Become a Stream Team Volunteer

AAUW Carlisle member, Holly Smith, is the program manager for the LeTort Stream Studies program, a collaboration between Carlisle Area School District (CASD) and Audubon Pennsylvania to provide 2nd, 5th and stream ecology field experiences for seven elementary and two middle schools.

The Stream Team assists with field activities, including guiding students’ discovery of aquatic insects and stream habitats, and helping them investigate the concepts of water quality, non-point source pollution/stormwater, erosion, land use, wildlife habitat, and conservation including the value of streamside vegetation. Tasks may also include fetching aquatic insects, working with native plants, helping with streamside clean-up, and/or caring for field equipment.
No stream ecology knowledge or experience needed. New volunteers are trained and paired with experienced volunteers, and are only given tasks with which they are comfortable.

Time Commitment:
2nd & 5th grade: usually ~8:30am—noon weekdays on days the field trips are scheduled.
7th grade: ~7:30am—2:30pm weekdays on days the field trips are scheduled.
Volunteers choose from the schedule when they wish to help. You fit this to your schedule.
Spring field trips take place late April through May 30.

More details in program brochure.  Contact Holly at hsmith@audobon.org for more information or to volunteer.

Who knew we could have fun learning or being reminded about what to eat or not to eat for a healthy heart.  Our February meeting, Delicious, Heart Healthy Delights, was fabulous.  Gail and Carmen provided great information and tips in their presentation.  And made us laugh.  We sampled recipes they had modified to make more heathly and tried at home to perfect.  Thank you to the family tasters.  What we tasted Tuesday night was delicious.  It was unanimous–healthy can be tasty.

Click to get the presentation — Delicious, Heart Healthy Delights — and recipes — Heart Healthy Delights Recipes.

On Saturday, January 20, 2018 six AAUW Carlisle members plus out-of-town friend and two spouses caravanned to Gettysburg to join the Women’s March Gettysburg in support and celebration of the first anniversary of this historic movement.

It was especially fitting that marchers gathered at Lincoln Square which honors our great President Lincoln and his “Gettysburg Address”.

The event kicked off with a warm welcome to several hundred marchers followed by speeches from local citizens, community leaders and politicians.  After rallying the crowds, leaders launched the march which meandered through downtown Gettysburg from Lincoln Square to Unity Park.

AAUW has a long tradition of supporting STEM, especially for girls.  So it is not surprising to find members giving of their time as judges for the Carlisle Area School District Science Fair.  On Friday, January 19^th, three members (one not pictured) spent the evening scoring various science projects on display at the Carlisle High School.  It was not an easy job given the many strong entries that demonstrated hard work, knowledge and dedication by the students!

Several AAUW Carlisle Branch members attended the opening reception of Square One– a juried exhibit prompted by the concept of “square one” at the Carlisle Arts Learning Center (CALC) on Friday, January 12th to celebrate with Virginia Mueller.  Virginia’s painting, Square One/The Creator, was one of 35 selected from 87 entries.  The exhibit is open until Saturday, February 3rd.

Wednesday, November 29th the the AAUW Dickinson College student organization hosted Carlisle AAUW Career Panel.  Five AAUW Carlisle members were invited to discuss their careers. This event is one example of the great relationship between our branch and the student organization.

Each panelist shared their education and career story.  Common themes–a Liberal Arts education is a great foundation; careers have twists and turns; take advantage of opportunities when presented; returning to school for an advanced degree can be done at any age.  When asked for one piece of advice–don’t underestimate what you can do; your integrity (reputation) is paramount; can have career and family, but requires spouse support and creativity (studying during naps); don’t apologize for not wanting a spouse and/or children.  One question was how to handle being in a male-dominated field.  Be yourself–not one of the boys; maintain professional demeanor; understand the jobs around you–boss, subordinates, peers–to know where to make a unique impact; build relationships, build relationships, build relationships.

Congratulations to Phyllis Orenyo for publishing her first book, “My Cat is a Hat”.  The book signing on October 28th at Carlisle Arts Learning Center featured her granddaughter, Melanie, who provided the concept art for the book.  Wonderful grandmother–granddaughter collaboration.

AAUW’s newest research was released May 24th.  Deeper in Debt explores the issue of college debt through a gender lens–the first study to do so.  For the class of 2015, Pennsylvania is the second highest debt state–$34,798 per student.

We had a fabulous day in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, April 12th visiting AAUW’s new National Headquarters, the National Museum of Women in the Arts and dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill.   The bus driver even scoped out some still-blooming cherry blossoms to show us on a quick tour around the tidal basin.

Members of the AAUW Public Policy team spent over an hour with us discussing current events as they relate to AAUW public policy issues and work at the federal, state and local level.  After a tour of the office and lunch, members of the Branch Relations (membership) team discussed national AAUW membership.  They asked what we were doing to achieve a high renewal percentage and add so many new members.  All the right stuff, we guessed.  🙂  We all gained a greater understanding of and appreciation for the AAUW national office and the work they do to support branches and public policy initiatives.

Next we were off to the National Museum of Women in the Arts for a guided tour and time to meander on our own.  We ended the day with dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill, an iconic tavern offering American meals.

Thank you, Don Mowery for planning such an wonderful excursion.

Exercise your vote as an AAUW-PA member for the 2017-2018 officers.  And, it is especially important since our own Linkey Green is on the ballot.  Would be a shame if her branch didn’t have good voter turnout.  Here are your options.

Option 1 — Attend the annual convention
The annual meeting with elections will be on Saturday, April 22.

Option 2 — Online voting
Online voting is available now through midnight, June 14, 2017.  Clicking this link will bring up an initial screen that will include instructions and three boxes asking for voting confirmation information: 1) first name; 2) last name; and 3) branch.  Voter names and branch affiliation are required only to verify that you are 1) a current paid AAUW-PA member and 2) that you are not voting multiple times.  This information will not be connected to your vote.

Clicking the “next” box on screen one will bring up the actual ballot. It looks exactly like the paper ballot that includes the titles of each office—Finance Officer, and Membership VP, the two candidates’ names; and an option for a write-in.

Option 3 — Mail in a paper ballot
Refer to the instructions on page 3 of the Keystoner.