the issues dividing us are more about suburban vs. urban vs. rural interests as opposed to racial differences. There is a turnover coming in November but he feels that relationships will turn into productivity if leaders treat each other the way they want to be treated. Shelby County accounts for 26% of the states GDP but middle and east Tennessee are growing faster. Point of fact; the Tennessee Constitution requires a balanced budget. Representative Vaughan addressed educators’ concerns about the troubled Tennessee (not) Ready program that is a pet project of Governor Haslam and the Education Commissioner. At this point it seems Tennessee is too invested in it to pull out so for now we hope that it begins to function properly. He also said vouchers are a discount for private schools. He reminded us that “Nobody trumps a constituent.” Call, write, and come to Nashville. Don’t be shy. Come see him. Watch capitol.tn.gov, you may even see him do an Elvis impersonation! Trish Stephenson thanked him and announced that a donation to Books from Birth will be made in his honor.
President Deborah McDurmon conducted a quick business meeting. Save these dates:
Oct. 6 - New Member Orientation is at 10 am in Betty Only’s home.
Oct. 20 - Initiation Brunch at Ridgeway Country Club at 10 am. The cost is $25, you can make your reservation by sending a check made out to Alpha Sigma to Penny Powers.
Oct. 31 - Membership dues deadline. A check for $80 made out to Alpha Sigma can also be sent to Penny Powers.
First Vice President Trish Stephenson Explained the New Teacher Goody Bag distribution
efforts last month. Each adorable bag contains our school supply donations as well as a DKG
brochure and contact information for our membership committee: Betty Only and Emily
Johnson. Trish has personally handed out 26 of these bags and has 4 more. If you know an
early career educator you can email Trish their name and school assignment. She will get a
goody bag to them.
Deborah read a lovely Thank You note from the teachers at Brinkley for all the items we
provided from their extensive Wish List. We all agreed that it was a blessing the way that effort was accomplished. Deborah created a visual display of BHUA teachers’ pictures and the fun of handing out those educational tools. The list is almost complete and before the evening ended I believe we had covered the remaining items. Alpha Sigma sisters are Angels crossed with Santa’s Elves!
Finally we officially voted by paper ballot on 6 new members.
If you have not already filled out a biographical data sheet please do so online. Thank you all
for your support!!!
Respectfully submitted by Laura Evans, substituting for Judi Sipowicz.