*Dear OAFCS Members,* *FCS Education is at a Do or Die Crossroad.* Secondary programs are closing for a variety of reasons. University FCS teacher education programs are closing due to lack of enrollment. Now secondary programs are closing because school districts cannot find FCS teachers! Zero incoming university freshmen have declared majors in Family and Consumer Sciences Education this fall in Ohio. *The good news!* In August, the OATFACS Board and the OAFCS Board voted to jointly hire the Impact Group, a proven PR/marketing firm in Hudson, to develop and help us implement a major promotion of FCS education over the next 12 months! *Five Regional Focus Groups will be held beginning October 6.* Using all data collected from these focus groups and from other parts of this project, the Impact Group will create "a living direction for public relations and marketing outreach for a 12-month period with specific tactics and strategies that are proven, but also flexible to adapt to changing audiences or goals." *Come and bring others to participate in the Focus Groups!* The goal is to provide forums for candid discussion to help us best plan for the future. In order to get the best data possible from these Focus Groups, we must have a variety of persons who have influence regarding course offerings or student choices of electives or careers—think guidance counselors, administrators, parents, students, school board members, state legislators, university admissions counselors, etc. We are counting on you to invite such persons to attend with you—or to go without you if you are unable to attend. Remember that diversity also includes the participation of those who have not been so supportive in the past. Their participation will be more difficult to achieve, but has the potential to give us very important information. *A sample memo* is attached that you may adapt to invite participants.* You can copy and paste the date and location from the list of Focus Groups. Also insert the RSVP deadline for the respective date and location. Revise as needed or just use language for a phone call. All Focus Groups are 6:00-7:30 pm. *Send RSVP’s to Nathan Mellor (** nmellor at igpr.com * < nmellor at igpr.com >*) of the Impact Group**.* You may RSVP for yourself and your guest(s) noting the name and role (teacher, Extension agent, principal, counselor, parent, etc.) of each or your guest(s) may RSVP separately. We have a huge challenge ahead of us, but by working together and sharing the load, *WE CAN DO THIS!* * Questions? Or need a .doc version of the memo or a completed .pdf version? Contact Sandra Laurenson, Co-Chair Public Policy, OAFCS, Laurenson1 at gmail.com or 330-468-3955 < file://localhost/tel/330-468-3955 > *Focus Group Dates And Locations:* Note: All meetings will be held from 6:00-7:30 pm. *Monday, October 6 - Northeast Ohio* Tallmadge High School – Kelley Smith, FCS teacher, 330-633-5505 Room 1125, 140 N. Munroe Rd., Tallmadge, OH 44278 RSVP nmellor at igpr.com by Wednesday, October 1 *Wednesday, October 8 - Southwest Ohio* Butler Tech – Amy Claywell, Satellite Supervisor, 513-868-6300 3603 Hamilton-Middletown Road, Hamilton, Ohio 45011 RSVP nmellor at igpr.com by Wednesday, October 1 *Tuesday, October 14 - Central Ohio* Mount Vernon Nazarene University Columbus-New Albany Campus 5150 E. Dublin-Granville Rd., Suite 120, Rm. 101, Columbus, OH 43081 RSVP nmellor at igpr.com by Wednesday, October 8 *Wednesday, October 15 - Southeast Ohio* Athens Middle School - Library – Kim Shuster, FCS teacher, 740-593-7107 55 West State St., Athens, OH 45701 RSVP nmellor at igpr.com by Wednesday, October 8 *Thursday, October 23 - Northwest Ohio* Millstream Career Center – Beth Smith, FCS teacher, 419-425-8277 1150 Broad Avenue, Findlay, OH 45840 RSVP nmellor at igpr.com by Thursday, October 16 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://listserv.ohio.edu/pipermail/oafcs/attachments/20140922/7a1c0e48/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: FocusGroupInvitationGuests.docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document Size: 3322266 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://listserv.ohio.edu/pipermail/oafcs/attachments/20140922/7a1c0e48/attachment-0001.bin
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