HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004 - Womens Commission - Annual ReportCOMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
2004 ANNUAL REPORT
INTRODUCTION
The focus of the Commission on the Status of Women for 2004 was to identify nine
primary areas of concern (see attachment 1), to start to identify those agencies and
organizations in the city who work on these nine areas, to link the City of Fort Collins
Policy Agenda to identify how the City Council should address the nine areas, and to
build a new website to enable the commission to become more visible in the community.
The 2003 commission was successful in our effort to increase our membership roles. We
also continued to work on our two annual events, the Women's History Month Essay
Contest and the Marcile N. Wood Award. Other activities completed during the year are
listed at the end of this report.
ANNUAL COMMISSION ACTIVITIES
The Commission continued to increase public visibility of women s contributions by
sponsoring the following events:
Women s History Month Essay Contest
Poudre School District junior high school students commemorated National Women
History Month by participating in our annual essay contest. The students were asked to
write about a woman from their own history that who influential or had been a positive
role model in their lives. The response from the schools was excellent. The Commission
received about 300 essays.
Members used a rubric/scoring sheet that standardized the reading and selection of
winners. The scoring guide was made available to area teachers who participated in the
contest so they could have a clearer notion of the standards the students should aim to
achieve in their essays.
The winners were presented with certificates and monetary awards in a ceremony on
Wednesday March 24, 2004 at the Community Room, 215 N. Mason Street, with Mayor
Martinez presenting.
The winners by grade were:
7th Grade Winners: Durrie Schuette and Michael David Suto
8th Grade Winners: Kate Priddle Vogl and Janna Dickerson
9th Grade Winners: Emily Jones and Shannon Good
The Commission would also like to recognize Cindy Ronan of the Poudre School District
for helping us distribute the contest packets and collect the completed essays from the
teachers.
Marcile N. Wood Award
The Marcile N. Wood Award is presented annually to an outstanding member of the
community who has had a positive impact on the status of women in Fort Collins.
The nomination form and information letter were sent to more than 200 people and/or
organizations as well as being posted on the City of Fort Collins' webpage. Applications
were due by February 2nd and Mary Carraher was chosen as the winner. She was
recognized at the Women s Award Night March on 4th.
COMMISSION DIRECTION
Commission members met with Karen Weitkunat on Junel6th to discuss the future
direction of the Commission on the Status of Women. Karen indicated that we should be
more visible, more directive, and more active. She also spoke about partnering with
other organizations. We agreed that members would attend future City Council meetings
when topics of interest to women were being discussed.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Beth Etter attended a meeting of Zonta International on September 16`h to learn more
about their organization so they could be included on our resource list. Beth also met with
the radio station KRFC/88.9 FM and plans to do an interview with them about our
commission. Rondell Ferguson attended a meeting of The Affordable Housing Board in
June and reported back to the commission on what she learned.
CHANGES
Election of Officers in 2004
Chair: Alison Johnston Hade
Co -Chair: Rondell Ferguson
Secretary: Penny Vincent
New members during 2004:
Amanda Almon
Stacey Arnold
Paula Cole
Beth Etter
Rondell Ferguson
Barbara Goff
Expired terms or resignations in 2004:
Kristin Chatnani — resigned
Attachment 1
1) Housing
2) Child Care
3) Safety
4) Health
5) Identity
6) Welfare
7) Employment/Wealth
8) Education
9) Transportation