Three Corners Neighborhood Association

Annual Meeting October 9, 2008

Attendees:

Steve Boehlen – president

Shirley Hyer – vice president

Linda Boehlen – sectary

Paul Novotny – treasure

Claudia Knepper – board member

Henry Wickman – board member

Tammy VanDyke – principal of Nicolet

Judy Enstrom – resident

John Enstrom – resident

Carolyn Coots – resident

Gary Kriescher – resident

Mike Fraley – principal of Anne Sullivan

Mike Blohowiak – resident

Amy Kocha – alder person

Jo Ann Piepenburg – resident

Mark Piepenburg – resident

Norma Teske – resident / neighborhood watch

Kelly Layne – resident

Barry Lewis – resident

Jim Arts – Chief of Police

A motion to call the meeting to order at 6:48pm was made by Shirley Hyer and seconded by Paul Novotny.

Guest Speakers:

Tammy VanDyke the principal from the Nicolet elementary school and Michael Fraley the principal from Anne Sullivan spoke about the diversity of their schools. They work with translators as they have student that speak Humong, Spanish and English. They like to be connected to the community and anyone is welcome to come in and tour the school or ask any questions. The message boards outside invite and welcome the community to the summer programs, open gym, and concerts.

They both expressed that just because the kids are off school ground dose not mean that they are not their responsibility. Our schools are part of the community and that means working together to help better the relationship between the two entities. The principals find it frustrating when the test scores come back because they know that there are some kids that are learning in Spanish and are made to take the tests in English, however the teachers are very committed to helping each student learn in a way that is going to be best for them.

Besides having the language hurdles, they now are facing a different struggle. There are kids that are moving from the bigger cities and it take a bit of time to teach them that they no longer have to fight for everything, including their place in the school.

Mike Blohowiak asked how many kids are in Nicolet? Tammy VanDyke stated that she has 462 kids, of that number 51% are Hispanic, 10% Asian, 19% are Caucasian, 8% are African American and 8% are Native American. In Anne Sullivan there are 625 kids for 34 classrooms, 44.4% Hispanic, 46.6% Caucasian, and 19% make up the African American, Asian and Native American numbers.

Paul Novotny asked do English-speaking students get excited about learning in Spanish? They do not teach Spanish, they teach the students that don’t speak English in Spanish.

John Enstrom asked what kind of programs do they have for older kids to help out with community civic help? Anne Sullivan does not have a program at this time, partly because of the liability and partly because the high schools dose have that. They have however taken kids to nursing home to visit and sing carols for the holidays.

A few other points were that they do not have the 4 year old kindergarten due to space but, it is offered through Encompass and they are part of the schools. Also the school board meetings are open to the public and if there is a subject you would like to be a part of please attend the meetings.

Treasures Report: Paul Novotny stated that we have $2190.21 in funds. Also gave the run down of where we have spent some of the money. A motion was made by Shirley Hyer to accept the report into record and seconded by Claudia Knepper.

Steve Boehlen read the mission report and we each spoke on events that we have been a part of.

• The Crime Prevention walks name has been changed to Neighborhood Awareness and is still going on at 6:30pm every Thursday night from the Art Garage.
• National Night Out: Henry Wickman spoke about who it was nice to get the neighborhood together to have a good time and dinner. Also that the silent auction and plant auction went over very well.
• Steve Boehlen: Terror on the Fox event – we will be taking part again this year on Saturday November 1, 2008 and that anyone is welcome. Last year it was a good time, and we expect this year to be more of the same.
• Linda Boehlen: Winterfest will be enjoyed for the second year in a row, and we are hopeful that this annual event will be an even bigger success. Norman Teske stated that she had heard nothing but great reviews from people in the neighborhood about last years, and is thrilled that we are going to be able to have it again.
• Shirley Hyer: The AAA lawn signs reminding people driving through our neighborhood was a huge success. As a member of AAA she was able to get a number of the signs and we passed them out to anyone who wanted to one. We are planning to do this again for next year as well.
• Amy Kocha: She was able to get additional lighting in the alley ways and is still working on the speed bumps to help slow down traffic. She was also able to take care of TNT Crust’s requests for a cross walk, which is a great way to help bring the Neighborhood and the Business together.

Mini Grants:

Steve Boehlen wanted to announce the mini grants that we put in for last year and the stats. He stated that we were allowed $1000 for Winterfest that will go to pay for the popcorn popper and the trolley rental.

The Asphalt walkway from Proper to Main Street we were awarded $2500 for the instillation and he is working with the city to have the date finalized in the next week to correspond with another project in the city.

The Custom Street Signs are also being finalized by the city and we should have a sample in the next week or so.

All in all we have had a very good productive year and we welcome anyone who would like to be a part of the association to join us.

Meeting was adjourned and all were welcome to popcorn, drinks from BP and sandwiches from Jimmy Johns.