Carnation Sale

Its almost Valentines Day! Forget that you need to get that special someone something, or just not sure what to give them with no time to shop? No worries, CCHS's own Gay Straight Alliance will be selling pink and white Carnations all three lunches Monday, February 8th through Thursday, February 11th to be delivered Friday morning before Valentines Day. There will be a table set up right outside the lunch room, you can come up and fill out a heart that will be attached to the Carnation you plan on sending. Carnations cost $2.50 a piece and will sell out fast so order early. If you wish to have yours sent anonymously we can do that. You must pay when you order, so bring your money.

1.13.10 Meeting Summary and Updates

Heads up, this is a long one. 

Relay for Life Update

There will be a Relay for Life meeting Wednesday, January 27th at 8:05 a.m. in Mrs. Blackburn's room, 3318. If we want to take part in the event this year we need to try to have some people there. Be there if you can.

Aids Athens Benefit Concert Update

The benefit concert is set to be March 26th at Nuci's Space. It's a Friday evening. Some concerns were brought up about that also being the night of the school production Grease, but there really isn't anything that can be done. It sucks that some people will be busy, but that's just how it is. We'd love to have everyone there, but there's no way we can plan an event that works with everyone's schedule. Sorry for those of you this might effect. 

There is a base charge of $275 for Nuci's Space, and Kelsey found someone that is generous enough to donate half that. However, the base charge is ONLY for the room and night itself. It does not include equipment, food, and other expenses. We need to start working on fundraising and finding sponsors. At the meeting, we formed committees that will do just that.

There is the:

"Sponsorship Committee" which includes but is not limited to Meagan, Nico, Anastasha, Mackenzie, Arianna, Annie, and Michael. 

(This committee is in charge of finding sponsors and businesses who are willing to donate money/food or anything to GSA or to the concert itself.) 

"Planning Committee" which includes but is not limited to Jessica, Ashton, Kelsey, Sarah, and Crystal. 

(This committee is in charge of planning the actual event itself, working the auditions for bands who wish to participate, and overall fine tuning.)

"Fundraising Committee" which includes but is not limited to Taylor, Deyanira, Tracy, Santiago, Lucas, Nicole, Jetta, and Susy. 

(This committee is in charge of coming up with ideas and ways for us to raise money for the event that will be used to finishing paying the base charge, food, drinks, ect.)

Everyone should try to join a committee, and if I missed your name or you were not at the meeting, email me back and I'll add your name to the committee you wish to join. 

The time for the concert is not set. Kelsey and Mrs. Lee/Mrs. Katz/Mr. Berkowitz will be working on getting the paper work done and to Bob (the contact for Nuci's Space) and I'll email out details when we get them. The event will end by 11:30 p.m. that night for the under-agers to be in by curfew. 

We also came up with some fundraising ideas at the meeting. One idea that was brought up was the bake sale idea. People couple bake sweets and we will sell them in front of the Starbucks downtown. Details on that pending Ashton getting back to me. 

Another idea was selling Carnations around Valentines Day. I know a few years ago we used to do that at CCHS. We will set up a table at lunch and have people pay for their carnation to be delivered to the person they wish on Valentines Day at school. Prices and other details on that pending the approval from Dr. Hooker. 

Aids Athens Walk/Run 

There is a Run/Walk Febuary 13th and money raised will benefit Aids Athens. The 5K walk is the one looking the best for us, it'd be fun to have a big group to walk together and talk and hang out. And it starts later. The site is listed below. There aren't many details up now, but keep checking back and we'll talk about it at the next meeting.

http://www.aidswalkrunathens.org/

Also there is "Clips for a Cause" coming up the January 21-22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. as well. Its going to be at the Tate Center at UGA. There will be stylists from local hair solons and cuts at just $10. The money from cuts plus tips will go toward the Run/Walk. The site is below.

http://www.aidswalkrunathens.org/clips_for_a_cause-_12110__12210_from_9am-3pm.htm

Hope that's everything. I'll be sending out another when I hear from Kelsey with more details about the benefit concert. Our next meeting date is not set yet. Remember, Monday's MLK Day so enjoy your three day weekend. Let me know if I've forgotten anything or you have any questions/concerns. 

Sarah

Next Meeting

I hope everyone had a nice break and is getting a good start on 2010.


We have our next meeting planned for next Wednesday, January 13th from 3:45-5. The meeting will be in room 213 (Hinson's room, but make sure everyone understands Hinson is not a sponsor of GSA). Bring a friend and a snack if you'd like.


We will be discussing the GSA Prom idea, fundraising ideas (everyone should come with one), and Kelsey has news to share on the AIDs Athens Benefit concert as well. Also, everyone should try talking to one or two people about possibly donating some money to our GSA, because right now we have no money, and with no money there are no events.


I got the link below from Mrs. Katz over the break, and it looks like something interesting for the readers we have in the club. Its a list of books and resources for LBGTQ youth. Definitely something you guys should look at.


http://www.colage.org/resources/books_young_adult.pdf

Also, Meagan sent me another LGBTQ youth resource for you guys. It's got forums, chat rooms, and great advice. Create an account, it's free. The link is below.


http://www.thegyc.com/comprofiler/Itemid,270/


Hope to see everyone at the meeting!
Sarah

PeaceJam Ambassadors Program

It's been mentioned that GSA would like to work some with PeaceJam, and I just got word of an opportunity to do so that you guys might be interested in.

There was talk last year and this past semester of being able to gain a class credit with an after school program. Well, it finally got approved. 

It's called the PeaceJam Ambassadors Program, and it's happening next semester. Now, it's a CLASS, so you have to attend and I'm sure the same rules apply as far as absences go. Keep that in mind before you sign up. You need to pick up an application from either Ms. Goodrich or Ms. Crace and have it in by Thursday, December 17. 

Also, PeaceJam is selling 2010 calenders featuring art from CCHS graduate Emily Silva (she did the cartoons last year for the Odyssey News Magazine) and senior Michael Stephens, an amazing AP Art student at CCHS. The calender  features 12 different winners of the Nobel Laureate award and blurbs about their lives and contributions they made in hopes of a less violent place for the future (the calendar was made before Obama himself received the same award). There is also a picture of last year's PeaceJam members presenting their community work to Nobel Laureate Betty Williams at last year’s conference. The calenders are $15 for full color and $10 for black and white, and money from them will go to support sending several of the students enrolled in PeaceJam Ambassadors Program to the annual PeaceJam conference. Find Ms. Goodrich, Ms. Crace, or a PeaceJam member to purchase one. 

Web Sites of Interest

Here are some LBGTQ Web sites you might be interested in. Enjoy!

PFLAG
Great for family talks.

GayInAthens
The site was a must read for the gay community, but isn't running anymore. You can still see the older posts though!

GaLiberal-LBGT Articles
Some serious and not so serious articles on gay rights in the news.

YouthPride
Atlanta's youth pride site.


ThinkB4YouSpeak
An amazing campaign. Read it!

YoungLoversGuide
Informative on things that aren't discussed in health classes.

12.9.09 Meeting Summary

A few of UGA's Lambda members came to the meeting this week. We got to get to know them a bit and hear some of their high school experiences as well. Crystal, Meagan, Nicole, and Ashton, thanks a lot for coming to the meeting, especially during the week of your finals. We all definitely appreciated it and we hope you guys will continue to work with us a bit.

On that note, the girls above are going to get back to us, but there is a Spring Drag Show the Lambda is putting on through UGA that some of our members might want to participate in. We're not sure if we can participate, but I'm sure one way for us to give back to them is by attending the show if we can't be a part of it, not to mention it would be kick ass to see. We can make it a group thing. I'll send out more info when I get it.

We discussed some stuff about the benefit concert idea. We're still looking at having it before the dance at Nucis Space. Any weekend is good for them as long as we give them a months notice ahead of time. The base charge is $350, although if needed they are willing to negotiate the a bit, however we don't want to have to do that. We're planning on asking for a $5-10 ticket price at the door. Kelsey is the primary go-to girl for this event, and anyone interested in being in the concert should contact her as soon as possible. We need to have a date set before December 30th so we have time to get out information on it. That's around three weeks, shouldn't be that hard. If I remember right, we were planning on having it a Friday night, so that gives us the earliest date of Friday, January 11th. I know we honestly cant have it that soon, so look at your calenders. Email me the Fridays you are NOT available though the end of March. I know dates are subject to change, but give me a rough estimate. The sooner we set it in stone the sooner we can get moving.


The Relay for Life meeting is next Wednesday, the 16th. I know we talked about having a group to help out with Relay for Life this year, so it's important we try to have some people there. The meeting should be in Ms. Goodrich's (sp?) room on the freshman hall at 8:10 a.m., if I'm wrong about that someone send me the right room or time. 


We won't be meeting anymore this semester with finals and EOCTs going on next week, so we'll see everyone next year (literally). I'll be getting out an email updating y'all on everything going on and the next meeting date right before Spring Semester starts. Enjoy your breaks and good luck on finals.

GSA Prom Idea

We discussed sponsoring a GSA prom, since there really isn't one offered around here. We don't know much right now. The dance needs to be in a central location (the Classic Center, or a civic center in another county) because we want other schools to know about it and be able to attend. We know we'll need to build up a good bit of money, so think on some fundraising ideas and that'll be a topic at the next meeting. More details will come out later. 


Meagan sent me a link to the YouthPride Atlanta site. There is a dance party they do every year during PRIDE in Atlanta, for kids ages 13 to 18. I wasn't able to get to it this year, but heard a lot of good stuff about it. Thats something that could possibly be a group trip idea for next year's GSA members. 


Also, Youth Pride in Atlanta is a great place for us to get ideas. Check out their site when you have a minute, and write down anything you might be interested in.