NSHSS is establishing a Council of NSHSS Parents interested in volunteering with the Society to help further its mission. The purpose of the Council is to build awareness, establish scholarships, and network with other parents of NSHSS. Activities can include volunteering with fundraising efforts, member events, relationship building, focus groups, and acting as leadership ambassadors. More information about the Parent Council will be posted in the near future.
NSHSS is pleased to announce that Mary Blankenship Pointer has agreed to serve as the National Chair of the Parent Council. Mary, a native of Oklahoma City, is Vice President of Business Development at UMB Bank in Oklahoma, as well as an adjunct professor at Moore Norman Technology Center. In addition, Pointer serves in various roles with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC). As an advisory director of its College of Public Health, she is working on several projects including an obesity project for Western Heights Public Schools, tobacco project for college students and most recently an HIV/AIDS project in Kenya. She also serves as a consultant and member of the visitor's board and scholarship committee for the College of Nursing. She is a member of the University of Oklahoma President Associates and the Oklahoma Society of Association Executives and is a director of the Petroleum Club.
Mother of NSHSS member Natalie, age 20, and Nicholas, age 26, her two main passions are healthcare and education. Community service had always been a way of life for her. Throughout the years, Mary has volunteered numerous hours with a multitude of civic and nonprofit organizations. She was recently selected by the Oklahoma City “Journal Record” as one of its "50 Making a Difference.” She currently works with, among other groups, the Huntington Disease Association, Positive Tomorrows, Metro Fair Housing, and Prevent Blindness Oklahoma.
Mary believes that we can learn from nature how to care for the next generation, noting that “A study was performed comparing planting young trees in a barren field and planting them in a harvested forest. The trees that were planted in the harvested environment were stronger, healthier, and grew taller because they had the roots of the older trees to latch on to. As parents, we provide the strength, the roots for the next generation. It is our responsibility to nurture the next generation, with our time and resources. As a community leader and business person, I realize how important it is to prepare the next generation to take our place.”
Mary has hosted two NSHSS member events in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and
attended NSHSS events at Harvard University, the University of California,
Santa Barbara, and Scholar's Day in Washington, D.C.
NSHSS Welcomes Parent Council Regional Chairs
Deborah Dworsky of Edison, New Jersey, mother of member Sarah Anne Lutes, has agreed to serve as Eastern Regional Chair, attended the recent member event at the University of Texas at Austin. After participating in Scholar’s Day in Washington, D.C., with her daughter, she volunteered to become more involved with NSHSS, and we look forward to her assistance in providing value for our members.
Vicki Johnson, Publicist, of Leander, Texas (near Austin) has agreed to serve as Southwestern Chair. Her daughter Jacqueline Johnson, was highlighted in the April monthly update, and we welcome Vicki to the Parent Council.
Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Rhode Island, will join the other Regional Chairs as the Northeast representative. She is the mother of member Spencer Pasquerella Kuchle, and accompanied her son and NSHSS on our Australian Adventure this summer.
Rick Salomon, esq., CEO of Vantage Point Consultants and resident of Glencoe, Illinois, is joining the Parent Council as the Midwest Chair. His son Mark Salomon is a 2007 Claes Nobel Academic Scholarship Recipient and a new member of the NSHSS Student Council. He is highlighted in our Fall Scholar’s Journal. We are very excited to work with both father and son.