March, 2019 Vol. 61, No. 2

Inside This Issue:President’s Letter. . . . . . . . 2 Chapter News. . . . . . . . . . . 6Education Foundation Donations..8Dates to Remember. . . . . . 8

This is the new date for the convention because of a scheduling conflict with the venue. It will be held at the Lake Point Convention Center near Russellville. The speakers for the convention will be Southeast Regional Director Elaine Warwick and Immediate Past International President Carolyn Pittman. Don’t miss out on the fun. Some of the events include:

Friday Night Party for Education FoundationFood and Games

Time to Make New Friends and Renew Old FriendshipsUgly Pajama Contest

Theme BasketsConvention and Workshops

Dinner Honoring President Joy Graham

(Formerly Kappa State News)

Arkansas State Organization (Formerly Kappa State)

Convention has a New Date: May 31- June 2, 2019

Above and on right, members of the Arkansas State Organization Execu-tive Committee and Area Leaders met on January 28, 2019, at Lake Point Conference Center in Russellville to take care of DKG business and work on plans for the ASO Convention. Eight members were able to attend.

After the meeting members of the committee had lunch together at Lake Point.

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“Continuing the Journey” from the President:STOP THE PRESSES!!! Just received word from International that

we do NOT have to change our chapter names this year! Hooray and Hallelujahs! That being said, I do appreciate all the chapters that responded to my request in the President’s Update to send in a suggestion for their new chapter name. Y’all really came up with some outstanding geographical names for your chapter.

Are you thinking about the end of the school year yet? Have you marked your calendar with the Arkansas State Organization Convention dates? Please do so now and register for the convention that will be held at the Lake Point Conference Center just outside of Russellville, on beautiful Lake Dardanelle. Don’t forget to make your Lake Point lodge reservation too!

As you are aware, the date for the convention had to be changed to May 31 to June 2. State officer and area leader training will be the afternoon of June 2 and on June 3, 2019.

Sue Cook and her convention committee have been working to secure appropriate professional development sessions and times for fellowship and fun! Some of the break-out sessions will be for those that need hours for their PD transcripts. Other sessions will be “just for fun.” I have often heard it said by various members that the professional development offered at convention is the best to be found.

Elizabeth Waldrip and the Rules Committee have also been working to align our bylaws and standing rules with the changes that were voted on at International in Austin, TX, last summer. There will be some changes that will need ASO Executive Board approval. You will not want to miss this convention.

A friendly reminder to chapters, please bring a themed gift basket (examples: gardening, movie night, chocolate lovers, etc), to the convention for the silent auction. Funds accrued from this non-dues fundraiser go directly for leadership development. Each gift basket’s contents are usually valued at $75.00.

I have heard an old saying about the month of March: “In like a lion and out like a lamb.” Of course, this saying is referring to weather, but I think it can also refer to our lives. Sometimes we come across forceful, like a lion, and people feel we are being too pushy or bossy when that’s not what we meant at all! That is why effective communication is the key. Always look at the issue at hand from more than one viewpoint. Be gentle and kind like a lamb with your words and actions. Always keep in mind that we are profes-sional women educators.

Joy Graham, ASO President

Above, President Joy Graham is dis-cussing an issue with members before the Area 1 meeting started in April, 2018.

Top right, ASO President Joy Graham is shown at the Executive Board meeting held the night before the Fall Meeting in Little Rock in September of 2018.

Congratulations to Past International President

Carolyn Pittman. Her article, “News about

the DKG News,” was accepted for publication

in The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin,

2018, Volume 85-2.

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The Nominations Committee is recommending the following ladies:

Arkansas President - Cathy Toney 1st Vice President - Sue Cook2nd Vice President - Dee Ann DanielSecretary - Claudia SmithEducation Foundation Board of Trustees - Kathryn DickinsonEducation Foundation Board of Trustees - Dr. Paula Williams

The election will be conducted during the upcoming Arkansas State Organization Convention. Each candidate will be highlighted in this publi-cation with a photo and a resume.

Karen Roe, Nominations Committee Chair

Nominees for State Offices for 2019-2021 are Announced:

For ASO President:Cathy Toney,

Theta Chapter:

*Has been a member of DKG for 14 years*Has attended area, state, regional, and international meetings

*Chapter level: Has served as chapter president for three, two-year terms *State level: Served as first vice president, second vice president, State Rules Committee, and on Records and Properties Committee*International level: Served on the Non-dues Revenue Committee*Professional experience: BSE and MSE from the University of Central Arkansas; Library Resource certification, Prairie View A&M; 13 years in kindergarten and first grade classrooms; and 29 years as library media specialist*Honors: Received the ALA “Retta Patrick” Award, the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media “Herb Lawrence” Leadership Award, and was named the Sallie Cone Elementary School, Conway, AR, Teacher of the Year 2006*Leadership roles/responsibilities: Arkansas Association of School Librarians chairperson, past president of Arkansas Association of Instructional Media, member of Library Media Standards Development Committee, secretary of Arkansas Library Association, and presently teacher of adult small group

For ASO First Vice President:

Sue Cook, Alpha Beta Chapter

*DKG member for 40 years. *Attended meetings at all levels in DKG; presenter at International and Southwest Regional meetings*Chapter level: Served both New Mexico and Arkansas chapters as president, vice-president and treasurer; served on Alpha Beta Committees of Membership, Finance, Scholarship; and also Expansion and Revitalization Committee as chair*State level: New Mexico as secretary; in Arkansas as second vice president, convention chair; seven years on the Kappa State Education Foundation; four years serving as area leader. *Professional experience: 46 years in the field of education, continu-ing to work 3 days each week;holds BSE, MSE, has Texas and Arkansas lifetime teaching certificates, also holds certificates in elementary, special education, TESOL and administration*Honors: 2017 Local Teacher of the Year, 2018 Master Gardener of the Year, wrote and received $26,000.00 grant for community garden*Other leadership roles or respon-sibilities: Sunday school teacher

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Officer nominees continued...

Dee Ann Daniel,Beta Epsilon Chapter

For ASO Second Vice President:

*27 year member of DKG *Has attended many state, area, and fall meetings in Arkansas, 3 Southeast Regional meetings, 2 International meetings, and 2 US Forum meetings in Washington, D.C.

*Chapter level: Served as president, vice president, and on various committees *State level: Secretary, Expansion and Revitalization Committee chair, Nominations Committee member, and US Forum Elections committee member*Professional experience: BSE from Henderson State University; MSE from Henderson State University; certified in physical education k-12, 5-12 mathematics, administration; and 31 years teaching experience; currently teaching at Sheridan Jr. High *Leadership roles/responsibilities: (in school) ACSIP chair, North Central chair, building planning council chair, parent involvement co-ordinator, math department chair; (in church) First United Methodist Church Southeast delegate to Arkansas Annual Conference, Sheridan FUMC Youth Director for 25+ years, Sheridan FUMC Administrative Board member, FUMC finance committee member, FUMC board of trustees member; Beta Sigma Phi president, vice president, and recording secretary

For ASO Secretary

Claudia B. Smith, Gamma Omicron Chapter*10 year member of DKG*Chapter level: Has served as president and secretary*State level: Member of Kappa State Leadership Committee and attended Kappa State Leadership Seminar*International level: Attended DKG International Convention, Austin, 2018.*Professional experience: BA, journalism/political science at University of Central Arkansas 1982; MSE in instructional media library science, University of Central Arkansas 1995; and 1995-2019 Little Rock School District, classroom teacher, and librarian*Honors: NBCT 2010 and AAIM Media Specialist of the Year 2011*Other leadership roles/responsi-bilities: Trained candidate support provider/presenter at UALR for NBCT, and AAIM presenter at state conference

The Kappa State Education Foundation will be celebrating its birthday at the state convention on May 31- June 2, 2019, at Lake Point Convention Center. We are asking our chapters to consider donating $40.00 for our 40th birthday. We will announce at our birthday celebration how much was donated. This money will help us keep on giving our $500 grants to our members for their special projects. Please send donations to Kappa State Foundation Treasurer Earlene Hankins, 199 Quitman Road, Quitman, AR, 72131, by May 31, 2019.

Who is Turning Forty this Year?

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Nominees continued...

For ASO Education Foundation Board of Trustees

Kathryn Dickinson, Alpha Delta Chapter

*35 year member of DKG*Has attended area, state, regional and international meet-ings

*Chapter level: Served as president, first vice president, second vice president, treasurer, parliamentarian, newsletter editor, and most all committees*State level: Served as recording secretary, corresponding secretary, Education Foundation Board 2001-2007, Membership Committee, chairman of Scholarship Committee, Professional Affairs Committee, Nominations Committee, chairman of World Fellowship Committee, chairman of Awards Committee, district director and area leader, and attended Leadership Seminar, 1990.*Professional experience: BSE, MSE, certification in administration; 33 years as first grade teacher and assistant principal, 5 years as adjunct professor at University of Arkansas Community College at Hope*Honors: Hope-Hempstead Educator of the year 2007, and Kappa State Achievement Award 2017*Other leadership roles or responsibilities: Member of Hope School Board, United Way of Hempstead County Board member, president of Hempstead Co. Retired Teachers, Master Gardener president, and active member of First Baptist Church

Dr. Paula Williams,Zeta Chapter

*10 year member of DKG*Chapter level: Served as chapter recording secretary for 4 years, chapter president for 4 years, parliamentary advisor for 1 year, chapter yearbook editor for 5 years*State level: Kappa State Webmaster, 2017 to present; Kappa State Registrar, 2018 to present; Area 3 Leader, 2014 – 2018; Committee membership: Leadership and Development, helped at Ella Reese Leadership Seminar (2018); Technology; and Educational Excellence*Professional experience: EdD, 1986, University of Memphis; MSE, 1979, University of Tennessee; BSE, 1978, Delta State University: Teaching experience includes, Blytheville High School, new tech,

2017 to present; Arkansas Northeastern College, 1993 – 2016; Delta State University, 1980 - 1986*Other leadership roles or responsibilities: Director of Sparks Clubs, Gosnell Baptist Church; Director of AWANA, Gosnell Baptist Church; and Organist, Blytheville First Lutheran Church

Dr. Paula Williams continued...

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March, 2019

Alpha Beta Chapter

The Alpha Beta Chapter awards a grant in aid to a senior education major in their student teaching semester ev-ery year. This year the recipient of the award is Katy Nix, a senior Elementary Education major at Southern Arkan-sas University. Pictured are Recording Secretary Kathy Sharp, Katy Nix, First Vice President Debbie Matthews, and Treasurer Diana Courson.

The Kappa State Educational Ex-cellence Committee awarded Nicole Rutherford the SEEK stipend valued at $200. Nicole is a graduate student working towards a Masters in K-12 Special Education at Southern Arkan-sas University in Magnolia. Nicole is pictured with Debbie Matthews, First Vice President of Alpha Beta Chapter.

Kappa State and the Arkansas Com-munity Foundation awarded Darcy Dingman the Agatha Prator Grant for the Spring 2019 semester. This is a $2,500 grant. Darcy is a senior elemen-tary education K-6 STEM major with a studio art minor at Southern Arkansas University Magnolia. Pictured are Re-cording Secretary Kathy Sharp, Pres-ident Whitney Gass, Darcy Dingman, and Treasurer Diana Courson.

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March, 2019

Delta ChapterDelta Chapter of Hot Springs filled 18 survival kits for each first-year teacher in

the Hot Springs and Lakeside School Districts. Each Kit included office supplies and snacks along with a personal note of encouragement plus information about The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International.

The Arkansas State Delta Chapter held their February meeting at Hot Springs Junior Academy. Attending members updated their Delta Chapter yearbook profiles and DKG “MyDKG” Profile.

ASO chapters should follow the example of Delta Chapter and update their MyDKG profiles! Those without valid email addresses on file at Society HQ may miss out on the exciting news happenings in DKG!

Remind members to update their profile information in their “MyDKG Account” at www.dkg.org. More than half of DKG members do not have valid email addresses. Changing personal information can easily be done on a computer or even on a cell phone.

The user name for the International website is your six digit member ID number. This number can be found on your member card or the first six digits on any DKG publication mail-ing label or a chapter roster. The default password is dkg2014society. After logging in, change the pass-word to one you select that you can easily remember.

Check Your “MyDKG” Profiles!

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Contributions to the Kappa State

Education Foundation

Memorials:

Kappa State News is published online the first of each odd numbered month atdkgarkansas.weebly.comSend articles, pictures, comments, and questions to: Linda Davidson at

lindavidson@comcast.net or 618 LaSalle DriveLittle Rock, AR 72211

Please send pictures and articles about your chapters. I would love to feature something from every chapter in Arkansas before next August. It could be about an event, program or celebra-tion. Send more than one thing! It is fun for everyone to hear what is happening in our chapters. Send information to:

lindavidson@comcast.net

From your Editor:

Dates to Remember and Deadlines:

Bill Hankins, husband of

Earlene Hankins, Beta Xi Chapter

by Mary Catherine Propes,

Beta Xi Chapter

* May 1, September 1, February 1, Applications for Cornetet Professional Development Awards deadlines. (dkgef.org)* April 1, 2019 Deadline for Order of the Rose Award nominations* May 31- June 2, 2019 Arkansas State Organization Convention at Lake Point Convention Center, Russellville, Arkansas* June 27-29, 2019 International Conference: Arts and Humanities, Asheville, NC (formerly Southeast Regional Conference.)* June 30, December 1 Annual deadlines for submitting applications for the Kappa State Scholarship* October 1, 2019 Kappa State Education Foundation Grant deadline

Visit the Updated Arkansas State Organization Website

Webmaster Dr. Paula Williams would like to invite members to visit the newly updated website. New information about the founders of the organization has been added.

In addition on the home page new pictures of Arkansas have been added. Webmaster Williams would like members to submit their own scenic photos of Arkansas. These photos would be changed periodically. Members should submit their photos along with their name, location of the photo, and their permission to use the photo on the site in an email. These items should be sent to kappastatedkg@gmail.com.

Members should look for the following items that will be available at the Upcoming State Convention:

Favors from past state and international meetings will be for sale including folding hand fans, Arkansas pins, and travel mani-cure sets for $5 each or 3 for $10. Broken China Jewelry will have two pendants with chain or choker to be raffled. Broken China Jewelry will be a vendor generating a vendor fee. All of the proceeds will go for AR Leadership Training.

Each table at the luncheon will have a sack for International Emer-gency Fund donations.

Bring some cash with you!!!!

Linda Fullerton

More About the Arkansas State

Organization Convention

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International

Arkansas State Organization Convention:“Continuing the Journey”

May 31, June 1-2, 2019 Lake Point Conference Center, Russellville, AR

Needs Speakers!Please submit your completed

session proposal and form by March 15th, 2019, to Sue Cook, gsue@zianet.com. Forms are available on the state website, dkgarkansas.weebly.com.

The preferred method of sub-mission is a typed, saved, and attached Word document.

You will be notified no later than thirty days prior to the con-ference regarding acceptance of your proposal.

Please note that all presenters must register for the conference.