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Parkside
Elementary School
PTO Board Meeting Minutes
September 14, 2009
Members in Attendance: Kathy Berry, Josh Brown,
Alethea Morse, Julie Workman, Susan Biancalana, Connie Horvath,
Moreena Tiede, Leona Smedley, Beth Waldschmidt, Melissa Beaver,
Angie Stoewer, Chris Nichols, Kary Thoennes, Sally Haas
Waldschmidt, Elisa Cupples, Shelley Marsaglia, Tony Marsaglia,
Imogene Chase, DiAnn Naden, Jennifer Barlow, Jenny Demosthenes,
Melissa Traum, Elizabeth Tomera, Lauren Kaufman, Jamie Lunt,
Shelly Erickson, LaNell Greenberg, Amy Farwell, Amy Ersland
The meeting was called to order by Elizabeth Tomera at
6:32 pm.
Co-Presidents Report – Jenny Demosthenes asked
that everyone please be sure to sign in and list their e-mail
addresses. A green sheet for the no-hassle fundraiser was also
passed around to attendees. You can turn a no hassle fundraiser
donation in at any time during the school year. Elizabeth said
that PTO still is in desperate need of a committee chairperson
for the NCWHS Homecoming float this year as well as a fall
fundraiser chair. The fall fundraising dates will be confirmed
later this evening. The four officers took care of the fall
fundraiser last year and can do it again, but would prefer not
to.
Treasurer – Melissa Traum will have the year’s
budget completed by the October PTO meeting. Last year at this
time PTO had raised $1245 through no hassle and this year we are
only at $895. The no hassle sheets will go home with every
fundraiser PTO does this year. PTO will also be placing a large
sum of money in a CD to earn interest rather than just have
funds sitting in a checking account.
Principal - Shelly Erickson said that it was
great to see everyone here! The staff at Parkside is excited and
crowded. Shelly introduced new teachers in attendance: Jamie
Lunt, Lauren Kaufmann, Amy Farwell and Amy Ersland. There are
seven new teachers and two transfers to Parkside this year! The
lounge is temporarily being used for the third 3rd grade. It’s a
little tough with the mailbox situation and not having a sink
but it shouldn’t be for much longer. Everyone is doing a great
job! There were 64 kindergartens registered and that was an
unexpected number. The new kindergarten is across from the
office and the third 3rd grade is currently in the lounge until
the pod is delivered. The current date that is expected to have
the third grade moved to the pod is by the 1st of October.
Enrollment is not much different than years past actually. We
basically swapped ten 5th graders for ten kindergarteners.
Homecoming is really early this year on Oct 2nd. The early
dismissal time will be in the newsletter. Students will be
dismissed at 1:45 and the parade is at 2:15, so it is close
together. The theme is Dare to Dream. School volunteers need to
complete their screening on the computer at the school.
Volunteers will need their driver’s license and social security
number. Parents can do it following the PTO meeting and just
stop by the office sometime. It only takes a few minutes. Those
who have filled out their screenings should have their cards at
the school anytime now. Once you have your volunteer badge it
works at all Unit 5 schools. Redistricting has not made a huge
impact on Parkside’s numbers. There is a small pocket to go to
Oakdale, which always has and will continue to do so. We are
only losing about 32 students or so because of the open
attendance going away. Shelly is trying to make her concerns
known about the growth in the neighborhoods around the school.
Retirees are selling their homes to younger families with
children so she is thinking that the student body will continue
to grow but no one is really listening. Mr. Johnson and Shelly
took a look at lower playground and the new equipment has plenty
of space and can really go in any direction. There is all the
room to do so. Tomorrow nights Family Reading Night is for K and
1st grade as well as their older siblings that attend Parkside.
It is technically just K-1. There were some building
improvements done this summer, including the cafeteria being
painted. We were not big on the list since so much is going on
within the unit. This week Unit 5 will look at bids for the
locked entries for all Unit 5 schools. There will also be
installation of cameras in the gym, outside the school,
cafeteria, hallways and that will all be done in the evenings.
There is also a possibility that down the road our kitchen will
be turned into a real kitchen, not just used to heat up food.
This all depends on the budget money. We are pretty much in full
swing. The PBIS training is completed. The Sat 10 testing is
next week for grades 1st-5th. Last week was K, 1 and 2 for
testing.
Float – In the past the Sampson family did the
Homecoming float but they are unable to do so this year. Since
it’s coming quickly we need to make a decision about the theme
and who will chair the committee. The Sampson’s would make,
store and drive the float and 5th graders rode and threw the
candy. Students must throw candy while walking, not from riding
on the flat bed. For the past two years the 5th graders have
been responsible for the float and if a 5th grader participates
in the construction of the float then they would be able to
participate in the parade. It’s a nice thing for the 5th
graders. If they put forth the effort they get to participate.
Some students discussed the float in art class today. Sally
Waldschmidt said she can probably get the truck and possibly a
hay rack. Bruce said he will pull the float with his truck and
they should know about the rack by later tonight. They do not
have the garage space to store the float though. There is a
possibility that maybe the Gourley’s could take care of it.
Sally & Bruce have the afternoon off of the parade and if other
5th grade parents help it would be fine as far as supervision.
There will be a letter sent home to 5th grade parents about the
theme, dare to dream, and about the details of the when and
where for working on the float. The theme comes from NCWHS’s
introduction of “Rachel’s Challenge.” It is based upon a student
who was killed in the Columbine shootings and the challenge put
forth is to dare to dream and to inspire students to dream of
ways of fulfilling their potential. It may be dreaming to be
athlete, or dream like others in the past have dared to dream
big like the Wright Brother or past public figures or maybe
daring to go into space. It is about whatever a student can
dream. Tony Marsaglia has a place for the float to be stored
until the parade, unless a 5th grade parent volunteers. Susan
Biancalana said that the Sampson’s typically did a lot of the
prep work themselves and then the students would come for one
day and they would do a lot of assembling and painting and
things along those lines. Tony’s place is on Merrill towards
Mitsubishi, about a half-mile away, just over the railroad
tracks. A letter needs to be sent home for parents to sign
permission, and to include phone numbers and what the pick up
and drop off times will be for working on the float. In the past
the PTO pays for food, supplies, etc. and we will again this
year. Having some parents there helps to keep the kids on task
as well.
Fall Fundraiser – Jennifer Barlow said that a
company has been hired for the fall fundraiser and PTO is hoping
to kick it off by the end of next week. We need a chairperson to
organize and take care of the details. The items will be sorted
by room and student so delivery should go smoothly. There is
also a teacher incentive this year. If 75% of students in a
classroom sell at least one item the teacher will earn $75 in
free merchandise. There is no kick off assembly this year. There
is a 5 minute video that teachers can show their students. The
fall fundraiser chair needs to be sure to write up a concise
letter to parents as to what all the dates are and how to handle
orders.
Spirit Wear – Julie Workman will chair spirit
wear again this year and is going to use Select Screen Prints
again this fall and winter. The pricing has not been set yet but
we will plan to round number up again just like the spring
sales. We won’t be able to have orders in by Homecoming but we
will get dates and things set up in the near future. We will
plan to send home order forms around Thanksgiving break so that
parents can have the orders in plenty of time for Christmas
gifts.
Hospitality & Assemblies – Angie Stoewer did
not have a welcome back breakfast, instead we will be having a
“welcome back to your lounge” once the teachers are back in the
lounge and the pod is here. She does not have the current
hospitality list but will get it from Michele Sampson. Typically
Angie gets sign-ups at Open House but there is not a traditional
open house this year. Assemblies typically follow some type of
theme and Angie will meet with Shelly to talk about what to do
this year. Shelly would like to do Prairie Fire Theatre again
this year and they are doing The Three Little Pigs. That isn’t
typically until May though. The school improvement is reading
again this year. Angie mentioned that District 87 had a sphere
type of planetarium they had mentioned last year but Shelly
hasn’t heard anything since. There is also a hot air balloon
assembly that’s fun so she will look into that as well.
Restaurant Fundraiser – Kathy Berry will head
up this committee again this year. So far it looks like Monicals
will be in April. Last year we did Noodles & Meatheads but
talked about last year not doing Meatheads more than once and
Noodles probably only twice. She asked if she should look into
any restaurants that require volunteering on our part. Culvers
was mentioned and the possibility of having teachers help serve
and how that may make students excited to go. Fazolis will only
give you $1 for each of a certain meal. People were not sure
they were interested in a restricted type of situation. Oakdale
did Culvers last year and had a good turn out. Melissa is going
to look into about how much they made from their evening. Kathy
will not set any restaurant dates for December, PTO evenings or
parent-teacher conference days. A parent mentioned that more
advertising would probably be a good idea. Some ideas were to
put information on the website and Marquee. As well as have
students make posters and show them on Monday’s assembly and
hang them around school. Student Council may be interested in
helping.
Room Parties – DiAnn Naden said that there is
still a need for a Halloween coordinator for 5-F and also there
is a need for one person to attend the KS winter party and 1S
Valentine’s Party. Other than that - So far so good! Julie
Workman is taking 5-F for Halloween. The school party dates are:
Halloween 10-31; winter 12-17, Valentine’s 2-12. All parties
begin at 2:15. Elizabeth said her husband Mike can help with 1S
if needed. The parties begin at 2:15, despite the later
dismissal this year, because special education leaves at 2:50
pm.
Family Fun Night – DiAnn Naden confirmed that
Family Fun Night is set for Friday, April 16th 2010! It will be
after Easter this year.
Playground – Chris Nichols would like to have
choices for the playground equipment and will plan to have 3-5.
He hopes to have a couple of options by the next meeting. If
anyone sees something they think would be great please take a
picture or e-mail the information to Chris. There will be a
committee meeting directly following the PTO meeting next month.
He is hoping to make some real good progress.
Butter Braids – Susan Biancalana will be taking
care of this fundraiser again. She plans to do it the week
before Thanksgiving and Easter as it has been in past years. She
is looking at November 16th for fall sales.
CAC – Melissa Beaver is our CAC representative
and she was asked to serve on the Citizens Advisory Committee
last year by Shelly. She and others present their findings to
the Unit 5 school board after doing research on relevant topics
for the district. Last year she served on information sharing on
the internet and they analyzed the Unit 5 website and the
schools websites and then made recommendations to the board in
April. The new CAC is starting this month and she will miss the
first meeting. The CAC meets at different elementary and junior
high schools within Unit 5 throughout the year. Dr. Neihauss
will come and talks about information impacting the district.
Last year it was things such as redistricting and busing. Some
of this years topics are about texting, networking websites such
as facebook and other topics related to Unit 5 students.
New Business – Parkside needs another CAC
representative. The ones that were approached earlier fell
through. The big monthly CAC meetings are in September,
November, January, February and March. The smaller meetings have
only a few in the group. They do research as a group and then
their leader reports their findings at years end. Melissa
(Beaver) said it’s very interesting and you really learn about
what goes on in the district.
Moreena Tiede asked about Unit 5 and its policy, or lack of,
when it comes to mass contagions. There seems to be no actual
plan for worst case scenarios. It’s important for students to
learn how to not spread germs, such as coughing into the elbow,
proper hand washing, etc. The nurse will go around to all of the
classes and give instruction on these and teachers remind
students as well. Moreena asked if there would be some type of
school wide education for sneezing, coughing and hand washing.
There was also mention of placing hand sanitizer outside the
cafeteria so students could use it before lunchtime. The Unit 5
nurses are working with the Mclean County Department of Public
Health about the possibility of mass contagions, specifically
H1-N1. There is talk of possibly inoculating students at school
but that is still up in the year. It is just a possibility.
There is a lot more to be discussed. Also, the attendance line
greeting has been altered. Please know that you are calling
Parkside and leave your information. Unit 5 also had a great
response to students being required to have certain vaccinations
to enter kindergarten this year. Almost no students missed the
first day. It was a very smooth start.
Elizabeth said we will be recruiting officers for next year in
the coming months as this will be the last year for the current
PTO officers to hold their positions. The box tops committee
chair position has been filled by Lisa Nichols. Market Day may
not be happening this year for Parkside due to timing issues for
delivery and concern over meeting the minimum order
requirements.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 by a first motion by
Kathy Berry and it was seconded by DiAnn Naden.
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