PROGRAMS FOR 2004

At the Autumn fest in Bridgewater on September 25, 2004, we had our own table to promote our organization and programs to the public. Our thanks go to Alice Hooper for coordinating the event on our behalf, and to June Cooney for creating a most fabulous basket filled with breakfast goodies for the free raffle we offered. Thanks also to Gloria Moran, Cris Ajemian, Veronica Casey and Alice who took time out of a beautiful Saturday to staff the table. We had many, many people stop by to hear more about AAUW and about our branch and programs. Click here to see photos taken at Autumnfest '04.

On June 13 2004 we celebrated the Remarkable Young Women of 2004 from 6 area high schools and two colleges, at the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Taunton. Six of the young women were juniors entering their senior year, who have been selected by their guidance counselors to be recognized for their leadership and academic achievements. Six more were graduating seniors who are the recipients of the 2004 Taunton Branch Book award. The two college students were recognized for their work in community or academic projects that promote equity for women and girls. They each received a $500.00 scholarship toward their college education. Joining them in the celebration were their families , branch members, state AAUW president Patricia Ho, and of course, our inspirational keynote speaker, Jacqueline Jones, Minority Outreach Counselor from Massasoit Community College, and her sister Gwen Nawls.

Remarkable Young Women of 2004: Augusta Mott, Truc Van-Phung, Rory Keegan and Elyse Gottschalk

Click Here for a photograph of 2004 Annual Book Award Recipient, Brianna Larivee.

The Remarkable Young Women are granted honorary membership in the Branch for the 2004 - 2005 program year. Branch members are encouraged to reach out to them, to offer rides to meetings and to support them throughout their senior year of high school. Members can offer help with college applications, financial aid, career choices, etc. We will support these young women to the best of our ability.

Remarkable Young Women for 2004

Emily Ann Arrighi, Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School

Augusta Mott, Bristol County Agricultural High School

Sharon Dias, Bristol-Plymouth Technical High School

Truc Van-Phung, Coyle and Cassidy High School

Rory E. Keegan, Dighton-Rehoboth High School

Elyse Gottschalk, Taunton High School

Annual Book Awards for 2004

Meghan Driscoll, Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School

Kayla Wilbur, Bristol County Agricultural High School

Diana Rivera, Bristol-Plymouth Technical High School

Brianna Larivee, Coyle and Cassidy High School

Shannon M. Taylor, Dighton-Rehoboth High School

Ana Andrade, Taunton High School

Mary Anderson Memorial College Scholarship Awards for 2004

Susana Aniceto, New York University. Career goal: Physician

Rachel Rothman, Smith College. Career goal: Civil Rights Attorney

Congratulations to these remarkable young women!

Autumn fest in Bridgewater. The Bridgewater Autumn fest is a great opportunity to raise public awareness about AAUW and its mission. This year many people came to our table to find out more about the Taunton Branch and the organization. More about the Autumn fest in the Recent Events section of this page.

Branch Opening Meeting at the Holiday Inn in Taunton took place at 6:00pm. Our featured speakers were Dr. Nadia Jensen, an AAUW-Taunton branch member, and Dr Sarah Fox. Both of them are on the Board of Planned Parenthood in Providence and serve on the International Affairs Committee of which Nadia is Chair. The presentation was about the Global Gag Rule and the impact of regulation on family planning and the reproductive rights of women in the countries that receive aid from the United States.

The Annual Silent Auction fundraiser for the Legal Advocacy Fund (LAF) and Educational Foundation (EF) was held on at 6:30 pm at The Arbors, Taunton. Many wonderful, creative, artsy, fun and useful items were donated for the fundraiser and we made over $1,000.00 to donate to EF and LAF.

The Holiday Brunch was a smashing success at the lovely home of Louise Freeman, one of our members. Invited speaker, Silvia Dominguez, an AAUW Educational Fellow discussed her research that she's been conducting in two Boston communities, East Boston and South Boston. Silvia is a doctoral candidate in the Interdisciplinary Program in Social Work and Sociology at Boston University. Her dissertation focuses on the factors that inhibit or promote the survival of Latin-American women living in public housing in Boston neighborhoods. She expects to publish her findings in the near future.

An Evening with Jan Brogan, a murder mystery writer from Massachusetts at The Arbors turned out to be a snowy evening, but worth it for those of us who braved the inclement weather. Jan entertained us with stories from her newspaper days and gave us the inside scoop on the characters in her book, Final Copy. We also got a sneak preview of her new book, A Confidential Source, due out in April. Check out Jan's website at www.JanBrogan.com for more information.

Getting to Know You series at 7:00 pm at The Arbors with Lisa Burke, a branch member. She spoke about the music and culture of Kiri Bati, formerly the Gilbert Islands in the South Pacific. Lisa did her dissertation on the music of the islands. We were transported via video to a most exotic set of islands in the South Pacific to enjoy the people, their culture, their music and their dances. It was wonderful to escape temporarily to a tropical place even as howling winds brought more snow to our wintry landscape.

Women's History Month Concert on Sunday, at 4:00 pm. Our annual Scholarship fundraiser event celebrating women's history featured renowned opera singers Donna Ames and her husband, Mark Anderson, accompanied by pianist, Dr. Steven Young of Bridgewater State College. The fundraising concert took place at the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Taunton.

*Islam and Moslem Culture, a Presentation featuring Dr. Sawsan Zahara of Massasoit Community College at 7:00 pm at The Arbors, Taunton.

*This meeting was cancelled due to inclement weather. We hope to present this program in the fall of 2005.

The April branch meeting will focus on leadership development on local campuses. The program is presented by Andrea Garr-Barnes, who is the Director of the Center for Multicultural and International Students at Bridgewater State College. The meeting takes place at 7:00pm at The Arbors, Taunton. A discussion on mentoring college students will follow the presentation.

We end a busy year with our Annual Potluck Dinner at the home of Veronica Casey, Program Chair.

On March 5, 2005 an extraordinary event occurred! Taunton Branch hosted a Family-Friendly Workplace award ceremony at Silver City Galleria in Taunton. The event was the culmination of a collaborative AAUW-MA branch project entitled "Women at Work". The AAUW branches of Attleboro, Foxboro, Hingham, Taunton and Worcester worked together to plan and coordinate the project and cosponsored the award ceremony. It was an opportunity to recognize businesses and organizations that have family friendly policies in place to support employees and their families. It also generated awareness in local communities about family friendly workplaces and highlighted the work and mission of AAUW.

Businesses were nominated by employees to receive an award for their efforts in creating a supportive work environment. Criteria for the nomination were based on the findings of the AAUW Educational Foundation research on Women at Work. See the full report on Women at Work at www.AAUW.org. We honored six businesses at the awards ceremony with certificates of appreciation, lots of applause, food, photos and congratulations all round.