25 April
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GRADS Annual Meeting April 11, 2023

Middlebrook Community Room 6:30 p.m.

 

The annual meeting of Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports was called to order by President Charlotte Athey.

 

An election of officers was held. Laura Maag made a motion to elect the same slate of officers. Matthew Athey seconded the motion. All voted in favor via voice vote with none opposed. The officers are: Charlotte Athey-president, Matthew Athey-vice president, Rachael Johnson-secretary/treasurer.

 

The election for Board of Directors was held. Rachael Johnson nominated Katrina Koeppe for the 3 year term. Laura Maag seconded the motion. All were in favor via voice vote with none opposed. The directors are: Brenda Teske (1 yr.), MaryLou Bullert (2 yr.), Katrina Koeppe (3 yr.).

 

Rachael Johnson will file the annual report with the South Dakota Secretary of State. She will pay the $10. fee which will be reimbursed by GRADS.

 

The treasurer’s report was given by Rachael Johnson. The GRADS checking account balance in First Bank and Trust in Milbank was $3,716.52 as of March 31, 2023.

 

Rachael Johnson made a motion to adjourn the annual meeting. Charlotte Athey seconded the motion. All voted in favor. The meeting was adjourned.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Rachael Johnson

Attendance: Charlotte Athey, Matthew Athey, Laura Maag, Katrina Koeppe, Rachael Johnson

25 April
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GRADS Meeting April 11, 2023

Middlebrook Community Room 6:30 p.m.

Five people attended the Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports meeting. Please note that our meeting minutes, scheduled events and much more will be on the website www.gradisabilitysupports.org.

NDEAM/Sisseton

The National Disability Employment Awareness Month event will be on Thursday, October 5, 2023 at the Family Life Center, 404 West Hickory Street, Sisseton. Dinner will be served at 6:00 p.m. followed by a guest speaker and the recognition of local employers/employees. GRADS will contribute $125. toward expenses

ADA Celebration

The Americans with Disabilities Act Celebration will tentatively be held on Monday, July 31, 2023 at the Milbank Community Room/Visitors Center. Subs, chips, bars and beverage will be served starting at 6:00 p.m. Several short presentations will be given followed by BINGO. Katrina Koeppe will send out invitations (mid June?) and will follow up closer to the event. Charlotte Athey will reserve the room, get the BINGO game, purchase paper products, chips and bottled water. Laura Maag may have a modified BINGO game to use. Rachael Johnson will get the subs from Subway and arrange for members to bring bars/cookies. Katrina wil find out the names of the new Independent Living Choices staff and invite them to speak at the event. We will all gather BINGO prizes. We will discuss advertising at our next meeting.

Rummage Sale

We will have a rummage sale on Saturday, July 15 with set up on Friday, July 14 after 5:00 p.m. Charlotte Athey has reserved the Middlebrook Community Room via text. We will discuss advertising and other details at our meeting on June 8.

Projects

Laura Maag, Life Quest, requests funding for field trip mileage. Some ideas she mentioned were trips to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant in DeSmet, Ft. Sisseton events, or a trip to Brookings. She will contact us regarding specific needs. Another idea she presented was for GRADS to purchase state park year passes for 2 vehicles at a cost of $54.

Katrina Koeppe suggested that the 18-21 program may need some funds. We will refer this issue to MaryLou Bullert.

Financial Report

The checking account balance as of March 31, 2023 was $3,716.52. in the First Bank and Trust in Milbank. This includes $1,475.from the Lucky Leprechaun Secret Treasure Box raffle.

Change in Meeting Day

Laura Maag made a motion to move the GRADS meeting day to the second Thursday of the month. Katrina Koeppe seconded it. All voted in favor of the change via voice vote with none opposed. The location and time will remain the same.

Next Meeting

The next GRADS meeting will be on Thursday, June 8, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. at the Middlebrook Community Room, 902 East Milbank Avenue, Milbank. We will finalize plans for the rummage sale and the ADA Celebration.

Respectfully submitted,

Rachael Johnson

17 March
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The Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports drew their three basket winners on Wednesday, March 15th. The winners are: Brad and Kathy Folk, Milbank; James Johnson, Sisseton; and Karen Nolte, Webster. Pictured at the top is winner Kathy Folk with Mary Lou Bullert from GRADS. Pictured below that is winner Karen Nolte of Webster.

The drawing was also attended by GRADS supporters and board members.

Back row LR- Mark Sieverson, Kathy Sieverson, Janet Michlitsch, Sharon Larson, Roy Larson, Bill Sieverson, James Michlitsch, George Boos. Front row LR- Rachael Johnson, Mary Lou Bullert, Cheryl Sieverson, Char Athey, Gloria Boos, Deb Homan. Picture taken by Brian Bullert

Thank you to all who participated and supported our fundraiser!

11 March
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Boost for Teachers Winners 2023

GRADS is pleased to announce their 2023 Boost for Teachers award winners.

Pictured below are Grant County winners Abbey Trapp (left), GRADS board member Mary Lou Bullert (center) and Michele Benike (right).

Abbey is using her award to support the Milbank Special Olympics team. This year Milbank will be hosting the spring event for the northeast area. Michele will use her award to support the Milbank transition program.

The winners in Roberts County were May Amodia and Karen Siriban both from Sisseton. May will use her award to support a school coffee shop. Karen will use her award to support an inclusive arts setting that will build on communication and social skills.

Congratulations award winners!

12 February
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GRADS Meeting Feb. 7, 2023

Middlebrook Community Room 5:30 p.m.

 

This brief meeting focused on the Lucky Leprechaun raffle and the Boost for Teachers grants.

Lucky Leprechaun Raffle

MaryLou Bullert shared pictures of donated items. Rachael Johnson brought additional items from Doubletree Gallery, 3 Bean Coffee, Teal’s Market and garden/bird stuff. MaryLou had a printout which listed all the gift basket contents. The three baskets have a total value of over $1,000. Rachael and MaryLou will send thank you notes to the contributors. Raffle tickets were distributed. The raffle officially starts today. If anyone wishes to help sell raffle tickets please reply to this message and we will mail some to you.

 

Boost for Teachers

We reviewed applications. It was decided to award four $100. grants for Boost for Teachers to be presented by February 17. The recipients are May Amodia from Sisseton (coffee shop project), Karen Siriban from Sisseton (Cricut project), Michele Benike from Milbank (transition program/ job readiness), and Abbey Trapp from Milbank (support for Special Olympics Track and Field event hosted by Milbank). Congratulations to these teachers and their students. Rachael Johnson, GRADS Secretary/Treasurer, issued the checks.

 

Website

A check for $100. will be sent to Cheryl Pocklington for her work with the GRADS website.

 

Meeting Schedule

We will meet at the end of the raffle for the drawing and distribution of baskets on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at the Bullert home at tentatively 5:30p.m.

The GRADS annual meeting and election will be on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. at the Middlebrook Community Room, 902 East Milbank Avenue, Milbank.

02 January
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As 2022 rolls into 2023, we reviewed our GRADS board minutes and we have quite a list of accomplishments to be proud of. Here are some highlights of what we did in 2022:

  1. The GRADS website has continued to improve and evolve. Events on the calendar are now updated more frequently and provide better documentation of events to assist in saving time when planning similar projects.
  2. The Lucky Leprechaun raffle opened the door for GRADS to contact schools in Sisseton, Milbank, St. Lawrence Catholic School, Big Stone, Summit, and Wilmot. Excellent event coverage was provided by the Lake Area Tidbits as well as the Sisseton and Milbank newspapers.
  3. We had a very successful Rummage Sale in June.
  4. GRADS and Life Quest did a gift jar filling activity that utilized measuring, teamwork and socializing skills and concluded with a pizza party. Later, GRADS sold the gift jars to help support organizational goals.
  5. Laura Maag set up a display for the Hartford Beach Parade of Lights and included GRADS.
  6. This past September saw the launch of the Boost for Teachers Award. As a result, GRADS was able to connect with schools in Wilmot, Sisseton, Milbank, Big Stone, and Summit.
  7. The NDEAM event was very successful! Bobbie Jo’s of Beardsley, MN provided an excellent meal and Robert Anthony was our inspirational speaker. Mae Amodia was recognized as the 2022 Boost for Teachers winner.
  8. Plans were made to save GRADS information on the Cloud Forever site. Diane Spilde will provide assistance.
  9. Katrina Koeppe will plan the ADA event in 2023.
  10. Plans for Day Services in Sisseton are being pursued.
  11. Diane Stewart has been very supportive by including GRADS articles in the Grant County Arc News. The Grant County ARC has a substantial mailing list and gives GRADS great publicity without the cost of postage.

Thank you to all who supported and participated in our events! We appreciate your continued support!

12 November
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GRADS Meeting November 8, 2022

Middlebrook Community Room 6:30 p.m.

Four people were at the November meeting of Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports.

NDEAM/Sisseton

The National Disability Employment Awareness Month celebration was held on October 6 in Sisseton with 56 people attending from towns in Grant and Roberts Counties as well as Aberdeen. We had employers and employees, representatives from GRADS, Grant County Arc, Voc Rehab, LifeQuest, and local schools, and community members in attendance. The attendees enjoyed the meal, the comfortable venue, and the enthusiastic speaker, Robert Anthony. We thank GRADS, Grant County Arc, and Sisseton Public Schools for helping to sponsor this event. We plan to have another event in 2023.

Boost for Teachers

MaryLou Bullert will arrange for another Boost for Teachers grant to be announced in January. Congratulations to May Amodia, Transition-PAES Supervisor (Teacher), from Sisseton. She received a check for $100. for her Lunch Preparation project.

Fundraisers

MaryLou Bullert wants to do a Lucky Leprechaun fundraiser again. We also talked about having a grill or patio set raffle.

Website

We will ask Cheryl Polkington for current information on number of views to the site.

ADA

Katrina Koeppe can assist with invitations for an Americans with Disabilities Act picnic or bingo event, on the last Monday in July perhaps. We will discuss this further at our April meeting and reserve the venue.

Request for Help

We had a request for obtaining day services for adults with disabilities in the Sisseton area. It was suggested that LifeQuest may be a good option. Charlotte Athey would arrange and attend a meeting with Pam Hannah, LifeQuest CEO, from Mitchell. Information to bring to the meeting should include the number of people who desire services and what services are needed, (eg. recreation, cooking). Rachael Johnson will follow up on this request.

Financial Report

The GRADS checking account balance was $3,135.68 in First Bank & Trust on 9-30-22.

Next Meetings

The next GRADS meeting will be on February 7, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. via ZOOM.

The GRADS annual meeting and election will be on April 11, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. at the Middlebrook Community Room, 902 East Milbank Avenue, Milbank.

20 October
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Boost for Teachers Award Recipient 2022

Left to Right: MaryLou Bullert-GRADS Board Member, PAES/Transition Program participant, May Amodia-Transition-PAES Supervisor/Teacher, PAES/Transition Program participant and Colleen Siegel-Paraprofessional.

Boost for Teachers, a brand-new yearly GRADS initiative, is a grant program that will award $100 to a middle or high school special education teacher working in the Grant or Roberts County area.

To be considered for the award, teachers must submit a proposal for empowering students with disabilities to learn occupational skills.

This year’s recipient is May Amodia, a teacher and transition-PAES supervisor from Sisseton. She earned the $100 award for her work on a lunch project.

The project she developed instructs students how to prepare, cook and serve food. In addition to those concepts, students also learn planning, budgeting, and marketing skills that help them prepare for jobs and independent living.

Congratulations May!

26 September
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GRADS Meeting September 20, 2022

Middlebrook Community Room 6:30 p.m.

 

There were 5 people at the Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports meeting.

 

Website

We will add a picture and information about the Boost for Teachers grant recipient on the site. We will also add RSVP information for the NDEAM event in Sisseton.

 

Business Cards

Charlotte Athey will check with Sean Athey about prices. Then design work can be done.

 

NDEAM/Sisseton

The National Disability Employment Awareness Month celebration will be on Thursday, October 6, at the Family Life Center, 404 West Hickory Street, Sisseton.

Dinner will be served at 6:00 p.m. and the speaker will begin at 6:45 p.m. The speaker is Robert Anthony, an elite para athlete, whose message is titled “Becoming Your Best Self ”. RSVP to Rachael Johnson by September 30 by email (striping@venturecomm.net) or phone (605-698-7445).

MaryLou and Laura will hang posters up in Milbank. Rachael will contact radio stations, and will have articles placed in the paper(s). Invitations have been sent via mail, email, Facebook and delivered in person. The information has been placed on community events calendars in Sisseton and Milbank and has been printed in the Grant CountyArc newsletter.

 

Boost for Teachers

May Amodia, Transition-PAES Supervisor (Teacher), from Sisseton will receive a check for $100. for her Lunch Preparation project. This project teaches planning, budgeting, marketing, food preparation, cooking and serving a meal, useful in restaurant employment. Congratulations to May.

We plan to do another grant in January.

 

Financial Report

The GRADS checking account balance is $2,870.23.

 

Historical Records

Rachael Johnson suggested using Cloud: FOREVER for saving articles, pictures and other documents from GRADS. She will ask Diane Spilde for assistance with this project.

 

Next Meeting

GRADS will meet on Tuesday, November 8, at 6:30 p.m. at the Middlebrook Community Room, 902 East Milbank Ave., Milbank. The Jan. meeting will be via ZOOM.

21 September
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Join us for

National Disability Employment Awareness Month 2022!