AAUW Las Vegas Branch Report 4-6-21
AAUW Las Vegas Branch Report
Spring 2021
The new year was met with great enthusiasm by our branch membership. Our general focus area for us is “Empowering Women” through our various endeavors. The Convention Planning Committee has been working diligently in planning a virtual state convention which I am sure will be a new adventure for many of our AAUWans statewide.
Our annual Girls Can! event has also been in the planning stages for several months now and that too, will be a virtual event. The Girls Can! planning committee has put together a program of five events to be presented virtually to 5th grade girls who are either attending school in person or who are still learning virtually from home. We will have professional women in different career paths do videos the girls can watch at home at their leisure or in class with their classroom teacher who will decide how the videos will be shown.
The Girls Can! committee has selected mini projects which can be done in 20 minutes using materials that can be found at home: rocks, vegetables, make up brushes, hammers, plastic baggies, etc. Items for the projects that are not readily found at home will be purchased and delivered to the schools for classroom distribution and for distribution to students who are still learning from home.
The projects that are planned will be fun and educational for the girls. If there are boys at home or in the classroom, they will benefit from the presentations as well. We have a female contractor who will teach the students how to make a pencil box; a policewoman who will demonstrate how to dust for fingerprints; a scientist who will extract DNA from a tomato; a geologist who will do a presentation on different rocks found in Las Vegas, and, we are still in the process of deciding what our fifth event will be. We have so many wonderful ideas, it is difficult to choose for the grand finale of the day!
We do have one confirmed special guest who will welcome the girls to the day’s events: US Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez has confirmed that she will give a brief welcome to the participants. We have invited other special guests and are awaiting their confirmations. We will also have two local young women who have overcome great odds to finish high school and go on to college. One is an aspiring scientist who has earned an internship from the National Institutes of Health and the other is a successful teacher, environmentalist, and mentor at one of our high schools.
We wish we could invite all the girls in our great state to participate in our Girls Can! event. The girls from both Las Vegas school districts and from the Pecos School district will be our participants this year. The pandemic has stymied some of our plans but we are staying positive and focusing on empowering all women—young and old—to be all that they can be. Girls Can!, can and will accomplish our overall goal.
Barbara Casey, Co-President
AAUW Las Vegas Branch
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AAUW – LAS VEGAS, NM CO-PRESIDENTS’ ANNUAL REPORT
2012-2013
Branch Age- Established in 1955.
Membership- Current year: twenty-six paid members.
Local Yearbook- Once again completed beautifully by member, Meta Levister.
Fund Raising – Very effective again this year with over $2000 raised between the Annual Book Fairs, March 2and 3, and an additional undetermined summer date.
Scholarship Awards – A total of $2500 in Scholarships were awarded to three non-traditional women students here at New Mexico Highlands University in the late fall of 2012.
Program Contributions – We contributed to NCCWSL scholarships, CASA of the Fourth Judicial District (Court Appointed Special Advocates), and First Born of Northern New Mexico (Local and free Home Visitation program for first time parents). We also supported two additional local groups, Reach Out & Read at the Las Vegas pediatric clinic, and Vida Encantada Nursing Home.
Las Vegas Branch Programs – These included our Fall Membership Brunch where we honored Louise Drlik for both 50 years of membership and her 90th birthday. Branch members participated in multiple Get Out The Vote efforts, STEM program planning, a fall Start Smart Pay Equity Initiative Workshop at New Mexico Highlands University, as well as hosting UWC Int’l Students from China at our annual pot luck at the home of Louise Drilk. We will finish our year with our Annual Meeting and Brunch in May in the home of Karyl Lyne. We also will participate in the forum in May,2013, sponsored by the Santa Fe branch, featuring Mary Carter. Intermingled with these many activities have been our Book Fairs, and the Eighth Annual Girl’s Can for all of San Miguel County’s 5th grade girls, as well as an elegant Holiday gathering for members and guests, hosted by one of our members, Sarah Harris.
It has been a busy and satisfying year.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mary S. Schipper, Co-President
Las Vegas, New Mexico
AAUW – LAS VEGAS, NM CO-PRESIDENTS’ ANNUAL REPORT
2011-2012
Branch Age- Established in 1955.
Membership- Current year twenty-eight paid members.
Local Yearbook- Once again completed beautifully by member, Meta Levister.
Web Page- Currently being established with National by member/secretary Elizabeth Tisdel.
Fund Raising – Very effective again this year with over $4000 raised between the Annual Book Fairs and our Holiday Mingle/Silent Auction.
Scholarship Awards – We will award up to $2500 in Scholarships to non-traditional women students here at New Mexico Highlands University later this Spring of 2012.
Program Contributions – We contributed to NCCWSL scholarships, Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Northeastern New Mexico, and the Hunger Project. We also supported two local groups, Reach Out & Read at the pediatric clinic, and Vida Encantada Nursing Home.
Las Vegas Branch Programs – These included our Fall Membership Brunch, Roots of Empathy in Schools , STEM Program, Start Smart Pay Equity Initiative, Black History Month, Hosting UWC Int’l Students and finishing with our Annual Meeting and Brunch in May. Intermingled with these meetings have been our Book Fairs, Girl’s Can for all of San Miguel County 5th grade girls, and our Holiday Mingle.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mary S. Schipper, Co-President
Las Vegas, New Mexico
AAUW Las Vegas Branch Annual Report
April 28, 2007
The Las Vegas Branch has had an active and varied year with a high level of participation from the membership. We celebrate six new members and reluctantly bid farewell to longtime member, Ruth Hazelton, who is relocating to Hamilton, MT. to be near a daughter there. Ruth’s new mailing address is John and Ruth Hazelton, Sapphire Lutheran Homes #42, 501 N. 10th Street, Hamilton, MT. 59840.
We partnered to sponsor two community forums this year. The first was a voter forum in October sponsored by AAUW and the Las Vegas Center for Peace and Justice. The second was a U.S. Foreign Policy Forum sponsored in partnership with United World College and New Mexico Highlands University in February. Held at the United World College, the foreign policy forum attracted many UWC students and it was wonderful to listen to the very insightful comments, questions and perspectives they shared. We’re delighted to partner with these entities to bring important issues to the attention of the public in our area.
We undertook two major new projects this year—Support Our Six (SOS) and Girls Can. SOS involved the Branch participating in the November Arts and Crafts Fair to raise funds to give Christmas support to six single mothers who met pre-determined criteria. The goal is to begin a dialogue with them to encourage them to start or continue their pursuit of higher education. In addition to raising about $800, we discovered “crafty” talents of many of our members and enjoyed each other’s company at the booth.
The Girls Can pilot project begun at one elementary school was very successful, reaching about thirty girls and their teachers. We’ll continue that project and expand it to two more schools next year. Ultimately we’d like to reach all the fifth grade girls in the two Las Vegas school districts.
Six of our members attended the Winter Leadership Team meeting in Santa Fe and four participated in the Legislative Day.
We’re also pleased that our fundraiser used book sale was again a success raising more than $1600. It is possible that we will increase the number of $500 scholarships we award nest year from one to two.
In March we lent support to a group who sponsored a forum at NMHU to celebrate International Women’s Day, with faculty speakers providing a variety of perspectives on changing women’s roles globally in the 21st century. At our March meeting we celebrated International Women’s Month by sharing books we had read about the lives of some fascinating and impressive women.
We’ll welcome Rebecca Belletto of the New Mexico Department of Education, whom many of us heard in Los Alamos, to our April meeting to report on the outcomes on education issues of the 2007 legislative session.
Three members plan to attend the National Convention in Phoenix and bring back exciting ideas and perspectives. We look forward to next year with enthusiasm and energy.
Karyl Lyne, President
Las Vegas Branch
AAUW Las Vegas Branch President’s Report
For the Winter Leadership Team Meeting in Santa Fe
February 11-12, 2007
Scholarship Award – Thirteen excellent women students at New Mexico Highlands University applied for the AAUW Scholarship last fall. The Scholarship Committee selected Miranda Akuma, graduate student in Business and Finance, to receive the $500 award. Miranda’s goal is to return to her native Cameroon and create a low-interest small loan system for women in her country who want to open small businesses. In Cameroon, loans are generally given only to men.
SOS Support Our Six – This was a new activity of the Las Vegas Branch this year. A membership survey conducted last spring revealed that members wanted to do more service kinds of activities. In keeping with that, it was decided that we would identify six single moms who are interested in pursuing higher education and give them help with Christmas expenses. The branch had a table at the November Arts and Crafts Fair and made $900+. The Fair was lots of work, but we discovered many members’ talents of which we had been unaware and we had fun! Each of the six young women selected have an AAUW sponsor who put forth her name and situation to the committee. That sponsor and one other AAUW member had lunch with the women and presented them with a $100 check. The sponsors will stay in touch with the young women and find ways to encourage their pursuit of higher education. The women have expressed an interest in getting together to meet each other and share commonalities. We’ll do that in April.
Tapas and Sangria – Our Christmas meeting this year was held at the historic home of one of our members. It was decorated for the Citizen’s Committee for Historic Preservation’s Victorian home tour, so it was magnificent! Two members selected a menu of tapas and each of us brought the tapas dish we’d been assigned. One member brought both white and red sangria. Now everyone wants all of the recipes! We also hosted our Scholarship winner, Miranda Akuma, and brought gifts for nursing home residents and children’s books for a local physician’s Reach Out and Read program.
Girls Can—This was another new project for the Las Vegas Branch this year. We piloted a Girls Can event at Sierra Vista Elementary School with 34 fifth grade girls and their teachers. Four presenters—a pharmacist, a speech pathologist, a contractor and a bio-chemist—gave informative, fun, hands-on presentations relating to their fields. Each girl received a goody bag for hand-outs and materials from the workshops (each girl built a pencil box in the contractor’s workshop), and beads and elastic to make an AAUW Girls Can bracelet as a memento of the day. Teachers and presenters were treated to a pizza and salad lunch afterward. Feedback from students, teachers, presenters and the principal was very positive. We hope to expand Girls Can to two more schools next year.
Middle Eastern Perspectives & US Foreign Policy – Later in February we will co-sponsor a community forum at the United World College featuring New Mexico Highlands University faculty members. The topics to be discussed are “Promoting Good Governance & Economic Development in the Sudan,” “Hezbollah: All Politics are Local,” and “Understanding Root Causes of Anti-Americanism in the Middle East.” The other sponsoring organizations are the United World College and New Mexico Highlands University.
AAUW Las Vegas Branch President’s Report
For the Fall Leadership Team Meeting in Los Alamos
October 21-22, 2006
Scholarship Application – Our Scholarship Committee has created a scholarship application form for the $500 AAUW Scholarship we will present to a female non-traditional student at New Mexico Highlands University for the Spring Semester, 2007. The form has been distributed electronically to faculty, staff and students at NMHU by the NMHU Scholarship Office. The Scholarship recipient will be a guest at our December meeting. This will be an annual scholarship award. Monies for this award are raised at our Annual March Book Sale.
Membership Brunch – The Branch hosted a Membership Brunch September 9. There were 11 guests and 5 became members on the spot! We are continuing to “work on” the others.
Sexual Harassment Workshop – Also in September, we hosted a Sexual Harassment Workshop on the Highlands campus. Our presenter was Janice Hightower, EEO Officer with the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. Ms. Hightower’s presentation was clear, informative, fun and engaging. Because she does these workshops frequently with a variety of populations, she knows the topic extremely well and has numerous anecdotes and examples she can share. The Branch partnered with NMHU Housing Dept. to publicize the event in residence halls. Unfortunately, we were up against some other events that night and the hoped for students did not come. However, we hope to offer the workshop again in the spring semester. This time we’re going to work through faculty members and the Office of Academic Support. We did have a number of community members present and some students from the United World College.
Voter Forum – At our September meeting, “Voting 2006: What Voter Reform in New Mexico Means to the Voter,” a panel of two voter activists and the county clerk spoke. As a result, some of our members spent time at local grocery stores talking with shoppers about whether they had registered to vote and if not how to do so. Subsequent to that, after being unsuccessful in getting commitments from candidates for governor, senator and legislator to speak at a candidate forum, we sponsored a Voter Forum on October 18. We partnered with the Las Vegas Peace and Justice Center, a local grassroots organization dedicated to examining and researching issues of interest or concern to its constituents, and then taking action to affect the issue. We showed the 63-minute documentary film, Stealing America: Vote By Vote, which examines the 2004 Presidential election focusing on voting in Ohio and New Mexico. Directed by Oscar and Emmy nominee and Public Broadcasting Corporation Gold Medal Recipient, Dorothy Fadiman, the film points out the enormity of the voter fraud and disenfranchisement which occurred. San Miguel County Clerk Paul Maez was also on hand with paper ballots and one of the new optical scanning machines which will be used in New Mexico on November 7. Attendees were presented with information about all of the issues which will appear on the ballot. More than 100 attended.