Tentative BARTA Meeting Dates and Information for 2021-2022
The BARTA Executive Board met on Tuesday, April 6th to discuss plans for a potential BARTA general meeting in May. It was decided to cancel the May meeting because, at this time, we could not guarantee that Four Seasons will accommodate us. Plus, most officers felt it still would be difficult to social distance members and keep everybody safe.
Election of officers is supposed to occur at the May meeting. Since we are not meeting, the Board agreed to have the officer election at the September meeting. A slate of officers will be presented to the membership. Once approved, the officers will assume their duties immediately. Of course the September meeting depends on COVID guidelines and the availability of a facility. We value the safety of our membership. More details will be coming as we approach September.
Bartholomew County Teachers
Association Makes a Difference
BARTA Dictionary Project
For seventeen years BARTA has participated in the annual dictionary project that presents dictionaries to every third grader in Bartholomew Consolidated and Flat Rock School Corporations. During previous years, BARTA members have gone out to visit all third grade classrooms to distribute the dictionaries. We have also discussed with the students basic dictionary skills, and showed how they can be used as classroom resource.
This year, because of COVID, we have developed a virtual presentation on YOUTUBE featuring Janet Baldwin who reviews many of those valuable dictionary skills. The link to her presentation is https://youtu.be/TjOle1e666A
Pennies from Heaven
During each BARTA meeting, a donation, Pennies from Heaven, is taken from our retired teachers to give to Bartholomew County organizations that serve youth. This year BARTA contributed $200 to BCSC Food Service, Flat Rock Hawcreek Food Service and United Way of Bartholomew County. We hope our three $200 donations will help with their efforts to benefit local children and adults in their everyday lives to put food on their tables and help replenish nutritional needs. As former teachers, we appreciate all they are doing to help children survive and succeed in the world in which they live
BCSC Backpack Program
Bartholomew County Retired Teachers Executive Board answered a call to help with school supplies for this coming year. Backpacks are prepared with essential supplies to help students start the year on a positive note. The Executive Bd agreed to use $300 from our treasury to help with the student supply effort. On top of that decision, the Executive Board took the challenge to match the $300 with individual contributions from Board members. That challenge resulted in a total of $650 being sent to BCSC to help with school supplies during this difficult time.
For seventeen years BARTA has participated in the annual dictionary project that presents dictionaries to every third grader in Bartholomew Consolidated and Flat Rock School Corporations. During previous years, BARTA members have gone out to visit all third grade classrooms to distribute the dictionaries. We have also discussed with the students basic dictionary skills, and showed how they can be used as classroom resource.
This year, because of COVID, we have developed a virtual presentation on YOUTUBE featuring Janet Baldwin who reviews many of those valuable dictionary skills. The link to her presentation is https://youtu.be/TjOle1e666A
Pennies from Heaven
During each BARTA meeting, a donation, Pennies from Heaven, is taken from our retired teachers to give to Bartholomew County organizations that serve youth. This year BARTA contributed $200 to BCSC Food Service, Flat Rock Hawcreek Food Service and United Way of Bartholomew County. We hope our three $200 donations will help with their efforts to benefit local children and adults in their everyday lives to put food on their tables and help replenish nutritional needs. As former teachers, we appreciate all they are doing to help children survive and succeed in the world in which they live
BCSC Backpack Program
Bartholomew County Retired Teachers Executive Board answered a call to help with school supplies for this coming year. Backpacks are prepared with essential supplies to help students start the year on a positive note. The Executive Bd agreed to use $300 from our treasury to help with the student supply effort. On top of that decision, the Executive Board took the challenge to match the $300 with individual contributions from Board members. That challenge resulted in a total of $650 being sent to BCSC to help with school supplies during this difficult time.
VOLUNTEERING...IT'S IN THE BLOOD OF BARTA.
Even though we as a community and us as individuals suffered through a pandemic, BARTA members worked to serve the community and youth during 2020. BARTA members are dedicated to our community and its schools, our BARTA members donated more than 14,000 hours to our community in 2020. We donated 4,271 hours serving youth and 10,426 hours serving the general public, for a total of 14,697 hours of service.
BARTA members donated over $399,000 worth of volunteer time to our community last year, according to an Independent Sector which is a coalition that publishes research for nonprofits. They set the 2020 value of each volunteer hour at $27.20.
BARTA members donated over $399,000 worth of volunteer time to our community last year, according to an Independent Sector which is a coalition that publishes research for nonprofits. They set the 2020 value of each volunteer hour at $27.20.
The following BARTA members volunteered 300 or more hours during the 2020 calendar year. Congratulations for your tireless service to children and the community!
Mailyn lBrackney Shirley Lyster Donna Browne Louise Hillery Janice Montgomery Cheryl Zuckschwerdt-Ellsbury Hedy George Georgianna Waldrop Susan Gobert Sally Scrogham Natalie Lavengood
Janice Montgomery is one of the most dedicated people we have ever known. She is energized by her total dedication to the youth and community of Columbus, Indiana and Bartholomew County. Janice might be retired as a life-long educator, but she does not fit the mold of putting up her feet and watching life pass by.
Janice Montgomery came to Columbus in 1978 with her husband, Lynn, a Columbus native. After K-12 subbing while the girls were small, Janice started working full time in BCSC at Southside. She spent most of her career there as an AC/HA teacher and assistant to the principal. Later, she moved to the Center for Teaching and Learning to develop professional development with area educators, enjoyed teaching at IUPUC and Ivy Tech, and later accepted an opening at the Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation as the executive director. Finally, she retired to participate in many community projects and work at the Simmons Schoolhouse, while still visiting her daughters and their families out of state. Volunteer efforts are the major focus of any extra time. The most incredible experiences include the Dictionary Project (17 years), BCSF Third Grade Architectural Tours, BCSC School Referendum Spring 2020, DKG, Columbus Philharmonic Volunteer and Garden City Church of Christ committees. Each year a major project comes out of the blue. This year the BCSC Referendum-Yes! 4 BCSC began in January 2020. Janice co-chaired with Mandy Keele, Southside teacher and CEC Vice-Chair and with Chad Phillips on daily activities. This effort was a success in the June election. Over that time, thousands of contacts were made by hundreds of volunteers. The pandemic changed the strategies to phone calls and mailings. Thankfully, the community understood the critical nature of supporting all employees in the schools through the referendum. The employees will begin receiving the benefits of the referendum in January. During this time, Janice enjoyed renewing many old friendships and meeting so many energetic and dedicated BCSC employees and families. This people understood that education is the foundation to a great community and its future. Volunteering is a critical component for Janice’s life. While she still takes K-12 sub jobs as often as possible, volunteering in the community, sending cards, and asking others to donate their time too is always on the list of TO-DO’s. There is NO REASON to be bored, even during a pandemic. People need encouragement. Our educators and support personnel need encouragement. Janice would say---Find a way to make other people’s lives better. 
Shirley Lyster is our 2019 Outstanding Volunteer of the Year!
We are pleased to announce that Shirley Lyster is the 2019 Bartholomew County Retired Teacher of the Year. Shirley taught 52 years at Columbus and Columbus North High Schools. In addition, Shirley was Department Chairperson for 33 of those years. Miss Lyster retired in 2004, but she continues to use her amazing talents to teach others even today. She has led students at the post-secondary level after her retirement by teaching at Ivy Tech, IUPUI and Mill Race Center where she has offered many classes called Partners in Education. Her volunteer hours are spent preparing for the classes that she teaches. She spends hours reading, researching, studying and preparing for the classes that she teaches. She knew that if she expected her students, both high school and adult, to appreciate literature that she would need to be prepared to give them questions and discussion topics that they would have to address. Miss Lyster uses a broad teaching expertise to instruct students through a wide range of media and literary genre. She features outstanding pieces of literature to her class and even compares and contrasts a movie that is related to the literature. She has even taught a study of Spoon River Anthology which features a collection of epitaphs from characters in Spoon River Cemetery. Then she works with her students as they write their own wonderful free verse poems about their relatives and acquaintances. Since her retirement, Miss Lyster has discussed more than forty books with her students. One of the feature pieces of literature that she notes is The Odyssey of Homer which addresses the seven major themes of literature. She continues to emphasize that she enjoys the personal and professional growth through her experiences with others. We are proud to present the 2019 BARTA retired educator of the year! Protect Yourself from COVID - 19To register for your Corona Virus vaccine go to
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BARTA Meeting Dates
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Updated April 2021