PTO Minutes-January
West K-7 PTO Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Present: Lori Lutke, Lynette Heinz, Lynelle Folkert, Eva Snow, Nancy Horgan, Amanda Brooks, Beth Seiler, Tonya Book, Meg Fitch, Janet Drooger, Robyn Lovely-Huizenga
Meeting began @ 8:30a.m.
1.) Welcome and VP Report - Beth Seiler
-Holiday Crafts: All went well. Thank you to all who volunteered. Chairperson Cindy Bosman already has made purchases for supplies for next year’s crafts, significantly marked down!
-Holiday Cookie Exchange for West staff: Thank you to bakers. It was very appreciated. Several cards and notes came in to say thank you.
2.) Treasurer’s Report - Nancy Horgan
-Tuesink’s Family Night in October went very well, financially speaking.
-Fall fundraiser profits are $24,290, less than budgetted.
-Walk-a-thon scheduled for April 29th (rain date of 4/30). This is a district-wide fundraising event and all monies collected will be shared between all building PTOs.
-Popcorn Fridays are going very smoothly this year, financially speaking. This used to be a money-maker, but not anymore. Last year we ran into difficulties with expenses far exceeding income, and the program became a financial drain. Some of this was due to not tracking the “freebie” popcorn that PTO would provide throughout the year and, therefore, it became an expense that was not accounted for. Also, money is being counted PER building this year, which is helping to stay accurate. This year we may even be ahead so far!
-Field trip money provided by PTO to teachers is significantly down this year due to budget constraints. Field trip amounts per classroom for K-5 are now $230, instead of $300. Middle school teachers now get $2.00 per student, instead of $5.00 in years past. Teachers are working with it as best as they can, but it has not been easy. Paying for busing is the largest cost involved by far.
-No PTO grant monies available to teachers this year due to the Lakeview Investment Fund earned interest being next to nothing because of the market tanking. Hopefullly things will improve in this area soon and this program can be reinstated.
Amanda Brooks commented on a school district’s PTO in Maryland that operated a logowear table for selling clothing and items for school spirit days, etc. It was a profitable money-maker, and provided children and families with a fun way to show school pride. Perhaps Holland Public could do something similar, and then we could promote regular “School Spirit Fridays”, perhaps on Popcorn Fridays. Other schools‘ PTOs have run a school store for these type of items. This would be perfect for gift giving and stocking stuffer ideas. Beth will bring this idea to the Executive Committee meeting. It was noted that if places like Rite Aid and Wal-Mart sell this type of merchandise with the Holland logo on it and make a profit, then certainly the PTO should research how we could profit from these sales to benefit our school district financially!
3.) Fundraising Report - Robyn Lovely-Huizenga
-Box Tops: going strong this year. West K-5 students have already earned two longer recesses. Over 2000 were counted just in December. Collecting these really does make a difference, so keep them coming! PTO has received $4,500 district-wide so far, and the school year is not even half way done. Some brainstorming needs to be done to encourage the middle schoolers to participate. Longer recesses are not an option. Competition is key, and providing some type of contest would be a great incentive. Amanda Brooks will donate a trophy for bragging rights to travel to the winning classroom. Cookies or some kind of treat could be provided. Volunteers like Eva Snow and Tonya Book would bake. This could be tracked by homeroom.
-Don’t forget Spartan UPCs (cutting out the bar code) and even Tyson products. We will get a $40 check from Spartan for our 2 bags worth. Every penny counts!
-Campbell soup label collecting should be considered district-wide. There are many usable labels already collected at various school buildings, and they do not expire, but are banked for later use to purchase products. Tim Huizenga, PTO Treasurer, will present this to the Executive Committee.
-Book Fair: scheduled for the first week in March this year. Children will tour the books and fill out a “wish list”. Hours will include before school and lunchtime for parents explore with children. Evening event for families will be planned for Thursday, March 4th to shop for books and perhaps other activities. A tie-in event will potentially be planned by Lynelle Folkert and Janet Drooger. One idea was to bring in service organizations to set up booths and provide information for children’s activities and opportunities, particularly for summertime. Our school receives free books from Scholastic with profits earned.
4.) Staff Appreciation: Meg Fitch
-A monthly “goodies and coffee” event will be planned for staff to come to the lounge and enjoy some fellowship before the bell rings. Dana says Fridays are a good day to plan this. Meg has a solid committee of very accomodating bakers!
-This committee will provide a staff meal for spring conferences the week of March 29th.
5.) Principal’s Report: Dana Loveland
-West staff will host a family night tonight, January 12th. Title 1 requires that some type of educational event is planned once per semester. The second will most likely be in May.
-Swimming lessons for K-5 students starts in February and will run into early March.
-ITBS testing will be happening that first week in March, same week as the book fair is scheduled.
-4th/5th Grade Ski Trip will take place on Tuesday, January 26th. It was noted by Tonya Book that many students arrive at Bittersweet without proper snow gear or warm clothing. Dana will communicate this to teachers and a plea will go out to parents to send in extra wool socks, hats, mittens, etc. It would be especially effective to ask parents already going to bring along with them extras of these items.
-It was requested by Robyn Lovely-Huizenga for additional bulletin board access and better bulletin board space for PTO use. This is a project already being explored by Tom Page. Dana will follow up.
6.) New Business: Winter Carnival Night scheduled for Friday, February 5. Details were discussed and a volunteer plea was put out for set-up and take-down, plus bakers for the cake walk. National Honor Society students will man the carnival games. The idea of providing activities specifically for the middle school aged kids was explored. This may have to wait until next year. This is a big experimental year, as it is our first attempt at hosting this event for a school the size of West, with 750 students. It is hard to estimate how many will be in attendance. We will do our best this year and access for next year.
Next Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 9 @ 7pm.
Meeting was adjourned @ 10:45a.m.
