Attendees: Naomi Elliot, Kristen Ford, Jane Gamache, Karen Lowe, Ann Marshall, Bill Miller, Margot O’Connor, Mark Prince, Diana Spurgin, Meg Vickery, Susan Waite, Susan Wennemeyer
Action Items:
· Ann Marshall will create a Big Y/Stop & Shop Scripts Purchase flyer to go home via backpacks and will contact Baer about Wire inclusion.
· Ann Marshall will work with Jane Gamache to create posters for school Family Dance publicity.
· Jane Gamache will contact Town Hall to see if a special permit is needed for a Family Dance raffle.
· Bill Miller, Molly Whalen, Diana Spurgin, and (maybe) Jane Thurber will collaborate to determine goals of a teacher input survey so Bill can create it to specs.
· Diana Spurgin will make a list of 07-08 PTO roles and position vacancies to frame discussion at the April meeting.
Opportunities:
Scripts coordinator needed to lead 07-08 school year efforts (see item II)
Chess Club volunteer(s) needed to guide Club during 07-08 school year (see item IV)
Coffee coordinator needed for 07-08 school year (see item IV)
TV Turnoff Week activity coordinators sought to augment week’s activities (see item IV)
Family Reading Night coordinator sought to organize worthy event (see item V)
Family Science Night volunteers sought to present/lead activities on May 30 (see item V)
I. Review of minutes
No changes to the February minutes.
III. Budget Report
Margot O’Connor reported that the School Picture fundraiser appears to have netted us only $1,000. She is investigating why we made $1,300 less than last year.
Soccer Nets: Margot’s research found that we may anticipate spending about $1,400 for a pair of nets. A Wildwood Playground Fund with approximately that amount was recently closed out during a District consolidation effort. It is believed that the Fund was comprised of money leftover from the construction of the playground structure project several years ago, and the money was to be used for playground structure maintenance. According to Karen, the money from the Fund is still available to Wildwood.
Scrips: BigY offers a 6% return on pre-paid coupons purchased in April and October. Diana Spurgin sought input as to whether we should make a purchase next month. We are currently out of Big Y coupons after having sold about $8,000 worth this year, but still have over $1,000 in coupons from Stop & Shop in hand (sales have been lackluster). Margot said cash flow would support a purchase.
After discussion, it was decided that we will arrange a pre-order opportunity with a tie-in to the Soccer Nets (e.g. “The money we make will go towards new playground soccer nets!”) and then decide whether to purchase additional coupons with PTO funds. Ann Marshall volunteered to create the “backpack” flyer and will contact Baer about Wire inclusion.
Diana believes it would be beneficial to have one person in charge of the various Scrips programs next year. The combined income from our first year participation in Scrips is about $1,500. Diana was lauded for her work this year getting this program off the ground.
III. Reports on Recent Events
The Math Parent Ed Forum led by Amy Wolpin (March 5th) was a great success. About 30 parents (mostly of lower grade students) attended and participated in activities. Several other teachers assisted with the program.
Karen Lowe reported that the Appreciation Breakfast (March 7th) was appreciated by all. People were overwhelmed with the abundant and lovely food. Sarah Auerbach did a great job organizing the food and volunteers. Diana read a thank you note from Micheal Silverstone.
IV. Upcoming Calendar Events
Wildwood Day of Chess (March 25):
Some 60 kids have signed on to participate in tournaments, others will play for fun or staff the “parent teaching table.” This Sunday. With PTO funds, organizer Molly Whalen has purchased trophies and prizes (age-appropriate books on chess). She has also purchased duplicate books for the school library. There will be no food sold this year, as last year food sales were poor and the effort time-consuming.
Molly brought up the fact that due to her husband’s sabbatical next year, she will need to find a coalition of parents (culled from the ranks of the chess-knowledgeable parents who now help with the Club) to largely or entirely run the Chess Club during the 2007-08 school year. She also expressed an interest in creating a long-term plan for the Club’s continuance, and mentioned possibilities such as seeking outside funding to pay instructors.
Molly will also need to hand over the reins to the Dean’s Beans fundraiser next year. It’s a minimal time commitment – perhaps 3 hours a month, is very simple, and yields good money for the PTO ($1300 so far the first year). Ideally, the volunteer will work with her for a couple of order cycles this Spring to learn the details.
.
TV Turnoff Week (April 23-27):
Forms will be sent home to parents this year in order to get participation statistics (not for contest winner determination). Once compiled, the stats will allow school goal-setting in successive years for kids to rally around. Naomi Elliot presented the current slate of activities:
Monday 4/23
Thursday 4/26 Ultimate Frisbee Clinic with Coach Sue Morello at
Possible Wildwood Ice Skating Night (TBD)
Friday 4/27 Family Game Night in the Library at
There is still time to add other events to the week’s activities. People with ideas and energy to organize an event should contact Naomi or co-coordinator Janet Brown.
Electronics Recycling Day (April 28):
Out of a concern over low profit margin for television sets, organizer Bill Miller is attempting to solicit business from sources outside of the school community. Bill has been in touch with several local computer service companies who are enthusiastic about participation, which will save them disposal costs. Delcie Bean of Valley ComputerWorks has expressed an interest in sponsorship of the event next year. Bill is considering seeking a storage location so computers, etc. can be collected over several weeks and will contact the contracted disposal company about potential environmental risks or hazards. It was suggested that the flyer include an explanation as to why electronics require special disposal (many contain hazardous material such as lead and mercury).
“An Inconvenient Truth” Parent Ed Forum (May 1)
Meg Vickery reported that the date of 5/1 has been finalized for a
Family Dance (May 4)
Jane Gamache has secured DJ Dana Collins at a reduced rate of $100.00 per hour (she played the kid./family card). The dance will run from
The plan is to post signs in school, advertise in the Wire, and send flyers home. Ann Marshall volunteered to help create posters (4) about the event for posting in school, and Jane will contact Town Hall to see if a special permit is needed for a raffle.
Class Parent Party (May 20)
Diana Spurgin will host the Class Parent Party at her home on
T-Shirt Fundraiser (May-June)
Joy Howard will again serve as designer of the shirts. Susan Waite has been in touch with art teacher Sarah Sausville to get the ball rolling. In order to generate sustainable sales, they are considering items other than T-shirts such as dish or bath towels. Aprons sales were suggested.
V. Proposed Events
Family Reading Night
Diana Spurgin is excited about the concept of a Family Reading Night, but is unable to orchestrate it this year. Her visions include celebrity readers (e.g the fire chief), Reading Rainbow videos for the wee ones, etc. The national sponsor of the effort is Target Corporation and great organizational material is available. It would be a terrific addition to TV Turnoff Week, or a neat way to celebrate the culmination of the Summer Read-a-thon next fall. Is anyone interested in taking this on? Please contact Diana.
Family Science Night
Diana has started publicizing Family Science Night on May 30 and collecting names of science-minded parents to participate. If she does not get a big response from her flyer, she will cold call some parents based on email addresses. Names generated by meeting participants include Jennifer Wellborn, Todd Tripp, and Hilary Barber.
Diana said that her daughter is interested in starting a Speed Stacking Club.
VI. Putting the “T” in PTO
Lack of teacher involvement is a recurring issue for the organization. Potential reasons could include fatigue, busy schedules, and avoidance of opportunistic parents seeking consult. After discussion it was agreed that the PTO’s goal is to make sure that what we do is meaningful and coordinates with their needs. Molly Whalen suggested a survey/questionnaire with questions that are open-ended enough to encourage new ideas. Mark Prince suggested that we might get more valuable info and a better response rate if the survey were given to teams (e.g. Special Ed, 3rd grade) instead of individuals. Bill Miller offered to write a draft of a survey. Bill, Molly, Diana, and hopefully Jane Thurber will collaborate to determine goals and the procedure.
VII. Next Year’s PTO Lineup
Jennifer Jackson and Millie Zweir will swap responsibilities, so that Jennifer will now coordinate the Parent/Guardian Education Series and Millie will coordinate Event Hospitality. Diana will make a list of 07-08 roles and position vacancies to frame the discussion during the April meeting.
VIII. Next Meeting Date
The next PTO Steering Committee Meeting will be on April 30 at
-minutes submitted by Susan Waite
