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Parkside
Elementary PTO Minutes for January 12, 2009
Elizabeth Tomera called the meeting to order at 6:33pm
Attendees: Elizabeth Tomera, Jenny Demosthenes, Melissa
Traum, Jennifer Barlow, Elisa Cupples, Susan Biancalana, Melanie
Johnson, Colette Gourley, Connie Horvath, Angie Hatfield, Shelly
Erickson, LaNell Greenberg, Angie Stoewer, Karl Sila, Kathy
Berry
The Co-Presidents, Jenny Demosthenes and Elizabeth Tomera,
reported that Cindy Gilliam would no longer be available to
coordinate the games for Family Fun Night so we are looking for
someone to help coordinate the games. This would involve where
they would be, etc. Cindy is unable to do so due to a work
commitment.
Melissa Traum gave the treasurer’s report and said that we made
$36.20 from Meatheads, $400 from box tops and have a couple of
bad checks to deal with. They were checks from the butter braids
sales, one for $33 and one for $44 and we are charged $10 for
each one. Letters were mailed today.
Shelly Erickson gave the principal’s report and had two big
things. They are the two new reading programs that we are
kicking off – 7 keys to comprehension and the 6 hours of reading
at home per month. Those really are the keys to comprehension.
The teachers had a difficult time deciding what we would do when
the kids didn’t do the homework because going to a movie is a
big deal. The point is for them to read outside of school. It’s
hard with the younger kids because they need to stress to their
parents that they need to complete the assignments. The
calendars will be at home and students are supposed to read for
at least 6 hours a month and parents are to track the students
reading. We hope to pull them away from games, TV. The A-Z
scores are really moving and there were some that made 2 letter
jumps in just 6 weeks! The more they read at home the better off
we will be at making that jump. The February concert date for
4th & 5th grade is Feb. 5th at 6:30 pm. It is at Parkside
Elementary, not at Brigham. It will be in the newsletter and
teachers newsletters. The lunch cards are going fine. We are
talking to the kids to remind them not to bend them and some are
peeling the lamination. The first lunch that goes through
handles them as little as anyone. They get them right before
lunch and then the cards go right back to teachers. The second
lunch students’ cards go in the charts & they don’t get them
until they are in line. They then go into the buckets and we
sort them back into the charts. As they are in line at lunch
they get their cards. It is an extra step to buy milk for cold
lunch students. The supervisors try to get the kids in with cold
lunch first so they can get their milk and sit down. I think
that has all smoothed out. Angie Stoewer suggested having a hand
sanitizer available to the students as they entered the lunch
room or waited in line so they could use it before lunch and
before they eat. Since the kids were already in line anyways and
use something like the big bottle from Sam’s Club. Shelly said
that students can get out of line and go wash their hands.
Shelly is reluctant to have there be another step because it’s
crowded at lunch time. We have daily hand-washers and will think
about it. Shelly also mentioned that she had information
regarding Bergner’s Community days & we can have Lisa Castleman
look into that for the spring fundraiser.
Melanie Johnson gave a Family Fun Night update and confirmed
that it is April 17th from 6-8pm. The inflatables are reserved
and we will be using the same ones as last year: the bounce
house, Velcro wall and obstacle course with a big slide. We may
need 2 snow cone machines. It was a huge hit and two would help.
They were in the cafeteria last year. Chris Nichols will take
care of food and we will have hot dogs again and possibly 2 snow
cone machines. Last year the syrups were brought and it ran
about $575 so maybe $25 extra or so cost wise, so not a big
deal. You are dumping ice into the machine and we could put one
into the gym corner. We need two people to man them and they are
time consuming to make and since they are reasonable we would
sell more. In ’07 we rented a machine for the hot dogs and it
was horrible and it took forever to cook them. There was no
back-up last year. We had a lot boiled ahead of time. They
thought we could use one with the warmers and have them wrapped,
etc. Whatever works for Chris Nichols we can do. We don’t want
to use Weaver’s machine. Maybe borrow one from the High School?
The other problem was the Velcro wall for girls with long hair.
We could maybe have rubber-bands available for girls to use the
Velcro walls? The Dollar Tree has them to purchase. The Zoo Lady
does face painting and goes to workshops to learn more. It was
thought that she would be different and wonderful to have. She
has been at work for different things and at one of them she
donated her time and thought about checking into having her if
that date is open, see if she is available. Kathy Berry said she
runs $75/hour or so but at Festival of Trees she did it for $50
plus tips. Jenny Demosthenes is going to call her and see if she
is available. Our FFN budget is $6,000. She has her own set-up.
Another thought was having a clown that does balloons. The
Unique Twist Guy to contact is Doug. The drinks were donated
last year by a student’s family. We are checking into that. The
obstacle course ribbons for FFN we will do again this year and
the kids like it so we’ll order those and do that again. We
order prizes from Oriental Trading. Two years ago it cost $160
and last year $200. Maybe spend $250 or $300 so we don’t run out
and we can avoid the mad scrabble for prizes that we ran into
last year. The Nadens will be coordinating the volunteers. FFN
volunteers are needed for set-up from 3:30-5:30pm and then a
tear down crew as well. The after-school program was in the
cafeteria during set-up and the Cub Scouts will be cleaning up
the cafeteria tables and taking care of garbage removal.
Volunteers are also needed to make the prize boxes ahead of
time. We will need to have somebody to do hand-stamps. Should we
use wrist-bands or stamps? There was a line for stamps and it
was easy for them to slide past for games, etc. We also will
need volunteers for bracelets & pre-sales. We would need to use
the bracelets like the water parks so that kids couldn’t share.
The snow cone coupons were a great idea and worked out nicely,
especially nice for the families for affordability. Let DiAnn
Naden know that outside of concessions there were 22 events and
that does not count the baskets either, face painting or
temporary tattoos. Anna may handle the baskets at the event.
Teri Schmidt will handle the basket organization & letters to go
home. There are 22 games, set-up, tear-down and prize boxes that
volunteers are needed for. Will DiAnn Naden coordinate the
teacher volunteers as well? Last year we didn’t buy extra
insurance because it wasn’t necessary. In the past we only
purchased additional because of the dunk-tank. Michelle Sampson
had checked it out last year and we did not need extra
insurance. So, there are no extra insurance issues. The cake
walk was in Mrs. Hatfield’s room last year and she said it was
OK to have it there again this year. There are two issues and
the line is so long. It is extremely popular and the older kids
played it over and over and over. We need to rework that so that
there are only two games in there and figure out a way to limit
the number of times someone can win. Maybe give a child a red
mark on their hand or something once they have went through and
won a prize?
The Committee Chair Reports are as follows:
Scrips – Karl Sila said it went well in December and is
well above budget for the year. In Jan. we had 5 orders; it’s
very slow but typically is.
Playground – Shelly Erickson brought a copy a grant for
Chris Nichols to work on.
Hospitality – In Dec. people donated goodies and Angie
Stoewer checked with LaNell Greenberg to be sure people were
dropping off things and she said there was stuff for the staff.
Assemblies – Feb. 27th is the Laser Light, MLK & Black
History month show; Prairie theatre show was booked by Shelly
Erickson for May 8th for $350 at 1:30pm and it’s a play. It will
be a take off of a classic fairy tale. The first assembly was
$450. There is $900 left for assemblies so between Feb and May
would Shelly Erickson like another assembly? Shelly Erickson
will think about it.
Room Parties – Valentine’s Day notes will go home by the
end of this week.
Restaurant Fundraising – Meatheads coupons are to be used
tomorrow and Wednesday. Feb 9th is Noodles Night from 4pm-9pm at
the Noodles & Co. in Normal. Monicals is scheduled for May 12th.
It’s a Tuesday and it’s 20 percent to PTO. Meatheads are also
scheduled for March 10th & 11th, April 7th & 8th. LaNell
Greenberg will put all of the dates in the newsletter for Kathy
Berry.
Butter Braids - Susan Biancalana said that we made
$832.80 from the fall sales; we will have another sale right
before Easter so we will have them back before Easter.
Box Tops – LaNell Greenberg told us that the check from
fall arrived because there is a 3 month turn-around and was
$400. Next set is due by Feb. 6th.
CAC – Had a meeting tonight.
The attendees read the thank yous from staff that were passed
around for everyone to read. The staff seemed very pleased with
their Christmas gifts this year.
The meeting adjourned at 7:35 pm, Kathy Berry motioned to
adjourn and Susan Biancalana seconded.
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