Armour, SD

Again, we had a wonderful speaker for our PTT meeting. We started the meeting with information from Alex Wold about the airplane that he and Jerry Farke made. Next we discussed the need for the community to have a computer class. This is going to take place and anyone interested in attending or teaching should contact Donna Brenner, who will organize it and get everyone together. We also discussed the upcoming meetings. It was determined that we will meet in May and probably take off June and July then meet again in August to restructure and plan for the upcoming year. Burnell Glanzer dicussed the trophy cases that are now ready to be stained. Anyone that is able to help with this is encouraged to contact him. Also, he talked about the incentive program for the middle school. They now receive tokens for work done on time and appropriately. At the end of the year they will have an auction for the kids to buy items with the tokens they have earned. At this point we are forming a committee to get prizes together. One idea for some top prizes will be an “i-pod shuffle.” These items need to be donated or bought by May 1.

Jennifer Koster presented a survey that was conducted in the 5, 6, 7, and 8th grades on bullying. Questions were handed to the students to fill out and a graph was made to show results. All answers are confidential. It did show that 15-30% of students are either bullied or victims and it is very common in younger students.

Alyssa Larson, School Psychologist Intern presented a slide show of statistics and facts along with suggestions and helpful information about bullying. Most bullying happens in low supervision, such as bathrooms, hallways, playgrounds. The teachers cannot be in all these areas at all times therefore we need to teach our children what bullying is and how it affects everyone. Bystanders are found to commonly do nothing when they witness bullying because they are usually afraid. Boys are more likely to report bullying where girls are more inclined to gossip, exclude others, harrass, and name call. Most of these actions peak in middle school. As parents and teachers we need to TEACH our KIDS that: 1. Assume everything you say behind a persons back will get back to them. 2. What you said can be turned around. 3. Watch what you put in writing, letters, emails. 4. Think what you want to say before you say it.
The impact of all this is childrend who bully as kids will bully as adults. Bullying should be dealt with when it first begins. Listen to the children. Monitor phones, computers, text messaging, and interactions between kids. Provide positive roll models.
As parents we need to be aware of changes in our children. Be involved in school programs and functions. Volunteer when possible. Teach our children strategies for counter bullying, such as walking away, tell and adult, humor, joining another activity. We need to teach our kids to think positively about themselves. Praise them for a job well done or the effort put for in doing it. Do NOT use physical punishment. A great quote for finishing up the evening was this said by Mr. Glanzer “Even though you don’t think it is wrong, if it makes someone feel bad then it is WRONG”. Thank you to everyone that attended. We had 16 parents and 11 teachers. We appreciate all you input and hope that more will attend future meetings.
Armour PTT Committee

Branding Your Community A Workshop for South Dakota Horizons– Milan Wall, Co-Director and a founder of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development was in Armour on Tusday, March 25^th. About 40 people from the Armour, Wagner, Artesian, Letcher, Woonsocket and Tyndall attended a presentation on Branding Your Community. I was very impressed by the fact that 18 people from Armour attended. We learned the importance of Branding. For example, can you think of facial tissue or gelatin without thinking of Kleenex or Jell-O? It is important to be clear about the difference between a brand and an image. A brand is carefully constructed and managed. An image, however, is much more fluid and in many cases, not controlled or created at all but simply evolved over time. Every community projects a certain image, positive or negative. A community image is really made up from the accumulated perceptions of residents and visitors over time. Every time people visit your town, they take away a community image as part of their experience. How do outsiders see your community? What do they recall after a visit? What do they say about their time in your community?

A community brand can be used to promote a town event, to create consumer loyalty and encourage folks to shop locally, or attract new businesses and families. The best use of a community brand is to make connections by representing the community values and special features.

We were split into groups where we had to opportunity to talk about our community. In doing this we discussed several questions. What do we want to be know for? What are our community’s key unique assets? How is our image connected to our key assets? Who are our customers? How can we get their attention? How can we move them from attention to action? We also discussed Tips for Branding, keep it simple, build recognition and exceed your promise.

This is just another tool that can be used to help fulfill our hopes and dreams for our community.