Inside this issue:

Karen’s Comments 2

In Memoriam 2

Links for Learning 3

Committees 5-7

Four Corners 8

Chapter News 7,9

Dates 9

Volume 70, Issue 1

MISSOURI, DELTA STATE

Spring 2018

It is that time of year to plan on attending one of the area confer-ences. The Saturday sessions have been scheduled at a closer loca-tion for easier access. Anyone may attend any of the four area conferences. The Saturday sessions begin at 9:30 and conclude at 3:30 p.m. Saturday sessions will include committee presentations from By-Laws & Standing Rules, Finance, Personal Growth, Research, World Fellowship, Professional Affairs, and SEE Project. There will also be a President/President Elect processional. Karen Evans has asked each chapter to bring a “Brag Board” (tri-fold board) to tell about their chapter with pic-tures, projects and favorite pro-grams. Committees will also an-nounce Key Women Educators, Order of the Rose, Chapter Achievement Awards, SEE Awards, 40, 50, 60 year members and the Delta State Achievement Award. There will also be a Cele-bration of Life Ceremony. Friday night’s session is from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and is for in-coming or current chapter presi-dents, chapter treasurers and membership chairs for 2018-2020. Please check details on the regis-tration form for specific addresses for sessions and hotel accommo-dations if needed. A copy of the registration form has been emailed with this issue notice and is on the website. Please register at least two weeks before your selected area confer-ence. The registration fee is $20 which includes lunch. The Northwest Area Conference will be held April 13-14. The Fri-

day evening and Saturday session will be held at West Englewood Elementary in Kansas City. The focus for this conference will be on getting to know the area chap-ters and one another better as sis-ters and sharing ideas for projects and reaching out to prospective members. This meeting will be informative and fun. The Southwest Area Conference is scheduled for April 20-21. The Friday night training will be held at Candlewood Suites and Satur-day’s session will be at the Twin Oaks Country Club in Springfield. The featured keynote speaker is Sue Groves, Delta State Past Pres-ident. She will incorporate the theme of Honor, Learn, Lead through DKG. The luncheon will emphasize Delta State’s 85th Birthday with the singing of the Happy Birthday song. The Northeast Area Conference is slated for April 27-28. Both the Friday night session and the Sat-urday conference will be held at Hawthorn Bank Community Cen-ter in Jefferson City. The featured speaker will be Carrie Tergin, who is the mayor of Jefferson City. She will speak on the theme “Honor, Learn, Lead through DKG.” There are also plans to have as a guest speaker, Nargiza Buranova, World Fellowship Re-cipient who attends the University of Missouri in Columbia. The Southeast Area Conference is planned for May 4-5. Friday and Saturday sessions will be held at Mercy Jefferson Conference Center in Festus. The conference will celebrate the 85th birthday of DKG with a focus on Honor, Learn, Lead in DKG. The guest

The Delta Kappa

Gamma Society

International promotes

professional and personal growth

of women

educators and excellence

in education.

Area Conferences to be Held

Deltagrams, Page 2

State Officers

2017-2019

Karen Evans, President

Jana Siefkas, 1st Vice President

Marty Tidd, 2nd Vice President

Brenda Jarrett, Recording Secretary

Paulette Fischer, Exec. Secretary/Treasurer

Deltagrams is published four times a year online at http://www.dkgmissouri.com/

News items should be sent to: Jamie Erwin,

Deltagrams Editor 112 Lisa Avenue, Lathrop, MO 64465

816-528-6986, deltagrams.mo@gmail.com

Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, P.O. Box 1589, Austin, TX 78767-1589

888-768-4685

Karen’s Comments I really enjoy meeting many of you at chapter meetings and council events. I was often asked, “What goes on at area confer-ences?” I thought, “Come and see!!” Your area coordinators, Diana Ackley (NW), Ginny Baumann (SW), Arlene Broeker (NE) and Judy Heuer (SE) have been work-ing hard to make your area conferences a success. Each area is unique and each area conference will be unique. Saying that, they all will cover the same material. On Friday nights, we will be working with chapter presidents, treasurers and membership chairs. They will learn about their po-sition and meet with their counterpart from their area. On Saturday, we will learn about various committees, hand out awards, and have a great speaker. Of course, we will also have lots of time for fellowship, food, and DKG shopping! This is for every member. I think of it as a mini-convention.

I don’t know about you, but when I was teaching, going to an event like the area conference always re-charged my batteries to go back into the classroom. Please come join us at the area conferences: NW Area Conference April 13-14, SW Area Conference April 20-21, NE Area Conference April 27-28 and SE Area Conference May 4-5.

Terry McKellar December 28, 2017 Kappa

JoAnn Burkart January 8, 2018 Alpha Iota

Helen Crawford January 30, 2018 Pi

*For names to be printed in the Deltagrams, Form 6 must be submitted to the Membership Chair, Marty Tidd, dkgmo2ndvp@gmail.com.

In Memoriam Golden Anniversary Sales

Please help support the Golden Anniversary Funds by purchasing DKG items!

Items can be mailed to your home (postage will be added to the cost).

Call or email Vicki Cassady 417-438-6213, cvcassady@sofnet.com

speaker will be Kristy Miller who will share her travels and times she has seen honoring, learning, and leader-ship while visiting other parts of the world. Kristy is the daughter of Jana Siefkas, our Delta State First-Vice President. Kristy is a very accomplished woman in the field of education and archaeology which has allowed her to travel, run a company called Hi-Fi Colour Design, and write books with her husband, Brian. Make plans, today, to attend one of the area conferences. Plans for that day will inspire you to “Honor, Learn, Lead through DKG.”

Area Conferences (continued from p.1)

Deltagrams, Page 3

Links for Learning March is National Women's History Month. In honor of that event, here are some books and websites related to women's history.

Ella Victoria Dobbs: A Portrait Biography by Verna M. Wulkekammer - Ella Dobbs was one of Delta State's founders. A remarkable educator who did much to advance the profession of education, she was also an art-ist. Ella is one of fifty-five women listed on a plaque in the state capital identified as pioneers in the work for the suffrage of women. Her biography, written by another of the founders of Delta state, was published in 1961. Used copies are available on Amazon.

A Little House Traveler by Laura Ingalls Wilder - Combined in one volume are journal entries that Laura made on three of her journeys. One is the move to Missouri from South Dakota. The second is her trip to California to visit her daughter, Rose, in 1915. Third is the story of Laura and Almanzo's first trip back to South Dakota in 1931. Laura Ingalls Wilder is the author of the famed "Little House" series.

First Ladies (DK Eyewitness Book) - This children's book tells the stories of America's First Ladies. Filled with photographs, it brings the First Ladies to life.

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain - This historical fiction tells the story of famed aviator, Beryl Markham. Beryl Markham was the first woman to fly successfully east to west across the Atlantic Ocean. Markham was also an adventurer and horse trainer at a time when women seldom ventured into those activities. She also wrote a book about her life, West with the Night.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah - War stories are often told about men and from their viewpoint. This book skillfully tells the story of two women who were sisters surviving during World War II in France.

https://goo.gl/GTAonP - There are 420 National Park sites yet only eight are dedicated to women's history. Check out this site to see where they are.

http://www.nwhp.org/resources/quizzes/ - Try these quizzes to learn about women's history. For example, do you know who ran for president in both 1884 and 1888 from the Equal Rights Party?

http://www.nwhp.org/wp-content/uploads/gazette_How-Women-Won-Vote-.pdf - In 2020, it will have been 100 years since women were granted the right to vote in the United States. This online publication offers a fascinating look at the movement with state-by-state information about ratification and key women in that state who fought for the right to vote.

http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.edu.006 - Here is a brief biography of DKG's founder, Annie Webb Blanton.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?307551-1/womens-suffrage-missouri - This video features the author of The Golden Lane by Margot McMillen who writes about a protest by women at the 1916 Democratic Convention in St. Louis that helped women to receive the right to vote.

**Links for Learning is a regular column of resources that may be helpful or interesting to you. They may include books, magazine articles, web resources, and apps. The web addresses were current at the time of publication; however, websites change rapidly and cannot be guaranteed to be available later. All web ad-dresses should be previewed before using in a presentation or classroom. No endorsements are given to the

resources.

Left: Members of Kappa Chapter at the Platte Val-ley Council Christmas Party with Karen and Marty. Right: Anna Lou Tommey and Bev Teri at the Kansas City Council Christmas Brunch. Far right: President Karen Evans, 1st Vice President Jana Siefkas, and 2nd Vice President Marty Tidd.

Deltagrams, Page 4

Legislative Update

The Seven Purposes Purpose 2: To honor women who have given or who evidence a potential for distinctive service in any field of education. The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International was founded because women were not getting the profes-sional recognition they should receive. Purpose 2 of the Society is about honoring women in education. DKG is proud to recognize educators that receive their doctorate degree. At the Internation-al Convention in Austin, Texas leading women educators that received their doc-torate between July 16, 2016 and June 30, 2018 will be honored. The Delta Kappa Gamma Society Inter-national also honors leading women au-thors whose writings impact society through the Educators Award. DKG pre-sents an award of $2,500 to the author(s) selected by the Educators Award Com-mittee. It is a great honor to receive the award and often the author has a book signing at International events. Delta-Missouri State also honors educa-tors through the Key Woman Educator Recognition Award. To achieve this hon-

or the Delta-Missouri State member must demonstrate professional collaboration, support early-career edu-cators and/or develop or pilot an educational program. Councils and chapters honor members for their pro-fessional successes. Our founders knew how im-portant it was for our Society to recognize our mem-bers for their achievements.

The 2018 Missouri Legislature is about a month into the 2018 ses-sion, and it is more important than ever for educators to keep an eye on what is happening in Jefferson City. Make sure to have conversa-tions (in person, phone or e-mail) with your representative and sena-tor so that he/she knows that you’re willing to serve as a “sounding board” as educational legislative issues arise. To keep track of bills and their progress, to find out how to contact your legislators, or to listen to live debate in either chamber, go to the following sites: For the Missouri House of Repre-sentatives - https://house.mo.gov For the Senate - http://www.senate.mo.gov

A few of the bills to watch this session: Charter School Expansion - HB 2247 (Roeber) Discrimination Law - SB 620 (Hummel) and SB 585 (Nasheed) A+ Schools Bill - HB 1744 (Hansen) Visiting Scholars Bill - HB 1665 (Swan) Paycheck “Protection” Bills - sev-eral K-12 and Higher Education Fund-ing Tax Cut bills Virtual Course bills School Board Elections bills Collective Bargaining bills Tax Credit-Style Vouchers/Education Savings Accounts - SB 612 (Koenig)

Whether you’re currently em-

ployed as an educator or are a re-tired educator, keeping up with the impact of legislation on public schools is important. The support our legislature provides for public schools is a critical piece in making sure that our public schools and communities are safe and available to provide a high-quality education for all students. MNEA, MSTA, AFT, and MRTA all provide frequent legislative up-dates to members and the commu-nity. Please stay informed and stay in contact with your legislators so that they can hear the voices of those who work or have worked with students every day. Your sto-ries can provide a deeper under-standing to those who might not understand the impact (good or bad) of some of the legislation they’re proposing.

Deltagrams, Page 5

Delta State Committees Look to the Future Bylaws

Chapter Standing Rules should be submitted to the chairperson of the Delta State Bylaws/Standing Rules Committee, Linda Wall, for approval this biennium. A check-list to assist chapters in preparing the Rules is on the Delta State web-site. Go to dkgmissouri.com, check “Resources” and then “Chapter/Area Rules Checklist.” The check-list includes items from the Consti-tution, Standing Rules, State By-laws and State Standing Rules that need to be addressed. Contact Lin-da:lindalibraran63028@yahoo.com. The Chapter/Area Rules Checklist has been a very helpful tool for chapter Standing Rules Committee members. The use of the checklist simplifies the process of updating the rules. Approval should be guar-anteed if it is followed. The mem-bers of the Delta State Bylaws/Standing Rules Committee urge chapters to make use of the check-list and submit the Chapter Stand-ing Rules as soon as possible.

Communications

The deadline for submitting chapter newsletters and websites for recognition is March 15, 2018. In order to increase communica-tion and to recognize all deserving chapters, the Communications Committee initiated in 2016 a point system with a "scoring guide": Highest Honors (300 pts), Honors (200 pts), or Honorable Mention (100 pts). The scoring guide is on the Delta State website. Check un-der Resources and Communication Awards. The Communications Committee will recognize these chapters at the Area Conferences this year. Send your submissions to jastanford30@gmail.com. The communications committee mem-bers are so looking forward to the

amazing ways chapters communi-cate!

Finance In the last issue of Deltagrams, the finance article closed with infor-mation about the income and ex-penditures of Delta State. The arti-cle ended with noting that the mon-ey Delta State receives for its use in 2017- 2018 will be around $15,330. Budgeted expenditures for the year are $20,365. To meet our expenses, money must be used from the sav-ings. When reading the budget the line item that gives the amount used from savings is "Amount Carried Forward". In the adopted 2017-2018 budget, that amount is $4,810. In the 2018-2019 budget, it is $11,220. Why is there such a differ-ence? There are two reasons for the difference. One is the 18-19 budget plans for a decline in membership. The other is that it is a convention year so there are more expenses. Delta State was fortunate to have good years where membership numbers were higher and the organ-ization was able to develop savings. These savings are used to partially fund the organization now. The past leaders also had the foresight to im-plement some budget cutting measures that have helped to keep the group financially sound. For example, state conventions are now held every other year and the Deltagrams is no longer mailed. To help look into the financial future of Delta State and assist members in understanding what the organization is facing, the finance committee developed a spreadsheet to learn how long reserves will help to fund Delta State. Based on a membership decline of 4% per year in both active and reserve members and using the amount budgeted in 2018-2019 for Delta State Expenses of $26,215, Delta State runs out of

savings in 2031. The membership decline is a conservative figure be-cause for much of the last ten years the membership decline has been at least 5%. The amount used for ex-penses is in a convention year when they are higher. However, inflation will increase some expenses in ten years’ time. To say it simply, declining mem-bership means declining revenue. The finance committee sees three possible solutions or perhaps a combination of them. One is in-creased membership. Another is raising dues. The other is cutting more expenses. However, much has already been removed from the budget. The next items cut would probably be those that would affect the chapter budgets. While this news might seem dis-mal and the outlook bleak, DKG has much to offer its members and educators. With that in mind, the women of Delta State can persevere and find solutions that will allow the society to thrive and continue impacting education worldwide. The finance committee welcomes any thoughts or ideas. Either Pau-lette Fischer or Cay Sergent, Fi-nance Chair are happy to explain how these figures were determined as well as the budgeting process. If there are questions about the finances of Delta State, please con-tact Paulette Fischer or Cay Ser-gent. For the day-to-day questions about reimbursements, checks, and dues, contact Paulette Fischer.

Membership

Chapter presidents and member-ship chairs are constantly looking for ways to increase membership and strengthen chapters. The DKG International and Delta State web-sites have a number of helpful and useful "tools" for the "chapter toolbox".

Deltagrams, Page 6

Take a look at the international website’s set of four videos entitled "Pride in the Big Picture" and "Sustaining Pride in the Big Pic-ture". Their content is: (1) Honor of Membership (2) Benefits of Membership (3) Review of Mem-bership Eligibility and (4) Key-stones of Membership. This is ex-cellent information for prospective members and current members. This is on the international website under the Resource and Presenta-tions tab. They are available in vid-eo and PowerPoint formats. Another "tool" is in the Communi-ties tab under My DKG. Many "communities" are offered, among them are a DKG Membership Fo-rum and a DKG Mentoring forum. These provide forums, success sto-ries and Questions and Answers about membership—a great site of ideas for increasing membership. The final "tool" to check is under the My DKG tab and Chapter Con-nect. Contact information, initia-tion date and chapter members' names are given. The Directory tab on both the state and international websites provides a DKG Directory Search which helps contact mem-bers who choose to share their pro-file. Recruitment and sustaining mem-bership are topics that are in the forefront of chapter presidents' and membership chairs' minds. A "toolbox” stocked with strategies and suggestions is sure to be inval-uable! Here's hoping these "tools" end up in your chapter's "toolbox".

Personal Growth

Come surfing with DKG! Visiting Delta State’s website is an informa-tive, easy adventure! Go to the website dkgmissouri.com and visit the homepage. On the homepage, there will be a navigation menu which includes State Officers,

Deltagrams, Karen’s Comments, Calendar, Resources, DKG Pics, and Websites. Exploring each topic will give members a vast amount of information about Delta State. Visit the Resources topic to find Chapter and Member resources such as State Bylaws, Standing Rules, Convention Minutes, Schol-arship Forms, and other required Chapter and Member Forms. Also the Resources page includes the Yellow Pages and the International Administrative Board, both of which require a username and pass-word. For username and passwords, contact a chapter president or state officer. All Chapters interested in creating a website must complete the Compliance form on the Re-sources page to be in compliance with the International website. Don’t forget to check out the DKG International Website, dkg.org for information about Inter-national Convention in Austin, TX and use the navigation menu to find more information about DKG. Surfing the internet with DKG is so much fun!

Professional Affairs

The Professional Affairs Commit-tee seeks to increase participation in the Key Women Educator recogni-tion program. The Key Woman Ed-ucator Award is NOT a competi-tion, but a recognition of a mem-ber’s outstanding professional col-laboration, support given to early career educators or an educational program developed or piloted to improve student achievement. In an effort to better acknowledge outstanding educational accom-plishments in our state, our first goal is to increase the number of nominations to at least five nomina-tions from each region. The Key Women Educator Award form can be downloaded from the Delta State

website, www.dkgmissouri.com and can be filled out by the appli-cant or by a member who knows the applicant's qualifications. Even though the deadline for completed application packets has passed (3/1/18), it’s not too early to start thinking about nominations for next year! The second goal is keeping mem-bers informed of legislation impact-ing public education. Even if you are involved in private or parochial education, your neighborhood pub-lic schools impact your property and community value. It’s im-portant that every child has the op-portunity for a great education, no matter where he or she attends school! The committee’s hope is to keep you updated on issues that im-pact public education at the state and national level, and let you know how to contact your legisla-tors if action is needed.

Scholarship By the time you read this, the deadline to apply for Delta State scholarships will have passed. If recent trends continue, there will be too few applicants for the number of scholarships. In other words, money will go unclaimed. Why? There may be several reasons. Per-haps potential applicants are too busy. Perhaps the deadline snuck up before the application was fully completed. And, perhaps those eli-gible think that the odds of receiv-ing a grant or scholarship aren’t good because there are too many applicants. If that is your reason for not applying, please know that that is not the case. Last year the scholarship committee received two applications for the two Bradford grants and one application for the three graduate scholarships. In oth-er words, applicants had a 100% success rate. Start planning now to

Committees (continued)

Deltagrams, Page 7

Committee (continued) meet the March 1, 2019 deadline. Your odds are better than you think.

World Fellowship The World Fellowship Committee announced the names of the 2017-18 recipients this past fall after re-ceiving confirmation from each of the participating universities. The list included 22 women who re-ceived $4,000 each for work on a Masters or Ph.D. degree. Fourteen extensions were also granted in the amounts of $800 for masters’ work and $1,000 for doctorate work. In all, 36 outstanding women from 27 different countries were awarded World Fellowships totaling $100,000 to further their educations at universities in the United States or Canada this year.

It is particularly interesting for Delta State chapters to notice that eight of the awardees are attending schools, nearby, in the Midwest area. One of them, Nargiza Bura-nova from Kazakhstan, is currently working on a Master’s Degree in Special Education at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. Chapters are encouraged to con-tact these women, send cards or care packages, or perhaps even in-vite one of them to attend a chapter meeting via Skype. Reach out and touch the world! The generous, growing support for the World Fellowship Program comes solely from DKG members’ contributions and bequests. Tax deductible contributions can be made using the online form at dkg.org under Forms, Contribution

Forms. Members can also find blogs and videos from participants on the site explaining how this pro-gram has changed their individual lives and impacted education around the world when these wom-en return home to their countries. The World Fellowship Program received an award in 1978 from the Institute of International Education. It is on display at DKG headquar-ters in Austin, TX, where members may view it when attending the In-ternational Convention this July. All Committee Reports are sub-mitted by state committee mem-bers and chairs. Please refer to the Yellow Pages on the website for committee members’ names and contact information.

Missouri has been fortunate to have nine outstanding women re-ceive the Delta Kappa Gamma Soci-ety International Golden Gift Award to attend Leadership Management Seminar in Austin, Texas. Now there is a tenth recipient, Cay Ser-gent. Cay will join Dee Brooks (1985), Pauline Barker (1991), Mar-

ilyn Skipper (1992), Dr. Peggy George (1993), Dar-lene Helman (1994), Dr. Patsy Watts (2002), Terre

McPheeters (2008), and Karen Evans (2012) as recipi-ents of this award. Cay will travel to the University of Texas for two weeks of intensive leadership training. It will include a variety of topics such as school law, conflict resolu-tion, learning styles, technology, and much more. The seminar will give insights into leadership, not just in DKG, but in schools, in other organizations and even in the home. Delta State congratulates Cay Sergent on receiving the Golden Gift Award to attend this seminar.

Cay Sergent to Attend Leadership Management Seminar

Members of Beta Tau, Rich-mond, enjoyed a fun and in-formative program during which they learned the interest-ing history of the Farris Thea-tre, a Richmond Landmark. Rob Swafford, president of The Friends of The Farris, Inc., owners of the theatre, acted as guide as the women toured the renovated building. They are shown here, front and center, in the theatre auditorium.

Chapter News

Deltagrams, Page 8

Focus on the Four Corners Northwest

Alpha Upsilon has gained seven new fr iends from the Alpha Mu chapter. The two chapters recently merged, and are now one bigger happy family! A history lesson was scheduled for the January meeting about one of our area schools, but the presenter was unable to attend at the last minute. A “History of Us” program featuring the mem-bers of Alpha Upsilon, became plan B. Each member was given a card with her name and initiation date on it. Members were asked to think about memorable moments in DKG over the years and write them on the back of the card. Members then shared those moments: “Lanterns in Clay” Reception to honor former Liberty teachers 70 or older, funny incidents like the raincoat caper dur-ing the Branson Convention, our fun fieldtrips, meetings at Wil-liam Jewell College, the Nashville International Convention, “Where I’m From” poems, service projects such as the $.10 store, Clara Howerton’s 30th anniver-sary reception of the chapter and getting to know members during the basket raffle etc. New mem-bers and older members had mo-ments to share and a good time was had by all. The program was concluded with a photo of the group in chronological order by initiation date! Visiting friend of a member, Anita Whitney, took the photo. It was noted that the next biennium president will be in charge of the 50th Anniversary of the chapter. Alpha Upsilon was organized on April 18, 1969 by the Alpha Mu chapter of Kansas City, Mo. Alpha Upsilon then helped organize the Richmond and Kearney chapters.

Northeast Nu Chapter of Delta State was organized in 1946, by Miss Minnie Irons, the Delta State President, at that time. There were ten charter members, all of whom are deceased. Nu members reside and work in Marshall and surrounding towns. Nu has four meetings a year and a “fun in the sun” plan-ning meeting in the summer. The four meetings are on Saturday mornings, with the locations decided at the July planning meet-ing. Each meeting has three or four hostesses. Nu Chapter supports the S.E.E program by giving out baskets of encouraging treats and provides volunteers to help early career educators. This year Nu chapter is supporting Schools For Africa by making donations to the Delta State First Vice President’s project “CHANGE” for Schools for Africa. Nu Chapter is proud to support local community projects. The members make donations of educational supplies and personal items to families at the Lighthouse Shelter for women. Also Nu members decided to learn more about the Fitzgibbon Hospital Cancer Center after learning that several area teachers and stu-dents have been affected by cancer. The chapter members toured the fa-cilities and donated books, coloring books and utensils for patients and families. Nu Chapter also supports their own members currently working in the field of education by recognition of O.N.E (Outstanding Nu Educator) with a donation to be used for educa-tional materials.

Southwest Beta Eta Chapter was organized on November 2, 1974 in Joplin by Gamma Chapter. Of the 16 charter members, there is one member still active, Sammye Beck of Joplin. Sammye is a retired music director for Joplin Schools and can play a mean rendition of the Delta Kappa Gamma song with no sheet music! Members include ladies from Joplin, Carl Junction, Min-denmines, Lamar, Oronogo, Seneca, Webb City, Pittsburg, Kan-sas and Fayetteville, Arkansas. The chapter meets the first Thursday of most months with a total of eight meetings a year. Meeting topics, this year, have been quite varied. In September, members learned of cultural diversity in the classroom with the program given by chapter member, Sarah Cassady Brunner, who teaches 5th grade in Rog-ers, Arkansas. Teaching in Taiwan by Gabe Cassady and Kylie Textor was the program for the October meeting. In November, members toured the Leffen Center for Autism and the newly opened Joplin campus of the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. Each meeting is opened with a devotion by a chapter member. Items have been collected for a different project each month. These collections are given to the Joplin Humane Society, baskets to beginning teachers, donations to the Autism Center, the Joplin Library, Community Health Clinic, and the Joplin Family Y for scholarships. A $200 scholarship is given to a local female education major each year, $200 was given to Goodman Elementary due to tornado damage in the spring as well as $400 to the DKG Emergency Fund. Beta Eta chapter is proud of the three members serving on state committees: Kathi Cassady-Music, Lucy Gilbert-Membership, and Vicki Cassady-Golden Anniversary.

Southeast The Theta Chapter consists of approximately 35 educators who value the opportunity to learn. Membership is primarily from St. Francois and Madison counties, with an occasional member from Iron and Washington counties. In addition to the four chapter meetings, an informal summer activity is held for members to socialize and to recruit potential members. Meeting presentations have ranged from alternative school programs to children who fall victims to online predators to technology’s impact on the child’s mind. Members’ expertise is utilized for programs such as Google Docs, travel as an education, and legislative issues for special needs students. In 2017, the Theta Chapter earned a Five Star Achievement Award and the S.E.E. Award. Thetas annually support World Fellowship and award scholarships to female edu-cations majors attending Mineral Area College. For area schools, Thetas collect winter wear and personal hygiene items for school counselors to share with their students. To welcome new teach-ers to the profession, Thetas prepare a packet containing motiva-tional materials, a small gift card for supplies, and a handwritten, personalized note to first year female teachers in the eight sur-rounding school districts. At its initiation ceremony, Theta Chap-ter recognizes sisters for years of membership at five-year incre-ments. Pictured are: Paula Jackson, Elaine Murdock, Sandra Lane, Judy Whitener with new initiates Lindsey Kearns and Lindsey Smith.

Deltagrams, Page 9

Upcoming Conventions and Conferences March 18-21 National Legislative Seminar

Missouri State Leadership Area Conferences: April 13-14 Northwest Area April 20-21 Southwest Area April 27-28 Northeast Area May 4-5 Southeast Area

July 16-20 International Convention, Austin, Texas July 16-19, 2019 Southwest Regional Conference, Costa Mesa, CA

Dates to Note March 1-DKG Bulletin Journal Submissions due March 1-Key Women Educator nominations due March 1-Delta State Scholarship Application due March 1-Bradford Grant-in-Aid application due March 15-Chapter Achievement Awards form due April 30-Doctorate Honoree Application due June 16-Early Registration due for Int’l Convention

More Chapter News

During the October gathering, the Alpha Psi Chapter par tnered with the Growing Healthy Families Coordinator, Kimberly King, and the Parents as Teachers staff at Branson Primary School to provide a dual purpose workshop. The first objective was to provide a learning environment for the parents and caregivers of children in the area that experience issues with sensory processing. The second objective was to offer childcare so the par-ents and caregivers were able to have time to learn ways to help their children, while knowing they were just doors away hav-ing a safe and fun experience. Workshop leaders, Sharon Jones and Cyndi Hall spoke with the parents and care givers explaining how to use certain items to achieve the desired results. The leaders were able to provide examples of items parents could make at home to ease transitions and assist with sensory integration, while saving money by doing it themselves. Parents and caregivers were able to ask questions of the experts and learn more about why their children have certain reactions to certain settings or situations. Par-ents and caregivers ended the “show and tell” session of the workshop with a “make and take” option with all materials provided

for them by the chapter. During the parent presentation, other members played with the children in the gymnasium. Mem-ber, Danita Frazier, planned musi-cal games, balloon toss games, brought along hula hoops, and en-gaged the children and other mem-bers in a fun time. Eventually, the big cars, tractors, wagons, and bikes were introduced and the chil-dren spent the remainder of their play time riding circles around the

room while singing along to music. Members were able to introduce children to one another, work on socialization skills (especially learning to share their favorite rides), and give the children an op-portunity to run freely to expend some energy. After play time, the children moved to a smaller space to enjoy a snack and cool down time. Such fun was had by all! Chapter members’ hearts were warmed by families searching for answers and getting a helping hand along the

way through the partnership that day. “It was an honor to share joint-hosting duties with such a knowl-edgeable group of professionals,” shared member Danita Frazier. The chapter looks forward to building a lasting relationship with Mrs. King and coor-dinating additional events in the future. This group has unfortu-nately lost funding to be able to continue such events, but organizer Kimberly King plans to reach out to Alpha Psi chapter upon finalization of changes in her role and involvement with this particu-lar group.