Annual Meeting Welcomed Excellent Speakers

June busted out all over on Sunday, June 1 at the Annual Meeting in Minnetonka. The setting was a small building maintained by the Minnetonka Recreation Department, Westridge Pavilion, with views of a pond and blooming trees. Lunch for the 26 people present was accompanied by the annual meeting (see the minutes in this issue), including a report from outgoing chairs Sharon Stein McNamara and Jill Strunk. They introduced the new MWP Chair, Jennifer Nash-Wright, and the Executive Committee from this year, Sarah Paper, Treasurer, Jane Bennett, Susan Broadwell, Jacqueline Greenwood Julien, Jan Jirak and Laura Nielsen. The Executive Committee will lose Jan Jirak this coming year, and a new treasurer will be found. Other committees needing new chairs are the Private Practice Group and the Annual Meeting Committee. Gifts were presented to Jill, Sharon and Susan Johnson, the MWP Administrative Assistant, with the thanks of the organization for their leadership and hard work.

Sarah Paper presented her last Treasurer's report. In a multi-colored handout, Sarah showed us that MWP had a larger budget this year, and has also spent more. She noted that some of the trends were hard to tease out because of differences in the dates of events like the Annual Meeting. Our income from member dues increased, reflecting the priority that the Executive and Membership Committees placed on attracting new members. Sarah also announced the presentation of the Founding Mothers' Award to Ferris Fletcher.

The attendees voted to approve the new Bylaws that were proposed in the Spring, 2008 Newsletter. These changes included a shorter first term of office for Executive Committee members from 3 to 2 years and the option of extending new terms in one-year increments. The new Steering Committee will be elected at the Annual Meeting, and Bylaws can be changed at the Annual Meeting. These changes streamline processes and reduce financial and energy investments.

Volunteers received herb plants and were thanked by their committee chairs, who reported on past and upcoming events and opportunities. A special thanks to the Annual Meeting Committee of Deb Fisher, Sarah Paper, Linda Rodgers, Susan Rydell and Sarah Paper, who made the event tasty and lively. The convener of the meeting, Susan Rydell, then moved the event on to presentations of research.

After a chocolate cake break, the following presentations were given: Dr. Jacqueline Greenwood Julien presented her qualitative study titled, “The Influences of Mothers’ Coping Styles on Their Daughters’ Coping Styles”. The major finding of the research suggests that daughters cope similarly to the ways that their mothers cope, although they believe themselves to cope better. Jacqueline is currently faculty at the University of Minnesota-Morris and editor of the MWP Newsletter. She received her PsyD from Argosy University. Jacqueline is the proud mom of two month old Sawyer.

Dr. Rebecca Goffman reported on her research project entitled “Current Practices in Social and Emotional Assessment of Deaf Youth.” Results indicated little standardization in the process of assessing this population, with tests designed for the hearing population adapted for use with deaf children. Rebecca moved from New York to Minnesota in 1995 after receiving a Master’s Degree in Deaf Education from the University of Rochester, NY. As a teacher, interpreter and counselor, she expressed appreciation of the privilege of learning from the DHH community. She earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from the Minnesota School of Professional Psychology: Argosy University, Twin Cities. She is a specialist at Volunteers of America, working with deaf clients in Minnesota.

Katie Wilson’s dissertation is entitled, “Sibling Bereavement: The Experience of Grief Validation.” She focused on what was most and least helpful while bereaved siblings negotiated the grief process. Katie is currently in her fifth year at the Minnesota School of Professional Psychology, Argosy, and is completing her internship in Mason City, Iowa. She returns to Minneapolis on weekends, and hopes to return here permanently in the fall.

The evaluations returned expressed great appreciation of the presenters and their research.

By Ferris Fletcher, Annual Meeting Chair

Jennifer Nash-Wright, Laura Nielsen & Jill Strunk

Deb Fischer & Cathy Skrip

Speakers at the Annual Meeting: Jacqueline Greenwood Julien, Katie Wilson, & Dr. Rebecca Goffman