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     One of the functions of Heartwood’s Board of Directors is planning for the organization, to make sure we think ahead about the best ways to continue to provide high quality arts programs for people in Calhoun County and the surrounding area. The Board meets about eight times a year, and it works on planning for programs and events at every meeting.

      In addition to the month-to-month and annual planning, the Board also makes long-range plans. We are now in the middle of our second five-year plan, which covers the period from 2002 through 2006. The current plan was developed after three special meetings of the all-volunteer Board in 2001 and early 2002.

      We have three goals in our five-year plan:

      1. Support services and faculty development: We hope to improve the quality of our educational programs by improving our support services and faculty development. Not only are we providing classes and programs, but also we are providing services to make it possible for all our students to participate. In order to make it possible for children to take classes and participate on the dance teams, we work to assure reliable transportation and provide information about child care for students and faculty. We provide students with dance and performance shoes and clothing. Our teachers are working to better define our curriculum, and we provide our faculty with training opportunities so they can continue to inspire our students.

      2. Resource library: For many years, Heartwood has had a wonderful library of music, videos and books for people of all ages, but we have never had the resources to get it as well organized as we would like. We work hard to find the funds to run our regular programs, but we hope to find extra funds to make improvements in our library. Then we would be able to develop better systems for lending and return, storage and organization of our wonderful resources.

3. Connections to our community: Our third goal is to strengthen and deepen our connections to our local community. We want to encourage people to volunteer for the many support activities that help us to function. We want to make sure that people know what we are doing, and feel welcome to participate in our classes and events. Finally, we want to make it clear to the public where our funds come from and how we spend your donations.

The Board is working hard to implement this plan. We need your support to stay on target with our five-year plan and realize our goals. We appreciate the many gifts we get from you, whether it be volunteer help, financial donations, or materials for our library and costume wardrobe. Thank you!

Work on the video Field of Flowers continues. Field of Flowers is a collaboration between Heartwood and the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Begun in 1995, Field of Flowers is now in the editing phase. Bob Burns and Jude have been working since December 2003. Thanks to mentors John Nakashima, Chip Hitchcock, Chuck Rosenecker and Chuck Klein of W.Va. Public Television. Our thanks also to all those who have generously helped with funding, including Peig Schmitz, Olga Gioulis and Landmark Studio for the Arts, Deb Cottrill of Women’s Aid in Crisis, W. Va. Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Barbara Steinke, Ruth Justice, Patricia Hussey and Barbara Ferraro of Covenant House,