March 7, 2103 PTO Minutes

Union Sanborn/Southwick PTO Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 7, 2013 6:30pm Southwick Media Room In attendance: Leigh Anne Phelps, Bridget Puffinburger, Cindy Cilley, Renee O’Brien, Mrs. Proulx, Brian Winslow, Maria Pearson, and Judie Milner. Leigh Anne called the meeting to order at 6:34pm Minutes Leigh Anne motioned to approve the minutes of the February 7, 2013 meeting, Cindy seconded. Motion carried. Treasurers Report Cindy Cilley reviewed the Treasurer report. The balance after unpaid expenditures is $16,723.29 and the estimated yearend balance at this time is $9,966. Judie moved to accept the Treasurer’s report, Bridget seconded. Motion carried. Digital Footprints Maria Pearson discussed a “digital footprint” is and how it affects our children. It follows our children throughout their lives. Power Media Youth endorsed by dept of education as organization to inform parents & students the effects of digital media. Maria shared a 2-3 minute video with the group. Maria was thinking about doing this program at the high school parent night in the fall. It will give parents more info and tools to protect their children from bad digital footprints. There will be breakout sessions to find resources to help communicate with children and help parents develop rules for children. The high school and middle school PTO’s have committed to help out promoting and monetarily. Ms Pearson is looking for USS/SS support and Sanbornton Central PTO support as well. The high school and middle school PTO’s sponsored 1/3 of the cost of the program each. Maria is looking for USS/SS and Sanbornton PTO’s to split final 1/3 or about $130 each. Artist in Residence Mr. Winslow thanked the PTO for supporting the artist in residence program. The artist this year for Union Sanborn is Cynthia Robertson who is an eco artist and will be creating an outside garden with students. Brian explained that the typical grant that the school receives for the artist in residence was very competitive this year and Union was not approved for it. Teachers got together to develop a new plan at Union Sanborn. They will be constructing a garden where sunflower garden is now located. The AG center will assist with rototilling, loam, mulch. There will be a walking trail through space with sundial in middle. Willow trees will be planted and the branches weaved for entrance and exit. There will be rock sculptures where sundial will be and stepping stone pavers with designs from recycled materials. Cynthia is scheduled to be here from 4/29-5/1 and then 5/8 for the day and a ribbon cutting ceremony that evening. Eventually, Union will be adding a trail along fence like the Winnipesaukee river trail with posts with educational signs. Ms. Roman will form a maintenance committee to take care of it. Spring Fundraiser Leigh Anne reported that the fundraiser will run from March 25 – April 5. The forms will be submitted to the company on April 9. Items should be in before or during vacation for distribution the end of week after vacation. Bus Driver Appreciation The group discussed bus driver appreciation and how last year the PTO gave out Dunkin Donuts gift cards. We think it was 10 cards. Leigh Anne will check with Mr. Hines on the total and Cindy will pick up cards. Mrs. Proulx will do a banner & will talk to Mr. Hines about doing one at Southwick. Mr. Winslow will ask Southwick student council if they would be interested in doing the banner. Principals will pass out the cards to the bus drivers on March 18th. Alternating Meeting Times The group considered alternating meeting times 3:30pm, 5:30pm and 6:30pm to accommodate more people and alternating schools. PTO would need someone to watch students at 3:30 time. Mr. Winslow thinks more teachers will come to earlier meetings. Ms Pearson said the middle school PTO meets at 4pm and teachers are able to attend. Tuesday is the best day at Union for meetings. The group discussed a 3:45pm meeting. The group will try for April 2nd meeting at 5:30 at Southwick. Also, the PTO Board will try to have schedule booked ahead so teachers and parents can plan. Mr. Winslow offered to include an “ad” for the PTO in the March 26 concert flyer. Judie will send something for the flyer before next Wednesday. Recruiting Flyer The group discussed open positions (co-president, secretary, volunteer coordinator) for next year’s board. Also discussed was the possibility of a new box top coordinator for Southwick (Angela Perrillo). Dance Discuss at next meeting. Dinner and a Movie Cindy announced that the dinner & movie event will take place 4/5. The ballots are out to students to pick the movie and are due back this Monday. Judie will announce the winning movie in the next backpack express. Cindy said that the pizza, salad, and drinks are all set. She just needs to contact Olive Garden for the bread sticks. Book Exchange Leigh Anne talked about the book exchange. She is going to do it as a free exchange and ask teachers to donate any books they don’t want. She will also ask Hall Memorial Library too. Leigh Anne will gather all of the books. If we end up with a lot of books in end we will ask teachers if they want to swap. Mrs. Proulx needs dates to have books from teachers. The PTO will hold this event in the fall. Skate Escape Leigh Anne got 200 necklaces, 200 bracelets and glow in dark tattoos. It is all set to go. PTO receives $1 per ticket profit. $100 minimum due to Skate Escape at $2 Skate Escape charge (50 ticket sales). Leigh Anne requested no unsupervised children but will need 2 to 3 people for sales. Tanger Outlet Grant Bridget stated that she has completed the grant application and has had someone at her work review the grant and suggest some language. Bridget will submit the grant tomorrow. Tanger will take the money they allotted and divide by the number of grants received so we don’t know how much we will get. This is the first year Tanger is doing this grant program. Spirit Wear Cindy discussed offering the following items: polo prep shirt ($25), fleece vest ($25), hooded sweat shirt ($30) and cap ($18). Based on online prices and charge for embroidery (logo), the PTO will receive $2 profit on each item. The group discussed offering t-shirts however the problem with t-shirts is the minimum order is 12. Regular t-shirt will be $15 and long sleeve will be $17. T-shirts are cheaper in fall when we order the kids t-shirts for kindergarten and third grades. We plan to take orders in spring and fall but will just offer t-shirts in fall. Cindy has an order form to drop off at each school. We will accept checks only so we don’t have to constantly check for cash. The group discussed changing colors to gray with navy embroidery. We plan on polling parents about interest in ordering apparel at upcoming PTO events. Cindy will send home order form in black & white (color available online) for just hooded sweatshirts and baseball caps for kids to order. Added by email subsequent to meeting: Cindy stated that she will send out the parent/child order forms in late April or May so it doesn’t interfere with the fundraiser sales. Other Business Judie will provide minutes from 2/25/13 board meeting by the next meeting. Judie is sending out another backpack express so any contributions are appreciated. Renee suggested that we try to name more volunteers in the backpack express. Mrs. Proulx discussed reading program at Union Sanborn. There will be a pizza lunch for students who complete the program. Bridget suggested bookmarks with stop watches/timers in them. Bridget will forward the site to Mrs. Proulx. The group approved letting Union use the previously allocated but unused Tiger Cart money for the bookmarks and pizza lunch. Cindy let the group know that the company we used for the most recent holiday shoppe offers a 5% discount if we sign up for the next season by 3/17. The group discussed how much they like the company we used and the positive comments we received about the items so it was decided to use the company again. Mrs. Brady asked Cindy to let us know about 2 things. First, the paperwork for the incoming kindergarten class will be sent out in a packet in April. Judie (Milner) will send Judy (Brady) the simplified PTO info gathering sheet to include in the packet. Second, DeeDee McCain has generously donated her time to do the end of year carnival at Union but will be “retiring” from it as her child is moving into middle school. Judie will put something in the next backpack express looking for new volunteers to run the program. The group discussed where the money comes from to hold the carnival – it’s thought that it comes from the box top moneys received – Cindy will check and get back to us. Meeting adjourned at 8:10pm. Next meeting: Thursday, April 4, 2013, at 5:30pm in the Southwick Media Room.