Board of Directors

Board members

Sara Pierce, President
Karen Sjostrom Hedger, Treasurer
Tami Farley, Secretary
Stacey Pagnozzi (non voting)
Mike Sjostrom (non voting)
Teresa Pierce (non voting)
Celeste Law (non voting)

DTA Center for Learning & Growing
196 Bar Harbor Rd.
Ellsworth, ME 04605
207-667-6783

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Children, Families, and Communities
DTA Center for Learning & Growing

Please read the enclosed materials and complete the application's questions. Through your application the Board hopes to gain a deeper understanding of who you are, what your relationship to DTA Center for Learning & Growing is, and what gifts you might bring to the learning center. Please print this application form and return to DTA Center for Learning & Growing, attention: Board Development Committee. Upon receipt of this application we will contact you and set up an interview with the Board.

Expectations of a Board Member

As a Board member, you will be a part of the group that carries the overall responsibility for the financial and legal integrity of DTA Center for Learning & Growing. The Board also plays a major role in long term planning and fund development. Board members are responsible for sustaining the long term vision of DTA.

Expectations of voting DTA Board Members:

· Monthly meetings
· Annual contributions
· Active Participation
· Community work as needed

Expectations of nonvoting DTA Board Members:

· Meetings as possible
· Feedback as possible
· Assistance in committees as possible or interested

Board members should have a general understanding of the nature of the DTA Center for Learning & Growing and of the expectations that we have of a Board member. Some key points and questions concerning these areas are as follows:

The Nature of the DTA Center for Learning & Growing

DTA provides services and programs for children, families, family members and adults. We desire and set as our goal to have DTA services have some "hallmark" similarities as well as providing a venue for individual practitioners to express their strengths and talents.

  1. We expect that all clients and families be offered a quality work experience. This requires mindful work.
  2. We expect our staff will model being human for our clients and families.
  3. We work on foundations to achieve outcomes set in partnership with the client, this requires identifying foundations, facilitating change and then bringing this change to functional tasks. The AKID approach is based on this.
  4. We are a team of same but different individuals within DTA teams, within DTA as a whole and in community. Know what you want, ask for help.
  5. We believe life is fun and funny sometimes.
  6. We understand that for change to occur, all people involved must be willing to change.
  7. We know this work requires mindfulness, humanness, compassion and creativity done in congruence with yourself to the best of your ability at any given time. Sometimes this will feel wonderful, sometimes not. No one says you have to like it. And you get to do this in connection to others.

We believe healing exists when:

Physically you are capable of doing what you want without fear of pain or reoccurrence. Emotionally you are responsive to present events instead of using them to recreate past hurts. Mentally you are quiet without a of sense of coercion. Spiritually you live in a state which all parts of you are present, your energy is congruent spatially with your structure, your consciousness is anchored in the current moment, and no part of you wishes it to be different.
Lansing Barrett Gresham Founder, Integrated Awareness®

Working with the Partners, Area Leaders and Support Staff

The Partners and the Board share the overall responsibility for the Learning Center. The Partners are fully responsible for pedagogical (educational) issues; the Board is responsible for the overview of financial, legal and community issues.

While working with pedagogical issues, the Partners need to be sensitive and responsive to the concerns and questions of the Board and clients. In the same way the Board, while working with financial, legal and community issues, must also be sensitive to the educational implications of its decisions. There is always a living question of where pedagogical issues end, and legal, financial and community issues begin. Our ideal as a Board is to work in a balanced and respectful partnership with the Partners.

Collegial Relationships

DTA Center for Learning & Growing is based on collegial rather than hierarchical relationships. The collegial form raises a host of questions and challenges about leadership, delegation, and accountability. As a learning center we are deeply committed to the challenge and excitement of struggling with and developing these forms for the future. We feel confident in saying that collegial form is practical and effective.

These are subtle distinctions that are foreign to our conventional thinking. However, the challenge of working with these ideals is another part of the excitement of working in the DTA Center for Learning & Growing.

The following questions will help clarify our expectations of you as a Board member. Please take the time to contemplate each one carefully.

1. Are my views of learning in accord with the DTA Center for Learning & Growing? Am I comfortable working within this framework? These fundamental questions are especially important for those working on our Board who have necessary skills, but may not be part of our learning center. These Trustees need to be comfortable with the unique learning environment created by DTA Center for Learning & Growing.

2. Will I be generous with my time, talents, and resources? It is important that all Board members share in the work of the Board. Members are asked to give generously in those areas in which they are most able. As a demonstration of their commitment to the learning center, Board members are expected to make a financial contribution. Of course, the amount of the contribution is a free choice, and no one is expected to give beyond their means.

3. Can I attend a regular monthly meeting and work on at least one committee? It is difficult for a Board Member to effective if they cannot attend most of the regular meetings. Currently, we meet once a month, and may hold additional meetings if difficult problems arise. Committees may also meet once a month or more, as needed.

4. Can I remain objective and keep the ultimate purpose of DTA in mind when making decisions? As a parent, can I make decisions even if their outcome seems to be against the interests of my own child? When working in the capacity of a Trustee, one must be able to step outside of the role of an individual and put the welfare of the group first - whether one is a parent or a community member. If a conflict between the welfare of the group and personal desires becomes unmanageable, one should abstain from the decision, or step down.

5. Am I willing to reserve judgment regarding my fellow Trustees, so that over time the fullness of their abilities will be revealed to me? The decision to be a Board member must be made of each candidate's free will. You may not wish to join the Board, based on the issues revealed by these questions. If this is the case, we respect your decision, and the courage and honesty needed to reach it.

If, in contemplating these questions, you feel you can work with them, then we look forward to meeting with you during the interview. In either case, thank you for your time considering these issues.

Sincerely,

The Board Development Committee

Print Application Form

Please send questions and comments to: dtaus@hotmail.com or call (207) 667-6783

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