March 2017 General Meeting Minutes

By PresidentOn In Minutes

Helman Elementary PTA

March 2017 General Meeting Minutes

Date, Time, Location: Thursday March 9, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. in the library.

Meeting called to order by Joe Shannon at 6:33 p.m.

Attendance: Michelle Cuddeback, Shane Hunter, Joe Shannon, Avril Betoushana, Jessica Bendaw, Becky Sniffen, Yoko Hendrix, Mia Driscoll, Valerie McCoy, Amy Sloper, Becky Sniffen, Brian Hendrix

There were 12 in attendance and a quorum was reached. We have no guests.

Minutes: Meeting minutes from 2/09/17 were read and approved with no changes.

Old Business:

OBOB- given by Avril via an email from Jenny Hall

  • It was a great year! The final battle was won by a group of 5th grader’s, the Masterminds and they will be competing in the regional battles on March 18th at North Medford High School 8am-1pm. There were 90 readers in total this year!
  • Kristie Cox will assist Jenny Hall in running this event next year.
  • Thanks to PTA for supporting this program, there are many more readers because of it!
  • Jenny is asking PTA to purchase next year’s OBOB books now rather than in the Fall. This will be very helpful to have them here at the start of the school year.
  • Shane makes a motion to increase the OBOB budget by $800. Becky seconds the motion and all are in favor. The books can be ordered.

Matt Damon Story Night Fundraiser- given by Joe Shannon

  • $245 in books sold
  • Not a large turn out but it was cozy and intimate. Kids enjoyed it. Matt is coming out with another book so this could be a nice event to hold again in the future, possibly in Fall.

Music Classroom Upgrade Purchases- given by Joe Shannon

  • Amy is so grateful and a big thank you to the PTA. The kids are using and enjoying the new drum kit and keyboards!

After school Lego Club– given by Avril Betoushana.

  • We should start this earlier next year, in January. The flyer can go out to families the first week after Winter Break.

Open Items:

Yearbook- given by Yoko and Brian Hendrix

  • The final deadline to have the yearbook completed, ordered and shipped to be available to purchase the last days of school, is the end for April. Parents can always go to the TreeRing website to custom create pages and order with free shipping by April 15th.
  • There is a long process of uploading the class photos. They need photos that are formatted to be more easily uploaded to the Treering website. This would cut their work time down by 70%!
  • Bryon DeVore, the photographer can get us a CD of photos with proper formatting for $75, the cost of what his printer would charge him.
  • Mia moves to pay $75 for a reformatted disk to Bryon DeVore. Michelle seconds the motion. All are in favor.
  • Avril will talk to Bryon to clarify what it would look like to “build the cost” of this disk of pictures into the photo costs for next year. Will that cause the cost of pictures to go up for families and how much?
  • They asked permission to randomly interview students for quotes for the book as well as using the 50th Anniversary logo throughout the book. Yoko is always happy for parents and teachers to send pictures to her email directly or to upload on the TreeRing website in our Helman photo folder.
  • Michelle will get a picture of Caroline Hald to Yoko, to feature in the yearbook for her retirement.

EA (Classified) Appreciation Week- given by Mia Driscoll

  • This is happening this week. Teacher Assistants are feeling very appreciated with special gifts, breakfasts, extra breaks and massages.
  • PTA gives $150, as a line item, to this event every year.  Joe asks if teachers need more money for this event. Mia will discuss this with teachers at the next staff meeting.

Event Planning for Next Year- given by Michelle Cuddeback

  • It is suggested that at the beginning of the year, to look at the whole year and the events we hold and create the calendar so that the spacing of events throughout the year feels balanced.
  • While preparing a board report, Michelle realized how much we offer at Helman and suggests looking at “simplifying”, question which programs we want to continue. Participation in after school events has been lower, it seems.
  • Joe suggests that events planning for the next year should be done at a summer Executive Meeting prior to the beginning of school so that is in place when we start the year.

Mural Art Project- given by Jessica Bendaw

  • Due to personal reasons, Jessica is withdrawing her proposal for funding to create a Mosaic Mural Art Project involving artist Lisa Lord.
  • Teachers, Kari Smith, Mary Snowden, Valerie McCoy want to see a mural on the side wall of the building between Kari and Mary’s classrooms. They have already made contact with a local artist of their choice and preference, Polly Beach, who is interested in the project and is happy to do it without the mosaic component. She is local and has worked with children currently and for many years. The teacher’s concerns were how the project will incorporate the whole school and that the teachers KNOW the artist has experience working with children. They are welcome to create a new proposal for their project to present to the board for consideration.
  • Becky Sniffen offered the suggestion of doing an art piece in the library, lots of empty wall space. Doing a project inside the building would eliminate the necessity of applying to the City Art Council for approval.
  • Mia suggests the possibility of two different art projects, an outside mural and a smaller inside project.
  • The concepts need more clarifying, where, how big, which artists.
  • The discussion will continue at the next meeting.

Sound Boards Update- given by Joe Shannon

  • Joe met with a local Acoustic Engineering specialist who came and created a proposal to accommodate the needs of our space in the cafeteria. Joe passed around example pictures and explained what was suggested. The top estimate is $24,000. That includes installation. He could complete the project in the summer.
  • One question was that if the cafeteria were to be torn down, could we salvage the sound board system. The answer is yes; they are easily removable. Also, the likelihood of the cafeteria being torn down and replaced is low for the foreseeable future.
  • Further questions for the specialist: Is there a cost benefit to doing just the wall of just the ceiling? How would doing one or the other only, affect the sound proofing capability? We still need to consider wall space and where there can be areas to still hang banners and class art.

Storage Update- given by Joe Shannon

  • We can’t put storage by the boiler because it would be in the way of the man hole that needs to be accessed.
  • We can’t add another shipping container because we would have to apply through the City Planning Department.
  • Joe has another location proposal that seems promising. Well discuss it more at the next meeting.

Talent Show- given by Amy Merwin

  • Everything is going well, she has a few great parent volunteers helping.
  • Next year she would like to offer the suggestion of holding this event in the Fall. This event is currently very close to the Science fair and OBOB.
  • Ivan is doing the sound again. He inquired about the possibility of purchasing wireless microphones.

Website- given by Avril Betoushana

  • Sean Smith in years past has been updating the website. He asks that content be sent to him and he will update the site. He does not want to create content.
  • Emile Betoushana has volunteered to update the website for this year. He is willing to come to the meetings and create the content.
  • Joe and Avril suggest we create a Media Coordinator, an officer created position for next year, to be in charge of our online presence and using these tools to better communicate to the Helman School community. This person would be asked to be present at meetings, gather necessary info to create informative content on the goings on at the school and then post and update the info regularly.

New Business-

  • At the next meeting we will talk about next year’s Officer Positions and a sound system purchase.

Committee Reports:

Treasure’s Report- given by Shane Hunter

  • We owe a liability to the state for uncollected PTA membership dues of $76. Shane sent a check. These were dues that the PTA hadn’t collected from members this year. Clearly a better system to keep track of membership rosters and dues is needed. We need a membership or volunteer coordinator to take on this task.
  • We took in $245 in book sales at the Matt Damon Fundraiser. Joe will communicate to Damon via email to clarify how much of this goes to Matt in wholesale book purchases.
  • Mia moves to create a line item for Sandbox Maintenance for $100, for purchasing sand refills and Valerie seconds the motion and all are in favor.
  • Box Tops- So far over $300 has been raised. Joe has been processing the box tops. Becky offers a suggestion that the kids who come to help in the Library could do this task. Becky is looking for good projects for these helpers to do. Michelle suggests we hang the Box Top sign that we have, outside on the fence, to let local neighbors know we are collecting these.

Next Meeting on Thursday April 6th 2017 at 6:30 p.m., in the library

Meeting adjourned at 8:07 p.m. by Joe Shannon

Minutes compiled by Jessica Bendaw, Recording Secretary