Members Present:

Patty Hadden	Bill Benvie
Amy Vonderhaar	Vivian Wagner
Anita Bidleman	Joe Zins

Ex Officio Present:

Kevin Vance

Chris Siciliano

Fr Jack

Jodie Bender

Members Absent:

Michael Vilaboy

Shirley Brunsman

Barbara Hogan

Guest Present: none present

Opening Prayer: Bill read Mark 1: 14-20 reflection and discussion followed

Minutes from November 18th Meeting

Bill motioned to accept the minutes; Kevin seconded 

Reports:

Pastor: Fr Jack reported

Tom Bove will speak at all the masses regarding replacement of the organ. There has been $27,000 donated to begin the process of purchasing a new one without a formal request for money. Envelopes will be in the back of church for those who want to donate.

Randy Kent has volunteered to work on stage area to create more storage.

The New Years Eve dance was a big success and a request has been made to plan for next year.

Some heating troubles occurred in December but they have been resolved.

Candidate names for nomination to Pastoral Parish Council and Education Commission will be asked for during the first Sunday in March. Letters will be sent to these people and in April we will gather with those interested to discuss the role of each commission. Elections will be held at the end of May. Three spots will be open for Education Commission.

Finance: Michael was not present

School: Mr. Vance reported

Holiday music programs were wonderful and highlighted the talent of our students. Every student participated.

Boosters have ordered bleachers. This will help with seating problems for well-attended events like the music programs.

Examples of the PR brochure covers were looked at and members voted on a logo. Mr. Vance has taken a vote from several groups. The final product will be ready in the coming days.

Kindergarten and Pre school information has gone out.

50 % of the surveys about parent's evaluations of the school program were returned, representing about 150 families. At a glance things looked positive. He will share the results with the commission as soon as possible. Every three years there will need to be some sort of survey of parents done for accreditation purposes.

Jan 31st is Catholic Schools Week. Every child will have a piece of artwork on display near the activity center. The Great American Whale and Dolphin Show highlights the week. This is a show combining science and art.

An estimated 90 - 95% of our 8th graders got into the high school of their choice. We had several big scholarship winners. Joe asked that this list be published to promote our student's success.

Some sort of summer high school test preparation for the new 8th grade students will be offered this summer.

Mr. Vance shared IOWA testing scores and made comparisons with previous scores. Our students consistently score higher than the national average. The staff was overall happy with the results. They will look closely at sources of information in different categories to determine the implication for the instructional programs.

The latest draft of the Vision and Mission statement was shared. The staff worked very hard on this project and is happy with the results. This will be the tool that the Accreditation process will base its evaluation on. Amy asked that everyone is made aware of the vision and Mr. Vance said that it would be made very public. Education Commission will vote on adapting it at our next meeting.

A long-term substitute has been hired for Lisa Renken who is due to have a baby in the near future. She is an XU graduate.

Religious Education: Chris reported

1st Communion: Worship Commission is working on mass. Parent meeting for communicants are coming. There are no home school candidates this year. These are generally handled on an individual basis.

Vacation Bible School: Jodie Bender will be in charge. It is scheduled for July 10 - 14 but no specifics have been determined yet. This year Jodi will use a pre made program. She will be reviewing several in the coming weeks. No age range has been set as of yet.

PSI Program: (Postponing Sexual Involvement Program) was discussed. There is concern that the parent portion is no longer offered. Joe will write a letter on behalf of the commission about the lack of a parent portion. We discussed possible solutions to this problem including working with a cluster of school to inform parents. Morality and values are highlighted throughout the school at all levels.

Old Business

Education Commission Liaisons

Joe reminded members to continue to be in contact with their groups. 

Unfinished Business

Teacher recruitment and retention. Joe asked Father Jack if we have a long-term plan for this. Father will put Joe and Kevin on the agenda for Temporal Affairs to discuss this concern.

New Business

Jodie shared that the youth program is doing great.

They are averaging 35 - 40 High School kids and about 75 kids at the Jr. High level. Because of the numbers they now use all of Ursuline Hall for meetings.

The High School program has 15 core members who plan and facilitate the program.

They have joined a 24 - team volleyball league made up of 12 parishes. They play at St. Vivian on Sunday evenings from 6 - 8 PM.

8 RCIA candidates were recognized at mass last Sunday.

Announcements:

Our next meeting is set for March 16, 2000 at 7:00 PM. The location will be announced at a later date.

Adjournment:

Anita motioned; Bill seconded