Dear South Dakota Homeschooler:
The board of South Dakota Christian Home Educators (SDCHE) is re-evaluating its mission. SDCHE was established 25 years ago (prior to 1999 as Western Dakota Christian Home Educators-WDCHE) and is recognized by Home School Legal Defense Association (www.hslda.org) as the official state homeschool organization. Looking back, we see that SDCHE has not truly represented homeschool interests across the entire state. Rather we have primarily served the Black Hills area. Looking forward, SDCHE desires to serve homeschoolers across all of South Dakota. In the Home School Report (Jan/Feb2003), Mike Smith president of HSLDA, wrote that a state homeschool organization serves several purposes:
Lobbying and Legislative Activities:
State homeschool organizations are vitally important to maintaining a favorable legal climate for home instruction. Yet state organizations cannot effectively lobby on behalf of and serve homeschoolers unless individuals support them. We all need to protect our rights as homeschoolers in our state. Each legislative session has brought a bill or other measure that has put our right to homeschool at risk. We must be vigilant in order to protect our homeschooling freedoms.t.
Providing Encouragement and Support:
State homeschooling organizations exist to serve the homeschooling community.
State organizations and local support groups work hand in hand. They help each other network and they support each other's activities. A state organization can help a group of homeschoolers organize a local support group. It can also provide help with established support groups plans and goals. Support groups provide a fertile soil for lending a helping hand to new homeschoolers, for supporting veteran homeschoolers, and for providing social events and field trip opportunities for homeschool students. Through seminars and symposiums, state homeschool groups can help to mentor the state and local homeschool leaders of the years ahead.
Hosting Conventions:
State homeschooling groups are often the first people met on the road to home education.Training through workshops and conventions is a vital part of a state homeschooling organization's role. State organizations should host annual conventions for three reasons: to provide information, encouragement and rejuvenation.
Developing Websites:
State homeschooling organizations can provide information and assistance to support groups desiring to develop their own website.
Communication and Information Clearinghouse:
State organizations publish news and e-letters to keep the membership informed of activities around the state. During the legislative session, emails and phone calls are made to ask members to contact their legislators as necessary to protect and preserve our freedoms as homeschoolers.
To move forward, we must make some changes and these changes will require time, energy and creativity. We would like to form a short-term steering committee to formulate ideas on the direction, scope and vision of SDCHE. The committee would brainstorm ideas, create a new mission statement, write changes to the existing by-laws and constitution, and provide the framework to guide SDCHE to become an organization that indeed represents all homeschoolers in South Dakota. The committee would accomplish this primarily through conference calls and email. The commitment to this steering committee would be up to one year. All recommendations would be presented to the board for discussion and final approval. Please share and discuss this need with other homeschoolers in your area. In order to best ascertain the needs, we need representation from all areas of our state. Your involvement in a state homeschool organization is vital to the strength and growth of homeschooling in South Dakota. Please seriously consider participating in the process to establish a working state organization that can secure our freedom to home educate and effectively meet the homeschool needs of our state. For those interested in serving on this steering committee, please contact David/Kay LaFrance, Legislative Chair of SDCHE at legislative@sdche.org or Deanna Becket at newsletter@sdche.org by Sept 15th. You can also call David and Kay at (605) 388-0955 or Frank and Joanne at (605) 787-6514.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter and for your prayers.
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Vice President: Chris Hanson
Secretary: Amy Mantei
Continuing Ed. Chair: Open
Legislative Chair: Dave LaFrance
Information Coordinator: Kim Wong
Newsletter Editor: Open
Treasurer: Tawnya Beckloff