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MSBA great school resource [UPDATED]
Published 10:00am Wednesday, January 18, 2012 Updated 12:01pm Wednesday, January 18, 2012“Teamwork Dreamwork: Together We Can” was the theme of last week’s Minnesota School Board Association’s (MSBA) annual winter convention. Each year, many school board members attend this event —held at the Minneapolis Convention Center — to listen to keynote speakers, to learn and to share the latest trends and news in education.
This year’s conference was memorable for two reasons. The first reason was that our own board member, Matthew Lemke, was honored at the awards luncheon for 300 hours of MSBA training.
There were only a select few that were honored along with Matt for this level of service and dedication.
Matt has been on the Fergus Falls School Board for the past 12 years. He has served in many capacities, including chairperson and treasurer. Currently, he is serving on District Curriculum Committee, Finance Committee, Buildings and Grounds Committee and is the lead negotiator for the School Board.
The second reason this conference was memorable was because of the closing speaker, Steve Gilliland. Mr. Gilliland was as fine a speaker as I have ever heard.
Like all quality speakers, he told a great story, was enthusiastic, and made the audience laugh and cry.
It was an uplifting speech that allowed everyone to walk out with a positive attitude and a renewed commitment to public education.
I believe all in attendance would agree with the statement posted on Mr. Gilliland’s Web site, “Some people were born to take the stage when the stakes are the highest and when the audience expects the most. Steve Gilliland is one of those people.” As one newspaper affirms, he is what happens when the humor of Ron White collides with the inspiration of Zig Ziglar.
The MSBA Web site, www.mnsba.org, states that the purpose of the association is to support, promote and enhance the work of public school boards and public education. The Minnesota School Boards Association was founded in 1920 and is the eighth oldest school board organization in the United States.
The work of the Association is divided into six major divisions – Administration/Governance, Board Development/Training, Public Relations/Communications, Governmental Relations, Management Services, and Policy Services.
Our school district uses all of MSBA’s services — and relies heavily on the government relations’ piece, including lobbying of behalf of public education and the policy services. All of our policies are developed from the model policies written by MSBA.
Reminder: Outside
Facility Task Force
The Fergus Falls School District is inviting the public to participate in a newly formed Outdoor Facility Task Force. The purpose of the task force is to review proposed improvements to our outdoor facilities in order to provide a safe environment for our players and fans. The main focus of the task force will be the development of sites at Kennedy, Roosevelt and Cleveland schools.
The task force meetings are scheduled in the cafeteria at the Kennedy Secondary School from 5-6:30 p.m.. on the following Wednesdays: Jan. 18, Jan. 25, Feb. 1 and Feb. 8.
Feb. 15 will be used as an optional makeup date. Please park in the Friberg Parking Lot 5, walk up the concrete steps and enter through the main cafeteria doors.
“Teamwork Dreamwork: Together We Can” was the theme of last week’s Minnesota School Board Association’s (MSBA) annual winter convention. Each year, many school board members
attend this event – held at the Minneapolis Convention Center – to listen to keynote speakers, to
learn and to share the latest trends and news in education.
This year’s conference was memorable for two reasons. The first reason was that our own board
member, Matthew Lemke, was honored at the awards luncheon for 300 hours of MSBA training.
There were only a select few that were honored along with Matt for this level of service and
dedication.
Matt has been on the Fergus Falls School Board for the past 12 years. He has served in many
capacities, including chairperson and treasurer. Currently, he is serving on District Curriculum
Committee, Finance Committee, Buildings and Grounds Committee and is the lead negotiator for
the School Board.
The second reason this conference was memorable was because of the closing speaker, Steve
Gilliland. Mr. Gilliland was as fine a speaker as I have ever heard. Like all quality speakers, he
told a great story, was enthusiastic, and made the audience laugh and cry. It was an uplifting
speech that allowed everyone to walk out with a positive attitude and a renewed commitment to
public education.
I believe all in attendance would agree with the statement posted on Mr. Gilliland’s Web
site, “Some people were born to take the stage when the stakes are the highest and when the
audience expects the most. Steve Gilliland is one of those people.” As one newspaper affirms, he
is what happens when the humor of Ron White collides with the inspiration of Zig Ziglar.
The MSBA Web site, www.mnsba.org, states that the purpose of the association is to support,
promote and enhance the work of public school boards and public education. The Minnesota
School Boards Association was founded in 1920 and is the eighth oldest school board
organization in the United States.
The work of the Association is divided into six major divisions – Administration/Governance, Board
Development/Training, Public Relations/Communications, Governmental Relations, Management
Services, and Policy Services. Our school district uses all of MSBA’s services – and relies heavily
on the government relations’ piece, including lobbying of behalf of public education and the policy
services. All of our policies are developed from the model policies written by MSBA.
Reminder: Outside Facility Task Force
The Fergus Falls School District is inviting the public to participate in a newly formed Outdoor
Facility Task Force. The purpose of the task force is to review proposed improvements to our
outdoor facilities in order to provide a safe environment for our players and fans. The main focus
of the task force will be the development of sites at Kennedy, Roosevelt and Cleveland schools.
The task force meetings are scheduled in the cafeteria at the Kennedy Secondary School from
5-6:30 pm on the following Wednesdays: January 18, January 25, February 1 and February 8.
February 15 will be used as an optional makeup date. Please park in the Friberg Parking Lot #5,
walk up the concrete steps and enter through the main cafeteria doors.
