President's Page

One of the most exciting events of the biennium will be held April 15-16 at the Jackson Marriott. Zeta State Convention Committees are making final plans for a Convention you dont want to miss. Outstanding workshops and programs have been planned for your learning and enjoyment. Great rates on rooms and cuisine that will make your mouth water just to read the menus are other reasons you must attend. Karen Rhodes has done an outstanding job in organizing the convention. Lynn Holliday and the Program of Work Committee have been creative in designing the programs. Cheryl McGinnis and the Professional Affairs Committee have designed a professional development event of which every Mississippian should be knowledgeable. Sandra McKeirnon and the Leadership Development Committee have planned another great workshop for Chapter Presidents. Sharon Henderson, International Second Vice-President will be working with us at the Convention. I am thrilled that Sharon will be with us. Also, I am very proud of all of the members working to make this convention a success. Thanks to all of you!
One goal of mine, as Zeta State President, has been to increase the amount of money we have invested for scholarships and the grant-in-aid. As a reminder, scholarships are given to members but the grant-in-aid is given to a young woman entering teacher education. I have recently sent chapter presidents a letter requesting that they ask all members to make a one time donation of $20 to either the scholarship fund or to the grant-in-aid fund. If we took the money we spend on ourselves for snack food etc. we could easily do this. If we do not build the amount of funds we have invested in CDs for both scholarships and the grant-in-aid, we will be unable to continue to offer either one of these at the current level. In fact, we will be unable to give the grant-in-aid this year unless more funds arrive. Lets accept this as a challenge to look beyond ourselves and invest in the future of education in our state. Lets accept responsibility for what our Delta Kappa Gamma sisters envisioned for us. Lets be responsible for what we do with these funds. A quote by Edward Everett Hale in Bartletts Famous Quotations says it better than I.

I am only one,
but still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the
something that I can do.

We must be responsible for what we have received. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. said I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty. Winston Churchill said, It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do whats required. We can do this for we are Delta Kappa Gamma Society International! Thanks for all you do daily in the lives of the youth of our state. I am humbled to serve you as Zeta State President!

Anatomy of a Leader

She must be agile as a monkey because she spends so much time out on a limb.
She needs a big chin so she can lead with it and a thick skin so she can ward off the sting of ingratitude.
She has to have strong legs so she can stand on her own two feet all day yet be limber enough to kneel at bedtime.
She has to have a big mouth so she wont choke when she puts her foot in it, and a good appetite so she can swallow her pride and eat her words.
She needs a deaf ear for flattery, a good ear for criticism and judgement enough to distinguish between the two.
Most of all she needs a rubber neck so she can turn the other cheek, face reality, look back at history and forward to the future, confront the issues and face the music.