May Whitney PTO

November 9, 2010

Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order by Co-President Kim Ketcham at 7:05pm.

Motion to approve October 2010 Minutes – Elise Hood and Kristen Clausen approved the motion.

Lauren Amoroso and Kim Ketcham – Co-President

• Student Council co-presidents Emma Connick and Eleni Papastratakos joined the meeting to introduce themselves and update the PTO on what activities they have planned for the year.
  • Student Council indicated that they would like more decorations outside and in the corridor in the front of the school to make it even more welcoming for students. 
  • In November, ice cream will resume on Wednesdays during lunch. The school store, which sells fun school supplies, will be open on Tuesday mornings in the cafeteria. 
  • Student Council is thinking of starting a newspaper and asked if the PTO would like to help. More details to follow.
  • Student Council has created an idea box for students. It is located in the room where they have their meetings.
  • Spirit day is now every Friday; Spirit week is TBD. A request was made by the yearbook committee during the meeting to have spirit week before the yearbook deadline.    
• The date for the Spirit Walk (now called the Wildcat Walk) has been moved to April 21^st. The Wildcat Walk will be in conjunction with Book Fair. PTO is planning a family day with a cook out, etc. to support the walk and the Book Fair.
• Bulb Plant T-shirts and the panoramic picture order are coming soon! The panoramic picture came broken - we are in process of getting it replaced. In addition, the order forms had the wrong date so we are working with LifeTouch to get corrected forms. T-shirts will run around $8. Watch for an order form for both.
• Spring Book Fair is still in need of a committee chair. Contact Joelle Vollmer if you are able to help.
• Mulamu – a local Groupon - is a new “fundraiser” the district is planning on using for “Smart Classroom, Bright Future”. More information to come. The more people who sign up and purchase the daily deal will result in more money for the foundation. The foundation uses the money for technology in all classrooms.   
• Thank you to Carrie Groebe and Grady for making this week a HUGE success!

Amy Flaherty – Treasurer

• Copies of financials were made available.  A few notes on the budget:
  • Market Day - $3600 is final in terms of what we made on Market Day.
  • Spirit Wear – negative right now based on pre-orders of decals (decals are on the new order form) and the need to purchase some items based on minimums. We have just recently switched companies and have lots of new stuff available!!!
  • The Freaky Friday/Spooky Saturday line item is not yet final.
  • We are now a 501c3 organization, as such PTO members cannot profit from any PTO event, etc.

Joelle Vollmer - Vice-President

• The PTO Holiday Party will be December 12, 2010 at La Hacienda in Deer Park at 6:30. The cost will be $15 person and includes a buffet, non-alcoholic beverages and desert. Forms will come home soon to RSVP.
• Grants:
  • #9 Mary Grunden (Librarian): requested four sets of books for battle of the books teams. Total $600 (Note: we are going to Scholastic to get some of books so this may be less in the end)
  • #10 Second Grade Team: buses for Wizard of Oz field trip. Total $200
  • #11 Laura Sheahen (Office): new laminator for the workroom, current one is broken. Total$1430 (Note: can the district pay for this? Mrs. Ekovich to check. Decided to defer this vote).
  • #12 Third and Fifth Grade Teams: bus transportation to the Chicago Wolves game. Total $1398
  • All grants passed, one deferred

Mrs. Lettie Ekovich – Principal

• Mrs. Ekovich showed a demo of the Illinois interactive report card (http://iirc.niu.edu/). This site is open to the public for viewing. Select May Whitney and see our data over time. The school improvement plan is based on this data.
• Mrs. Albert joined as the teacher representative – the teachers are excited about the new spirit wear!
• On November 29^th we will launch “One School, One Book”. More detail to come. 

Ann Marie McConnell – Secretary

• We received a large donation from Menards and help is needed to get the items planted before it is too cold. If you can help please join the Exterior Beautification Committee on November 10^th and 9:30.
• Any items that members and committee chairs wish to send out via eblast, in the PTO Newsletter or in the principal’s weekly newsletter should be sent to the PTO Secretary. Only items sent to the secretary will be included in these communications.

Committee Reports

• Auction – Melissa DeLuga
  • The Auction will be on January 28^th in conjunction with BINGO night, the theme will be a game night.
• Alternative Fundraising – Sally Kutsor
  • Support May Whitney by dining at Yogi’s on November 9^th or 10^th. 10% of all sales will go back to the school. 
• Family Events – David Finn
  • Join us for a Movie Night on December 10^th. We will be featuring Toy Story 3. Please consider brining new or gently used toys for WINGS. WINGS provides transitional housing for those impacted by domestic violence.
• Conference Dinners – Elise Hood
  • Thank you for all that has been provided. If anyone else is able to donate, please contact Elise directly. 

David Finn and Dana Vaselopulos made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8pm.  The next PTO meeting will be Tuesday, January 5, 2011 in the school library at 7:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Ann Marie McConnell

Secretary