November 21, 2020

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Our virtual meeting began at 5:30 pm via Zoom. Karen Sinclair led us in prayer.  There were 35 members in attendance. 

Excused absences: Lavonne Smith, Sharon Thomas, Denise Roman.

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Reading of the Minutes

Reading of the minutes was done by Jacqueline Smartt. All corrections were done in real-time. The minutes were accepted by Lynette Davson and seconded by Janice Innis-Cox.

Treasurer’s Report was presented by Cleveland John.

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September 2020

Beginning balance:    $48,326.85

Disbursements          $0.00 

Receipts                   $100.00

Ending balance:        $48,430.00

The treasurer’s report was accepted by Monique Davidson-Tucker and seconded by Barbara Chase.  Wayne Knight (Wayne) asked members to please pay their dues as soon as they are able to; especially in light of the association’s limited ability to fundraise this year.

 

Matters Arising from the Minutes

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Scholarship Committee: Margaret Briggs gave an update on the scholarships. She thanked her committee, Lynette Davson, Janice Innis-Cox, and Karen Sinclair. The committee awarded scholarships to four students, Keith Cort – Howard University, Zoe Sills – University of Guyana, Thalia Layne – Oxford University, and Reon Miller - Hugh Wooding Law School.  Each recipient will be awarded $1,000.  Keith Cort’s award will be to assist him with his books. Margaret Briggs also thanked Gillian Sue as she believed that having her on the ground was the main reason for us finally being able to give out these awards. Terry Stuart remembered that Reon Miller joined the Bishops’ Steelpan group when she was in charge of the group and even brought a few friends along, so she was excited to see his progress. Jubilante Cutting, our first scholarship recipient, was just admitted to practice law in Guyana and she thanked us for our help in her journey. Phillip Peroune (Phillip) spoke with Keith Cort (Keith) about college life in the U.S., and also gave him advice about the student visa process.  Philip advised Keith to begin the application process in March 2021.  Keith will start attending school virtually in January 2021. Dawn McDonald added that funds that have been collected will go towards his room and board when he gets here. She added that she was so delighted to have five Bishops’ students in her Plainfield Grassroots SAT prep virtual class. Those students usually worked with Cheryl Noel in Guyana and they were added to the program through a mini scholarship (US$100), which allowed them to join the class. She was extremely impressed with the work ethic of the students and how they absorbed the information that they were given. Wayne Knight commented that maybe in the future one of our scholarships ($1,000) could go towards sponsoring 10 Bishops’ students, but it would have to be discussed further.

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The 2020/2021 Budget: Wayne shared the proposed budget for the 2020/2021 year. He pointed out the major fundraising changes to show what projected revenue we plan to receive and what expenses we expected to incur during this fiscal year. 

The budget was accepted by Karen Sinclair and seconded by Anzie Fraser. 

Wayne Knight further reported on a discussion that he had with the Tri-State Liaisons – Lourdeth Ferguson, Jo-Ann Davis-Valz, and Gail Nunes. The Liaisons suggested that we have a remote student conference next year in lieu of our scheduled biennial visit to the school. It was agreed that we would bring this suggestion to the membership to get their input.

Wayne Knight also brought up the current controversy between the school and past and present students who spoke out about bullying and favoritism that takes place in the school by some teachers.

The Executive also met, discussed the issue, and it was decided that we should not get involved and that it should be handled between the Ministry of Education and the school’s board. BHOSA also wrote a letter, which was read to the membership by Jacqueline Smartt. Wayne Knight wanted to make it clear that our association had no input in writing that missive, but he called BHSOSA president Kadeem Davis for clarification after seeing the letter and Kadeem said that they (BHSOSA) had tried to reach out to the school several times offering to assist and got no response, so they sent the letter to the ministry with a copy to the school, in an attempt to have the situation addressed.

As this is still an ongoing situation it may not be wise to approach the school right regarding a student conference. Dawn McDonald, added that while we would like to do our part, we should remember that a school has many facets and that we should not let this incident cloud our perspective of all of the good things that are also happening at the school. Monique Davidson-Tucker added that we should distance ourselves from the letter and that we should make that known. Wayne Knight added that that would make the situation more divisive, and we should just step back and let them deal with the situation and not interfere. Jo-Ann Davis-Valz agreed with Wayne and said that she witnessed some of the mistreatment of students when she was there for the student conference. She also added that in order to have a successful student conference, we needed to be able to partner with the teachers, so it would be desirable to have a resolution to this matter before we consider moving forward. Hazel Drew agreed with Jo-Ann and thought that we should tell BHOSA that any correspondence that suggests that any/all chapters are in agreement with should be discussed with the chapters prior to it being sent out in the future.

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Wayne Knight will now be added to a group that is dealing with this situation so that he will be in the know about prior correspondence. Hazel Morrison and Karen Sinclair discussed Lyn Morris’s bullying initiative, and Gail Nunes added that people should be allowed to air their experiences, but we should keep our focus on the students who are the people that we’re trying to help. Phillip interjected about his years at Bishops’ and how sometimes he was “dressed down” with a smile, which was a part of the environment that we grew up in – nicknames/bullying was something that was normalized in our society. He has attended both conferences and had observed teachers bullying students and conversations with teachers who said that they have to deal with the aftermath of whatever we have interjected in the students during the time we were there. Barbara Chase, also mentioned, that she also witnessed bullying especially with regard to the student’s hair. Lourdeth Ferguson also shared what her relative who attends the school told her about. Paula Hazelwood said that we have belabored the subject and that we should continue the meeting and step back from this topic.  

 

Virtual Updates:

Jonathan Locke spoke about his experience with the GCA program to do some hands-on activities with students in Guyana and the students from Guyana were extraordinary.

 

OTHER BUSINESS:

Dawn McDonald reported that she wanted to donate iPads, but was told that the store where she had planned on sourcing the items from was currently experiencing a shortage of those items and now her project is at a standstill for now. Wayne Knight didn’t think that there was a good way for the school to secure iPads, and he suggested that the better investment may be to purchase laptops for the school. Dawn reiterated that she was buying the iPad to give to the students.

 

Closing

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:08 pm with a closing prayer by Anzie Fraser.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Jacqueline Smartt

Asst. Secretary/Treasurer - BHS NY Tri-State Alumni Association

 

https://www.bhsnytristate.com/

BHS Tri-State Chapter P.O. Box 02-0039 Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn NY 11201