THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL

October 2011 Volume 20, Issue 2 Editor: Jerrie Dooley jemdooley@austin. rr.com

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FREDERICKSBURG, TEXAS Mission statement: The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International promotes professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education. Vision statement: Leading women educators impacting education worldwide.

Meeting:
Monday, October 2010, 6 p.m.

F Initiation and grant-in-aid fundraiser dinner at Memorial Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall 607 N. Milam St., Fbg

Fredericksburg, TX

Presidents Message
Today, I was thinking about Louise Nixon, a longtime member of DKG and Beta Zeta who passed away in August. As we initiate our new members, we will also be honoring the memory of this special lady when we meet on October 24th, the week before All Saints Day. Roman Catholics call this day the Solemnity of All Saints in honor of all the saints, known and unknown. In the Lutheran faith, "saints" are all those who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. Im not here to preach today, but I do believe that saints are all the believers on Earth and in Heaven, both LIVING and dead. To me, Louise was a saint and is a saint, and you are a saint, too. Many times in my daily work, I wonder what my students think of me. They know that Im a preachers wife, and they probably wonder why I act the way I do and say the things I do sometimes. I wish I could be perfect, but often the devil gets into me, and sometimes it just feels good to be bad. Sometimes my students deserve to be punished; at times Im good at doing that many times not. Often they dont deserve to be punished when I think they do. I hope my students (past, present, and future) will forgive me when Im wrong. I love to hear someone say, She is a saint. Its usually because a teacher is being very patient with a student. Teachers are saints to me. They put up with a lot every day and put their hearts and SOULS into their work. They give it all theyve got at school every day; theres not much left of any of us by nightfall. Louise taught reading and speech at Horace Mann Jr. High in Baytown. She also taught at Fredericksburg Jr. High. She had a bachelors degree in drama, directed the Fredericksburg Little Theater for years, and directed and choreographed Fredericksburgs 125th Anniversary Pageant. In all those years of teaching, Im sure there were many times when others saw Louise as a saint! When I die, I hope someone will say, She was a saint. I hope it will be one of my students or you. I didnt know Louise when she was alive, but I feel like I know her now. Im not much of a preacher not even close but I do believe YOU are saints, sisters! Tammy Vitek, President

Hostesses:
Janet Hext- Lead Beverly Harrell Donna Henke Jerrie Dooley Olga Peacock Janet Rabke Marsha Weatherford

Program: Initiation
and Remembrance

Purposes:
Purpose 2: To honor women who have given or who evidence a potential for distinctive service in any field of education. Purpose 3: To advance the professional interest and position of women in education.

Service: Items for the

Boys and Girls Club
Delta Kappa Gamma Song

Music:

Beta Zeta Welcomes New Members

Fundraiser Dinner and Initiation Oct. 24th Come to our October dinner and initiation on Oct. 24th at 6:00 p.m. at the Memorial Presbyterian Church on N. Milam Street. A very special program is planned to initiate four new members. Read all about them on page 3. The hostesses are preparing our popular baked potato dinner with chili and other yummy toppings, salad, and dessert. Your donation of $7.50 will cover the hall fee and a contribution to the grant-in-aid fund. This and our Founders Day dinner are our major fundraisers of the year. Send your $7.50 for this fundraiser dinner to Tisha Clements at 306 W. Ufer St., Fbg. by Monday, October 18th. If you cannot come, please send your donation to Tisha to enable us to meet our $500 goal this year to assist a student teacher.

Beta Zeta Website:

http://betazeta.weebly.com/

State website: www.alphastatetexas.org International website: www.deltakappagamma. org

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Programs, Programs, Programs

Karen Loeffler and her hard-working committee have assembled an array of great programs and projects for this years meetings. There is something for everyone! We got reacquainted at the September meeting and even found out that Paula and Karen own goats! In October, we initiate and raise funds for our grant-in-aid at our dinner ceremony. If you care about children and thats a given in our group, you will learn more about what our town does to help our young people to grow into fine adults. We will hear about the Needs Council, Mentoring Program, Boys and Girls Club and others and also about volunteer opportunities. Its party time in December at Cynthia Berkmans house. Januarys meeting will be on CASA which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. This group provides each volunteer with training to be a special advocate for a child in foster care. Donna Ketchbaw, an award-winning Hill Country author, will share her experiences as a writer at the February meeting. Donna, a former speech pathologist in area schools, wrote Savannahs Choices, a suspenseful novel. It won a National Indie Excellence Award in 2010. In March, we celebrate Founders Day and install new officers. Finally, in April, we always like to do something special. This year, we will meet for a Saturday breakfast at Andys Grille, and learn about the Nimitz and Museum of the Pacific War. Then all are invited to go tour the museum. Thank you to Karen and her committee for putting together a great slate of programs! Please bring books, supplies, small toys, games, etc for the Boys and Girls Club to the October meeting. We will continue this at each meeting as a service project this year. We also plan to help with Special Olympics and start a new project we will learn about at the November meeting. Elizabeth Bispo, Red Cross Nurse Just when you think you know someone, you find out they have another life that is so giving and wonderful! Our own Elizabeth, a nurse and educator, answered the call of duty when fires broke out across Texas in early fall. In her own words, here is her story: Extreme drought and devastating wildfires have laid siege on Texas since December of 2010. During the Labor Day weekend 180 fires broke out in 28 counties across the state, and evacuations began. The Wildfires destroyed a total of 1945 homes with the following counties impacted the greatest: Bastrop 1555 homes, Marion 88 homes, Travis 93 homes, and Waller 72 homes. The majority of structures were single family dwellings while 733 were mobile homes and 37 were apartments. I was on deployment assignment to the Wildfires for three weeks. We typically worked 1214 hour days sometimes under difficult situations. Overall, we opened shelters, fed meals from fixed feeding sites and from Emergency Response Vehicles serving a 28-county area. We also provided sifters, comfort kits, cleaning supplies, financial assistance for health services and recovery information and referrals. Health and Mental Health workers formed condolence and outreach teams that helped people devastated by these wildfires to begin the process of recovery. I want to thank everyone for their messages of support, their prayers, and especially for any donations made to support the victims of the fires. And we thank you, Elizabeth, for your work!

Happy Birthday to
Laurie Ward October 11 Carolyn Regan October 12 Elizabeth Bispo-- October 16 Debbie Klein October 22 Jo Smith October 28 Donna Henke October 29 Marsha Weatherford November 12 Abban Lastovica November 20 Katie Shafford November 20 Janalee Hannemann November 26

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Introducing Our Initiates

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Marsha Pape

Marsha Pape grew up in San Antonio and earned her Elementary Education degree and kinder endorsement at Abilene Christian University. She taught in Austin and San Angelo schools for 29 years and another year in a child development center, mainly at kinder level. Although she says her original motivation for going into teaching was June, July, and August, she found that she loved teaching and children, as evidenced by her long career. Retiring to Fredericksburg with her husband, Mark, son of the long-time postmaster here, she now enjoys painting in watercolors, baking (and eating the sweet treats!), walking and swimming. They have a daughter who is an MBA student at Vanderbilt. Marshas advice for young educators is: Treat the children the way you would like to be treated, with dignity and respect. Be positive. Always be open to hearing things from the childs perspective. Document everything. Your memory may fail you.

Judy Mayo

Judy Mayo was born in North Carolina, but grew up near Quinlan, TX. She took basic courses at Abilene Christian University with the intention of completing an education degree and becoming an English teacher. She changed her mind after observing nurses at the hospital when her husband was ill with a ruptured appendix. So she took a different path and enrolled in an RN program at San Jacinto College. She earned that degree and started a nursing career that has spanned 40 years, with 36 of those years in school nursing. Judy and her husband Bud raised two daughters and have 6 grandchildren ranging in age from 7 to 23. She also enjoys traveling and gardening. Judy loves helping others, solving medical issues, and teaching children about their health. Her advice to young educators is: The most important thing you can do in life is to reach out and help others, be it in teaching, nursing, or whatever, guiding them to a healthy, productive, worthwhile future.
Barbara Heinen had the unique experience of growing up in the Hotel Nimitz, as her parents owned it then. (What stories she must have to tell!) She graduated from TX Christian nd University and taught 2 grade for 26 years at Fredericksburg Primary School. Barbara chose teaching when her other career goals were somewhat derailed. She first wanted to be a nurse to work with her doctor grandfather, but fainted while watching a horse get a shot. Airline stewardess was next, but her mother wouldnt let her fly in a plane. Experiences with reading books to children in Bible School and being involved in Future Teachers at FHS cemented her plans to become a teacher. She loved challenging her students, watching them grow and seeing that light bulb turn on when they learned something new. Now retired, she enjoys her grandchildrens activities, board games, reading, traveling, and volunteering in our town. To future teachers, she would say: If you enjoy working with children, the rewards are endless. To be able to take a young mind and fill it with knowledge is one of the greatest highs. Your students will change your life forever ... in a good way. Floye Burnett grew up in Ada, Oklahoma and Bovina, TX, the birthplaces of her dad and mom. Married to Jerry, they have 3 children and 8 grandchildren. One daughter followed her parents into the teaching field. Floye started teaching after just 3 years at Eastern New Mexico Univ. She took a brief time off when her first children were born as women were not allowed to teach when they were pregnant in 1965. After completing her degree at West TX State Univ., she taught 30+ years in public, private, and home school settings and every grade from Pre-K th through 7 , but mainly in Pre-K and Kinder, her favorite level. She continues to home school her grandsons today. Floyes father, a teacher in Oklahoma and Texas, was her inspiration to teach, and she has always loved the interaction with children she taught and the creativity and uniqueness of each child. She spends time reading, studying the Bible, journaling, scrapbooking, exercising, watching the Spurs play, learning about technology, and going to flea markets. To aspiring educators, she would say: Teaching is a calling. You wont get rich in worldly goods, but you will have a richness to your world. There will be days you will cry, days you will laugh, and days when you do both. If you dont do more laughing than crying, then you may need to rethink your career choice. I cannot think of a job with more built in potential to do good than teaching. You are given minds to stimulate and hearts to inspire. The cool thing is it works both ways.

Barbara Heinen

Floye Burnett

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What better fun than a cozy couch and a stack of books to read with a friend! Janalee Hannemann and her little friend, a Primary School student, participate in the O.T.T.E.R (Our Time to Enjoy Reading) program twice a week. More volunteers are needed to read to the 90+ children who need that extra exposure to the pleasures of reading. Each person reads to the same child for 20 minutes on MW or TTH each week. Students have really blossomed with the individual attention, and many are even reading to the volunteer by the end of the year. If you would like to join this great group, call Lisa at the Primary School at 830-997-7421.

What a lovely treasure was found by our new member Barbara Heinen. At right is a DKG Founders Day program dated April 10, 1954. Carefully hand painted by Beta Zeta member Lyne Lewis, the program was dedicated to the memory of Barbaras grandmother, Clara Stieler Keidel who was named an honorary member in 1936. Mrs. Keidel was active in many local organizations including PTA, Historical Society, Medical Auxiliary, and others. Barbara will donate this treasure to the Beta Zeta archives at the October meeting. Thank you for this gift, Barbara. And thank you, Evelyn Weinheimer, for your research on this lovely artifact and its recipient.

Check out the

Beta Zeta website at:

http://betazeta. weebly.com/. Carolyn Otto, keeps it up to date with news, pictures, meeting info and more. Thanks, Carolyn, for all your work.
Officers: Pres Tammy Vitek VP1 Karen Loeffler VP2 Andra Hudson R. Sec Amy ONeil C. Sec Janet Hext Tr Tisha Clements Parl Jerrie Dooley

September Meeting Members scramble to compare similarities in the opening activity to get to know each other better.

Tammy shows off her convention name badge with all the ribbons that Beta Zeta received to show the awards we wonall pointing to an outstanding chapter.

In Memory of Louise Nixon Beta Zeta will take a few moments at our October meeting to honor the memory of our longtime member, Louise Nixon, who died on August 7, 2011 at age 92. Those who knew Louise will tell about her intelligence and passion for family, history, and service. She graduated from FHS as valedictorian, earned a drama degree from UT and was married for 75 years to Victor Nixon, Sr. She taught reading, drama, and speech, and served our community in PTA, the Historical Society, Music Study Club, and others. She directed Fbg. Little Theater and the Fbg. 125th Anniversary Pageant. Her husband, 3 children, 6 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren survive. Louise was initiated into DKG in 1956 and served Beta Zeta in many ways during her 55 years of membership.

Archives Committee members, Beth, Helen, Evelyn, and Barbara are deep in conversation about their role in preserving and researching our DKG and Beta Zeta heritage.