May Whitney PTO

August 24, 2010

Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order by Co-President Lauren Amoroso at 7:22pm

Motion to approve April 2010 Minutes – Elise Hood and Kristen Rymarcsuk approved the motion

Lauren Amoroso and Kim Ketcham – Co-President

• Thank you to the Back to School lunch committee and for those that attended.
• The Board has new email addresses: 
  • President = mwpresident@yahoo.com
  • Vice-President = j.vollmer@comcast.net

o   Treasurer = mwtreasurer@yahoo.com

• Secretary = maywhitneywildcats@yahoo.com
• Please allow 48 hours for responses 
• The Exec Board will be available to meet at  6:30 prior to each meeting to meet with committee chairs who have upcoming events.
• The back to school packet will be sent home on Friday (youngest or only will receive) – it has lots of information regarding back to school picnic, buzz book, room parents, etc. 
• Noted some date changes in the district calendar: Back to School Picnic is on September 24^th (not September 10^th); Book Fair is on the September dates listed in the calendar (not the October dates).
• There is no auction this year – it requires a lot of manpower and no one volunteered to chair; everyone is doing auctions as of late and we don’t want to tap too much into the community as we want businesses to say yes to needs going forward. Instead, we will have an Alternative Auction in conjunction with the BINGO Night on January 28th. Asking teachers, classrooms, parents to donate meaningful things to kids with little to no cost – lunch with teacher, line leader for day, etc.
• An “All School Bulb Plant will be held on 9/28. PTO purchased shirts for all students and teachers. There will be order forms at curriculum night for sizes – shirts are at no cost and will be given out at the bulb plant. A photographer will be here to take a picture of the entire school. Photo will be available for parents to purchase. Parents will be able to order shirts as well.

Amy Flaherty – Treasurer

• Provided financial information handout – basically guidelines for how you get money. One change for this year, the check request and reimbursement form is all in one blue form that can be found in the office.
• We will no longer reimburse for tax (the exception is Costco).  See Amy if you need a copy of the tax-exempt letter/number. If you do not provide the tax exempt number and you make a purchase, you will be reimbursed the cost less tax. 
• Provided copy of proposed budget which was approved based on vote. (Note there is no rummage sale this year).
• Chairs of committees are responsible for budget – know what your committee is spending so that you do not go over budget.

Joelle Vollmer - Vice-President

• We still have open committee chair positions:
  • Freaky Friday/Spooky Saturday – have an over all chair however still need chairs for games, food and the spook house
  • Family events – need chair for December event (can be anything you choose) and End of Year Party. We will cancel the December event if we don’t get someone soon.
  • Alternative auction – chairs for donations and to organize the event
• Asking that committees create a binder documenting everything they do for committee chairs going forward. 
• Purchased Thank You notes that say “May Whitney PTO Thanks You”.  Available in the office for use.
• We are in the process of rearranging the office – there will be a file cabinet and each committee will have a folder.

Mrs. Lettie Ekovich – Principal

• Thanks for coming. We are off to a great start this year. 
• Teachers and staff started the year at the High School where they broke out into groups and focused on “community matters” in the morning. In the afternoon, all elementary staff focused on professional learning communities - how teachers can work together in grade level teams: focus on what kids should know, how to teach it and enrich it. 
• New staff:
  • AM Kindergarten (Tara Dehring)
  • Bilingual/ESL (Spanish) Liz Easton & Cherisse Faflik
• Dismissal procedures have changed. Mrs. Ekovich went into classrooms today to explain to students. No longer calling buses, teachers will walk classes to the cafeteria and from there kids will go outside to get on buses. If a bus is not there, students will wait in the cafeteria with staff. Staff held signs with bus numbers – in the future the 5^th grade will serve as “Safety Patrol” (with uniforms) to hold bus number signs.
• Themes this year: 1) Unity (One School One Book) and 2) Communication
• MAP Testing in September.
• First all school meeting on August 25^th. Will be held every month for 30 minutes to build relationships across school and showcase students. 

Ann Marie McConnell – Secretary

• Please sign in and provide your email address if you would like to receive PTO minutes, e-blasts, etc. If you know of others who want to be included they can send their email address to maywhitneywildcats@yahoo.com
• Information for Mrs. Ekovich’s Friday newsletter should come to the secretary for approval and will be sent on to Mrs. Ekovich.

Committee Reports

• Book Fair - Kristen Rymarcsuk
  • Dates changed!
  • 9/13 (Monday): Set up 8 – 11; Teacher preview 11 – 8:30
  • 9/14 (Tuesday): Open 8 – 3:30; Heroes Night 5 – 7:30
  • 9/15 (Wednesday):  Open 8 – 7:30
  • 9/16 (Thursday); Open 8 – 3:30; Lunch – bring a hero. 
  • If you can volunteer, see Michelle McCall
  
   
• Back to school picnic - Michelle McCall 
  • September 24^th - 5:30 – 8
  • Woody’s will be on site for food from 5:30 – 7:30
  • Two bounce houses, DJ, etc.
  • $3 per person – NO one will be admitted at the door unless they have paid. Email confirmations of RSVPs will be sent home.
  • Still need volunteers
• Fall Fundraiser - Amy Harrow
  • Starts Friday and will last two weeks
  • Using Market Day however don’t be confused, it is similar to Innisbrook: Wrapping paper, chocolates, jewelry, etc.  Out of town family and friends can order online.
• Buzz Book - Donna Young
  • Back to school packet will have forms for the drawing contest, advertizing and babysitting.
• Newsletter - Melissa DeLuga
  • Wildcat Wire
  • Newsletter will be posted online monthly
  • Melissa will send an email asking for contributions, please get information to her by the deadline so it can be included.
• Beautification – Amy Nolan
  • Exterior: Need help moving the pergola from old MW (would take 5 dad’s 5 hours on a Saturday – date to be set once we have volunteers) to create the Butterfly garden. Menards donated concrete. Also need a tiller, mulch, flowers and butterfly bushes. If you have items to donate, let Amy know. 
  • Interior – refreshing bathrooms. In need of paint (semi-gloss or gloss), new or used brushes, painters tape, sponges. 

New Business

• Allison Rigsby - Entertainment books schedule to go out Thursday. If you can help organize and distribute to classrooms, call Allison.
• If you open a Target Debit/Credit card, they give 1% back to May Whitney. 
• Meet the Principal raffle drawing – winners: Matthew Vollmer, Anna Biergans, Andy Pearson, Shriya Sudini, Kaylee (from Ms. Giglio’s class)
• PTO Meeting Raffle --- David Finn

Carrie Collins and Kristen Rymarcsuk made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:30pm.  The next PTO meeting will be Tuesday, October 5, 2010 in the school library at 7:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Ann Marie McConnell

Secretary