Valeria Wells
jacknjilleast@aol.com
Dear Leadership in the East:
Welcome 2008 and to new beginnings in the ‘Mighty Eastern Region’. During the program year, we have experienced a few firsts. As a region, we continue to improve the ways in which we accomplish our goals and create opportunities for our children. This past fall we had record turnouts for most of our new fall Clusters. Moving Cluster to the fall has allowed us to jump start our programs and training. It is clear that the introduction of the new middle school component fueled a new level of participation in our mothers as well as our young people. This was the first of many improvements to the regional cluster programming and we hope you will agree that it was a stellar success.
Special thanks to Lisa Smoots, Program Chair and Lauren Jones. Membership/Mentor Chair for producing this engaging program and many thanks to John Tod Surgeon, of Essex Hudson Chapter who presented their Carole Robertson display at each of our middle school cluster meetings. Moving forward, we plan to incorporate a display competition for the middle school program.
We were blessed to have had several speakers during the fall clusters series including college and league presidents, community leaders and of course our dynamic oratorical competitors. This season we experienced unprecedented participation with positive feedback. The Delaware Valley and Metropolitan Cluster contests had oratorical performances which resulted in ties in divisions one and two. In each cluster, participation levels were far beyond our wildest dreams. Congratulations to all of the oratorical winners that will compete at the 58th Annual Teen Conference in Boston April 24-27, 2008.
Finally, we instituted the certification program for all chaperones expected to attend the annual Teen Conference. In the 2006-07, program year we introduced the certification process to ensure consistency and the safety of all teens during the conference. This year we have set the standard that all chaperones be certified and members have been extremely receptive to complying with this new standard of excellence. Thank you for meeting and exceeding our expectations by attending the certification workshops during clusters in record numbers. Congratulations to the members that passed the exam and received chaperone certification which is valid through 2008-09 program year.
We are dedicated to making this organization the best it can be for you and your children.
Happy New Year and all the best in 2008 is our wish for all of our families in the Eastern Region.
Peace and blessings,
Valeria G. Wells
18th Eastern Regional Director