July Executive Board Meeting

August 11, 2010 in Uncategorized | No comments

Fall is just around the corner. Here are a few things to share from this past month’s Executive Board Meeting!

Updates |

Nicole made her first bulletin, which can be accessed through the publications link on the website. Check it out as it is fun and also animal themed! She is also looking into rooms for the next set of meetings, Trotter House for Committee Lock In, and rooms for committee member’s needs such as Pete’s Environmental Conference for winter semester. Nicole has also been keeping up with her Kroger internship.

Kelly submitted the June MRF and set the goals documents for the Leadership Team. She has also started editing the forms for the fall such as the membership forms and new member information sheets. She is more than ready to tackle all the early fall printing! She also submitted an application for the Circle K International Service Fair for International Convention. Kelly also works a lot at home and in Ann Arbor.

Steph has been setting up all the Art Fair projects and making sure everything is running smoothly from DC, where her internship is!

Rosaline has been staying in contact with all of the chairs and planing the Big Sib Little Sib program for this fall. Rosaline is currently at home in Georgia with her new Blackberry!

Natalie has been setting up new Kiwanis Family projects such as Fourth of July Float Building. She has also been setting up a few large scale projects for summer programs in Ann Arbor and has been in communication with the Greek System Service Day on October 23rd! Natalie also met with a representative from UMEC (University of Michigan Engineering Council) to collaborate on our respective service days that are both on November 13th! She also talked to Dave Waterhouse to further campus collaborations and is currently looking for a new faculty advisor. She hopes to also prepare the new Leadership Team for the fall rush. Natalie and Kim was also able to make former Tech Chair Scott a hula girl cake!

Review |

This summer Circle K applied for funding through the Michigan Student Assembly and Ann Arbor Downtown Kiwanis. Circle K was granted money from Kiwanis for the summer for Mass Meeting promotion and activities. Additionally, Harry Cross, an Ann Arbor Downtown Kiwanian would like to fund Circle K shirts for site leaders to wear at every project for community recognition.

Summer with Circle K is always busy. Success this year has been seen through collaborating with nearby Kiwanis at the Ann Arbor Art Fair and to other organizations that are also active over the summer such as K-grams.

Other topics that were discussed included our usage of Google products such as Mass Meeting and Circle K Service Day planning on Google documents, website management, faculty advisor search, and the development of the new membership incentive program!

Upcoming Projects |

A few projects in the summer include helping Chelsea and Dexter Kiwanis with their sausage truck fundraisers. It will be important to show Circle K support as they also supported our Ann Arbor Art Fair fundraiser!

Look out for Circle K all around campus for all out fall recruitment. Feel free to help or to talk to any of us at organization fairs, chalking, or flyering!

If you have any new ideas to bring to the Executive Board, please feel free to comment or email!

Enjoy summer,
Natalie (natkitt@umich.edu)

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KaBoom! And then we had a playground.

July 29, 2010 in Uncategorized | No comments

With heavy rain in the area, the grounds were a mud pit at Paul Robeson Academy last Saturday morning.  Even so, volunteer after volunteer trickled into the site.  As expected, a group of Circle K members from UM showed up, sporting their various ponchos, rain-coats, and—for the lucky few—garbage bags.

After a few bagels and introductions, the volunteers feverishly got to work. The task was simple, to install a playground in one day, and the excitement that filled the air quickly displaced all gray clouds and any chance of rain.

Some of us got to assemble the bridge, and some of us got to assemble the rock-climbing wall (yay!).  Others were assigned tasks such as guiding the playground pieces into place or… well… moving some-thousand-cubic-yard-mountain of mulch (hehe, Dan!).  Whatever it was, everyone pitched in where they could, and by 2:30 that afternoon, what had previously been a dirty field had suddenly become a blissful playscape!

And what a playscape it was!  There were new monkey bars, racer slides, swings—even new garden boxes, picnic tables, and a sandbox.  It was a dream playground, designed by the students of Paul Robeson themselves.  As the final bolts were tightened and the final cement was poured, the students passed out thank-you cards, and the school’s principal, Dr. Collins, cut the opening ribbon.

There was only one thing left to do.

Anyone up for a game of hot lava monster?

Just let me know,
Tyler

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Best of: Sciencepalooza!

July 23, 2010 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum is a locally run museum dedicated to exposing the youth of Ann Arbor to the awesomeness of science and technology. One weekend every month, Michigan Circle K volunteers help kids complete science projects and crafts at the Hands-On Museum’s regular event, Sciencepalooza. Each month has a new theme, aimed to be kid-friendly and science-plentiful. Some details & pictures of my favorite themes this year are shown below!

Bubble-FEST
Honestly, there are very few things that excite kids as much as bubbles. Here, we made cubed-bubbles, frozen bubbles, extra large bubbles, table bubbles and bubble volcanoes with kids! Plus, we got a few pointers from the local bubble guru, only known as ‘the bubble man’. Pretty amazing!


The Science of ART
Exposing kids to the science behind art can be just as illuminating as art itself. This month, we spent the day teaching kids to make origami, berry-paints, chromatography-butterflies and packing peanut-sculptures!


Trees
Nature projects are always exciting for children. Last October, we taught museum children to count tree-rings and the differences between local Michigan trees!

Astrophysics
Ok, so this sounds like an overly complicated theme for kids. But last spring we helped local children explore the stars and experience gravity on different planets!


The next Sciencepalooza will be held August 14th and 15th and the theme is GOING BUGGY, a complete explanation of insects! It’s sure to be a great time, so sign up on our calendar!
-Dan

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Kiwanis Sorting Project – The Craziest Items You Can Find In Each Department

July 12, 2010 in Uncategorized | 11 comments

Kiwanis Sorting happens every Monday and Thursday morning at the Kiwanis Activities Building, where donated items are sorted and priced to be sold on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to noon. You can find anything at the Kiwanis Thrift Sale in the various departments, which you can see below in the photos.

The Furniture Department: it’s filled with green rocking chairs and vintage couches like this one, however the pillow says it all “that’s how Kiwanis rolls”.

Lamps Department: it’s the brightest section in the basement with common and one of a kind lamps for everyone!

Fine Art Department: at this colorful section you can find any wall art to decorate a variety of living spaces, such as this University of Michigan collectible for an office to  a classic rooster for a kitchen.

Linens Department: it’s a place where you can find personal care items and any fabric you can imagine, try and replicate this outfit to fit your Santa Claus!

Glassware and Ceramics Department: this is the most fragile department in the sale, where china, glassware, and unique ceramic pieces can be found! (Natalie bought a set of mugs that she’s holding below for only $2!)

Entertainment Department: this section is an area to find books, music, and movies for all ages. You can find books on a variety of topics such as this Idiot’s Guide to Dating that I found below.

Toys Department: the most playful place to find board games, stuffed animals, and dolls for display. Today we found a pile of trolls and the giant baby from Toy Story 3!

Hardware Department: you will find anything in this department to appeal to your needs of slicing, dicing, peeling, pressing, grilling, and insert (your cooking verb) +ing here. At sorting, a flushing toilet beer mug and crepe maker found a new home at the hardware department!

Clothing Departments: there are a number of clothing departments for children, teen, women, and men at the Rummage Sale. You can find clothing for any occasion such as sleeping, sporting event, and special occasions as seen below.

Electronics Department: here is a place to find anything from computers, to television sets, and record players. This is a picture of a lovely bling-ed out computer mouse that we found!

Office Supplies Department: this is an area to find anything for your desk, it is also a place to find musical instruments and medical supplies too (like this awesome drum below)!

Sporting Goods Department: there is much Michigan pride in this department, where you can find shoes, helmets, sporting equipment, and jerseys for all ages.

Also, there are some departments that we missed such as jewelry, antiques, gardening, mattresses, and probably much more. You will have to come to the Kiwanis Building to check out the four stories of merchandise for yourself! If you have found anything crazy at the Kiwanis Rummage Sale that you would like to share please post a comment! I hope you enjoy this blog post.

Your Friend,

Kimberly

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June Executive Board Meeting

July 6, 2010 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

Here’s what happened at this past month’s executive board meeting. Please comment if you have any questions, suggestions, or new ideas!

Updates |

Rosaline is keeping track of everything on the calendar and started the chain email for the Leadership Team. She is also going to bring back the Big Sib – Little Sib program that was launched this past fall into a more structured and social program. If you took part in it this year, she would love your help! Rosaline is excited for her first directives check from the chairs in the middle of the summer. Currently, she is teaching Chinese class at home in Atlanta!

Stephanie has been staying on top of all the summer funding application forms. She has also stayed in contact with Chelsea, the Fundraising Chair, and they are both keeping Circle K Service Day in the back of their minds. Stephanie is in the University of Michigan Public Service Intern Program at Washington D.C.!

Kelly has been updating the club forms and responding to all general club emails. Additionally she has registered for this year’s International Convention in St. Louis. She is working at her hometown, Lake Orion and in Ann Arbor so there has been lots of driving!

Nicole has been enjoying her summer at her Kroger (internship). As Bulletin Editor, she has been generating ideas for the bulletin, and it should be published and distributed by the end of July so get excited!

Natalie completed the International awards form for her trip to International Convention as well. She has also been keeping in touch with leaders of K-grams, DoRAK, Interfraternity Greek Council, the Michigan Student Assembly, and others for new programming this fall! Natalie is currently interning for the University’s Center for Educational Outreach and Teach for America’s Urban Prep Academy.

If you have been making progress on Circle K related things too, please feel free to comment and give your update!

Review |

Each year the Leadership Team goes on a Leadership Team Retreat for the weekend. This year’s Leadership Team Retreat fostered great bonds amongst the members.

Leadership Connection is a week conference for student organization members. Leadership Connection also fostered great bonds and collaborations amongst organizations. A more detailed post on Leadership Connection is soon to follow!

LeaderShape, another Student Activities and Leadership Program, like Leadership Connection was also great. The facilitators Royster and Dave were down to earth and prepared the students to generate their individual vision statements to live by.

Leadership Academy, a Circle K International event was a lot of fun. Hopefully, collaborations between the Michigan and Illinois – Eastern Iowa Districts will go through this year.

Discussion |

Urban Prep Academy, a charter school in Chicago and under Teach for America, would like to have a library by the end of next year. Michigan alums have reached out and would like help in a campus wide book drive. Additionally, the school can also benefit from a letter writing/mentorship program and will be visiting the campus in the winter semester. There will definitely be more service opportunities with campus collaborations and the Kiwanis Family with this new non-profit organization partnership.

Every year, the Interfratnerity Greek Council hosts a Greek System Day of Service. This year, Circle K will be helping with the behind the scenes work. Right now, the service committees are researching potential large scale service project ideas for everyone!

The Michigan Student Assembly will be launching new and exciting events during Welcome Week including the Get Involved Campaign to encourage Freshmen to get involved early on and the Hilltopia Music and Arts Festival for Social Justice. Circle K will be helping at both of these events and is brainstorming ideas for the service related Get Involved Campaign Day! Circle K also hopes to collaborate with the Michigan Student Assembly more with workshops for other student organizations on setting up service projects and funding for large campus service events for an even greater impact.

Summer Public Relations with the Public Relations Committee has been going great, as a new banner is made and hanging in front of Angell Hall in the Diag. Chalking and flyering events through the summer are also occurring on a regularly basis.

The Leadership Team will be doing more planning through Google documents for Fall Mass Meeting, Collaboration Ideas, Goal Setting, and more. Next year, a new incentive program will be launched taking into account total hours including service and other hours for general and committee member recognition and retention.

If you are in Ann Arbor over the summer, please comment on what you would like to see with Circle K!

In service,

Natalie (natkitt@umich.edu)

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