BICO General Meeting Minutes for July 16, 2008

INTRODUCTIONS


RECENT ACTIVITIES
Thank you BICO Volunteers for planning and executing 11 outings, taking out 130 kids, from April through June!  Outings included the Patuxent River Sojourne, the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, Fossil Hunting at Calvert Cliffs State Park, Sailing on the CBF Snowgoose, etc. 

Also, thank you to all those that performed other important BICO activites outlined as follows ... !  

---> BICO Kids Spend a Day with US Senator John Sarbanes and Maryland State Governor O'Malley -  Thirty Digital Harbor High School kids participated in the Earth Day Congressional Hearing attended by US Senator John Sarbanes and Maryland State Governor O'Malley.  This event was highly publicized, and represents the state government's new committment to the "Leave No Child Inside" program.

---> BICO joins the Maryland Leave No Child Inside Coalition

--->  Agency Representative and Parent/Guardian BICO Program Assessments - The BICO Chair has been active in creating these assessments.  He is hoping to roll them out by September 1.  Several ideas have been brought up regarding these assessments, including attaching them to the outing permission slips on every outing and posting them on the web!

---> ICO Outings Leader Training (OLT) 101 and Child Abuse Recognition and Prevention (CARP) Refresher Trainings - Five Certified Leaders refreshed their OLT 101 training and nine Certified Leaders refreshed their CARP training.

---> Grant Reports - Bob Burchard has written grant reports for the Macht Foundation and Lockhart/Vaughn.

---> BICO E-scrapbook - Lindsay and Joanna expressed interest in compiling a BICO E-scrapbook through blurb.com, which can be given to funding agencies and also can be held online for prospective volunteers. 


UPCOMING EVENTS
---> ICO OLT 101 and OLT 201 Leadership Training by ICO National:  FIRST TIME IN THE MID-ATLANTIC!
October 10-12 at Camp Barett in Crownsville, MD.
Basic Outings Leader Training (OLT101) is required for anyone leading Sierra Club Class 1 outings (dayhikes), and Advanced Outings Leader Training (OLT201) is required for Class 2 outings (overnights).  This weekend-long, Sierra Club workshop hosted by the Virginia Chapter, Potomac Region Outings section will qualify participants to lead both.  The $45 registration fee covers food, lodging, and materials and will be paid by BICO.  Trainers will be Sierra Club outings staff from San Francisco.  Visit http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/training/upcoming.asp to learn more about the workshop and to register.

--->  BICO  Elections
BICO elections for Chair, Vice Chair and Treasurer are to occur between the September and November meetings.  More about this soon.


GENERAL NEWS
General Reminders
---> BICO Team Leaders ... Please plan your outings for the upcoming Fall and Winter seasons and give your new schedules to Bob and Ann Burchard (aburchard@riva.net).  Thank you.

---> Team Leaders, funding agencies are starting to look for long-term participation from youth in the program.  Please take note of the number of returning youth on outings, if possible.   Also, if you have youth that have been in the program for a long time, encourage them to tell their story about being involved in the program.

---> Please send your trip reports from your most recent team outings to Bob Iacovazzi at bicobob3@verizon.net and Lindsay Major Ringgold at lindsaymajorringgold@gmail.com.

Why do we complete trip reports after our outings:
1) Need detailed information to fill out quarterly insurance reports for ICO National
2) BICO fundraising
3) Establish an archive of BICO activities
4) Share information (eventually it can end up as a wealth of information for the group)

---> Current and prospective Certified Leaders: Please renew your Sierra Club memberships when they come due.  It is important for BICO (you) to be covered by the Sierra Club insurance.  If you do not have a current Sierra Club Membership, BICO (you) are not insured during an outing by the Sierra Club.

---> Please tag, and make the Gear Master aware of, gear that is broken.  Nicole Veltre is our current Gear Master.

TREASURY


GROUP  BREAKOUTS

HELP WANTED
---> Certified Leaders and Volunteers to support the BICO Dickey Hill Elementary School (DHILL) Team.  After the first of the year, this team may not be able to go on outings because there are not enough Certified Leaders and Volunteers.  If interested, please contact Dave Barry (manhat@verizon.net).

---> BICO Publicity Coordinator.  The duties of the Publicity Coordinator include 1)  Developing and coordinating all BICO articles and promotional pieces and distributing them to local media, and 2) Liaison to and providing articles and information for the Maryland Chapter, Greater Baltimore and Howard County Sierra Club publications, and others as determined to be necessary.  If interested, please contact Bob Iacovazzi at bicobob3@verizon.net.

---> Assistant BICO Leadership Development Coordinator.  The duties of the Assistant Leadership Development Coordinator include helping the Coordinator to 1) Supervising the leader training programs; 2) Ensure that BICO leadership training meets the standards of the Sierra Club and the ICO National Subcommittee; 3) Provide guidance and support to all leaders as needed; 4) Attend outings to support leaders and giving feedback on leadership issues; and 5) Help to identify appropriate training resources (i.e., leadership, first aid, etc.) If interested, please contact Bob Iacovazzi at bicobob3@verizon.net.

NEXT MEETING  
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 in the Media Center at Digital Harbor High School at 6:30 pm.  The meeting will be hosted by Nicole Veltre, DHHS Team Leader and BICO Gearmaster.