Kansas Star Branch
American Association of University Women
Become a Kansas Star Branch and be recognized for your achievements at the AAUW Kansas Annual Meeting on April 22 at Johnson County Community College, Overland Park. It is not necessary to have achieved all the Stars, simply document what accomplishments were made this 2016-2017 year. You may attach related documentation (newspaper articles, meeting announcements, photos, flyers, print of Facebook page, etc). Deadline for submission is April 10, 2016. Submit application to: Louise Ehmke, Program Chair, 74 W Rd 130, Healy, KS, 67850, or vlehmke@st-tel.net.
STARS
1. Membership: Branch gained new members, maintained membership, hosted membership event, etc. Please explain:
8 new members 62 maintained members hosted two membership coffees, we also took part in the Community Fair held at the Town Center Mall to inform the public about AAUW
2. Projects/events: Please explain any project or event your Branch completed in the 2015-16 program year. Includes activities designed by AAUW such as Sister To Sister, Candidate forums, STEM projects, or projects designed by the local branch such as local scholarships, book sales, tutoring, materials for educators, etc.
We worked with K-State and awarded STEM scholarships to four area students. Project was in June 2016. We also awarded three scholarships to non-traditional students; two were awarded to students at Kansas State Manhattan and one to a student at Kansas State Salina. We also have a student organization on the Manhattan K-State campus. It will be hosting a leadership forum in April; speakers will be two Kansas senators, the mayor of Manhattan (who is a member of our branch), the past student body president of KSU (who was a female student), and others. On March 8th we hosted our second annual International Women’s Day event. It began with a proclamation by the mayor of Manhattan the evening prior. On March 8th there was a breakfast held at the High School. The school culinary class prepared the breakfast for women leaders from our community plus women leaders from Junction City and Fort Riley. Following the breakfast there was an assembly at the HS which included a panel discussion by three women from different countries; Costa Rica, India, and Bolivia. In the evening there was a dinner and another panel discussion. At this event there was another woman panelist that joined the group from Iraq. The dinner was open to the public.
3. Visibility: Please explain any visibility gained by the Branch as a result of a program or projects.
We certainly would like to see our STEM scholarship students go into any of the fields which they were introduced to. The HS students who attended the assembly events on March 8th were very responsive and asked many questions of our panelists. At the dinner that night we felt that a lot of insight was gained through the closeness of the group as we spent more time together.
4. AAUW Funds: Submitted Branch donation to Kansas EF Chair by December 15 deadline.
Amount: $355
Legal Advocacy Fund: Submitted Branch donation to Kansas LAF Chair by Dec. 15 deadline.
Amount: $5 Funds sent directly to National
5. Kansas Leader Visit: A member of the AAUW Kansas State Board visited the Branch.
Name_Dr. Kelly Sartorius; Date:_Nov. 14 This meeting was held in conjunction with the K-State Women’s organization. The_program was entitiled “Lessons in Leadership:Midwestern AAUW and its influence on Women’s Higher Education”. Dr. Sarorius is from Lawrence, Kansas
6. Branch Newsletter __4_____# of issues
7. Participation at State, Regional, and National meetings (which and how many attended):
7 members attended regional
8. Miscellaneous
Tell us about a program that you had related to AAUW’s mission, how you promoted diversity awareness, ways you encouraged women’s participation in voter education or public policy, how you utilized AAUW research publications, what you have done to encourage members to assume leadership positions, share creative fundraising ideas, etc.
We have two members who work closely with the League of Women Voters. They keep our group informed about any public policies which we should be aware of. Several of our members have also attended the League meetings. Members have helped out throughout the community to encourage voter registration. The student group has also worked to encourage students to pre-register to vote. At one of our regular meetings we invited Sydney Carlin and Tom Phillips as our guest speakers prior to the November election. Our branch co-sponsored a candidate reform prior to the primary election and had a table set up with information regarding AAUW.
We used the AAUW theme for the year, “Charting Our Course”. A poster was made designed with islands titled; Treasury Island, International Women’s Day Island, Membership Island, etc. Members picked the crews that they wanted to work with to voyage to these islands to plan and work on the events. It helped to tie the theme and the year’s events together.
You will also receive a copy of our newsletter and a list of our programs for the 2016-2017 year.
Name and contact information for person completing this form:
Branch: Manhattan, Kansas
Name: Karen L. Tinkler, President
Phone: (785) 537-9145
Address: 7000 Mill Cove Drive, Manhattan, Kansas 66503
E-mail address: kdtink@peoplepc.com
Thank you for being a Kansas Star Branch!