[by Joyce Bridge]
The National Council of Jewish Women, Louisville Section, held its opening meeting on Wednesday, September 25, at the Olmsted. The guest speaker was Dr. Donna Hargens, superintendent of the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) for the past two years.
NCJW President Sue Paul opened the meeting and thanked Membership Co-Vice Presidents Joyce Bridge and Jan Glaubinger for planning the luncheon and program. Janie Hyman gave the blessing and Marcia Frank introduced the guest speaker.
Hargens’ focus is on raising achievement for all students, and she began her presentation by stating that two years ago, she and JCPS set a goal to become the best urban school district in the nation. Using a three-step process – strategy, structure, and action – she outlined the steps she and school system took with the development of their Strategic Plan: Vision 2015. To succeed, the plan calls for a commitment from the community and families to work with JCPS to ensure that all students receive the extended learning time and support they need to master the learning expected of them.
She gave an insightful and informative recap of the progress being made as JCPS moves forward with the plan’s implementation, and she shared some ideas being proposed for future innovations. Following her speech, Hargens answered questions and shared her hope that JCPS’ progress would be reflected in state test results to be announced shortly. In fact, the Department of Education’s Unbridled Learning Assessment and Accountability Test scores released on September 27 did show improvement across the JCPS district.
The meeting continued with Paul’s president’s report on the section’s 26th annual sale of Shopping Spree cards, the upcoming Fashion Encore sale and recent grants and bequests. She thanked Karen Kohn and Betsy Prussian, Shopping Spree co-chairs, Ellen Rosenbloom, grants chairperson, and Ellen Shaikun and Shelley Meyers for their work on the 2014-2015 membership directory.
Rosenbloom reported on NCJW’s assistance with Gilda’s Club summer camp for children whose lives are affected by cancer, and Paul made a request for volunteers for the new Court Watch project to monitor the handling of child abuse cases in the Jefferson County Family Courts that will begin in the spring.
