| [Image: FCS advisory group photo] |
| [Image: Selecting the issues] |
| [Image: Deborah Cross thanking the group for their input] |
Meeting Minutes
March 25, 2009
West Baton Rouge Extension Office
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Present: Donny Latiolais of Capital RC&D, Ola M. Moore of Erwinville C.C. Organization, Deborah Nelson of Iberville Parish Head Start, Fannie Easterly of West Baton Rouge Parish Library, Patricia Andre of Pointe Coupee Health Unit, Donna Richards OPH Regional Unionist, Fran Bartee of Capital RC&D, Ragan White of Iberville COA, Addie Armato of Pointe Coupee Electric, Vanessa Johnson of St. Jude Worship Center, Christy Crochet of WBRD Probation and Parole, Kristy LaCoste of Pointe Coupee Schools, Herb Fritts of Carville Job Corps, Diane Sasser of LSU AgCenter, Linda Robinson of LSU AgCenter, Wanda Mitchell of DSS-OFS Pointe Coupee and West Baton Rouge, Barbra Roberts of Louisiana Technical College in New Roads, Herman Wilson Jr. of the City OF St. Gabriel, Pam Hodson of LSU AgCenter, Melissa M. Guillory of the Office of Public Health, Cora Stewart of Erwinville Community Child Organization, Evon W. Cook of the Erwinville Food Pantry, and Joann H Glasper of Iberville of OFS in Iberville. Also attending were agents Deborah Cross, Monica Olinde and Layne Langley.
Next meeting: Date pending in November 2009
Announcements
Deborah Cross FCS Agent from Iberville Parish welcomed all who attended. Afterwards each person introduced themselves to the group and the organization they represented.
Dr. Pam Hodson Director of the Southeast region of the LSU AgCenter discussed the budget of the LSU AgCenter and the support needed for this budget year.
Layne Langley Agent from West Baton Rouge talked about the Advisory Leadership Council Purpose, our CMS web pages for the LSU AgCenter and eXtension System web pages.
Monica Olinde discussed the previous issues, minutes and about Family Consumer Sciences of today.
II. Discussion
Deborah Cross discussed the different program areas that each could participate in and then asked the participants to divide into the different groups and discussed issues that they felt the LSU AgCenter should address in the coming year.
The different areas were:
Nutrition
Family Life
Workforce development, Family Finance, Home Ownership
Each group was asked to select a group leader to take notes and to a spokes person to talk about the issues that the group talked about.
III. Report back to the group
Layne Langley asked the groups to report and afterwards each member voted on the top issues and then they selected the main issues each agent should work on for the coming year.
The following top issues in each program area were:
Nutrition:
Training parents in childhood nutrition was the number one issue that the total group thought was needed with emphasis on childhood obesity. Donna Richards and Patricia Andre will be on this committee with Layne.
Workforce Development and Financial Literacy:
Training of Soft skills such as electronic resume, cell phone messaging, email address and dressing for interviews. Teaching about trends in employment was also an intrest of the group. Some of the places to offer the classes were: Job Corps and Technical colleges, Probation and Parole- Department of Corrections, community centers, libraries, health centers and maybe a Tri-parish community job fair. The persons who will work with this committee are Barbara Roberts, Evon Cook, and Ragan White.
Financial Literacy also was another topic needed with young adults and teens. One program mention was “How to Save Money on Your Entergy Bill”. The person to help with project is Addie Armato from Pointe Coupee Electric.
Parenting and Family Development:
The top issue for this group was Family Literacy: helping parents become involved their child’s education through reading to their children. The following will help with topic: Deborah Nelson and Kristy LaCoste.
Another issue was on the topic of a community resource guide (this issue was also discussed in Financial Literacy). The following will help with this project: Wanda Mitchell, Fran Bartee, and Vanessa Johnson.
Afterwards the group was thanked for their participation in the meeting and the FCS agents looked forward to working with them on the issues in the coming year.
Report compiled by Deborah C. Cross, Extension Agent