Board of Directors Update: A Letter from the Chair
The US Math Recovery Council® Board of Directors met August 2-4, 2013, in our new home state of Minnesota. We were delighted to have four new board members in attendance! Ms. Mollie Gabrielson is from South Dakota where she serves as the Math Recovery® Coordinator and a secondary Mathematics Coach. Ms. Tricia Gessele is from Spokane Washington. Tricia has spent the last several years providing mathematics professional development for administrators and PK-12 teachers. Dr. Patrick Sullivan is an adjunct professor at Penn State University. Dr. Sullivan has served as the principal, as well as a mathematics teacher, at Grace Prep High School in State College, PA for the past four years. Dr. David Webb is from Colorado. Dr. Webb is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education and is also the Executive Director of Freudenthal Institute US. The Board also includes Dr. Anne Catena (NJ), Ms. Deb Farley (NY), Mr. Fred Reynolds (NY), Ms. Sharon Ficarra (RI), Ms. Mari Muri (CT), Ms. Kory Obenshain (NM), Dr. Cathy Briand (NM), Ms. Lynn Haden (TX) and myself, Ms. Yvette Panasowich (NJ).
The Board said goodbye to Mari Muri. Mari served the Board of Directors with integrity for the past 7 years. Mari has held the role of Chair, Vice Chair and Past Chair over her tenure. Mari has brought many standard practices to our Board of Directors based on extensive experiences serving on the Board of Directors for NCTM and NCSM. It was under Mari's leadership that standing committees were created to assist in creating a governing Board to shepherd US Math Recovery Council's® mission. Thanks to Mari we have three standing committees that include Board Development, Finance and Policy. It is through committee work where policies, bylaws and procedures were completed for the current and future Board of Directors to govern Math Recovery®. For those of us who have worked with Mari, she will be missed. Mari has left a cavernous mark on how the US Math Recovery Council® Board of Directors conducts business. She has set a legacy for all Board Chairs to follow as well as set the bar high with expectations to forge ahead in sustaining our organization. Thank you isn't enough, but a truly heartfelt recognition for a stellar US Math Recovery Council® ambassador.
Our summer Minnesota meeting also allowed our CEO Carolyn Olijnek to shine as our leader and host. Carolyn gave positive reports about the recently completed Summer Institute and first ever Consultant Retreat, which were held in Nashville. We worked alongside Carolyn to begin creating our three-year strategic plan under the direction of our longstanding consultant Dr. Brad Gray, from the Center for Nonprofit Management. We have a great start to our strategic plan and will spend the next few weeks working in subcommittees to flesh it out and will follow up at the February meeting. Our webmaster, Phil Koury, has been very busy writing hours and hours of code to bring you an easy to use and comprehensive member website.
Our Nashville office will have closed by the time you receive this note. US Math Recovery® is extremely thankful for the services of our interim CEOs Mike Patterson and Gary Hauk. We could not have sustained daily office operations without our transition staff that included Amalia Hoagland and Lisa Wooley. Throughout the transition, Patty King gathered a cadre of consultants and juggled all professional development requests and program inquiries while planning the Annual Conference. Christina Miller, our Director of Programming and Development of Special Projects launched the AVMR 2.2 course, which has been well received, and most recently completed an update of Add+VantageMR® Course 1. I'm truly appreciative and thankful for the dedication and persistence demonstrated by each of these individuals to keep Math Recovery® operational throughout our transition. Kudos to a job well done!
Your US Math Recovery Council® Board of Directors will have a few new announcements to share with you shortly. Soon our website will hold a greater capacity to better serve your needs, including membership renewal notices, easy conference and training registration, and much more. As a Board we are committed to upholding our mission, and guide US Math Recovery® on a path for sustained growth. Thank you for the opportunity to serve.
Yvette Panasowich
US Math Recovery® Board Chair
