Volume 5, Issue 1

Delta Kappa Gamma Society International South Dakota Newsletter

November, 2013

President’s Message...

www.deltakapagamma.net

www.dkg.dsu.edu

Alpha Pi-State

Welcome to a new biennium in Alpha Pi State! Our theme for the

2013-2015 Biennium is Walking and Growing Together - Through the Ages

and the Stages.

Alpha Pi State is an organization of women educators committed to

"Walk Together" for the ultimate goal - the benefit of our students! We need

to walk and grow together in all areas - old and new ideas; old and new tech-

niques; veteran teachers and new teachers; administrators and teachers;

teachers and parents. How can we walk and grow together in all these areas?

By communicating with one another, sharing ideas, listening to one another,

helping one another, and treating one another with respect. While we do all

of these things we all need to remember what the ultimate goal is: the bene-

fit of our students.

In Delta Kappa Gamma we have the perfect opportunity to communi-

cate with other educators, share ideas with them, and encourage one anoth-

er. In Alpha Pi State - South Dakota, as well as all the other state chapters

of DKG we have one thing in common - We all love DKG and realize how ben-

eficial it is to belong to DKG.

In this new biennium, let's all "get out there" and tell and show other

women educators what a joy and benefit it is to belong to DKG.

Barbara Naumann, Alpha Pi State President for the 2013-2015 Biennium

Convention Highlights 2013

The 2013 State Convention theme was “To Tell a Story” with International Speaker Bar-

bara Whiting as guest. Convention attendance was 53, slightly down from previous years.

This year included the Women in Arts Program and there were over 30

entries representing all categories. Workshops that day included talks

by the International Speaker, Barbara

Whiting, Fiber Works by Rose Descamps,

Epsilon, and Book Binding by Aliza Rux.

Tours included the Dakota Prairie Muse-

um, Ben Victor Sculpture Studio, Arts in

the Park and Storybook Land.

Margaret Lyons was honored with the 2013 Achievement Award. Order of the Rose re-

cipients that attended the convention included: Bev Day, Delta, Carol Sheldon, Epsilon,

Lois Sollie, Epsilon, and Donna Reidburn, Kappa.

The Ceremony of Remem-

brance honored five Delta

Kappa sisters (Betty

Driskill, Iota, Alberta

Hand, Alpha, Ramona

Freitag, Vesta Hanson and Verdella Hinds, all of Epsi-

lon, and one honorary state member, Alice Kundert.

The 2013-2015 state officers were installed: Barb Naumann, President, Millie Horter,1st

VP, Nora Grosz, 2nd VP, Carol King, Secretary and Dawn Rux, Corresponding Secretary.

Eta Chapter has invited all to go for a ‘sweet time’ at the U in Vermillion in 2014. See you

there!

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The 2013 Alpha Pi State Achievement Award Recipient Mrs. Margaret Lyons Xi Chapter Yankton, SD Margaret was initiated into Xi Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International in 1976. She has served positions of leader-ship at chapter and state levels. She has held all offices and served on all committees at the chapter level. She has served on the World Fellowship, Scholarship, and Finance Committees at the state level. She has held some of these positions for more than one term. Margaret taught one year at Mount Marty High School and 25 years in the Yankton Public School System. She and her husband also raised four sons, Will, Sean, David, and Derek, during this time. Margaret has been very active in her community. She co-founded the Yankton Children’s Choir in 1994. She has worked with vari-ous other church groups and choirs. Both she and her husband Jack have volunteered with various community organizations, in-cluding Keep Yankton Beautiful, the Cramer-Kenyon Heritage Home, the Lewis and Clark Theatre Company, Habitat for Human-ity, Yankton Retired Teachers, nursing homes and various other entities. In 2004, Jack & Margaret received the Yankton Area Arts Advocate Award, in 2009 they were chosen as Yankton’s Citizens of the Year, and in 2013, they were both inducted into the Yank-ton High School Fine Arts Hall of Fame. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alpha Pi State honors Mrs. Margaret Lyons with the presentation of

The 2013 ALPHA PI STATE ACHIEVEMNET AWARD

Since Margaret was unable to attend the Alpha Pi State Convention in Aberdeen, due to health issues, a group of members from Xi, Delta, Eta, and Tau gathered for lunch at Minerva’s in Yankton on June 25 and surprised Margaret with the presentation of the award.

Keitha Neuharth presented the Achievement Award to Margaret in Yankton, on June 25, 2013.

What keeps the Golden Gift Fund Committee buzzing?

The Leadership Management Seminar! Golden Gift Fund Committee members have spread the word of the Leadership Management Seminar (LMS) like effective and busy bees through regional conference workshops, newsletters, emails to state presidents, state editors, and chapter presidents. Crossing five regions to touch every member’s life, this Golden Gift Award opportunity is stronger with your par-ticipation as advocate and/or applicant. The Committee expects that members will be drawn to the Leadership Management Seminar as sure as flowers draw bees! When you listen and hover closely, you can hear the positive buzz and see the powerful impact that the seminar has had on the networking and unity of the current DKG membership. The seminar will strengthen and fine-tune your professional skills in negotiation, professional image, personality and management style, communication and style flexing, leadership, and management across generations. Here’s the sweet deal: A $6,000 opportunity for $500! Yes, it is true. Thirty DKG members may receive a Golden Gift Award for the two-week residential learning experience at The University of Texas – Austin from June 29 – July 11, 2014. Taught by world-renowned faculty, the instruction is off-the charts! Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are earned for recertification or to enhance your professional portfolio. As with the bees, timing and action are everything. NOW is the time for emerging leaders to APPLY for the 2014 Leadership Management Seminar. The KEY is to have been a member for three years and submit the completed application by DECEM-BER 1, 2013, at www.dkg.org. The promise of the Golden Gift Fund sponsored Leadership Management Seminar is the promise of a positive and life-changing experience: a real buzz.

Membership Profiles Need to be Completed

Alpha Pi members are reminded that they need to complete the Member Profile (form 50) and provide the

information to their chapter Membership Chairperson, so that the Membership Chairs are able to complete

the Chapter Profile form and submit it by January 2014 to Nita Scott, the DKG International Membership

Services Administrator. The form is available on the DKG International website or contact Millie Horter,

the Alpha Pi State Membership Chairperson, for more information.

Thanks for all you do,

Millie Horter, Alpha Pi 1st Vice President

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Northwest Region Pre-Conference Membership Report

In July 2013, Millie Horter (Alpha Pi 1st Vice-President) attended a Northwest Region Pre-Conference Member-

ship Training Workshop in Cheyenne, WY.

Each attendee was provided statistically information concerning her state. South Dakota’s membership experi-

enced the same fate of declining membership as did all states and provinces

From 2007 to 2012, SD experienced a drop of 386 members

But in that time period

139 individuals were initiated

73 were reinstated

58 deaths

All regions experienced a drop in memberships ranging from 21% to 28% with only the European Region

experiencing an increase of 9% in membership

Ways to possibly increase membership:

Ask members to complete the member profile on the International website

International will establish chapter and state profiles

Ask members what they want

Contact former members to invite them to reinstate

Send newsletters to former members

Have a guest night

Think outside the box in recruiting new members

Look to the nursing profession

EMT trainers

Girls Scout leaders

Private music lessons

4-H & Extension leaders

Individuals who teach real estate classes

Culinary Arts

Museum curators

What has the Society done for the 14 chapters in Alpha Pi State?

Provided scholarships

Provided training through Golden Gift

Provided training for State officers at region conferences

Provided Emergency Fund ---$500

Continued on next page….

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The Northwest Region collects more than other region conferences when a collection is taken at the

conference---even though the Northwest Region is the smallest in membership of the 4 confer-

ences in the United States

The representative from Spokane, Washington shared that her chapter planned events with an Idaho chapter, and

the experience proved to be beneficial to both groups. During the Northwest Regional Conference, Millie Horter

extended an invitation to representatives from northwest Iowa to attend a Mu Chapter meeting in Sioux Falls and

to the Alpha Pi State Convention on June 6 & 7, 2014 in Vermillion, SD. The Iowa members were interested in

attending both and especially the Alpha Pi State Convention since Iowa’s state convention will be held in the east-

ern part of Iowa in 2014.

DKG has

nurtured

encouraged

provided leadership training

given the opportunity to network

given the opportunity volunteer

given the opportunity to meet wonderful people

and to travel.

By attending the Alpha Pi State Convention, the Northwest Region, and the DKG International Convention,

members are exposed to the BIG picture of what the organization represents and provides for us as educators in

our professional and personal lives.

Millie Horter

Apha Pi 1st Vice President

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Scholarship Committee Report:

While we are into a new school year, we also need to check into the scholarship/ hostel-

ship opportunities offered by the state and international organization. Many members

have taken at least six hours of credit and the available scholarships make it worth

checking into. Travel can be partially funded by hostelships. The state scholarships/

hostelship applications and information are available on the state website

at: www.dkg.dsu.edu.

Deadlines are important and sneak up quickly. State scholarship applications are due

Feb. 1 and hostelships due April 15.

It is especially important to promote the International Scholarship Application which is

due February 1. Up to 30 scholarships may be awarded annually. The scholarship

amount is $6,000 for Master Degree candidates and, new this biennium, $10,000 for

Doctoral Degree candidates.

Criteria and scholarship applications are available on the Society website at

www.dkg.org. On the website, click on Committees, then under the category Society Mis-

sion and Purposes, click on Scholarships for information and the interactive application.

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Mu: The committee selected Joanne Dankey as the Order of the Rose recipient for 2013. Since she was unable to attend the Alpha Pi State Convention in Aber-deen, SD, she was presented with the certificate on June 25th at the Annual Mu Chapter Rummage Sale.

On the left: Elizabeth Wood, Millie Horter, Joanne Dankey, Glenyta Hanson,

Phyllis Schrag, Deb Bukrey, Jean Eidsness, and Sherri Alvey took a moment from

setting up for the annual rummage sale to congratulate Joanne Dankey. The

rummage sale was delayed one day due to the forecast but was still a huge suc-

cess raising $1899.48 for Educating South Sudan through Education. Large,

small, new, old, and baked goods----something for everyone was available at the

annual Mu Chapter rummage sale.

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Eta Chapter: The Eta chapter of DKG held their September 9th pool party meeting at Sharon Hanson’s backyard pool area, socializing and eating our meal of favorite fast food items we each picked up before the meeting. The new year-books were gone over, and updating of addresses, phone numbers, and email done. Our new committees for the State Convention were formed and after reg-ular business was taken care of, the rest of the meeting was spent discussing plans for the convention. The convention will be held in the Trinity Lutheran Church in Vermillion, the first weekend in June—June 6th and 7th. We are excited to greet many members to our little city, and hope to make it an enjoyable time for all. Our October meeting was at St. Agnes school where our hostesses served a healthy fresh veggie pizza, nuts and water, as part of their school’s healthy initia-tive (with a little bit of corn candy to give us energy!) We were proud to present Dr. Orla Christensen and Dr. Joan England their Order of the Rose certificates, since they were unable to attend the Aberdeen convention. They have been loy-al members and supporters of DKG since 1970! We then had our business meeting and continued discussion of State Convention preparations. Joyce Zim-mer’s program explaining the O.L.L.I. program for adult learners was very in-formative and many of us plan to take the classes this year.

Lambda: The annual Silent Auction was held at the October meeting with ap-proximately $400.00 raised to contribute to the DKG Scholarship at Dakota State University. Members enjoyed bidding on items such as holiday decora-tions, homemade jams and jellies, home décor, flavored spirits, wine, and tickets to shows at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls. In November, the group met at the new Head Start facility in Madison for a tour and presentation.

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Epsilon:

Members of Epsilon Chapter attended the 2013 Alpha Pi State Convention: front row: Dianne Larson, Nora Grosz, Rose DesCamps,

Leann Fredrickson, Kathy Webb, back row: Carol Sheldon, Colleen Wallien, Kathy Heffernan, Mary Arndt, Mary Beth Kelly, Dawn Rux,

Kathy DeGroot, Cindi Ostrander, Marie Schumacher, Kathy Hinderks, Laura Kramp. Epsilon had the privilege of hosting this past year’s convention.

Becky from Safe Harbor explains the purpose and procedures at the domestic abuse shelter at our September meeting. Members donated items to the shelter as a service project. Each month Epsilon members will donate to a nonprofit service organiza-tion such as Safe Harbor, Auxiliary Guest House, Salvation Army, SPURS, and the Aberdeen Humane Society.

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Epsilon members assisted the American Association of Uni-versity Women with the sorting and marking of donat-ed books. The sale was held October 11-13. Our share of the sales goes to the NSU Foundation for two scholarships for edu-cation majors.

Leann Fredrickson attempts to fig-ure out the use of an antique object brought by Sherri Rawstern, mem-ber, from the Dacotah Prairie Muse-um.

Lora Schanamann, resident artist and archivist, enter-tained the group with news about the events going on at the museum.

Marie Schumacher, longtime Epsilon member, was inducted into the Aberdeen Catholic School System Roncalli Hall of Fame. She recently retired after serving in education for 25 years.

Order of the Rose Recipients from Epsilon included Lois Sollie and Carol Sheldon. Congratulations!

Election process to be considered at 2014 International Convention

Members voting at the 2014 International Convention will consider proposed amendments that determine

whether to continue with our current process of delegate voting or to institute a general election that allows

every member to vote in the election of Administrative Board and elected committee members.

All members in attendance at the convention vote on proposed amendments to the Constitution and the Inter-

national Standing Rules. Officers and elected committee members are currently elected by state organization

presidents who have one vote for every five active and reserve members. The state organization president

may cast all her states’ votes for a particular nominee or she may split her vote if there is more than one

nominee.

If the convention votes to allow every member to vote, all members will be able to vote for the members of

the Administrative Board. All members would vote for president, the vice presidents, the member-at-large,

and Finance Committee members while only members within a region will vote for their regional director and

regional representatives to the Nominations Committee. Only Latin American and Canadian members would

vote for their own area representative. Members would vote electronically or by requested paper ballot.

The Ad Hoc Elections Process Committee (EPC), approved by the 2012 Executive Board and appointed by Presi-

dent Dr. Beverly Helms, has researched costs, consulted the Finance Committee, studied the nominations pro-

cess, communicated with members, and solicited member input via Survey Monkey and at regional confer-

ences.

Various vending companies have submitted estimated costs of an electronic election ranging between $15,000

and $25,000 per election. The 2012-2014 Finance Committee is aware of the possibility of an every member

voting election process. If the change is approved, the 2014-2016 Finance Committee will have the task of

budgeting for the new voting process.

The ad hoc committee submitted to the Constitution Committee proposed amendments that would make a

general election possible. The convention has the final authority whether to approve or disapprove proposed

amendments. The decision rests with the vote of the 2014 convention.

Go to www.dkg.org to find more information about a general election and the full results of surveys taken in 2013 on the Ad Hoc DKG Election Process Committee page. The members of the ad hoc DKG Election Process Committee are Dr. Carolyn Rants, chair, Iowa; Alice Carrier, Vermont; Aurora Vgnau De Zambrano, Nuevo Leon, Mexico; Carolyn Pittman, Arkansas, International First Vice President; Dr. Sigrun Klara Hannesdottir, Iceland; Dr. Helen Popovich, Michigan, International Constitution Committee Chair; Dr. Beverly Helms, Florida, International President; Jean Gray, Mary-land, International Parliamentarian; Nita Scott, Headquarters Liaison.

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Announcements:

SAVE THE DATE….

2014 Alpha Pi State Convention

June 6-7, 2014

Vermillion, SD

Scholarship Information is now available on the Alpha Pi State Website

www.dkg.dsu.edu.

The new Educational Foundation website may be visited at www.dkgef.org.

Volume 5, Issue 1 Page 14

Theresa Weigel, Editor theresa.weigel@k12.sd.us 605/996-1591 Crystal Pauli, Webmaster crystal.pauli@dsu.edu 605/636-9323

Alpha Pi State

Newsletter

Contacts:

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included in the newsletter, and/or information included on the state

website.

I _______________________ give the Alpha Pi Editor and

Webmaster permission to use my picture, name, and contact

information in the Alpha Pi State Newsletter, as well as on the

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