Welcome to SCENES

4. President's Annual Report to the Members Liliana said she had enjoyed travelling the province during the first year of her term. Her two main goals for the future are increasing our membership and creating better connections with practitioners outside Regina and Saskatoon, as evidenced by the decisions to have our two most recent conferences in Prince Albert and Caronport, along with meetings in Lumsden and Craik. She would also like to see the website updated to make PD video clips available there. Liliana was pleased by the excellent learning event put on in Saskatoon with David Catterick. She held meetings at SIAST Kelsey, the City of Saskatoon, and is pleased that a conversation has begun with the provincial government. Liliana stressed the value of the Jake Kutarna PD fund in helping overcome the isolation that is a reality for all of us in our classrooms.

5. Financial Report and Statements - John Lingard John presented the overall financial statements prepared by Twigg and Company. Because of the pressure of tax season work, it had not been possible to have the letter (dated April 7, 2008) checked beforehand in which John was inaccurately described as "a director of SCENES". He has requested that this be corrected to "the Executive Assistant of SCENES". Next year, the process should go more smoothly. To "audit" the SCENES accounts involves a much more involved (and expensive) process, and John was assured that the Notice to Reader provided should serve our needs. In reply to a question about the costs for learning events, John was able to find a total of $1,401.45 for the event in Saskatoon, but no other costs. Motion to accept: Don Campbell; S: Margaret Campbell. Carried.

6. Membership Report - John Lingard We have 10 Institutional members, 129 General, and 21 Students/Volunteers for a total of 160. In addition, there are 17 non-fee paying members: 14 Complimentary, and 3 Life members. The question was raised about the purpose and advantage of having an Institutional membership, and the answer appeared to be that it was mostly a goodwill gesture to support SCENES. The question of adopting a policy on suspending or cancelling unrenewed memberships was left to the executive.

7. Grants/Funding report - Mary Chapuis and Shannon Storey Mary announced that SCENES received $8,000 this year from the Multicultural Initiatives Fund (MIF). Thanks to SaskCulture and Sask Lotteries for their on-going support - and to Mary and Lisa for their work on the applications. Shannon reported one application for March 23 project funding - the Swift Current materials on display.

8. TESL Canada Report - Bula Ghosh Bula said she was looking forward to taking over from Joyce and would attend the TESL Canada conference in Moncton at the end of May to represent SCENES. Liliana added that there would be a SCENES presence at the conference through one presentation by ?Stacy Shand? and Lorinda Jones, with another from Ruth Heinrichs.

9. Scholarship Committee report - Mary Chapuis Mary announced the winner of the 2007 Wayne Eger ESL Learner Scholarship ($1000) as Shakiba Shakouri of Regina. The committee would meet in May to select the 2008 winner - the application deadline is April 15. Mary reported that the first winners of the Jake Kutarna PD Fund ($500 each) were Cheryl Rosenkerr of Caronport, to attend TESOL in New York, and Laura Butt of Moose Jaw, to attend TESL Canada in Moncton. The second award (for 2008 only) was thanks to a generous donation from Fatima Pirbhai-Illich.

10. Benchmarks Report, Accreditation Report - Shannon Storey Shannon explained that Saskatchewan and Manitoba attend all CCLB meetings, but alternate years as the voting member. This year Shannon has the vote, and is on the Appropriate Uses Committee. CCLB is repositioning after the funding cuts of the previous year; the new president is very creating around raising funds. Anyone interested in CCLB writing and development contracts should check for posted projects and talk to Ruth Epstein about the persnickety requirements. Shannon discussed the need for a policy on re-accreditation, of which notice of motion was given at the 2007 AGM. This is not intended as a cash grab. Moved: That SCENES shall establish a re-accreditation system for teachers with SCENES accreditation. Re-accreditation shall occur every five years on the basis of continued membership in SCENES and documentation of at least 25 hours of relevant professional development activities. Motion: Larraine Ratzlaff; S: Lisa Krol. Carried. There are two pending applications for accreditation which will discussed shortly.

11. Awards - 2007-2008 SCENES Award of Merit, SCENES Volunteer Award. No awards were announced.

12. Election of Officers for the coming year 2008-2009. The slate of officers (printed on the reverse of the agenda) was discussed, with no name forthcoming for a SIAST Kelsey Rep. M that nominations cease: Marge Nainaar; S: Darla Gamache. Carried.

13. Other business John announced the dates chosen by the executive for the SCENES retreat: September 19-20, at Queen's House, Saskatoon. [Note: this decision was changed after the AGM. New arrangements will be discussed with the executive.]

14. Adjournment - Liliana Dominguez.

[Note: Thanks to the Briercrest technical staff who made a most helpful audio recording of the AGM, as well as video and audio recordings of the keynote address - available for sale.]