Minutes of the Student Representatives’ Meeting Collegiate School Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 4:15

Schools in Attendance:  Chapin, Hewitt, Marymount, Nightingale, and Spence. Representing the JSA Board were Carmen Knoepffler and Monique Pettit. Laura Hansen, Head of Collegiate Upper School was also present.
Project Safe Haven: This successful event took place on Saturday, April 5, 2008. There were 27 students from 7 different schools who walked the Upper East and Upper West Sides to sign up stores to volunteer for the Safe Haven programs of the Parents League and Westside Crime Prevention.  They also talked to existing store participants to ensure continued participation. Students met at the Nightingale-Bamford cafeteria for training and had pizza and water. Community service certificates were given for four hours of service.  Students liked the event and would like to see it repeated next year in the fall. Rejections were not as many as expected.  Many stores took the information to give to their managers, who were not there on Saturday.  Food stores were especially receptive, more than clothing stores.  To get more students to volunteer on the West Side, it was suggested that this event be held at a school on the West Side next fall.
Independent Voices:  Flyer was distributed to publicize event.  Invite school newspapers, teachers and friends to attend. The anthology is printed and the readers have been selected by the English teachers.  We have readers from 15 schools.   There will also be an open microphone for those other students who are not scheduled but would like to read their poetry. Independent Voices will be on Friday, April 25, 2008, at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Center.
Independent Visions: Flyer was distributed.  Independent Visions is an exhibition of original student photographs from JSA member schools. It will start with an opening reception on Friday, May 9, 2008 from 5-7 pm and continue Saturday, May 10, 2008 from 12-4 pm at Aicon Gallery, 206 Fifth Avenue, 5th floor (between 26th and 27th  Streets).  Photos need to be submitted by Monday, May 5 to Evianne Cowing ecowing@hotmail.com (email her with questions). 11 schools signed up to participate.
Ideas for Next Year: Do an athletic event and donate some of the proceeds to God’s Love We Deliver. Participate in the Midnight Run. Repeat Project Safe Haven in the fall.
The next meeting is Thursday, May 15 at Dwight at 4:15 pm - the Performing Arts Studio at 291 Central Park West.
Submitted by C.Knoepffler
Back to Top

Minutes of the Student Representatives’ Meeting Marymount School Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 4:15

Schools in Attendance:  Hewitt, Marymount, Nightingale, and Spence. Representing the JSA Board were Carmen Knoepffler, Evianne Cowing, Diane Discenza and Ritu Banga.  Kathy Howard, a Marymount parent rep, and Donna Pylyp, a member of the Marymount faculty, were also present.

Service Saturday: This year Service Saturday, on February 2, 2008, was a great success! There were 70 students from 11 different schools who made birthday cards for God’s Love We Deliver. JSA also made over 450 candy bags for Yorkville Common Pantry on Service Saturday. We also put together a Valentine’s Day “Party in the Box” for teenage dialysis patients at Mt.Sinai.

Project Safe Haven: From 11:30 am to 3:30 pm on Saturday April 5, 2008 students from JSA will be going to different stores on the Upper West and East Sides of Manhattan to ask store owners to put Safe Haven stickers in their windows that let students know that if they are feeling threatened they can go into the store and use the telephones or simply wait inside the store until they feel more comfortable. Students will be meeting at the Nightingale-Bamford School and as many volunteers as possible are needed. E-mail the JSA community service coordinator, Ms. Cowing, with your list of people attending. Get your list of volunteers in before spring break if possible. No jeans and T-shirts please. FOUR HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN!

Independent Voices: English teachers select student poetry and submit to JSA. There will also be open microphone, poetry readings and a published anthology. Independent Voices will be on Friday, April 25, 2008 at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Center.

Independent Visions: Independent Visions is an exhibition of original student photographs from JSA member schools.  It will be held in late April or early May, location to be announced soon. Photos need to be submitted 1 week prior to the event. Photographs can be black & white or color, matte or glass, 8 X 11 inches. The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 4, 2008.

Be sure to send flyers for upcoming events at your school to JSA’s Corresponding Secretary, Monique Pettit for posting on the website!

The next meeting is Thursday, April 17 at Collegiate at 4:15 pm
Submitted by Katie Z., The Marymount School
Back to Top

Minutes of Student Representatives’ Meeting The Browning School Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 4:15

Schools in Attendance:  Browning, Calhoun, Chapin, LaScuola, Marymount, Sacred Heart, and Spence.

Mr. James Reynolds, Head of Upper School, and Brandon Snead, Volunteer Specialist, God’s Love We Deliver, were also in attendance.  Representing the JSA Board were Carmen Knoepffler, Monique Pettit and Diane Discenza

Presentation about the mission of God’s Love We Deliver
The guest speaker, Brandon Snead, showed a moving and informative 10-minute video about the important work of GLWD.  He explained that the organization delivers homemade, nutritious meals to people who are chronically ill and too sick to shop and cook for themselves; people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other serious illnesses.  We will be making birthday cards for their clients as part of Service Saturday.  These cards will be distributed, along with birthday cakes, throughout the year.

Students asked about other volunteer opportunities with God’s Love.  Right now, you have to be 18 to work in their kitchen, but other possibilities include making emergency food supply kits and gift bags for Thanksgiving and the December holidays.  Brandon will keep us posted as to future opportunities. 

To learn more about God’s Love and view the video shown, visit their website at www.glwd.org  

Service Saturday 
Feb. 2nd at Columbia Prep from 1-4.  Browning agreed to take photographs, and La Scuola d’Italia agreed to provide music.  Volunteers who signed up to make games for the teenage hemodialysis patients at Mt. Sinai were from Spence and Calhoun. 

Please post flyers, make announcements, and get as many volunteers as you can to come!

Student Fund-raisers
Schools reported on their plans to help raise funds to underwrite Service Saturday and the Holiday Carnival which took place in Nov.  Marymount held a candy-o-gram event; Spence, LaScuola and Sacred Heart have bake sales planned; Chapin and LaScuola will be doing dress-down days; and Browning will donate the proceeds from a coffeehouse.

Next Meeting: Thursday, Feb. 21st at Marymount at 4:15.
 
Note: The March student meeting has been cancelled so please make every effort to attend the Feb. meeting.Submitted by Diane Discenza
Back to Top

Minutes of Student Representatives’ Meeting Columbia Grammar and Prep Thursday, December, 13, 2007, 4:15

Schools in attendance:  Brearley, Browning, Chapin, Columbia Prep, La Scuola, Marymount, Nightingale, Sacred Heart, and Spence. 

Sue Kilmer, Head of Upper School, and Patti Schackett, Community Service Advisor, were also in attendance.

Holiday Carnival Publicity
An article and photographs publicizing the recent success of the Holiday Carnival was sent to all students reps.  Reps are encouraged to place an article in their school newspaper, intranet etc.  It’s a great way to raise awareness of JSA within your school.

Student Fund-raisers
Schools reported on their planned activities to raise money for Service Saturday and the recent Holiday Carnival.  These include: Marymount, candy-grams; Chapin, dress-down day; Browning, coffeehouse; Spence, bake sale.

Service Saturday
Will take place Saturday, Feb. 2nd from 1-4 in the cafeteria at Columbia Prep.  We’ll be making Valentine candy bags for clients of Yorkville Common Pantry and festive cards for clients of God’s Love We Deliver.  The possibility of making artwork for a pediatric ward at Mt. Sinai is also being explored.  Flyers will be distributed shortly.  Make announcements and get as many students as possible to come!  Community service hours will be given. Student volunteers are needed to take pictures and play music.  Please let Diane Discenza, Student Committee Chair, know if you are interested.

Safe Haven Program
This community service event has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 5th, rain or shine.  Students will spread out in teams over the Upper East Side to update the list of stores who participate in the program. In the event of rain, everyone will be given instructions and have two weeks to complete the project on their own. 

JSA Tee-Shirts
A committee has been formed to help design a JSA tee-shirt that can be sold at events.  A parent rep will be coordinating the effort.  More info to follow.

Athletic Event
We are having trouble finding a gym that is available on a Saturday afternoon.  The Brearley Field House is booked Saturdays through May.  It was decided that Sundays wouldn’t work, and that May is too busy with SAT, AP, and Final Exams.  We’ll start to explore dates for the 2008/9 academic year now – lots of lead time and advance planning are needed to make it a success.

Independent Voices
Will take place Friday, April 25th at Barnes and Noble, Lincoln Center.  Mailings have been sent to the English departments at each school.  Alert your poetry club to the event and date. 

Next Meeting: Thursday, January 17th, 4:15 at The Browning School, 52 E. 62nd St.

Submitted by Diane Discenza
Back to Top

Minutes of Student Representatives’ Meeting The Spence School Thursday, November 15, 2007, 4:15 pm

Schools in Attendance: Brearley, Collegiate, Columbia Grammar, Dwight, Marymount, Nightingale and Spence
The board wanted to thank everyone for a wonderful job at the Holiday Carnival.

1. 11 Schools had booths, and 45 students attend. There were also 35 Mission Society kids who attended.
2. Student reps will be sent pictures and a short paragraph about the event, and it is requested that these be sent to your school newspapers to help spread awareness of JSA.
3. We want feedback! What worked well? What could have been improved? One suggestion was to only have one type of ticket, so the kids are not being judged on the activities.

The Safe Haven event had been cancelled due to rain.

1. Thanks to everyone who signed up. 60 students were registered.
2. April 5th is being considered for a possible date to reschedule, with April 12th as the back up. The question was posed whether we should use one of those dates, or have an earlier one in January or February. People for the most part favored the April dates. The other question posed was what to do in the event of another bad weathered day. The conclusion was drawn to gather everyone, and if the weather is not favorable, to give everyone instructions and have students complete the project on their own in a two week period.

This year, there is going to be a new Winter Service Event.

1. It is replacing Sandwich Saturday.
2. It will be on February 2nd from 12-4 PM at Columbia Prep. We will be making cards and decorating bags for clients of God’s Love We Deliver. An idea was raised to also include other projects in the event as well, and any ideas are welcomed and would be greatly appreciated.
3. We need to come up with a catchy name, so try and brainstorm some ideas before the next meeting.
4. Volunteers will be needed to play music and take pictures.
5. This event will require a lot of volunteers, so try to publicize this event to your upper school. Let your community service clubs know about this and try and spread the word.
6. More details to follow.

Other upcoming events include our annual Independent Voices and Visions.

1. Independent Voices is the annual poetry reading/anthology. This year, it will take place on Friday April 25th at Barnes and Nobles Lincoln Center. Mailings have already gone out to the English departments at each of the schools. Alert your poetry club to the event and date. We are looking for corporate/foundation sponsorship for the publication, and anyone interested is welcome to accompany Casey when she goes to The Foundation Center to research potential grant opportunities.
2. Independent Visions is the student photography exhibition that will take place in either April or May. More details to come.

We discussed the Distribute Budget for member schools.

1. School dues do not cover all expenses. The goal is for each school to raise $200 a piece.
2. Possible ideas include bake sales, dress-down days, and grants from student governments. If you have any other ideas that have worked well in the past, please share them so other schools can use them as well.

Every year, the idea of an athletic charity event gets brought up, and this year it is finally happening!

1. We are seeking a host school. Originally targeting a Friday night in January of February, however the suggestion was made to have it on a Saturday afternoon.
2. The proceeds will benefit a charity or charities of the students’ choice.
3. How do we make this event successful? Ideas included having faculty participate, relay races, varsity coaches vs. varsity teams, bets on who will win, interschool teams, all-star teams, school vs. school, half time entertainment, bake sales, raffles, shirts that say the event name and the cause, mascots competing, and potentially surprise entertainment. Some of the questions asked to help come up with these ideas were: what types of games/competitions should there be?  Some ideas….volleyball tournament, basketball throw, obstacle course…..what else? How can this raise $$?  Door admission, sponsorship of participants, raffles, sell JSA tee-shirts etc. What do you think will make kids want to come to this? What have you liked/disliked about these kinds of events in the past? Please continue to brainstorm these questions for the next meeting.

The idea for a Benefit at the end of the school year was suggested.

1. Idea is that maybe we can save all the proceeds from events throughout the year, and any extra money we raise, to throw a benefit, and donate all of the money raised through that to a benefit of the students’ choice.

For calendar updates, visit the JSA website at www.jointschoolsny.org   Remember to advertise your school’s events in the non-JSA calendar by sending us the information.

Submitted by Andrea Oran, The Spence School
Back to Top

Minutes of Student Representatives’ Meeting The Nightingale-Bamford School Thursday, September 27, 2007, 4:15 pm

Schools in Attendance: Brearley, Browning, Chapin, Collegiate, Dwight, La Scuola d’Italia, Marymount, Nightingale-Bamford, Riverdale and Spence.

JSA Board Members in Attendance: Carmen Knoepffler, President; Monique Pettit, Corresponding Secretary; Evianne Cowing, Community Service Coordinator; Diane Discenza, Student Committee Chair.

The Board Members welcomed students new and old.  Students were given a list of responsibilities for the year:

• Attend monthly meetings and participate in JSA sponsored events.
• Read and respond to minutes and e-mails.
• Generate ideas for community service, social and cultural/athletic events; get suggestions and feedback from classmates.
• Publicize JSA events within their school community via intranet, assemblies, newspaper, class meetings, flyers etc.
• Organize annual JSA fund-raiser within their school; bake sale, dress-down day etc.
• Communicate regularly with JSA Parent Reps, Divisional Head, and Faculty Advisor.

The proposed Calendar of Events for 2007/8 was reviewed. The first community service project of the year was presented, Project Safe Haven:

• Will take place on Saturday, Oct. 27th from 12-4 pm
• Students will meet at the Parent’s League of New York, 115 E. 82nd St.
• The purpose of the project is to recruit new stores and residential buildings to display a Safe Haven decal, which indicates that they welcome children who may feel threatened on the street to wait inside.
• Post flyer (coming soon) and publicize this event throughout your upper school.
• Sign-up in groups of two or three with your JSA rep by Oct. 22nd.

The annual Holiday Carnival for the children of the Mission Society’s after-school program will be held the afternoon of Saturday, Nov., 10th at Christ Church on Park Avenue:

• Each school must decide on a theme for their booth.  Fewer crafts and more athletic games are needed.  Be creative in coming up with ideas!   Come to the Oct. meeting with a booth in mind.
• Target audience is 3rd to 6th graders, with some older kids too.
• Prizes will be uniform and decided at the Oct. meeting.
• Start gathering volunteers now, with a target of 6-10 per school.

Other upcoming events include volunteering at Yorkville Common Pantry, Independent Visions (student photography exhibition) and Independent Voices (a published poetry anthology and poetry reading).  Sandwich Saturday will not be held this year because of the intense parent volunteer commitment and expense  Another event will replace this, perhaps an art-related event where students gather to make artwork and decorations for pediatric hospital wards and other charities. 

Students shared additional ideas for community service, which included:

• Midnight Run, www.midnightrun.org
• Hearts of Gold, www.hearts-of-gold.org
• Reach Out and Read, www.reachandread.org
• Youth Service Opportunities project (YSOP), www.ysop.org.

There was a discussion of possible inter-school social events.  Ideas included a Battle of the Improv/Accapella Groups and a Talent Show.

Browning will host a coffeehouse on Friday, Nov. 2nd.  All JSA member schools are invited to attend. .More details to follow.

For calendar updates, visit the JSA website at www.jointschoolsny.org   Remember to advertise your school’s events in the non-JSA calendar by sending us the information.

Submitted by Diane Discenza, Student Committee Chair
Back to Top