CTES PTO
We need everyone to help out!
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 PTO Meeting
PTO Meeting
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008
In attendance: Jill Sandanato, Donna Bonang, Peggy Svec, Paulette Martel, Adrienne Power, Jessica Goodman, Karen McNamara, George Thomson, Lisa Ewald, Martha Mott
1) Bingo – Paulette reports: Profit = $471. Fun! Food went well 13-16 pizzas for next time. Ran 10 games rather than 12. that was good. Next Bingo will be – Jan 23rd.
2) Publicity – We put out a request for someone to be the PTO publicity person, but no one volunteered. Mercury stated at the last meeting that she would do it occasionally. It was decided that 4th, 5th, and/or 6th graders might be willing to take pictures and write up press releases for PTO activities and events. They could then put it into the PTO box within 1 week for editing. Lisa Ewald would be willing to take care of this.
3) Holiday Fun Day - Tentatively scheduled for Friday, Dec. 19th. Tracy, Jenn, and Ann brought up the idea at the last meeting for the students to make crafts and give them away to organizations in our community such as TARPS, and the Gill Home. The attendees at this meeting agreed. Some ideas to make: soup mix, cookie mix, decorate flower pots and put plant in, origami ornaments, eco shopping bags maybe with kids hand prints on them, mini-wreathes, bake & decorate cookies, pomander balls, sachets, dipped pretzels, dog biscuits, bird/pine cone feeders, snowglobes, something using recycled materials. To be discussed again at next meeting.
4) Read-A-Thon – Peggy reported that a tentative date has been scheduled – May 1. Lisa Ewald said that Steve said that Cavendish baseball opening day can work around the Read-A-Thon. Peggy will discuss this further with Steve. Ludlow Opening Day is May 9th. Peggy will also speak with Howie about Ludlow. More on this in Jan.
5) Spring Dance – We will have a spring dance in May. Date to be determined.
6) Update on “Wall of Community Support” – The idea to make small hands and put the names of people who volunteer in myriad ways at CTES, then post on the wall in the entrance of the school, came about last year when we were trying to find a way to acknowledge the many volunteers in the PTO as well as others. The group supported the idea. George will speak with Ann Thompson about this, as she had suggested it.
7) Update on closet – Paulette and Mercury sent measurements for the closet to George Haynes, the woodworking teacher at GMU. He will get to it by Thanksgiving. It was decided that it need a good cleaning before George’s arrival. Therefore, there will be a Closet cleaning party on Monday, Nov. 17th at 6:00. BYOBox. Pizza from Goodman’s.
8) Update on playground – Adrienne has formed a committee and they have had their first meeting. Meeting notes and timeline are posted on the tack board by Irene’s office. A large grant that will combine all of the wellness activites presently occurring at CTES which includes the playground and school lunch program, for a large sum of money will be written by Sarah Stowell. Input from the school nurse and gym teacher will be requested. We will know if we get it early next year. It was decided to repair the slide and pads for the zipline for now.
Adrienne has submitted a request for community members to join the committee on the CCCF public service e-mail announcement list that Margo Caulfield writes. A larger request may go out in the Message once the present committee has a better plan and design.
Margo suggested to Paulette that the PTO have a booth at the upcoming Holiday Fair that will be held in Nov at CTES that the local churches are holding. This request was sent to Martha via email and sent out to the PTO asking for comments. It was decided that the PTO would prefer to do their fundraising in other ways.
Jill reported that when her Mom was on the Building for Books committee to build the library, the best way to fund raise was to ask businesses for donations through letters.
Next playground meeting will be Nov 5th or 12th. Adrienne will confirm the date and let people know.
9) Update on music event – It was decided to hold a dinner/dance fundraiser with a theme - possibly country – and scheduled for February 27th. Dinner 6:00-7:00. Dance 7:00-?
10) Misc.
A) Recycling – George mentioned that a recycling program at the school had been suggested and asked if anyone would be willing to take items to recycling. Although the thought to recycle was met with enthusiasm, no one was willing to take on the task of hauling the stuff to the Cavendish dump or Springfield.
B) Martha reported that Krissy Chambers has resigned as the co-chair of the PTO. She is very busy this year as a teacher in the Springfield school district and Wednesday nights do not work with her schedule.
11) Next meeting agenda
*New Yearly Events Schedule - to help us to keep track of everything on 1 page!
1)Open House reflections (whoops! missed that this meeting)
2) Publicity follow up – kids willing to do it?
3)Holiday Fun Day – confirm date. Who will lead? What organizations will we give to? What will we make? How will this work?
4) Wall of Community Support update – what have George and Ann decided about this?
5) Closet update
6) Playground update
7)Music event – anymore about this at this time?
8) Misc.
PTO Notes
September 24, 2008
Present: Mercury Ripley, Jenn Harper, Ann Thompson, Peggy Svec,
Tracy Churchill, Paulette Martel, Martha Mott, Jenny Suydam, Tanya Milano
Open House Update: Lisa Ewald is in charge. Lisa, George and Martha were able to negotiate with Robin at Crow’s Corner to a cake for PTO for $80—Local Bakery. A sign will be made advertising Crow’s Corner. An alternative will be offered of a large fruit bowl.
At any event, the PTO will make an effort to offer a gluten-free option at each PTO sponsored event.
Gluten Free Dessert—If any gluten-free family would be willing to make a gluten-free cake, the PTO would appreciate it.
Halloween Party: Friday, October 24--Jenny Suydam, Angie Harwood and Sheila Roby are going to be guided by Sharon Huntley to run and set up the Halloween Party. Their first meeting was last week. Martha Motioned to give the party $100 seconded by Tracy Churchill. Jenn, Tracy and Ann will help create the categories for judging. Jarrod (maybe) will be a grim reaper at the Scary Room Door.
Holiday Fun Day: Tracy recommended that at least one of the activities was a “give back to the community” activity. Ideas might be soap carvings, hot chocolate bags, making cards, catnip toys, ornaments,
Places: TARPS, 20-Mile Stream Home, Black River Food Shelf, Senior Center Dinner, Animal Shelter, Gill Home, Chester-Andover Family Center, SVCA, RSVP, Veterans
Teachers recommended multi-grade groups. Each teacher has one craft and groups rotate through the classrooms every 15-20 minutes.
Publicity: Mercury will help do this, but does not have the time to do it all by herself.
HELP WANTED: The PTO would like someone who will help do press releases. Take pictures at events, write a paragraph and send it off to the The Vermont Journal, The Message, Eagle Times, and Rutland Herald.
Read-A-Thon—Ludlow Opening Day is the 2nd Saturday in May. Cavendish has Opening Day on the 1st Sunday in May. Peggy will talk to Steve Ewald to see what kind of flexibility they have. Perhaps Cavendish Opening Day could be on a Sunday instead. Ann offered to help refocus the students back on reading for the read-a-thon and offered to help do the planning for the read-a-thon.
Dance—Decision was that 2 dances was too much. We decided to do a music event at the beginning of the year and a dance at the end of the year.
- Need a report from Karen McNamara on Gypsy Reel
- Chris Kleeman, Mark Huntley
- Yankee Chank (Bob Naess)
- Check to see if November 14, 2008 is a possibility for any of the bands to play.
- Paulette is going to contact Karen Knight to see if she can find a caller.
- Sara Stowell may be another person to contact to find a band/caller
- We have budgeted $150 for both the Fall and Spring dance
Spring Dance—Tabled for a January Discussion.
Wall of Community Support—Ann Thompson presented an article from The Accountable Teacher. The wall is a public area that you display in the building. Need to get George’s input on this. What is allowed to be on the walls. What is the school’s focus? There doesn’t seem to be a sense of that when you enter the building. The walls of the building seem sterile. Each classroom has a feel of theme, but the building seems lacking. Perhaps it is a volunteer wall. Perhaps there should be an academic focus. Perhaps there needs to be a wall of students giving back to the community. Build a sense of community. It could be a way to educate the whole community on what our school is about. Perhaps the Respect Club or students at recess could help
build it. Ann will ask George for time at the next possible staff meeting.
Closet—Tracy talked to George Haines. George is waiting for measurements. Mercury will find the measurements and give them to Paulette for Gerry Jo to give to George Haines.
Playground Update—Adrienne was not available today for playground updates.
PTO Sign Up—There were 49 parents who volunteered to be part of PTO in some way.
Carbon Foot Print—Martha shared a “contest” from Jenn about the community working as a team to reduce our carbon footprint as a whole community. It is the “Vermont Carbon Rally” Information will be in Cavendish Corner. http://www.anr.state.vt.us/site/html/VSCC/
Free Conference: Keene State is holding a free lecture on October 1 “So Sexy, Sooo Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What WE can Do About It” Presented by Diane Levin, PH.D. at 4:00 and 7;30 and it is free. More information on the speaker can be found at http://www.dianeelevin.com/
Next Meeting’s Agenda
- Holiday Fun Day—finalize activities and locations for items
- Report on Read-A-Thon Date
- Publicity
- Spring Dance—tabled to January
- Music Event Update from Paulette
- Closet Update
PTO Notes
August 27, 2008
Notes taken by Jenn Harper
Present: Jennifer Harper, Peggy Svec, Donna Bonang, Paulette Martel, Robin Bebo-Long, Tracy Churchill, Connie Svec, Adrienne Power, Martha Mott, Lisa Ewald, Mercury Ripley, Melissa Barrows, Karen McNamara, George Thomson, Dawn Tyrrell
For 2009 Teacher Appreciation Week, teachers suggested a toaster for the Teacher’s Room and Fans for the classrooms
PTO meetings will be held the last Wednesday each month. George can only make every other month due to a previous commitment. Adrienne Power will call in and we will use the speaker phone to include her in the meeting.
Open House—Wednesday, October 1, 2008—6pm Potluck, 7pm Classroom Visits--PTO will provide the cake, punch and paper goods. Order the cake from Shaws. Lisa Ewald is the “Lead Person” for this project.
Petition—George shared the information about the petition that was presented at the last School Board meeting which is requesting that the School Budget be voted on by Australian ballot. There will be a public meeting held on Tuesday, September 30 where a conversation will happen around moving to Australian ballot, then a vote will be taken at that point. Who ever comes to the September 30 will be the folks who make the decision on changing to Australian Ballot or staying with the current method. One point to consider is that if we move to Australian ballot, you actually lose control of what goes in or out of a budget. Another note is that there would be a budget meeting held to explain the budget, but no changes can made at that point unless you are part of the budget committee. Some folks reminded
that you can have a paper ballot taken at town meeting day. PTO agreed not to get involved in campaigning for or against the petition.
Silent Auction/Talent Show & 6th Grade Play—The 6th grade will do their play the last week of March (March 26) and the Auction/Talent Show will be the first week of April (Fri., April 3)
Change PTO Dates—Nov. 26 is the day before thanksgiving, so we are switching to Nov. 19th. April 29 is a PTO meeting because April 22 is on vacation.
Bingo—Friday, October 17, 2008--6pm-8pm (Paulette is the “Lead Person”) David and Bill Barrows will do the kitchen again. Friday, January 23, 2009 6pm-8pm—Lead person TBD
Halloween Party—Decide Later—No one stepped up to take on Sharon Huntley’s role.
PTO Sponsored Music Event/Harvest Food basket collection—Discussed sponsoring a musical event instead of holding dances where someone would play and kids could dance. Karen will check with Diane McNamara to see Gypsy Reel’s availability. Families that come will be asked to bring a food item to donate to the local foodshelf. There will be a box present for Playground donations.
Holiday Fun Day—on hold—October meeting
Silent Auction—Doris will be lead person and Martha Mott will be the vice leader.
All Night Read-a-thon—Peggy will talk with Howie Paul about Opening Day so that the All Night Read-a-thon can be scheduled. She will report out to the PTO at the October meeting.
Playground Update—Sara Stowell will be the lead on grant writing. Perry will be the arborist to do all of the work for free. Adrienne is going to meet with the Brownsville Principal. Diane McNamara shared a grant with Adrienne, but it is not a start-up grant. Adrienne will send out an email and post in the Cavendish Corner, town office and with Margo’s list. Paulette suggested talking to the principal of the Waterbury School. This principal recommended that you have the school’s insurance company send someone out to do a safety audit. George requested that we get a school board member on the playground committee. It was recommended to see if Jess Goodman was available. Adrienne and the Playground Committee will create a timeline.
Dance—TBD—May possibly
Art Room Closet—Nothing has happened, primarily because she didn’t know what people wanted. Metal options run us about $700 with plastic bins. Perhaps OIL and/or the high school would be interested in building for us. Or perhaps a parent volunteer. Wood with plastic bins for the PTO stuff. Respect Club, Jenn, Weight Watchers, Chorus, Art, Recess, Ellen all have items in the closet. Tracy will touch base with Tiffany from Opportunities and George from the HS if they want to take on the project. Tracy will get back to the PTO by the October meeting.
Wall of Community Support—Ann T. brought up the idea. Ann, please update the PTO with more details about this idea. Jenn suggested using the wall in the fish bowl to post the hands or whatever is decided upon. Karen McNamara said that the recess kids could do the cutting, labeling and posting.
USA Map Painting—Adrienne and Lisa will take care of this. They will put out an email to let adults know when this is going to happen. 4th grade will be responsible for the sweeping.
Presto—Hartford High School Drama Teacher—After school program--too expensive and not enough kids can part
AGENDA
- Halloween Party
- Holiday Fun Day
- All Night Read-a-Thon
- Dance
- Update on Wall of Community Support
- Update on Closet
- Update on Playground
- Update on Music Event
Next meeting is September 24, 2008 at 6pm in the Arts Room
Wednesday May 28, 2008
In attendance: George Thomson, Paulette Martel, Donna Bonang, Ann Thompson, Martha Mott
1) Scholarships
Sports – Mead Pollard = $100 Darby Pollard = $100 both were given for soccer camp because no one applied for basketball camp.
Arts – Whitney Woods = $75 Emery Benoit = $75 Rosie MacNamara = $75
Awards will be presented at Move-Up Day. I’m sorry to ruin the surprise for those parents whose child is receiving an award and who also read these notes! Please let it still be a surprise for your child.
For next year: Instead of limiting scholarships to Art and Music it was decided to accept applications for any camp and use $225 as the total amount of scholarship money to be divided by the committee upon the review of the applications. The sports scholarships must remain at $200 for soccer and basketball camps because they were given to the PTO in honor of 2 students who died in a car accident, and were intended to be used specifically for soccer and basketball camps.
2) Fall meeting dates, and tentative schedule for 2008-09.
We created a tentative schedule for next year so that we can be prepared for the events ahead of time. We will review this at the beginning of the school year and also add extra meetings when needed, such as for the playground.
We will be asking for volunteers to be a leader for each event so that the responsibilities can be divided more evenly, as we are all busy.
*All PTO meetings for the year will be held on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 6:00 in the Art Room. This was voted on at the last meeting and again at this meeting. If we find that it doesn’t work for us after trying it for a year, we can change it next year.
August 27th: First PTO meeting
September: Meeting – Sept. 24
Open House – cake, punch, paper products = $150
October: Meeting – Oct. 29th
Bingo – early in the month
Halloween party – donate money – usually around $100
November: Meeting – Nov. 26th is the day before Thanksgiving, therefore we can consider the 19th. To be firmed up later.
Family Harvest Music Event and Food Drive. This is not a fully formed event, yet the ideas for this are = contra dance, possible physical-ed tie-in, artist in residence, teachers involved. Maybe request Festival Series money.
December: Meeting – The 24th is Christmas Eve and unless you are Santa, I prefer not to meet with you, therefore, we will decide on this date later too.
Holiday Fun Day = $200
January: Meeting – Jan. 28th
Bingo
Silent Auction planning begins
February: Meeting – Feb. 25th
Silent Auction planning continues
March: Meeting – Mar. 25th
Silent Auction – March 28th
April: Meeting – April 22nd (unless this falls during vacation, then it could be the 29th)
Spring Dance = $100
May: Meeting May 27th
Teacher Appreciation = $200
Scholarships = $425
3) Timeline for playground – We decided that the 1st step will be to hire the playground inspectors who have been used in the past to check the playground to come and inspect what we have and to give us a current assessment of what we have. We thought that it would cost approximately $350 and approved that amount. The issue of liability in the case of a child sustaining an injury on the present structure arose. It would be money well spent George will inform the school board and contact the inspectors.
Next we will do: short/long term goal setting, check out costs of repair/replacement, space utilization, check out other playgrounds
4) Playground committee leader – Adrienne Power. We would like for her to: be the go-to person to organize the information, be in charge of smaller committees such as those exploring grants and other playgrounds, delegate what needs to be done and keep us informed of the progress and present information to the PTO. The PTO will make the final decisions. If anyone has any playground or fundraising information, please give it to Adrienne.
6) Art Room closet – Mercury, Martha, and Lisa will take this task on this summer with guidance from George.
7) Misc.
A) Dance reflections – the alternative activity room was a good idea
B) Volunteer recognition awards – it was decided that this does not need to be done and we wouldn’t want to risk missing someone. Instead, Martha or George will make a blanket thank you at move-up day, invite new members, and let people know what we accomplished this year. For next year we will do some sort of “wall of positive community support” which will have tally marks or hands with names to signify the people who have volunteered for each event. We think that having a visual for the help that we receive and watching the amount grow will have a positive affect on the kids and the community who comes into the school.
C) Diane Tyrrell made a surprise visit to present the PTO with a check for $250 from Patrick and Kristen Dirkin from Conn. to be used for playground improvements! Here’s the story: Diane knows them because her husband caretakes their home here. They brought their children or grandchildren (?) to play on the playground and noticed that the slide was cracked then sent a check to help with the repairs. Funny thing is Diane didn’t tell them that we were already making plans for the improvements. Looks like the money will flow to us in mysterious ways now that we’ve begun the process. Interesting how that works!
Thank you to all of you who have helped out this year. We had about 40 people (not including those who donated stuff for the auction!) volunteer in one way or another. It was a full and successful year thanks to all of you!
Here’s what we did:
1) Decided on PTO rather than PTA - for sure this time!
2) Started playground improvement discussion & fundraising
3) Open House- supplied cake, punch, paper goods (approx $150)
4) 2 Bingo nights (including making homemade pizza for 1 of them)
5) Holiday Fun Day for students (approx. $200)
6) 2 dances (approx. $200)
7) The most successful Silent Auction to date
8) Teacher Appreciation luncheon & MP 3 players (approx. $250)
9) Decided on regular meeting dates
10) Gave scholarships to 5 students for camps ($425)
11) Donated $250 for paint for the U.S. map in the driveway and gave another $50 to Reading school for use of the template
12) Gave soccer teams $40 for balls
13) Gave Amy Jones $120 for a deckle box for the Art program
14) Gave $50 for the town Halloween party
15) Gave $200 to the yearbook fund to keep the cost low for students
16) Gift for Nurse Eddy
17) Decided to budget our money: Approx. $1000 for regular expenses, then 25% for requests and 75% for playground
18) Had 11 meetings – not including pizza making and set-up for auction
19) Laughed a lot
20) Have offered more activities for families and kids, made more goals, received and given more money, and had more volunteers this year than I can recall in the 10 years that I have been a PTO member.
Money received:
1) Bingo #1 = $546 profit + $150 donations = $696
2) Bingo #2 = $524
3) Silent Auction $8011 (another $200 may have been received from business donations after the original tally was in)
4) $2500 from anonymous for the playground (WOW!)
5) $250 from Patrick & Kristen Dirkin from CT
TOTAL = $11981.00
Respectfully submitted by Martha Mott
PTO Meeting
Date: April 29, 2008 Agenda: Dance, Teacher Appreciation Week, Playground, Money, Silent Auction, Scholarships, Next meeting and the agenda
In attendance: Peggy Svec, Tracy Churchill, Jenn Harper, Paulette Martel, Martha Mott, George Thomson (for a short time)
Dance
George provided rules & expectations for dance that Peggy read aloud and all were in agreement with them. We added that if a child shows up unchaperoned for the part of the dance that is not age appropriate for them, their parent will be called and asked to take them home. Students will be encouraged by classroom teachers that the appropriate dress is what they would wear to school. It was decided that it would be difficult to police what kids wear because some parents believe that some attire is acceptable while others may not. George will hand out rules to classroom teachers who will review them with their classes as recommended by Jenn. George will send out notes to parents reminding them of the dance and not to drop off children until it is the time for their part of the dance. (I am typing these notes
on Saturday, the day after the dance. It went smoothly with no issues reported.)
Teacher Appreciation
It was decided to ask the teachers what would benefit the staff, rather than make a guess. The teachers in attendance said appreciating the teachers does not have to happen next week and can wait a bit until they have had a chance to ask at the staff for suggestions. One idea was: i-pods or MP 3 players with a subscription to audible books. More to come. The amount that we budgeted at the beginning of the year for this event was $200. Also, Nurse Eddy is retiring and we would like to honor her in some way. Tracy & Jenn will get ideas for us for Doris and for Teacher Appreciation.
Playground
Keep the school board in the loop. Mike Ceravole and Jessica Goodman receive PTO e-mail notes. There is nothing to report at this time, as we have only begun the process of exploring ideas and fundraising. Need a timeline and someone to lead a playground committee. (As of Saturday May 3rd, Adrienne Power has agreed to lead this committee. She will be the go-to person and will organize the information that we receive, be in charge of smaller committees such as those writing grants and exploring other playgrounds, delegate what needs to be done and keep us informed of the progress. She is unable to attend all meetings, but will report via speaker phone and/or through Martha.) Adrienne and Sarah Stowell have been exploring some grants to help with funding. PTO will create a timeline at the
next meeting. Some ideas include flowering trees (this is from a community member), creatively using the water drainage problem as part of the playground such as a water wheel, and presenting visuals of different types of playgrounds to the kids and asking them what they’d like, and making it user-friendly for older students.
Money
George reported that the PTO account has a total of $12,640. The Silent Auction brought in $8011.50 with business donations from the auction still pending. As discussed at the Nov. 14th meeting, we need $1000 for regular operating expenses throughout the year (scholarships for soccer, basketball, and art/music = $350, Teacher Appreciation = $200, Dance = $100, Open House ( cake, beverages, paper goods) = $150, and Holiday Craft Day = $200), 25% to staff requests, then 75% for the playground fund. Presently, we have $11,471 earmarked for the playground.
Silent Auction
It is to be noted that this was the 5th year for the Silent Auction rather than the 4th as was advertised. Martha checked back to notes from previous years and found that the first Auction was held in 2003, based on an announcement that went out Jan. 20, 2006 that announced the upcoming auction and added, “ Last year we raised about $1300, and the year before we raised over $1700!” Compare that to 2008’s total of over $8000. WOW!
Jenn created excellent Thank you letters that included the specific donations that the person/company gave. It had been decided at the previous meeting that these were to be hand signed for a personal touch. Doris used Jenn’s letter and submitted as a thank you in the Message. Martha will put in the Journal and George will put in the Cavendish Corner. Again, we believe that it is important to be grateful to those who donated their time/goods/services because they are what helped us to make this fundraiser successful. Using the personal touch and mentioning people’s names/business is important for that reason and it will also create good relations, which in turn will help us when we solicit next year.
Next meeting
It was decided in a unanimous vote that to simplify scheduling issues that the meeting will have a definite day that they will be held. We will try this out for the remainder of the year and for the 2008-09 year then review at the end of next year to see if it worked for us or not. It will always be held on the last Wednesday of the month at 6:00 p.m. in the Art Room. Therefore the next and the last meeting of the year will be on May 28th at 6:00. This also means that the meetings can be written on your calendar now for the rest of the year. It will also urge us to plan ahead for events such as planning the holiday craft day in advance. Those dates are: August 27th ( this will give us a good headstart for the year as it will probably be the first day of school), September 24th, and October 29th. We will have to readjust for November and December as they both fall during holidays.
Next meeting - May 28, 2008 Agenda = 1)Sports & Art Scholarships (George will take care of soliciting requests) 2) Fall meeting agenda and tentative yearly calendar of events 3) Timeline for playground 4) Playground committee leader 5) Honoring Doris Eddy 6) Follow up for Art Room closet 7) Misc.
Respectfully submitted by Martha Mott
PTO Meeting Notes – March 12, 2008
In attendance: Kathy Martel, Lisa Ewald, Robin Long, Doris Eddy, Peggy Svec, Tracy Churchill, Paulette Martel, George Thomson (briefly), Sharon Huntley, Martha Mott
Silent Auction Help Wanted: 1) Set-up help – Thursday, March 27th from 6:30 - finished
2) Workers at auction Friday, March 28th for 1 hour shifts from 2:00-9:00
3) Clean – up help on Friday from 9:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
4) Sheet ironer. Someone to iron several white sheets (to be used for table cloths)
Next meeting date: Wednesday April 2, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. in the Art Room. Agenda will include 1) Silent Auction reflection 2) Dance 3) schedule for remainder of the year
Meeting Notes:
1. Silent Auction – Thursday, March 27th set-up 6:30 – done. Friday, March 28th 2:00-9:00p.m. is auction. Talent Show is 6:30 – 8:30-ish. Saturday, March 29th 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 during Pinewood Derby is item pick-up time. Items not picked up will remain in Conf. Room and can be picked up during school hours.
Committees:
Decorating – Martha & Lisa will create display boards, have a plan for each area, and make sure it all looks nice. Ann T. & Connie K. will post certificates on display boards before event.
Publicity – Doris will take brochures to CAES, Mt. Holly, and Ludlow schools, Ludlow art gallery and will do an article with the VT. Journal. Krissy submitted and article to the Message on Monday and will submit another next Monday and 1 to the VT. Journal as well. Tracy will take pamphlets to Stepping Stones. Martha will take pamphlets to GMU. Jessica Reichartd will put posters up in Downers and Springfield areas. Sharon created eye-catching posters and pamphlets to be distributed by all of us. George will put out 20 posters when he puts up the Festival Series ones. Doris put a poster with pamphlets (in a pocket on the poster) to Shaws in Ludlow.
Phone calls – Krissy will make calls on Saturday, March 29th while at the Pine Wood Derby letting people know that they won and can pick up their items. Lisa making phone calls ahead of time to solicit help for the auction.
Certificate creation – Sharon is creating beautiful new certificates and bidding sheets for the auction.
Thank you notes – Sharon is creating new thank you notes. Jenn H. will make up computerized address labels to make addressing envelopes much easier from year-to-year. Workers at the auction can personalize notes by writing thank you on them and mentioning what they gave, as well as stuff envelopes.
Auction go-to person night of auction – Martha or Doris. Martha & Lisa creating work schedule.
Set-up – George is allowing us to use the Conference Room to store all of the stuff beginning next week. Doris, Paulette, Martha & Lisa will sort, categorize, and market the items on Tuesday March 18th at 12:30. Doris will number the list to make numbering items easier and less confusing. Set-up night is Thursday, March 27th from 6:30 until we are done. Weight Watchers is in Conference Room until 7:00. We will do what we can ahead of time and then move into the Conference Room after. We will be using the Conference Room, Art Room and hallway this year for displays. So far set-up crew is: Doris, Paulette, Martha, Sharon, Jenn H., and Peggy.
Workers for night of auction – Sign-up sheet is being arranged by Lisa. Martha will have it night of auction and send out reminders ahead of time so people will know when they are scheduled. We will have at least 2 people for each 1 hour shift from 2:00 – 9:00p.m.
Clean-up – Includes figuring out winners, bagging items, totaling money, and cleaning up rooms and hallway. Signed up so far: Paulette, Tracy, Martha, Jenn H. Lisa
Sheet ironer – Still need someone to iron sheets to be used as table clothes.
Requests to kids & families for donating services – Martha put out request in Friday Folders March 14th. Next year do it earlier. Kids like to contribute
Misc. –1) Ray Martel will auction of stools that were made by George Haynes & his GMUHS students and painted by CTES students in Amy Jones’ art class. This will take place at intermission of Talent Show. We need someone to bring stools to Ray. Opening bid $10.
2) Auction workers – tell bidders to pay attention to bidding increments or they will be crossed off and not counted
3) Put the letter “A” in front of item # to avoid confusion with bidder #.
2. Dance – There was discussion about having another school dance before the end of the year. There have been issues from the past dance that need to be resolved 1st - appropriate dress, for CTES students only, and what to do with students of different age groups. Discussion will be continued at next meeting on Wed., April 2 at 6:00.
Respectfully submitted by Martha Mott
PTO Meeting – February 12, 2008
In attendance: Sharon Huntley, Lisa Ewald, George Thomson, Krissy Chambers, Martha Mott
Next meeting dates: Thursday, Feb 28th at 6:00 and Wednesday March 12th at 6:00
Help wanted: Silent Auction – see below
Updates:
A very generous donation of $2500 was received from an anonymous donor to use for the playground renovation!!! WOW! George sent a thank you note, but will not reveal the source. How wonderful it is to have such a caring person in our community!
We made a profit of $524 during our last Bingo night and had a good time.
George wondered what the percentage was that we decided to split our money up throughout the year. Here is what we decided on Nov. 14, 2007: Scholarships for soccer and art = $350, Teacher appreciation = $200, Dance = $100, Open House (cake, coffee, paper goods) = $150, Holiday craft day = $200. Expenses total = $1000. Over and above this the percentage will be used as follows: 25% to requests and 75% to playground fund.
Overall the Valentine’s dance was a success! The kids and adults had a fun time and our new DJ – Mommy Bobby a.k.a. – Krissy Chambers has found a new calling! If you need a DJ for your next party, give her a call. Thank you to all of our parents and teachers who donated their time and/or snacks to make this event happen! A few concerns to address for the next dance: appropriate clothing for students, make it clear that it’s for CTES students only, and what to do with the younger kids who stay for the older kids dance time. Paulette (although not in attendance…she was using her telepathy skills that she has honed since becoming a parent. This goes along with those eyes in the back of her head that have emerged since then too) recommended having a movie room
for the younger kids. It’s up for discussion.
The next major event is the Silent Auction. Doris has gone wild with gathering help and donations! As wild as the visit to see a zebra that has been donated! Julia Gignoux has also asked Cota & Cota for a heating oil donation…now that’s HOT! The goal is to get all items to Doris by Feb. 28th and then we will promote this heavily to entice people to come to our fundraiser. We formed committees with leaders to make this event more manageable and organized. We will be requesting help and will get more specific as time goes on. Any little bit helps, so do the part that seems fun or interesting to you and it will all come together. George is checking to see if we can use Art Room and Conference Room on Friday during the day. We’d like
to do some of the set-up ahead of time, specifically Thursday night. We still have not decided on the time that the auction will run. Hopefully, no snowstorm this year! Last year this was extended for 3 days, but that is too much. We want a 1 day event.
If you are willing to help out in the following areas, please let me know:
Decorating – Martha, Lisa may need help – will know more soon
Publicity - Paulette, Robin, Krissy, Sharon will help if needed
Putting up posters, getting out flyers – especially in other communities such as Ludlow, Chester, Springfield – Need help
Phone calls – Krissy, maybe Lisa need help here
Certificate and bidding sheet creation – Sharon
Thank you notes – Sharon will create a template. We need people willing to help to write them. Looking for someone who knows how to make address labels using a computer program so that we have these addresses on hand for future years and it makes writing thank you notes faster.
Keeper of the treasures and the lists (please give any donations to Doris): Doris
Auction go-to person for that night and scheduler (most parents will be helping out their children at the Talent Show): Martha
Set –up – Thursday night and Friday – will know more soon Need help
Clean-up – Need help
Sheet ironer - We will be using white sheets to cover the tables and need someone to iron them
People to work that night – Need help here
If you’d like to solicit donations, please contact Doris at the school. She will check her list to see if the business has already been asked or not
We welcome ideas or suggestions!
Thank you to all of you for your help. This is the most active that I have seen the PTO since I started with it 10 years ago!
Respectfully submitted by Martha Mott
PTO Meeting Notes Dec. 5, 2007
In attendance: Mercury Ripley, Kathy Martel, Peggy Svec, George Thomson, Ann Thompson, Jenn Harper, Amy Perry, Krissy Chambers, Martha Mott
Holiday Craft Fair will be held on Friday Dec. 21st from 12:00 – 2:00 – Students will make 3 crafts that they can give as gifts.
HELP Wanted: Need volunteers on Thursday Dec. 20th at 6:00 p.m. at Mercury Ripley’s House to help assemble craft projects.
HELP Wanted: Friday, Dec. 21st from 12:00-2:30 (even an hour will help) at the school to help the kids make crafts in the classroom. Please contact Martha at martimot@excite.com 226-7092 or Krissy at kristeen@tds.net 226-8174.
Donations welcomed: card stock, mini- marshmallows, chocolate covered raisons, gumdrops, Epson salts, wagon wheel pasta. Please let us know ASAP if you can donate any of these items because coordinators will need to know if they need to buy them or not. Please drop off at the school office and let them know it’s for the PTO. Thank you!
K-2 –kids will rotate rooms after 45 minutes –approx. 50 kids
Donna’s room: mitten bookmarks – Mercury will coordinate
Peggy’s room: gingerbread poop – gingerbread person tag with gumdrops – Peggy and Amy will coordinate
Connie’s room: bath salts – Jenn will coordinate
3-6 – Kids will stay in their rooms and crafts will be brought to them – approx. 60 kids
Pasta snow – Ann will coordinate
Cards – 3 cards each x 60 kids = 180 cards needed – Martha will coordinate
Snowman and moose poop – Krissy will coordinate
George will create schedule for the day and write checks for those who buy items
Volunteers for the 21st so far: Amy Perry, Jessie Maclean, Paulette Martel, Mercury Ripley, Martha Mott
Bruce Whitney from RACTL homeownership program requested time at PTO to give information about the program. It was decided that PTO was not the appropriate venue.
PTO Meeting Nov. 14, 2007
In attendance: Donna Bonang, Krissy Chambers, Kathy Martel, Paulette Martel, Mercury Ripley, Missy Barrows, Lisa Ewald, Mike Ceravole, George Thompson, Martha Mott, Jen Power
Next meeting: Wednesday, December 5th at 6:00 in the Art Room
1. Bingo: We made $546 plus received $150 in cash donations. What went well: Selling food, raffle, coloring table and fun! We need to change: more advertising ahead of time in school and outside of school. Need more volunteers acknowledge Cavendish Fire Dept. Put thank you in newspaper with picture. No intermission. Decided to have 2 Bingo nights per year. January 18, 2008 and first week in November 2008.
2. Playground: George and Mike reported that the school board approved the PTO taking on the playground renovation. They want to see a plan and would like periodic updates. Paulette will check on playground consultants or sales reps to see if they will come in and give us ideas so that we can have something to go on. This project will take some time and money.
3. Holiday craft day: Thanks to Jill Palmer and her mom Patty for sending in craft ideas for us to look at for the Holiday craft day. It was decided to decide on the date and time of the Holiday Craft Day at the next meeting. We will also decide on what we’ll do for crafts at that time. If anyone has suggestions, please bring them to us. We will need volunteers for this day.
4. Schedule for next year: January 18th – Bingo February 8th - Valentine’s Day danceMarch 28th – Silent Auction (possibly), early Nov. – Bingo
5. Bottled water: Sandra came in to speak to us about the bottled water situation at the school. She has found donations from area businesses and churches to cover water until the end of the school year. After this June, she wanted the PTO to pick up the task of fundraising, collecting the money and giving it to George to pay for the water which is approx. $250 per month. The school board may put it in the budget, but we won’t know until after the Town Meeting in March. We decided to revisit the issue after the Town Meeting.
6. Outdoor classroom spring celebration: Robin Long was not in attendance, so we did not discuss this issue.
7. Amy Jones’s request for a deckle box for paper making: Voted to give $120 towards the purchase.
8. Halloween Party: It was decided to give $50 to Sharon Huntley towards the Halloween Party.
9. Money: Due to taking on the renovation of the playground, as well as our desire to still fund teacher’s requests plus our regular expenses, it was decided that we need to budget our money. Our yearly expenses are as follows: Scholarships for soccer and art = $350, Teacher appreciation = $200, Dance = $100, Open House (cake, coffee, paper goods) = $150, Holiday craft day = $200 Expenses total = $1000 per year. Any other money raised the percentage will be used as follows: 25% to requests and 75% to playground fund.
Respectfully submitted by Martha Mott
PTO Meeting Notes – Sept. 26, 2007
In attendance: Dawn Tyrrell, Amy Perry, Jessie MacLean, Robin Long, Peggy Svec, Paulette Martel, Shelly Johnson, George Thomson, Donna Bonang, Missy Barrows, Sharon Huntley, and Martha Mott
Thanks to Missy for the delicious cookies!
Help wanted: For Bingo night on October 12th at 6:00. This is the first fundraiser for playground improvements 1. Helpers for set up, clean up and during the evening in the kitchen and customer service. No skills necessary – training provided! 2. Baked goods for Bingo night. Let Martha, Krissy or Paulette know.
Playground: The PTO decided to take on the task of renovating the playground. Step 1 is to go to the school board for permission. George will go as spokesperson for the PTO along with Peggy and Paulette (Sharon doubles a PTO and school board member). Robin strongly suggested that the board be asked to take a vote and OK the preliminary idea of a renovated playground, but George thought that they may not be willing to do that without a plan. George will report back to the PTO the boards comments. He suggested that we include school board members on the e-mails for planning notes. Also, keep teachers in the loop via e-mail and their attendance at the meetings. Community members are encouraged to join in this endeavor. Please spread the words! Possible funding sources
include the Wellborn Funds ( Robin knows of them), General Electric ( Sharon & Lisa Ewald have connections for this), and Mack Molding ( Amy has connections). Amy and her husband are willing to donate trees. Paulette thought we could possibly sell memorial benches. She also brought information about an architect who revamped Bradford Elementary’s playground using the natural environment of the existing landscape. Info is in the teacher’s room.
Bingo: This will be our 1st fundraiser for the playground and will be held on Friday Oct. 12th at 6:00 – 8:00 in the multi-purpose room. We will sell pizza, drinks and baked goods. Paulette, Shelly, and Missy will work out the details. If anyone else really knows a lot about Bingo, please contact Paulette at 226-8080 or pmartel@tds.net. We’ll be making pizza at Martha’s house on Friday Oct. 5th beginning at 5:30. (Directions to follow). Bring your rolling pin
and beverage(!) of choice if you wish to participate. Amy will do press release to the Message and the VT Journal. Krissy will get pizza ingredients. George will check to see if it’s OK for kids to play Bingo for money or just for prizes.
Schedule for year: Nov – 9th or 16th – possible school dance. Krissy will ask Howie Paul if he would be willing to DJ. His performance last year was very well received. Dec. – possible holiday craft making session. George suggested staff be asked if they want it again. Martha will do. Jan. – start planning for Silent Auction as per Doris Eddy. She will lead this year. Talent Show will be coupled with this event as it has been for the past 2 years. March 28th – possible Silent Auction date. Nothing else was planned because the time may be needed for the playground endeavor.
Misc. business:1) Martha suggested a welcome basket for new parents who come to CTES whether it’s because they moved to town or had a new kindergartener. Nothing was decided as a definite, but Krissy thought that a card could be sent to them from the PTO simply welcoming them. 2) Shelly suggested the idea of a Rubber Duckie Race as a future fundraiser. We’ll keep it in mind 3) Martha reported that we have 35 parent members of the PTO who are willing to help in various ways. WOW! Thanks to all for being willing to be a part of it! 4) Krissy mentioned that the soccer teams are playing with thread bare balls and asked for $40.00 for a few new ones, which will also be used by the CTES gym classes. The money was approved by all. 5) Please remember to be consistent with the use of PTO
rather than PTA as per the PTO police
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