Our meeting will feature Barbara Gibson, Associate Director of The Literacy Institute at VCU. She will tell us about both the Institute and the Foundation.

In 1986, Jeanne Baliles, then the first lady of Virginia, took adult literacy as her project during her husband’s term as governor. Her initial findings led her to found the Virginia Literacy Foundation, which provided both financial assistance and professional support to community based literacy organizations across the state. In 2002, the Foundation expanded its function by establishing a partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University to form The Literacy Institute, in order to do necessary research and expand its focus to encompass literacy across the lifespan. Currently, The Literacy Institute has three major grants: one to continue professional development statewide to adult education providers; two other grants are for Early Reading First; and a fourth program provides online learning for those wishing to gain literacy skills through that medium.

Through its innovative programs, The Literacy Institute is establishing a national reputation in its work against illiteracy. Join us on March 11 to hear from our very interesting speaker how the organization has developed and what headway it is making.

Marcia Phillips
March Program Coordinator

With many thanks to the members of our nominating committee Susana Hernandez-Kurtulus, Gina Turner and Pat Mallahan, for their diligent effort, the following slate of officers is presented to the branch:

President: no candidate
Vice President, Programs: no candidate
Communications Chair: DeAnn Hubicsak

Nominations will be accepted from the floor with the caveat that the nominee must agree in advance. Self nomination is encouraged. Step up and join the team to lead our branch through the next 2 years. Without leadership, will we have a branch?

Meet the nominee for Communications Chair:

DeAnn earned a B.A. in English, French and Secondary Education at Carson-Newman College and an M.A. in English at Virginia Tech. Her career include stints teaching both high school and college courses in English, technical writing, and communications. She was subsequently employed by the Virginia Employment Commission and by the Virginia Department of Social Services. She currently serves in a policy and grants management position.

A member of our Bon Air branch since 2003, DeAnn has previously served as Program Vice President. She is the enthusiastic coordinator of the Book Group and especially enjoys "discussing intelligent books with intelligent people."

Kathy Kelley
Hospitality Chair

Our annual meeting, held in March, is the time when we elect officers for the next 2 year term, in this case 2008-10, fix dues for the next year, amend bylaws if necessary, receive reports of the branch officers and committees, and conduct other business as may be necessary.

For the elections this year, a nominating committee of 3 members has worked diligently to prepare a slate of candidates for the positions of President, Vice President, Programs, and Communications Chair for the vote of the membership at this meeting. You saw the results of their effort here in the newsletter and will also see them in an email. Of special note is that nominations may be made from the floor at the time of the election on March 11, provided that the person nominated has agreed. This definitely opens the door for self nomination – because as you will see, we do not have candidates for all the positions. Please look deeply into your pile of commitments and see if there is room in there for this very important role in service to the branch. Seriously consider a board position – we can’t do it without you!!! And the fun part is that we can be very creative with the structure of the positions– we can have committees, coordinators, and “co”s. Let’s talk!!!

Hampton Roads District Meeting – so glad that we went! Kathy Kelley, Susana Hernandez-Kurtulus and I attend the February 9 district meeting in Newport News. Two things were of particular interest to me. The first was that it was the first time I have had a scholarly presentation about Bjork and feminism, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and the second was to hear from others that we are all struggling with the same leadership and attracting new member issues. The evolution of AAUW is a long, complicated process…

Mary Farrell
Branch president

We’re a great branch. And to stay that way we need your input. The board has put together a document based on the member survey from Association (that I hope you did complete and submit) that asks questions and seeks responses specifically for our branch. We plan to get that document to you early in March. You can then print it and bring it with you to the March Annual Meeting where it will be collected, the responses collated, and the results available and discussed at the April branch meeting on April 8 – it should be a positively interesting discussion!!! If you are unable to attend the March meeting you can return the survey to me – either as an attachment or via snail mail – by March 28. The results will be anonymous – meaning that you will not see a line for your name on the document and your name will not be linked to the responses – unless you wish it to be so! –and if you prefer that it be truly anonymous, you can send it via US Postal Service and I promise I will not know who sent it. Once again — we can’t do it without you!

Mary Farrell
Branch President

The board had approved a wonderful incentive for one of our branch members to attend the state convention in April in Roanoke. The cost of the registration – if you register by April 1 – and the cost of the luncheon and the dinner can be covered by a grant of $107.00. We sincerely hope that more than one member will attend, and if that is the case, the incentive can be used in alternative ways – for example to car pool to cover the expense of gas. The branch has 2 voting delegates to the convention – and I must submit that form no later than March 30 - -so do let me, Mary Farrell, know ASAP if you will be attending – and we’ll take it from there! (mfarrell@richmond.edu or me.farrell@comcast.net)

Follow these links for convention information, which will also be in the Spring Edition of the Vision.
http://http://www.aauwofva.org/convention08.htm
http://www.aauwofva.org/convenregform.pdf

That was my purpose in attending a recent networking luncheon hosted by New Ventures, New Visions Business Center. (New Ventures, New Visions is the local nonprofit organization that mentors women entrepreneurs. Its programs were spotlighted at our January program at the Tuckahoe Library.)

The 14 attendees at the luncheon were a promising demographic group - - women (and one man) ranging in age from late 20's to early 40's. Their businesses covered a range also- - commercial cleaning service, jewelry design, information technology, tax preparation, graphic design, real estate, and more.

The attendees were very open to my "pitch" about AAUW and the Bon Air branch. (They loved AAUW's connection with Marie Curie.) And they were particularly interested in the study grants we fund and the opportunities we offer to lobby both state and national government representatives.

I distributed a Bon Air membership brochure to each person and emphasized our branch, state, and national AAUW web sites.

Now, let's hope this networking effort lands some new members.

50% DUES DISCOUNT for new members until MARCH 15 ! That's $33.00 for membership from now to June 30.

Pat Mallahan
V.P. Membership

The theme for April is home cooking, using cookbooks by churches and other groups. April 5, 2008, 7 pm, at the home of Connie and Ray Sorrell. Co-hosts are Maggie and Glen King. For more information call Connie at: 794-8547

The first thing you need to know about Gina Turner is that her first name is pronounced J-E-N-N-A. She appreciates it when people make the effort to get it right, although she is understanding about mispronunciations.

Though born in Mobile, Alabama, Gina grew up in the Peninsula area of Virginia. Surrounded by a family of educators, Gina was sure she did NOT want to become one herself. In fact, from an early age, she was intrigued by government and political science. Her interest was deepened by a seventh-grade social studies teacher who presented some radical ideas that forced Gina and her classmates to think for themselves.

So, even before high school, Gina knew she wanted to join the State Department's Foreign Service. After all, it offered the combination of public service and international travel. Gina landed a position as a researcher in a Pentagon work-study degree program in which she earned her B.S.S. in International Relations at American University. But then reality bit. One had to be age 27 to qualify for an overseas foreign service posting! Gina was too young.

Gina coped by joining the Navy. She was posted to San Francisco to the Air Intelligence School. Her two-year stint was highlighted by her marriage to Dale, a fellow naval officer. Becoming pregnant soon cut short Gina's naval career...because that was standard policy. Dale's career took them to New York City at a time when Gina had the foresight to realize that computers were "the wave of the future." As career insurance, she enrolled in a master's degree program in Library Information Science at Pratt Institute. She later spearheaded the coordination of central processing for Virginia Beach schools. That success led to positions managing the process of automating the school system libraries in both Portsmouth and Alexandria.

When she has some leisure, Gina enjoys reading mysteries and traveling with a group of friends who have taken 44 trips during the past 20 years ... so many that they are now creating a travel scrapbook that may go into multiple volumes. Gina, of course, is in the thick of it.

Pat Mallahan
V.P. Membership

State Lobby day was a hit with branch members Kathy Kelley, Katherine Gallagher, and Pat Mallahan. Read on…

“Our group attended the AAUW Lobby Day on Capital Hill on February 14th. When we arrived we were very surprised to see how much they celebrate Valentine’s Day. There were fresh flowers, banners, crepe paper and candy everywhere in the General Assembly Building.

To start the day we had a short meeting with Becki Bronson, State Public Policy Chair, for updates and then went to the Senate Health and Education Committee. Many bills and resolutions from the House were considered in this first session after crossover day.

Next, over coffee we planned our strategy for visiting the delegates to discuss our talking points on the following education bills:

§ HB118 requires each public institution of higher learning to report to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia the steps it is taking to ensure academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas.

§ HJ 90 recommends that all public schools encourage all students to study Math, Science and Technology.

§ HJ 91 establishes a joint subcommittee to study the partnership of Virginia's public and private institutions of Higher education to address the Commonwealth's education and workforce needs.

§ SB 44 allows local school boards to establish after school programs designed for at-risk students.

The Bon Air contingent decided that we would go as a group with Becki, and we talked to many legislative assistants who all agreed to give our information to their delegates. At noon Pat and Kathy went to the House Session in the Capital and Becki and Laura Wimmer went to the Senate. One of the highlights was our introduction from the House Gallery as representatives of AAUW. Many House Delegates expressed personal views about certain bills and a number of science awards were presented to several men and a woman. There was a very lively exchange about the Governor’s education cuts and the failure to pass any anti-smoking laws.

We all adjourned for lunch at the Tobacco Company where we were joined by Joey Gallagher, Laura Wimmer, Nancy Joyner and her son Clayton, a student at VCU. It was fun and educational as always.”

Kathy Kelley

Bon Air AAUW Book Group normally meets on the third Thursday of each month; however, we have changed our March schedule because of Maundy Thursday. We will meet at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 27. All Bon Air members and their guests are welcome.

In observance of Women’s History Month in March, we’ll discuss DESERT QUEEN: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell – Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia, by Janet Wallach, a biography of the woman who was instrumental in creating the nation of Iraq and, indirectly, was the catalyst for many of the troubles in today’s Middle East, including the 1991 Gulf War and the current conflict. Dori Buckley will lead our discussion, which is sure to be enlightening.

Our meeting place for March has not been finalized, so please contact DeAnn Hubicsak at DeAnn.Hubicsak@dss.virginia.gov or call 233-5352 for the location. Also contact DeAnn if you would like to be included on the book group mailing list.

Please check our Branch Website for an updated list of books we’ll be reading from now through July. Click here: http://aauwbonairva.org/book selections 2008.html, or go to the Bon Air Website at http://aauwbonairva.org. Click on the Interest Groups link.

DeAnn Hubicsak
Book Group Coordinator

March 11

Literacy in Virginia
Speaker: Barbara Gibson, Virginia Literacy Foundations and Institute
Annual Business Meeting and election of officers for 2008 - 2010
Tuesday Bon Air Library 7:30 pm

April 11-13 Sunday ***See Contents - Convention News for an incentive

State Convention and Leadership Workshops
Convention focus: Leadership, A Delicate Balance Roanoke, VA. Friday-Saturday.

April 8

Program: Who Are We and Where to We Want to Be – Our Branch ID Bon Air Library,Tuesday 7:30 pm

May 6, Tuesday

Annual Banquet and Installation of Officers
“What do you intend to do with the rest of your life?”
Speaker: Rita Ricks.
Tuesday Positive Vibe Café, 6:30 pm

June

Crossover – “Old Board / New Board” and planning session
Date, Location, Time: TBA

Be sure to visit our branch website at http://aauwbonairva.org. You will find a great list of resources: the schedule for the branch book group and the gourmet group; a page of links guiding you to information about government, reproductive rights, literature, libraries, books; current and archived copies of the branch newsletter; information on membership, public policy, Education Foundation, Legal Advocacy Fund, Eleventh House, and much, much more.

Comments or suggestions? Contact Jane Newell at jane.newell@comcast.net.
Jane Newell
Webmaster

AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research.
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AAUW Website http://www.aauw.org
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