Easy Shopping and Scholarship Funding

As part of our on-going fundraising efforts for our Westchester Student Scholarship fund, we joined GoodSearch Shopping network. We encourage you to follow the simple instructions below to do your on-line shopping and also notify your friends and family. There is no charge to you!
A portion of your purchase is automatically credited to the Westchester Alumni Association Scholarship Fund. We will get these funds at the end of the year.


GoodSearch is accessed by going to: http://www.goodsearch.com/goodshop.aspx

In the blank noted “enter your charity here…..” you just type in Westchester Alumni Association and our name will be displayed. Select us and go on to shop at your favorite store.


One of the great things you can do with certain stores like Best Buy, is purchase an item on-line but pick it up at your local store instead of paying shipping. When you are checking out you can check what local stores have your item in stock. At Best Buy, you just complete the transaction and when you show up at the store you bought from, just go to customer service/pickup and your stuff is there waiting for you. Too easy.

Westchester 2008 Homecoming & Class of 1973 35th Reunion

CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO DOWNLOAD OR ORDER PRINTS

6th Annual Westchester All Alumni Homecoming

Westchester Alumni Association, Inc.

Announces the

6th Annual Westchester All Alumni Homecoming

***STRATFORD – MEMORIAL GAME***

Friday, October 3, 2008

Tully Stadium

(http://www.springbranchisd.com/admin/athletics/facilities/tully.htm)
7 PM Game Time!
Look for Westchester section on west side
Wear ORANGE

“After Game Party” at Clay’s Restaurant
8 PM till midnight
17717 Clay Road 281-859-3773

(http://claysrestaurant.com/)
Owned by a Westchester grad
Discounted beverages
Free appetizers while they last

SBISD Good Neighbor Award for WAA

Please Click on the image above to enlarge.

Westchester Mini Reunion - '73 and '74 Fun

Julie Denison Rea, Randy Rea, Sue Hur Priest, Kerry Johnson (74)
Jeff Klorer, Tom Drechsel, Pamela Conlan

July 19 , 2008

Westchester Academy for International Studies 2008 Graduation

WAA Scholarship Recipients - Class of 2008

4 of OUR Recipients
Andrew Weikel, K. Smith, Beverly Martin (Counselor), Jordan Schipul, Diana Duann


Jordan Schipul, Diana Duann

A huge thank you to David West, who arranged with the school for us to present to our 8 scholarship winners on Westchester's stage during their awards night. David did a beautiful job of having individually signed letters and certificates to each winner in a super presentation folder. The element of surprise to each of our winners was very evident on the parents faces as well as the students.

Thank you to Ralph who presented our scholarship plaque to Principal Pam Butler. Ralph took the extra measure of paying for the plaque and the nameplates for the plaque, as well as re-polishing the plaque from a year's worth of hanging on Westchester wall.

Now the plaque has 6 names from 2007 and 8 names from 2008.

2008 WAA Scholarship Award Recipients

1. Jordan Schipul - Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX
2. Diana Duann - University of Texas in Austin, TX
3. Emily Pyle - Rice University in Houston
4. Cristina Rodriguez - Texas A&M University in College Station
5. Blair Bagwell - Texas A&M University in College Station
6. Kyle Smith - Texas A&M University in College Station
7. Isabel Rodriguez - Texas A&M University in College Station
8. Andrew Weikel - Blinn Junior College in College Station (currently on waiting list for A&M)

Written by Pamela Mudd Conlan

Scholarship Donors For Class of 2008

Platinum ($1000.00)

Claudia J. Goodwin Drake 74 Katy TX
Lisa Ann Hoyt Bays 76 Boerne TX
Damian Seaback 77 Houston TX

Gold ($500)

Ralph Ross Devine 73 Houston TX
Allen & Denise Lazenby community Houston TX
NDT Seals, Inc. Deal Moore 70 Houston TX
Charles "Chuck" Kobdish 68 Dallas TX
Mary Ellen Kobdish 68 Dallas TX

Silver ($100 to $499)

Pamela Ann Mudd Conlan 73 Houston TX
Janet Marie Lott Brown 69 Sugar Land TX
David T. West 73 Houston TX
Robert H. Griffith Jr 80 Houston TX
Robert W. Ramsey 76 Houston TX
Paul K. Lonquist DDS 73 Farmers Branch TX
Clayton Andrew Fox 75 San Antonio TX
Ralph Alan Riedel 75 Wayne PA
Bryan Scott Smith 77 Katy TX
Jack Joseph Schubert 75 Houston TX
Mary Morrison community Houston TX
Scott & Carol McClure community Houston TX
Ed & Jan Peine community Houston TX
Harriet Drechsel community Nassau Bay TX
Bart Edward Volz 78 Conroe TX
Dody L. Cortner community Houston TX
Joanne Lisa McBride Taylor 82 Reston VA
Kevin Ray Cunningham 80 Cypress TX
Philip Klein 77 Nederland TX
Dee Ann Davis Nowell 80 Scottsdale AZ

Bronze ($50 to $99)

Thomas Mark Horner 73 Katy TX
Jamie Onstot Tharpe 73 Houston TX
Beverly Martin community Houston TX
Patricia Margaret Patrey O'Kane 69 Locust Valley NY
Nancy LeHew Conlan community Abilene TX
Paul Adamo 74 Houston TX
Nancy Adams Adamo 75 Houston TX
Doug Kelting 73 Houston TX
Nancy Grace Smith 78 Houston TX
Ellen Fanning Smith Davis 73 Houston TX

Orange (up to $49)

Marti L. Frost Frost 75 Houston TX
Jeffrey W. Harris 75 Atlanta GA
Suzanne Marie Purvis Kossow 70 Council Bluff IA
Joanne Lisa McBride Taylor 82 Reston VA
Cathy Coers Frank 74 Houston TX
Phil & Shelley Meynen community Houston TX
Doyle & Priss Gougler community College Station TX
Virginia Louise Young Tippen 73 Freeport TX
Charles Edward Chuck Cook 75 Houston TX
Scott Andrew Underwood 2007 Houston TX
Jeff Lynn Martin 71 Katy TX
Steve & Shelly Caton community Houston TX
Jay Collins 77 Houston TX
Trent F. Morgan 73 Galveston TX
Steve Paul Clark 73 Katy TX
David Truxton West 73 Houston TX
Ivan Langford 68 Little Elm TX
Rebecque Demark 82 Houston TX
Kristy Raye Ficker Deslatte 84 Tomball TX
Dan A. Bennett 73 Cypress TX
Chuck Jorgensen 75 Houston TX
Renee' Frances Onstot Clark 70 Tuscola TX
Thomas Drechsel 73 Houston TX
Bob Rees 70 Katy TX
Carolyn Ann Potter Madden 82 Tomball TX

Scholarship Fund Challenge for 2008

Westchester Alumni Association Student Scholarship Fund for Class of 2008

Challenge Results

History:
The Class of 1972 raised almost $4,000 in scholarship money for the Class of 2007. Individuals from Classes 1968 to 1985 brought our total scholarship fund to over $7,000. We awarded $1,000 each to six students on April 9, 2007 from the Westchester graduating Class of 2007.

The challenge for Class of 2008 scholarship fundraising:
For the Class of 2008 we challenge each class (1968-1985 and 2004-2007) to raise the most scholarship monies for upcoming graduating class of 2008. Beginning April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008 all scholarship donations will be tallied by class and individual and sponsor. Check with your employer for matching donations and double your contribution for your class.

Our goal was for each class to sponsor at least one $1,000 scholarship for a total of 22 graduating Westchester students in the Class of 2008.

For the Westchester Graduating Class of 2008 – Thanks to many generous donations – we will be awarding 8 separate $1000 scholarships.

The results of the class-by-class challenge:

By class Amount

1968 510
1969 350
1970 560
1971 20
1973 1739
1974 1075
1975 750
1976 1250
1977 1320
1978 150
1980 550
1982 140
1984 10
2007 20
Community 1170


Total 9614

SHS/WHS Class of 76 All Class 50th Birthday Bash

Please Join Us!

SHS/WHS Class of 76 All Class 50th Birthday Bash

Saturday, June 21st, 2008

7 PM to 1 AM

Westchase Marriott - 2900 Briarpark Drive

To RSVP and purchase tickets go to

www.stratford76.com

Additional information on website. Questions, email jham615@aol.com See you there!

WAA SOCIAL - Saturday April 26, 3:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Westchester 1977 Classmate, John Sheely, Chef & Owner of MOCKINGBIRD BISTRO hosts our first WAA social of 2008. Get ready to be impressed, classmates! John has created an amazing, upscale restaurant "inside the loop". http://www.mockingbirdbistro.com/index.html

ON SATURDAY, APRIL 26 3:30 PM - 6:30 PM, and for our Westchester classmates & guests only, MOCKINGBIRD BISTRO will provide heavy hors d'oeuvres, reduced priced cocktails, and complimentary valet parking. As a courtesy to John for his generosity, kindly provide your RSVP to wildcats_1977@yahoo.com BY April 25 (include your name, your guest's name, and year you graduated). Mockingbird Bistro is business casual attire.

Please keep in mind that our social concludes at 6:30 PM so that John's staff can prepare for dinner guests. If you have interest to continue with dinner, kindly make your reservation with the restaurant directly ~ 713.533.0200. Keep in mind that this venue is intimate and securing a reservation in advance is recommended.

WAA has provided you a social and business networking opportunity. John Sheely has provided the venue, food, reduced priced drinks, and valet parking! It's up to you to make it a success! News of WAA and our socials will come only by word of mouth and email due to the expense of postage. Will you kindly help us by passing this message on and by telling your friends you'll meet them at Mockingbird Bistro! If you received this news thru another classmate and not from us directly, it's likely that we do not have a current email address for you. To update your email address, please write to: Westchester@Wranglerettes.com

Our socials are designed to provide more frequent opportunities for WHS classmates to network and build our own social and business communities, and corporately, to offer financial and volunteer support to Westchester Academy of International Studies. The school counts on our financial support, and we count on yours. Go to http://westchesterwildcats.blogspot.com/ to learn more!

If you own or have access to a restaurant, venue, Houston-area property (for bonfires, BBQs, etc.) that would make a great "party place" for this awesome cause, we would love to hear from you! We would love to shake it up and enjoy socials across the Houston area! Secondly, we will help to promote businesses near the campus. We have enjoyed successful events at Clay's Restaurant, which is owned by Damian Seaback, WHS '77 and also by Grisby Grill, owned by Judy Foster Coker, WHS '74. At our homecoming in November at Clay's, we had OVER 100 in attendance! We'd love to help promote your business while, at the same time, build our WAA network. The homecoming will remain our primary function, while the mixers will be "additional" opportunities throughout the year.

Please contact wildcats_1977@yahoo.com if you have interest in hosting a future social! Mark your calendar for 26 April 2008 ~ 3:30 PM - 6:30 PM Mockingbird Bistro. We'll see you there!

Lauri (White) Ramsey Events Coordinator WAA & '77 Class Rep

WAA Officer and Board Meeting Minutes 10-MAR-2008

Those members present were:

Officers: Ralph Devine – President, Jamie Onstot Tharpe - Vice President
Nancy Adams Adamo - Secretary, Pamela Mudd Conlan - Treasurer
Board Members: Deal Moore, Carolyn Madden, Jeff Martin, Lauri White Ramsey, Fran Rolon, and David West

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 by Vice President Jamie Tharpe.

Agenda Items:

Treasury Report - Pamela

So far we have $6281.26 for the 2008 scholarship fund. At the meeting, Deal Moore’s company, NDT, donated $500.00 to the scholarship fund. Also, David West contributed $300.00 to the fund. Thank you to all that have contributed so far. We are still in need of more funds to be able to accommodate the seventeen applicants. Please keep clicking the advertisements on the www.westchesterwildcats.blogspot.com blog site to generate more money. The Google AdSense revenue in February was $204.54. Please see the attached report following the minutes for more information.


Each committee chairperson reported on their committee’s activities. The following reports were heard.

Events/Activities – Lauri

There is a social get together planned for Sat. Apr. 26 3:30-6:30 at Mockingbird Bistro. This will be an opportunity for social or business networking for Westchester Alums. There will be free hors d’ovrs, valet parking and discount prices on drinks. The owner, John Sheely ’77 and his brother Steven Sheely ’78 are providing this endeavor. Please see the material posted on www.westchesterwildcats.blogspot.com for more details regarding this great event. We are asking everyone to RSVP by April 11.

Our June meeting will take place on the weekend of the 7 &8 at the Galveston bay home of Lisa Hoyt Bays.

Scholarship Committee – David

David reported that he and Pamela attended the Spring Branch ISD Celebration of Sharing Community Appreciation Breakfast that recognized donors to the Spring Branch Education Foundation. David also addressed the scholarship funding. We are in the process of interviewing and selecting the winners of the scholarships. The Board will read the applications and decide on the top six candidates.

Communication – Carolyn

Carolyn reported that she e-mailed a press release in several neighborhood newspapers on line about the scholarship funding and donations. She is still trying to talk to the person in charge of the newspaper section to have in printed. She also received some information about the Memorial Buzz magazine in order to be able to provide information about the scholarships and possibly interview and provide pictures of previous scholarship winners.

Membership – Fran

Fran and Jeff are continuing to work on an e-mail to send out to all the Westchester members asking for information about rejoining. They are looking into a file with Houston people and a way to protect privacy issues. They want people to know about joining and what the money goes toward.

Class Leader Liaison – Deal

Deal is working on the class leader list and is looking into recruiting more class leaders. He received feedback from several who are no longer interested in this task. We still need more alums from the 80’s.

New Items

Jamie brought up the fact that our All Class Reunion will continue to fall on the Stratford/Memorial football game due to the fact that Stratford won their appeal and are in the 5A conference along with all the other Spring Branch schools.

Pamela brought up the fact that she is working on a “Frequently Asked Questions” about the WAA and what it is and what it does. Some people still don’t know that Westchester is an operating school.

Ralph brought up that we have someone (his daughter) that will work on an interim on the Westchester Wildcats web site to say it is “under construction” and be directed and changed to the blogsite.

Sam Dejohn, who is a Government, Economics, US History teacher at Westchester Academy, came to ask the Board to help with his funding for new equipment in the weight room. He said the equipment is old and not properly functional. He and his weight lifting students and sponsoring and Lift a Thon. If anyone is interested in helping please call the school and get information or e-mail him at the Westchester or Spring Branch website.

Jeff motioned to adjourn the meeting. Carolyn seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30.

Treasury Report for March 10, 2008 Board meeting

Current assets of February 29, 2008,

Cash in checking account $5,519
CD for Student Scholarship fund (restricted) 5,776
CD – Wranglerettes (restricted) 3,095
CD – Class of 1976 (restricted) 1,482


The Google AdSense revenue deposited in February was $204.54.

As of February 29, 2008, there are 10 polo shirts remaining. Over 2006 and 2007 we collected $1540 in donations for the polo shirts. Our costs were $1429. We now have a profit of $111 from polo shirt donations.

For the two months ended February 29, 2008, we collected $210 in memberships. Expenses for 2008 included $74 office exp & $17 website exp.

Membership receipts received for the first two months of 2008 include One Lifetime member (Jack Schubert) and 8 individual memberships.

Scholarship donations from January 1 through February 29th, include:
Google AdSense $204.76
Jack Schubert 200.00
Doug Kelting 50.00
Virginia Tippen 25.00
Total for 2008 $479.76

The scholarship fund started the year with $5,801.50 in funds. The additional amounts collected bring the funds available for scholarships to $6,281.26.

The New Westchester......

<DWest@eprod.com> wrote:

Bart,

The WAA Board met last night and it looks like we may be able to fund 6-7 scholarships this year with the support of all the alumni that rose to the challenge. I was roped into the board by Pam Mudd ‘73 who somehow found me and my soft heart. She invited me to the first graduation at Westchester which was several years ago. They only graduated something like 60 seniors and the enrollment is being kept small so I think the max graduation will be around 150 within a few years.

The easiest way to describe Westchester now is as a magnet school, but they don’t call it one. They intentionally keep enrollment small, I believe a total of 1000-1200 students for grades 6-12 and it is one of only 12 schools in Houston with an International Baccalaureate (IB) program and the only one in SBISD. Kinda like Awty International School but without the major bucks and big head requirement (and my parents were friends of K and Jack Awty). As an International Studies school, they drive the students to develop international skills, develop a second language, and the curriculum includes many accelerated courses also. The school naturally draws students that have moved to the SBISD area from other countries so it has become a melting pot so to speak. Not all students enter the IB program but it appears that the IB program pushes all Westchester students to excel.

I’ve met some of these students and they have all been more mature than I was when I was there. They have to apply to enter this school and that brings in a higher standard that is easily visible when talking with them. And the kids that we have applying for scholarships have all done extensive community and school service, way beyond what I did. These kids come from all over the Spring Branch district so many do not have the same parental backing that we enjoyed. That is one of the hard things to get out to the alumni. These aren’t rich brats, not that we were, but you remember that there were many students with silver and gold spoons in their mouths. Lots of these kids are from the other side of the tracks trying to make a better life for themselves by putting in the hard work and taking the risk of not going to school with their neighborhood buds. After Westchester effectively died, I am pumped that it has arisen again and with this caliber of student. As these new graduates start coming back to the area after college, we hope they join the alumni association and grow it. As it is, the new Westchester Academy for International Studies (WAIS) alumni association has rolled into the Westchester Alumni Association (WAA) so we are all one.

The WAA is a really new group, only 2-3 years old. We are trying to get in touch with alumni and start doing more functions. We already hold a homecoming outing which is the Stratford/Memorial game since WAIS can not support a football team with their student population. Let me know if you want me to and I can get your email into the organization so you will get emails of events in the future. And feel free to let other alumni know about us. Thanks again for the contribution. I’ll let you know who ends up getting scholarships and where they are headed off to for college.


David T. West
Enterprise Products/EPCO, Inc.

Westchester Class of 1968 40 Year Reunion

Go to Classmates.com for details.

Minutes Westchester Alumni Association Meeting Feb. 11, 2008

Those members present were:

Officers: Nancy Adams Adamo - Secretary, Pamela Mudd Conlan - Treasurer, Ralph Devine – President, Jamie Onstot Tharpe - Vice President
Board Members: Deal Moore - Chairman, Carolyn Madden, Jeff Martin, Lauri White Ramsey, Fran Rolon, Melissa Sweeton Thorne, and David West

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 by the President Ralph Devine. Introductions were made all around.

Agenda Items:

Treasury Report - Pamela

So far we have $5851.00 for this years scholarships. We are well under our goal of 22,000 for the class of 2008 and further efforts for February through March for additional donations are needed. Please encourage everyone to take advantage of the ads posted on the Westchester Blog at http://www.westchesterwildcats.blogspot.com/ . Please see the attached report following the minutes.


Each committee chairperson reported on their committee’s mission statement and plans. The following were reported:

Events/Activities – Lauri

There is a social get together planned for Sat. Apr. 26 3:30-6:30 at Mockingbird Bistro. This will be an opportunity for social or business networking for Westchester Alums. There will be free hors d’ovrs, valet parking and discount prices on drinks. The owner, John Sheely ’77 and his brother Steven Sheely ’78 are providing this endeavor. Please see the Material posted on http://www.westchesterwildcats.blogspot.com/ for more details regarding this great event.

Our June meeting will take place on the weekend of the 7 &8 at the Galveston bay home of Lisa Hoyt Bays.

Scholarship Committee – David

David read his mission statement to provide scholarships to current senior class members of the Westchester Academy for International Studies. His plan is to raise monies by individual and corporate contributions. He would like to public and the Westchester PTA of to be informed of this. He is working with the school counselor, Beverly Martin, in getting the information out to the students. The May meeting we will look at the scholarship applications and select the winners.

Communication – Carolyn

Carolyn read her mission statement that is to promote the membership, scholarship fundraising and events by various venues such as: newspapers, websites, blogs, and yahoo chat room.

Membership – Fran

Fran and Jeff read their mission statement which is to increase memberships. Some questions were asked such as; Why did some members join and then didn’t renew their membership? How do we get them back? These and other issues will be worked on.

Class Leader Liaison – Deal

Deal stated there are eight board members who are the class leaders for their graduation year. We need to look into recruiting more class leaders.
Jamie brought up some information and questions in regard to the fall homecoming event that might change due to the changing of Stratford’s classification from a 5A school to a 4A school if the appeal doesn’t go through.
New Business was brought up with the proposal of having a mail out on a post card to members to illicit renewal and update e-mail addresses since so many change. This is will a cost to the WAA.
New member- Jenny Sornson, scholarship winner from the class of ’07, was in attendance at this meeting. She spoke about how the money she received helped her pay for some of her college. She was grateful for the opportunity to be able to receive the money. David West asked her if she was a Westchester Alumni member and she said no so David paid her membership fee so she could join the ranks. What a nice gesture on David’s part.


The meeting adjourned at 7:30



Treasury Report for February 11, 2008 Board meeting

As of January 31, 2008, we have $15,293 in cash and Certificate of Deposits in Washington Mutual Bank. This includes $4,939 in checking account, $3,095 in Wranglerette restricted funds in a CD, $1,482 in Class of 1976 restricted funds in a CD, and $5,776 in restricted Student Scholarship funds.

The Google AdSense revenue deposited in January was $0.22. Please click the ads on our blogsite daily to increase our monthly scholarship revenue.
http://www.westchesterwildcats.blogspot.com/

As of January 31, 2008, there are 10 polo shirts remaining. Over 2006 and 2007 we collected $1540 in donations for the polo shirts. Our costs were $1429. We now have a profit of $111.

For the month of January, we collected $60 in memberships. Expenses for January included $74 office exp & $17 website exp.
Submitted by Pamela Mudd Conlan, Treasurer



Scholarship Fund Report

A total of $11,851.50 has been collected in scholarship funds from individual alumni and the community at large from January 2005 through January 2008.

$1,070 in 2005
$6,046 in 2006
$4,685 in 2007
$ 50 in 2008
$6,000 was awarded as scholarships in 2007

Therefore, we have $5,851 for future scholarships. Further efforts for February through March for additional donations are needed to reach our $22,000 goal for Class of 2008.
Submitted by Pamela Mudd Conlan, Treasurer

Student Scholarship Fund
Class of 2008

Challenge

The Class of 1972 raised almost $4,000 in scholarship money for the Class of 2007. Individuals from Classes 1968 to 1985 brought our total scholarship fund to over $7,000. We awarded $1,000 each to six students on April 9, 2007 from the Westchester graduating Class of 2007.

Here’s the challenge:
For the Class of 2008 we challenge each class (1968-1985 and 2004-2007) to raise the most scholarship monies for upcoming graduating class of 2008. Beginning April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008 all scholarship donations will be tallied by class and individual and sponsor. Check with your employer for matching donations and double your contribution for your class.

Our goal is for each class to sponsor at least one $1,000 scholarship for a total of 22 graduating Westchester students in the Class of 2008.

Class of 1983 Westchester 25 Year Reunion

Dear Class of 1983,

We are having a 25 year reunion Saturday, September 27th. Friday Night casual happy hour and Saturday night casual dinner with a live band. We would like to get an idea as to how many people would attend this event.

Saturday Night, September 27th, is confirmed 6:00pm to 12:00am at Blanco's. $35.00 at the door. There will be a fajita buffet and live country music, cash bar, casual dress. Friday night we will have a happy hour. Still working on the meeting place. Please email me if your address or email has changed since our 20 year at pamallan@comcast.net. Friday night happy hour at The State Bar downtown Houston.

Information will continue to be updated at http://www.classmates.com/.

Pam Wooten Allan PAMALLAN@comcast.net

PLEASE - Update your Information

If you would like to update your contact information in the Westchester Alumni Association Directory please click on the icon below to add a comment. You can include your Name, Westchester Class, Address, Phone and most important your EMAIL. This will allow us to verify our information is already correct or if you are new to add you to our directory.

You can also use the link to the membership form on the left to submit your information if you wish your information to remain private.

Thank you all....

Ralph Devine, Class of 1973, WAA President 2008

Minutes Officer and Board Meeting - January 14, 2008

Minutes from the Westchester Alumni Association on Jan. 14, 2008

In attendance were the following:
Officers:
President, Ralph Devine ‘73; Vice President, Jamie Tharpe ‘73; Secretary, Nancy Mullikin Adamo ‘75; Treasurer, Pamela Conlan ‘73;
Board members and guest:
Chairman of the Board and Class Leadership Liason, Deal Moore ’70; Communications, Carolyn Maddon ’82; Membership, Jeff Martin ‘70; Events /Activities, Lauri White Ramsey ’77; Membership, Fran Rolon ’70; Scholarship Funding, David West ’73; and special guest Barry Abrams ‘71.

Meeting Opened at 6:30 p.m.

Introductions were led by Ralph Devine allowing all returning and new Officers and Board Members to introduce themselves and the committees which they are participating in or Leading. Everyone introduced themselves and told what year they graduated and their line of business.

Agenda Items:

Officer and Board Member expectations were addressed by Ralph Devine.

These issues are in the By-laws of the association that each board member signed and Ralph wanted to address a few of them.
· Regular attendance at meetings is expected for all Board Members and Officers. Call or Email in advance if you can not attend a meeting. Non-attendance, without excuse as stated in the By-laws, may lead to dismissal as an Officer or from the Board.
· The committee chairs have the responsibility to conduct committee activities and report those activities back to the Officers and Board on a regular basis. Committee meetings and business can be conducted and encouraged to occur outside of the one hour monthly Officer and Board Meetings.
· Officer and Board Meetings are to be used primarily for presentation of Committee results and for committees to receive authorization to conduct activities on behalf organization or make expenditures on behalf of the organization.
· The two main goals for 2008 are to 1) Build the Membership in the WAA organization and increase the Scholarship fund to allow the fund to become a self perpetuating fund. All Committee should be aware of these goals and back these goals with their activities.
· This organization is a great opportunity to help Westchester graduates with scholarships and to be able to interact with other people.
· Committee Chairs/Leaders are expected to have a written mission/purpose statement and an activities action plan ready for presentation at the February meeting of the Officers and Board.


Membership Recruiting/Scholarship donations 2008-

What do we need to do for effective fundraising? Barry Abrams, class of ’71, who is a board member of SBEF, Spring Branch Education Foundation, came to address this question and provide experience and ideas to help with our Scholarship Fund donation efforts. The SBEF Mission is to raise funds for the SBISD students, they have teacher/student scholarships, they give to the arts, field trips and they give grants to specific campus’, mentor programs and the Good Neighbor program.
This foundation may be a place to donate money for the WAA scholarships. We have to look into the public charity tax codes 501C3 and 5091. Through directing Scholarship donations through the SBEF the Westchester Alumni Association Donations would be eligible to be corporate matched, and still remain a directed gift specifically for Westchester Academy of International Studies students. For example some corporations have a 3 to 1 matching program for qualifying organization donations used for Educational Grants or Scholarships.

New Business-

· We are interested in getting in contact with the following classes who might be having a class reunion this year, ’68,’73, ’78 ‘83
· Laurie addressed how many and what kinds of events are we interested in participating in each year.
· The web site is in desperate need to be monitored and updated. We are trying to find someone who will volunteer to be our WEBMASTER at no cost…. anyone interested? Your time / dollar value of the work could possibly be a donation to the organization.


Treasury Report for January 14, 2008 Board meeting

As of December 31, 2007, we have $15,468 in cash and Certificate of Deposits in Washington Mutual Bank. This includes $5,115 in checking account, $3,095 in Wranglerette restricted funds in a CD, $1,482 in Class of 1976 restricted funds in a CD, and $5,776 in restricted Student Scholarship funds.

As of December 31, 2007, there are 10 polo shirts remaining. Over 2006 and 2007 we collected $1540 in donations for the polo shirts. Our costs were $1429. We now have a profit of $111.

For the calendar year 2007, we collected $1,970 in memberships. Expenses for 2007 included $100 advertising, $690 homecoming, $466 scholarship dinner, $100 meeting, $80 donation, $50 misc and $90 website. Net profit for 2007 = $394.
Submitted by Pamela Mudd Conlan, Treasurer



Scholarship Fund Report

A total of $11,801.50 has been collected in scholarship funds from individual alumni and the community at large from January 2005 through December 31, 2007.

$1,070 in 2005
$6,046 in 2006
$4,685 in 2007
$6,000 was awarded as scholarships in 2007

Therefore, we have $5,801 for future scholarships. Further efforts for January through March for additional donations are needed to reach our $22,000 goal for Class of 2008.
Submitted by Pamela Mudd Conlan, Treasurer


Student Scholarship Fund
WAIS Class of 2008

Challenge

The Class of 1972 raised almost $4,000 in scholarship money for the Class of 2007. Individuals from Classes 1968 to 1985 brought our total scholarship fund to over $7,000. We awarded $1,000 each to six students on April 9, 2007 from the Westchester graduating Class of 2007.

Here’s the challenge:
For the Class of 2008 we challenge each class (1968-1985 and 2004-2007) to raise the most scholarship monies for upcoming graduating class of 2008. Beginning April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008 all scholarship donations will be tallied by class and individual and sponsor. Check with your employer for matching donations and double your contribution for your class.

Our goal is for each class to sponsor at least one $1,000 scholarship for a total of 22 graduating Westchester students in the Class of 2008.

Class by Class Scholarship Challenge Results are shown in the image below. Click on the image to enlarge.

Receivers, home theater, computers, cell phone, receivers, home theater, computers cell phones, receivers, home theater, computers, cell phone, receivers, home theater, computers, cell phones,