Spring Board MeetingMay 19-20, 2016

Hindman Settlement SchoolHindman, Kentucky

Board Members PresentShirley Asher, Valerie Bartley, George Fletcher, Nancy Hampton, Brian Lewis, Raymond McLain, Susie Merida, Sherry Powers, Michael Sloane, Lora Smith, Angie Spady, Lois Weinberg

Advisory Board Member PresentMark Holloway

Staff PresentCarrie Carter, Louisa Erb, Pete Erb, Lema Gibson, Trena Hotelling, Brent Hutchinson, Linda Jones, Helana Lewis, Jacob Mack-Boll, Josh Mullins, Pam Noble, Ola Pigman, Melissa Pigman, Brett Ratliff, Rita Ritchie, Corey Terry, Randy Wilson

May 19Board Chair Sherry Powers called the meeting to order at 6:41pm, and welcomed our new board members Angie Spady and Lora Smith. Sherry expressed she was excited to have the opportunity to work with them. They both come highly recommended among staff and community members.

Nancy Hampton presented a scholarship check from the Kentucky DAR Cameo Society. She was president of this society until recently, and Hindman Settlement School was always the focus of their project.

Brent recognized the lives and service of Marcia Smith Lawrence and Marlene Ellis Payne to Hindman Settlement School and its Board. Their obituaries were included in board packets.

Partner Program Reports

LifelineJim Phelps: Lifeline was faced with major challenges this past fall through early spring. During the East Regional Conference in Georgetown they announced lots of changes to the program including requirements of license agreements for their logo, and a new agreement for advertising. Thankfully, these changes were made and legal agreements were worked out. Jim referenced his community service hours in his board report. He has about 36 hours a week in activities. This year is the 70th anniversary of 4-H organization, and Jim hopes to attend a celebration to take place in New Orleans.

Jim has been in Hindman 43 years, and he plans to be here a few more years. He has a small parcel of land on a family farm in Somerset, KY. His plan is to build a home on family land according to father’s will and wishes. It will happen, but it may take awhile. In the meantime, he plans to be committed to what he’s doing here now, and especially with Lifeline. He has dealt with some extremely difficult situations, but there are still problems that take place with drug addiction, and he wants to stay involved with helping the community.

SWAPPete & Lou Erb, Mennonite Central Committee: Currently SWAP are getting ready for summer, repairing tools, visiting every person they intend to work with. They received 50 applications this year, and are usually able to do half of that. Harlan, KY, Elkhorn, WV, and Hindman, KY are where headquarters are located. They will work with volunteer groups of 40-50 people in Harlan, KY and host several groups. The SWAP program does a lot of promotion for staff. They set up a booth at Alice Lloyd Collge and sent out emails to recruit summer staff. Friends Helping Friends is a group of 20 adults who are very skilled and generous. They visited Hindman in November and came back in April. They helped fixed roofs, built ramps, and laid flooring. Hindman is a good site for learning groups to come and tour and learn about Appalachia. In April, Maumee County Day School, a private school in Toledo, brought 11 international students (10 from china, 1 from Russia). They went into three schools and gave programs about their countries and had good discussions with elementary and high school students, had a dulcimer lesson with Randy, and worked on a public art service project at the Kentucky School of Craft. Their parents sent them here in hopes they attend college in the United States. They were thankful for the service opportunity, and they said they wanted more time here. They hope to come back. Another learning tour is here with a group from Bluffton University. Right now they are in Elkhorn for service, next week will come to Hindman for learning and will work on a media project with Appalshop, then will come to Hindman to do interviews. It will end up being a promotional media project for SWAP to show prospective volunteers.

Lou has been volunteering with the Dyslexia Program and reading at the public library when time allows. Pete has been doing maintenance at the Methodist Church. They’ve been very involved in the church and with the youth ministry and transportation of students.

This summer they have a very full schedule. Pete and Lou anticipate 218 volunteers from Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. They will also have two full-time students and 2 local part-time staff.

Pete and Lou thanked everyone, saying they couldn’t be here doing this work they enjoy without Hindman Settlement School and the Hindman United Methodist Church.

Program Reports Dyslexia ProgramOla Pigman thanked the board for coming and for all that they do for the Dyslexia Program. Reading Labs featured no changes in staff this year. Trena Hotelling is

still working with 48 students at Beaver Elementary, Pam Noble and Melissa Blair have 48 students at Carr Creek Elementary, and Melissa Pigman works with 67 students at Hindman Elementary. Ola had the board reference her report in the board packet for Reading, Math, and Word Attack gains from the current school year. Extra math testing took place up until last week. The weather this winter hindered progress and had an impact on work in the schools. Last year problems with Carr Creek Elementary were resolved and it went well this year. The Dyslexia staff at Carr Creek Elementary this year screened 43 incoming kindergarten students at the beginning of the year. They chose five students with characteristics of dyslexia and worked with them an extra hour each day. They then identified five students to act as a control group. The students in the control group were identified as having the same dyslexic characteristics but did not spend the extra hour a day with our staff. They will compare progress for the two groups at the end of the year. Their hope is to show how much of a difference it makes and have quantified data to share.

The program has screened 68 students since September 1, 2015. Twenty-two were enrolled in a reading program, 44 in the fall program, and 34 students in spring program. The Knott County program especially has picked up and the Pike County program is also growing.

Pam Noble and Melissa Blair went to Louisville to training for Barton Program certification. All teachers are now Barton certified. All dyslexia program staff went to Atlanta for the Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators Annual Conference.

Summer School this year is June 13-July 15. We are accepting 45 students with 42 receiving scholarships. New staff are hired and they are all strong applicants. Ola feels they will all be good additions to the program.

Ola shared a success story about a student, William Brashear, whom they nicknamed “Mr. 100.”William’s grades improved so much he started calling himself “Mr. 100” because he made so many 100’s on his spelling tests. His social skills had also improved tremendously.

Lois asked about the results of the early kindergarten screening. Ola said they showed a higher number than average showed characteristics. Typically, they would have expected 10-20% but it ended up being 17 students, which was nearly half of students screened. Those statistics alone show the importance of the work being done with the dyslexia program in the local school system, in this case, working to prevent reading failure.

Program Director’s ReportWhen Brett Ratliff came to this position he wanted to get more Knott County people engaged in the work of the Settlement School. He feels a lot of progress has been made over the past couple of years. We hosted a very successful event in December, Dumplin’s & Dancin.’ Lora Smith was here and one of the instructors. There has been an increased emphasis on agriculture work that has been recently done here, combined with long history of dance. Dance callers from Appalachia,

and foodies from all over, including Ouita Michel, participated. It ended with a delicious feast and the whole weekend celebrated our deep heritage. One of the hottest culinary trends right now is Appalachian cuisine. Through the partnership with the Appalachian Food Summit (the first feast with the group was held here a couple of years ago), it has been exciting and important to bring in the food heritage trend to Hindman Settlement School, where it is a part of our history here and not just a trend.

Grow AppalachiaVISTA Member Jacob Mack-Boll works with Grow Appalachia. He has been here since last August. Our third growing season is just kicking off. We have had great momentum moving into this spring. He and Brett have been attending lots of meetings and have about 50-55 participating families. There is a great energy of questions and information sharing online and in-person. Brett is enjoying getting to know everyone and see what projects everyone is working on. There are a lot of first-year growers and also new aquaponic high tunnel grower (a participant who is also a former miner) so they are having fun with growing experiments. When Brett talks about bringing the community to get involved here, this has been one thing that has been working well. He is also excited to see what this summer brings. Bobby Perkins, Grow Appalachia Field Coordinator, has been face of the program for a lot of folks. His hands-on work includes tilling for participants who need assistance. This year they are also starting to help with the Knott County Farmers’ Market. Brett is hoping to help them expand, help participants sell produce, and increase visibility for the market, including small-scale craft production and other additions. The program has received funding to provide more services, including raising chickens and bees. Kentucky State University is one agency helping with that. This has also brought more people into the program and brought good, positive feedback from participants. Brett feels this program is some of the most effective outreach the Settlement could be doing right now.

Passing the Pick & BowPick & Bow is a pilot program for Knott County this year in Hindman Elementary, in partnership with WMMT’s Traditional Music Project. Brett used to teach for that program in Letcher County, so he is excited to be bringing it to Knott County schools. WMMT staff is currently teaching in four elementary schools in Letcher County. Brett wants to start early on with students, even in this first year here, seeing them with instruments in their hands and teaching them to express themselves with traditional music. He hopes to see the program grow in the coming years.

Folk Arts Curriculum DevelopmentBrett is working with Jen Tackett, an Extension Specialist with the UK Cooperative Extension Service, on curriculum for Hindman’s Folk Arts Program, moving it forward to record and build upon work the Settlement has already been doing. He ideally wants it to be an online tool for classrooms. The Settlement School will hold teacher trainings here to be able to teach the curriculum to instructors. This project is still in the early stages, but it is finally getting off the ground.

Heritage Food & Dance TrailThis program is also in the early stages, much like Dumplin’s & Dancin.’ It will

take on its own life as it develops and we partner with historical sites and cultural organizations all over the region, but Brett is envisioning many Dumplin’s & Dancin’-like events popping up all over the area. He has been working with Lora Smith and Betsy Whaley with MACED. Lora Smith added that she is actively involved at MACED and is committed to making this happen. Appalshop has been helping to organize these meetings as well. As partners they are all working on cultural organizing and cultural tourism. They will have another Hindman Settlement School representative at the next meeting in Hazard, which is taking place next week.

Brett also announced that he will be leaving his role at the Settlement School in a couple of weeks. He will be moving to Little Rock, AR. His partner, Rebecca Gayle Howell, was promoted to senior editor of Oxford America Magazine. He is excited to take this change head on and make something good happen for himself and to follow her as they merge their lives in Little Rock. Brett has been very thankful for this organization’s work. He has long been influenced by its work and it allowed him to learn early on what it meant to be from this region through the writing of work done at Hindman Settlement School. He believes it set him down the path to end up here. He thanked the board and staff for its support of this institution – and he has been thankful to have had this experience here.

Craft ShopRita Ritchie presented her report on the Marie Stewart Craft Shop, explaining that her work with the shop is busiest when we take crafts to DAR events. As usual, sales are up in summer and down winter when we have less activity on campus.

Folk ArtsRandy Wilson presented his report. He made CDs this year with the children at the schools where he works. The students made the illustration on the covers. The annual Herb Walk just finished and we had 80-90 people on campus. Students enjoyed the walk. He had local guides participating and teaching about local native plants. Randy heard from one that a student thought it was neat and that she never walks through the woods. As usual, it has been an uphill struggle to get participants out, but once they’re here they enjoy it and continue to come back and participate. They were taught about stinging nettle and jewelweed. Randy had several students express an interest to continue. He also signed up volunteers to run along Troublesome Creek with canoes to clean up trash. They will do that later on after the rain decreases this season.

Randy has also been working on a number of oral history projects including the dulcimer history. He did recordings and oral histories of Uncle Ed Thomas, McKinley Craft, John Jacob Niles, Jean Ritchie’s family and Homer Ledford. He is currently working on projects of ID Stamper and Jethro Amburgey. He recently interviewed Jethro Amburgey’s grandson who said he used to walk the creek from the Settlement School to Jethro’s house. He has a series of recordings with Lee Sexton and has decided to record his tunes while Lee is still able to play. So far, Randy has recorded 90-100 tunes for a library of his work, for Lee and his family to have. The recordings consist of several of his stories too, from the beginning of his banjo career to now.

Randy then talked about several grants we have applied for to have artists to come into the schools. They will hear in July about some of that. Josh has written and secured a grant from E.O. Robinson Mountain Fund for this work. Josh has been a huge help already and has helped Randy write grants and get new funds for his program.

Randy then showed a piece of a video for a dance workshop at Jones Fork Elementary. Teachers at Letcher County and here in Knott County wanted to have a seminar they could use, so he decided to use the students to create this. The dances consisted of everything from Native American to traditional Appalachian square dancing, ballet, etc.

Lora Smith asked about the oral histories he has been working on. Randy explained that they’ll be in our archives, and he is talking to Ron Pen and Loyal Jones about the archives at University of Kentucky and Berea College. They both have other ideas about people at Berea to contribute. He has completed 10 hours and 30 minutes of recordings so far.

Valerie Bartley asked if they would be in writing, to which Randy replied they did not have plans for yet. Valerie added that at the library they said the formatting changes so quickly. The librarian thought about converting them to text for more usability. Randy has them saved and backed up right now, so the option would be there to do that at some point.

Brett added that the hope is to enter a new phase with our archive system. It is a huge asset that is not being utilized yet, and it is in need of a new system to allow for better use. Grant writing and VISTA possibilities are going to help work on that. It will be a huge but important next step.

Randy added that it is also the 100-year anniversary of Cecil Sharp’s visit to the region. Sharp was a collector of old ballads. BBC came and interviewed Randy and Brett about music here. He has not heard yet when that will air but it will be a good interview to look out for. Around 1917, industrialization had taken place already in England and Ireland but had not hit here yet so they found a treasure in old ballads and music in Appalachia.

Brent then closed for the evening at 7:55pm, after introducing Helana Lewis as bookkeeper and Josh Mullins as director of advancement and going over agenda for the Friday portion of meeting.

May 20Sherry called the meeting to resume at 10:18am Friday morning.

Valerie Bartley moved to approve minutes in packet. Susie Merida seconded, and the motion was approved.

Michael Sloane moved to approve the committee minutes in the board packet. George Fletcher seconded, and without discussion, the motion was approved.

Investment ReportMark Holloway presented the investment report, noting PNC Bank is custodian of all assets of Hindman Settlement School accounts. Referring to the PNC Report, overall asset allocation is the investment policy statement where we can invest money. The target on stocks is 70% and we are right at 69%, plus or minus 10% on each of these. The Hatteras Fund is limited to 5%, and we are at 6%. Cash equivalents are 4%.

Mark then discussed PNC performance versus Stockyards performance. The outlook for the market is what is happening with economy: there are always a lot of positive and negatives going on in the economy. “Slow is low” is the model for continued growth. There was no recession in 2016, but it is featuring slow growth. There is a high amount of sovereign debt in the developed world. There is a permanent gap in the country established when sovereign debt reaches same as GDP. In the United States the gap is 1.25x more than the GDP. There is a permanent cap on growth, and we are growing really slowly. He expects we will continue to see market volatility. It is a consistent bull market, as it has been the past two years. The stock market is at a high value compared to its earnings and sales, and the earnings quality is very low. This subdues reportings, and we are seeing a lot of cash hoarding, which allows for hiring and investments. There is a low level of interest rates and thus the return from bond is so low. Market investment is smarter right now. There is an historic precedence for when interest rates go down below average, they stay that way for a long time. We are eight or nine years into a low interest rate period. Politicians can’t allow interest rates to go up because it would change the yield drastically and would blow the budget up. Billion dollar deficits would go to trillion dollar deficits, therefore all politicians, in the US, China, Europe, etc., need to do everything they can to keep interest rates low.

Mark explained the strategy for investment he uses in this type of economy. He chooses to watch asset allocation very carefully. They want to be sure we are not over-weighted in stocks, because it negatively impacts the value of our portfolio. January and February saw big drops this year. There is, unfortunately, no way to know when the market will drop and rise. What we need to do is make sure we’re participating in the market in the good days of the market. If you miss those important, good days, your return drops drastically in a period of 20 years in the S&P. His company features a unique and strong analysis of level of corporate citizenship. He explained that they look for investment in companies featuring diversified boards, strongly worded codes of conduct that they operate under, that give back to community, that have good employee benefits, and no golden parachutes or claw-back provisions if something goes wrong so they do not sell out and therefore hurt their investors.

Investment Committee Meeting ReportMichael Sloane: Investment Committee meetings are usually uneventful, but this most recent one was not that way. We had three different things to discuss; we recommended them to the Executive Committee, then the Executive Committee recommended them to the board.

1. Reduction of endowment draw: Currently the endowment draw is a calculation based on a 3-year rolling average, and 5% is the draw. One thing we’ve noticed is the portfolio returns are not keeping up with inflation and returns we are taking out. See p. 9 of the PNC packet. We are projecting that 9% inflation is low, and this shows a red line instead of a black line. Brent is saying we should live on less from the endowment and work harder to raise the fund differences, allowing the endowment to grow more. What we are proposing is a gradual reduction of 5% to 4.5% over the next 5 years. Then we will re-evaluate. The ultimate goal is to get it down to 4% eventually. This will make the advancement staff’s job harder.

Sherry noted this is a recommendation from the executive committee via the investment committee. After discussion, the proposal was unanimously approved. 2. We have been talking about the next concept for three years, and actively discussing it for the last year and a half: investing in ourselves. What if we took some of those resources and set them aside to invest in ourselves? We have finally moved from a discussion to a proposal. It’s a big step and a change from the past, but we are now looking to the creation of the New Initiatives Fund. At the top level, we will segment $500,000 of endowment funds to set aside to be invested into new initiatives at the Settlement School. Any New Initiative Funds must be matched with raised funds from advancement. This would help seed programs that would then help to bring more resources into the Settlement, if they’re successful. Any funding in excess of $100,000 from this fund will receive further board approval.

Sherry noted this is a recommendation from the executive committee via the investment committee. After discussion, the proposal was unanimously approved.

3. Disbursement of Kincaid bequest funds: A bequest of $540,000 has been committed to the Settlement School from the estate of Margaret Kincaid, former regent for the Illinois Organization DAR. Brent proposed an allocation of these resources, based on prior board approval of allocation of bequest funds in the capital campaign period. The disbursement allocation is as follows:

Gift Disbursement I $180,000.00

Disbursement II $360,000.00anticipated

Debt Payments made $120,000.00(CTB/BoH)

Balance $420,000.00Recommendations Annual Fund -$60,000.00

Rainy Day Fund -$50,000.00

Endowment -$60,000.00Capital Campaign

-$250,000.00

After Disbursement $-

After discussion, this motion also unanimously passed.

Sherry thanked Mark for his report, adding that he does a great job of making really complex things make sense without manipulating people’s thinking. Mark added that this is a very important account to him personally. Sherry also thanked Michael for his leadership with the Investment Committee.

Operations ReportLinda Jones explained that this year we are doing better with cash flow because of the Kincaid bequest and logging that took place on Settlement School property. New bookkeeper, Helana Lewis, has been a great addition because she’s already familiar with the Settlement School. She worked here in a different position a few years ago. Linda’s new role as Director of Operations started in February. Since then we have updated the Pole House, using furniture from the Quiltmaker. It looks really nice, and has new carpet and paint. It will be a very comfortable housing option for our guests, with the ability to house 8-12 people. Linda added that we have unfortunately had a lot of problems with the boiler in the May Stone Building. We lost approximately $4,000 worth of food because of the freezer not working properly in the kitchen in May Stone. To repair it was $6,400 in parts alone. We also now have termites in the Dorm Apartment, and that will cost $800. Linda reported that after inspection we luckily do nt have to treat the whole building. Terry Ratliff is working on repairing the Chapel in the Trees, and is hoping to have the work completed during Folk Week. The Furman House will need a new roof in the five years, and work needs to be done to Katherine Petit Apartments. Linda is working on trying to be more proactive than reactive with building maintenance.

Strategic PlanBrent reported about a meeting in March with community stakeholders to unveil it and get feedback on things we can improve. We had about 75 people come. It came full-circle, mostly the people Aimee initially interviewed and surveyed. It was nice for them to see the final project. The staff is beginning to work parts of the plan and implement timelines on longer term efforts articulated within the plan.

Advancement ReportJosh Mullins reported that during this year we have had $119,346 in grant funding awarded so far. We have $321,826 requested. We did not get awarded $126,975, which was one grant for the Scholars’ Program with SOAR. We recently went to the Milton Hershey School on a visit for research for Scholars’ Program. We are hoping to get awarded funding for a new Outdoor Classroom by the NSDAR Juniors in June. It will be constructed on Earp Field and used for the Knott County Farmers’ Market and for students, as well as community members.

Our first two federal grants have been submitted. To our knowledge we have never done that in history of Hindman Settlement School. It has been a new experience, and because we did not have the groundwork already laid, it was a laborious process but now we will be able to easily apply for more in the future. The dyslexia program is primarily funded with grant funds, but our other programs are more evenly split among types of funds.

We are also looking to change the website, with my role with communications. We are using the companies MakeSpace and Oohology to revamp the website. The new design will make it more user-friendly and more eye-catching. We reached out to several places for website work. One of the employees at Oohology is dyslexic, and another grew up in the Neighborhood House in Louisville and they are donating matching funds to rebuild the website. This is more valuable than what we are paying. By the end of June we should be ready to launch.

We have a new endowed fund: the Zink Dyslexia Summer Program Scholarship Fund, started by our most recent Kentucky DAR State Regent and board member, Barbara Zink. Our Christmas Appeal this year was $21 thousand more successful than the previous year. Directors ReportBrent reported the following: “We have been focused internally for staff rearrangement. We searched for four months for our new director of advancement. Josh started in February. It was tricky to have Josh here after being at the Appalachian Artisan Center, especially with me as chair of their board. But Josh is doing a fantastic job. The staff has worked so hard to help elevate our work and move us forward. It is an understatement to say we are busy, but morale is high, and our ability to work together is strong. I’m very proud of our staff. In her new position, Linda has taken a huge burden off me, and has played well to her strengths. I really appreciate this because she’s good at details. Helana as bookkeeper is great and this has been beneficial for our auditing process, too. The auditor is already pleased with this change in chain of command. We have focused energies on talking the same language and thinking the same things. We now have monthly staff meetings and monthly senior staff meetings. This fall we are taking a staff retreat, which has not happened in a long time, if ever. We are going to discuss new things we need to articulate--“the HSS way,” for example--and we need to get that on paper. It is already there, but unspoken. We spend a ton of time thinking about how we are going to do our programs. Kids need programming, parents need support, our unique culture needs preservation. The work we do can easily be taken for granted through daily work. We could not do the work we do without our funders. We need to think about kids and about the Berea College Appalachian Fund and Kentucky Social Welfare Foundation, etc. We have funders that love and think about our programming. For those of you that have connections to funders, and those of you who donate, thank you.

Brett is leaving, and we are sad but we are going to hire quickly because of timing and the season. We have two new VISTA positions that have been approved: a farmers’ market manager, who will work with the county and our school, and an archives VISTA position, which is a great need. Our archives are in need of organization and digitization, so this will be a huge position. We have loved having

Jacob and Corey, and to have two more additions will be great. The AmeriCORPS VISTA program is very cost effective and hugely beneficial. It is a bonus that we can have housing for them. We cannot exactly replace Brett, but will have to replace his position. For now, we are trying to hire via social media, which is a new method for us. So far we have been getting mostly quality applicants. My time is pushed, too, because of our busy schedule in June. We will leave from Folk Week immediately to Washington, D.C., then I will be going to Europe to celebrate obtaining my Ph.D. and my 20th anniversary with Gwen. If any of you have suggestions for the Program Director position, please provide them.

We are in the middle of a growth and change cycle. The strategic plan pushes a lot of ideas forward, and I want to be part of an organization that is growing and thriving. What we are doing is great but what we are about to do is even better. This strategic plan has the potential to be a national model for students in rural areas.

Some of Josh’ work is in development, communications, and ideas. The capital campaign is happening in earnest at this point. We are getting close to the point of taking it out and presenting it. We hope to raise half the money this fall, and break ground then. There is a possibility of changes with our HCTC situation, but the current plan is to go forward as we have planned. Josh is currently doing a great job with graphic design, which is an added bonus for us. Not only is it free, but he is doing very well with it. The HCTC space is unstable right now with a new college president coming on board. She is a local person, and well-regarded; I worked with her on the Work Ready Task Force. She is going to stick around, and that is good for the college. But she is thinking about things very differently and very locally. She is looking at changes to extraneous campuses. They may bring a specific degree program only to Knott County, but we do not know what that would be yet. In the meantime, because of changes there, we have lost access to space that we had twenty years ago. There are other people who want that space and who would pay more than we can afford. But we are hoping to be there for another year until we can get into our own office space.

Regarding the strategic plan, we’re already well down the road on quite a few items and the rest is coming. It is the best collaborative effort of a strategic plan that I have ever been apart of. I consider it a community plan more than a director or staff plan.

Our workshops are coming together for the summer. We have our alumni event this weekend. Family Folk Week is lower in numbers than in the recent past, but it should be fine. Folk Week is never a money maker, our goal is always just to break even. We are going to partner with Ann Kingsolver next year on an international exchange program, and this will increase numbers for our 40th anniversary. Next summer is also Writers’ Workshop’s 40th anniversary. We will have a big speaker, someone very exciting, but I won’t share that information yet. We are already at 80 applicants for this year’s Writers’ Workshop. Being selective has been good for the Workshop. I hope you’ll come to town to join us.

With giving, 100% board giving is critical. It doesn’t matter what amount, just that you give. Please do so by end of August. This is an important factor for grant

applications, but more importantly it allows you to be stewards of our work. Kentucky Gives Day is coming up and this is a good time to help. Our Spring Appeal has gone out and we’re already close to hitting our goal. Summer giving after this will be normal, but we will have targeted appeals for different groups to combat our down months. If anyone has any questions, I’m happy to answer them.”

After some general discussion about the Scholars’ Program, Sherry thanked Brent for his outstanding leadership, noting, “It’s nice to leave after these meetings knowing things are in good hands.”

Committee Reports

EducationShirley Asher: One idea we discussed was students getting college credit for participating in training at the Settlement. This could save money to avoid paying salaries, while offering engagement with other groups. We also talked about the continuation of reading efforts in elementary schools here. Ola said right now it’s fairly stable but with budget concerns they haven’t been able to expand to all the elementary schools. If things continue to improve that would be a good program to expand outreach. Also, the dyslexia program needs information from their alumni population. We need to find overall assessment of the program to show results. This could even be a graduate student’s thesis project. This effort would take too long for any one staff person to take on, which is likely why it hasn’t been done. Corey spoke about the Scholars’ Program. It is broken down into two stages: Fall 2016 will target 8th grade at-risk students. Fall 2017 is Phase Two and the program will add a residential program, focusing on male students at risk of not going to college or onto a career path. The Quiltmaker Inn may be revamped into aresidential hall for these students. We would hire a director and teachers or students in an education program to provide remediation in math and reading skills and other areas they may want to focus on such as leadership, professionalism, public speaking, professional development, and pathways. They will be able to obtain certification received in gap years between high school and college, which will show they’re ready to move on to the next level.

Cultural & Community ProgramsSilas House: We discussed two objectives to do a more regional outreach and build grant opportunities. One idea was of a youth conference: a young writers’ workshop (ideally consisting of primarily local youth). We also talked a lot about documentation. We need to do more of that. We’ve had nearly 40 years of readings, and it would be a real treasury if we had records of these things. We could offer a fellowship for these workshops, for example a person could come for free in exchange for documenting the work. There could be more of an outreach effort such as a podcast or something like that. Nancy Hampton: It’s important we are using local resources. Having Appalachian foods workshops to let local people show others how to cook and it would be a way to share recipes. During the Gingerbread Festival there could be different kinds of gingerbread: taste testing, etc. That could even be part of Dumplin’s & Dancin’ or Family Folk Week. It might be a way to bring in those people that might not otherwise come to those events. I listened to the Southern Foodways Alliance

Podcast on Gravy, Lora was featured on that. There was a discussion about rural electrification that included research on Jell-O; it was basically research on technology’s impact on food in the region. So there’s an importance in asking the questions: Why Gingerbread? Or, Why Hindman? These are good questions to ask regarding the food history of Appalachia. They are the same things to consider with any cultural issue, the dulcimer, the music, etc.

Valerie Bartley: With gingerbread, its history is linked to vote buying. Some of our political history and other histories are involved in our food and culture here. It’s important to increase local participation, support, and awareness of HSS work. I like the idea of mini-workshops for younger children. It’s a little easier to get children activities together and then you also naturally involve the parents. Writers’ Workshop, basket-making, and other craft workshops for kids would go really well. Is it possible to find grant money for these types of events, Josh? This may be a good way to get more people involved on campus, and in general. Raymond McLain: We may also be able to include other older people who aren’t working. Those that had time would have skills and knowledge to get involved. Storytelling is important and Story Corps would be a good resource to utilize for recording oral histories.

Brett Ratliff: We talked a little about being more deliberate about including inter-generational learning here. One of the criticisms about our programs is that they didn’t include enough local people. It’s very expensive to attend our week-long workshops, and that’s unavoidable. So instead, creating new and different opportunities to engage people instead of revamping the already successful Writers’ Workshop and Folk Week. Those aren’t as targeted toward local audience anyway. We can provide opportunities that other schools, other regions, other programs can’t offer. We have more flexibility and can fill in the gaps of programs where other places fail as well as finding ways to offer workshops or educational opportunities at little to no cost for us.

Lora Smith: An important to factor in local people to be the professionals and masters here, and pay them as teachers, so that others can learn from them. That’s something to think about for the “HSS Way.” It’s also important to consider someone to come in before Randy retires; training should be an important part of his transition when he retires.

InvestmentMichael Sloane: There were not a lot of exciting things happening in our Investment Committee meeting. The only big item we discussed was an alternative investment strategy (not stocks or bonds), and what our commitment should be. It’s a risky category but we are growing as the percentage of portfolios increase yield. We’re going to research some alternative investment opportunities and have proposals for everyone to consider.

DevelopmentSusie Merida: Website analytics are showing that we have had 11,249 unique users (78% of whom had never been there) in the last year. We need to be thinking about how we capture those people. We can use tracking ads to follow users. We could

follow them with DAR-specific messages, cultural specific, etc. We need to be trying to engage people who are trying to connect with us, and continue to build that relationship and get them to become donors. We also talked about events; other than Keeneland, we have no marquee event. Something here in Hindman would be good. We discussed a Homecoming, not just an alumni event, but anyone who’s ever been involved in Hindman Settlement School. It could tie into May Day, Derby Day, and we could use lots of fun ideas to tie in all the things we do now and the things we used to do that are part of our history.

Facilities and EquipmentLinda Jones: We are working on a maintenance schedule, scheduling mundane building maintenance so that it is all preventative and proactive instead of being reactive with surprises. I think this will pay off in a big way in the long-run.

Closing CommentsBrett: Thank you all for another fun discussion of the work of Hindman Settlement School. There have been a lot of great ideas and conversation. Board meetings are always fun, positive, and upbeat. I will continue to stay involved so you won’t be able to get rid of me that easy.

Shirley: It was nice yesterday that the sunshine coincided with the meeting. I’m happy to meet Angie and Lora and have them on board with us.

Silas: I’m excited about the Scholars’ Program and to see where that goes. We’re going to miss Brett and hope he’ll come back to see us. Thank you staff for doing such a great job. And welcome Angie and Lora, and Josh. It’s really impressive what you’ve one in a short time.

Lora: I’m very impressed with the staff and board. The leadership and work here is impressive. There are hundreds of organizations in my care with my job and this is one of the top ones I’ve seen. Thanks for having me, I’m excited about the strategic plan.

Raymond: I endorse what everyone else has said. I commend Brent and Sherry and Josh for pulling together and working so well together. They’re like rock stars working together. With what you’ve shown is possible, I feel very positive about the future and where we’re going. There is a good understanding of the past and future. It all feels right to me.

Lois: There’s a new energy I sense and I like the incremental way Brent is going about change. We’re in the middle of change whether we know it or not and we might as well embrace and enjoy it. Technology is helping bring attention to what’s going on right here. A friend forced me to read “The World Gone Social”—which I consider a must-read. It is an amazing concept that captures what’s happening in our world and how we can utilize it- business or personally, etc.; how we can harness power of what’s happening and use it for our benefit. Thanks to everyone for keeping us going.

Brian: It’s amazing how much has happened since our last meeting. There is a lot that’s been done. I’m always proud to speak about this organization wherever I go

and I never hesitate to do so. With many boards you never know where they’re going to be a year from then, but you never worry about perceptions with this board.

Mark: I’m very enthusiastic about changes on the financial side of things; the $500 thousand Initiatives fund is a great idea. Everything has been reactive, which hurts things we could have been doing. This is a great way to be proactive.

Michael: This meeting is a culmination of Brent’s gradual movement of HSS to a change where things can keep moving forward. The strategic plan is completed, the New Initiatives Fund is moving forward, now it’s implementation stage. Welcome Josh, Angie, and Lora. Good luck to Brett.

Angie: I couldn’t have joined a board at a more exciting time. I grew up here, I’ve known about HSS my whole life, took part in different things here, then moved to New Mexico. Talked to Brent before he moved and just having a conversation with him I got so excited. Reading the strategic plan made me excited to be apart of this. I think more than ever HSS can play a central role in the community. In a time of such change, this place is so needed. It needs to be done in the right way and that’s what’s happening. I’m really excited.

Valerie: Thanks for having me here. My Aunt Marcia usually sat here, and whatever I said she’d say “ditto.” We’re in the middle of change. Most of it is good, some of it makes us sad. [Valerie then read what Marcia wrote on the 50th anniversary of her graduation from Wesleyan KY College.]

Susie: Congratulations, Dr. Brent! When we first interviewed Brent I that was on that committee. You asked us, “Is it ok for change?,” and we enthusiastically said yes. All of this is a culmination of everything from that day. After Mike’s death we were all taken aback for finding a person to lead us. It was a tough job, but thank you, Brent. Welcome, Angie and Lora. Thank you, Brett. We’ll miss you. I’m really excited about the work Josh has been doing.

Nancy: It’s a pleasure to work with such wonderful people. Everyone has had ideas and everyone has embraced them. No one has said no. They’re there to look at and embrace. I know there are more exciting things to come.

Josh: Thank you for the kind words of encouragement. I couldn’t find a better place to be or to work. I’m excited for the future. There’s a lot of work to do but I’m confident that we’ll see these projects come to fruition. I’m looking forward to working with you for many years to come.

Linda: Josh has been very welcomed in the office, and very much appreciated. He is making life a lot easier.

Brent: Congratulations to Dr. Powers for her new position as Dean of the College of Education at EKU. Thank you for thoughtfulness for the way you do what you do, for staying engaged and invested in our work. I really, deeply appreciate that. We can really view things in ways of season. When I came here, I was entering a place

of grief. The death of Mike, the death of ideas, and the long season he served. I didn’t take that lightly. George Ella Lyon said to me during Writers’ Workshop last summer that things are going really well; something was missing but now the period of grief seems to have ended and now it’s spring again. It’s a privilege to work with everyone who was connected to him and now with all of these new people. I’m an idea guy, but I’m more of an implementer. I’m looking forward to next 18 months. I hope we’ll all be really proud of it.

Sherry: When I left campus, I was excited about our two-day board meeting. We had music last night, Silas was writing, I love listening to Lois and Ola talk about educational needs in Kentucky. It’s been a coming home of people. I find it a great joy to work with Dr. Brent Hutchinson. I learn from him and enjoy working with him. It’s a real honor, as well as working with each of you. This meeting is showing momentum of things we’ve talked about and brainstormed about. There have been some excellent hires recently as well. That says a lot for those he’s brought in but also about him and leadership and how he recognizes a skill-set.

Brian: I’d like to add that Jim Osborne regrets not being able to attend. I think it’s the first meeting he hasn’t attended.

There being no other business, the meeting adjourned at 1:34 p.m.