**Draft Copy until ratified @ the June 7th, 2007 Meeting**
MHS/WES PTO
May 10th, 2007 Meeting Minutes
President, Lynn Breau Vice President Sarah Paiste
Treasurer, Kim Samson Secretary, Jenn Dewey
Meeting Commencement
Lynn Breau opened the meeting at 6:35pm with 11 parents in attendance and from the staff, Patty Marquis and Cindy Cringan.
Secretary’s Report
Jenn Dewey presented the Secretary’s Report. Lynn Breau motioned to accept the minutes, seconded by Sarah Paiste, all approved.
Treasurer’s Report
Kim Samson presented the Treasurer’s Report. Kim noted that there has been $155 in ticket sales from the Hero Art event. Kim motioned to accept the report, Jenn Dewey seconded, all approved.
Principal’s Report
Patty Marquis opened by informing everyone that the School Budget Override will appear on the upcoming ballot vote on June 12th. She explained that this is just the first hurdle for the override. Both Ashburnham and Westminster have to pass the override at the ballot vote on June 12th if it’s going to take effect. She explained that everyone needs to remember that, as Dr Zapantis has explained, this is a survival override or level services override. There are no new programs being offered, the district is only trying to keep the current staff, curricular and co-curricular programs in place. We need a majority of votes in both towns for the override to pass. Patty also informed all that MCAS testing begins next week for grades 3, 4&5. The office staff has the time schedule for each grade and parents should check with the office for these times if they need to schedule doctor or dentist, etc. appointments during school hours. Patty further reported that there will be a Looping Informational Forum next Wednesday evening, May 16th, @ 6:30pm in the WES Library. She explained that this is a district wide iniative with many positive aspects including students having more of a connection with their teachers. Parents should keep an open mind and realize that this is an optional choice. All the particulars will be discussed at the Forum.
School Improvement Council Update
Members from this Council Patty Marquis and Monica Blessington reported that there will be upcoming parent openings for next year; one 1yr and three 2yr positions. Kim Samson suggested that more publicity may be needed to advertise these openings.
Hero Art Event
Kim Samson reported that 2 informational fliers have already gone home with the students and Patty Marquis will be looping the DVD promo at both schools (8:45 & 2:30). Fliers were also delivered to Overlook and looping the promo is being explored there. Oakmont HS will have the promo running as well with fliers to take home. Monica Blessington offered that her daughter Amy sees the art teacher Mr. Barry at the high school and could help deliver the fliers for distribution. The students at Briggs will have the fliers to take home on Friday. Kim encouraged everyone to purchase tickets in advance if possible. Lynn Breau also added that the DVD promo can’t be aired on cable access due to copyright laws, but the event could be listed on the community calendar.
Summer Book Blowout
Kim Samson reported that the date for this Scholastic Book Event will be June 4th-June 7th from 3-8pm on the WES stage. Sixteen people have volunteered to help out and emails have gone out to them regarding time slots and a schedule will be set up. She stressed that this is not for profit; it’s simply a buy one get one free event.
First Grade Field Trip
Cindy Cringan from the first grade team informed all that the students will be visiting the Discovery Museum in Acton, Ma on May 30th.The team would like help funding the busses due to increasing fuel costs. This help would decrease the students’ cost from $10 to $6. Cindy made a motion for $400 to cover both busses, seconded by Sarah Paiste, all approved.
New Ideas
Heather Chou indicated a concern that the current fifth grade girls seem to have had a tough time integrating with the Briggs students pertaining to the recent Nature’s Classroom trip. She suggested that in the future we have opportunities for the children to get to know one another a little better. Paula O’Brien, chair of this event said that she felt everyone got along fine and the kids did mingle effectively. Patty Marquis assured all that the children really do integrate very well when they reach the middle school, but these concerns can definitely be brought up with the fifth grade team. She thought that the teachers could discuss these issues at morning meeting with the students. Effective integration could also be addressed with Brenda Houle, principal of the Overlook Middle School.
Linda Barrows reported on the BJ’s Adopt a School status and said that they are not allowed to fund a school in this capacity 2 years in a row. However, they can offer us their `Fuel Your Fundraiser’ campaign. This campaign turns part of a membership fee into profit for the school. Everyone felt like this would be worthwhile and Linda agreed to coordinate this for the fall.
Missy Banks reported that the CEO of Polar Beverages, who is very involved with the Clinton Health iniative, will be the speaker at the upcoming Community Breakfast. This will be held on May 17th @ the WES Cafeteria from 7:15-8:15am. He will be discussing healthy choices for children and there will also be a variety of vendors from the local area present as well. She encouraged everyone to attend.
Committee Reports
CHIPS Event ~ Monica Blessington and Jenn Dewey reported for this committee. The event went very well with 398 students and additional siblings attending. They thanked all the terrific volunteers and the Freemasons for their efforts before and after the event. They also specifically thanked the office staff and teachers for their efforts coordinating the schedule so that the students were able to flow through this event with little disruption to the day.
Nature’s Classroom ~ Paula O’Brien informed all that this trip went very well with all 93 fifth graders attending with a combined total of 165 students from both towns. The weather was great and everything went smoothly. They are just waiting on the students’ t-shirts and sweatshirts to come in.
Ice cream Social ~ Ellen Bell reported that she’s trying to get a date for this and it will probably occur after the 5th grade picnic. Ellen made a motion for $300 for supplies, seconded by Sarah Paiste, all approved.
Fifth Grade Promotion Night ~ Nikki Moorshead informed everyone that this event will be on June 13th in the evening (6:00pm) and wanted to know if the plan should be the same as last year. Last year Simplex Grinnell funded this and has offered for this year as well. She will also talk with Mr. Myette about showing the Nature’s Classroom slide show at the beginning of the event, which everyone thought worked very well. She indicated that 8 students will be receiving Citizenship Awards and she’ll need funds for plaques, ribbon, etc. Nikki made a motion for $200, seconded by Lynn Breau, all approved. It was also indicated that the class photo that serves as the fifth graders’ gift is a separate expense. Patty will check on donations that may offset this expense, but at this time motioned for $550 for this, seconded by Lynn Breau, all approved.
Bike Rodeo ~ Heather Chou reported that this event will be on May 26th @ the WES parking lot from 9-12pm. Everything is going smoothly, volunteers are lined up and donations are coming in. Kim Samson confirmed for her that any cash donations should be deposited into the Westminster PTO account for charitable tax purposes. The new bike company is Gearworks and they will be doing the bike checks and have been very nice to deal with. Heather also informed the board that her company will make up any expense deficit. She also asked how many ribbons to order. Sarah Paiste suggested 100.
Election Committee ~ Ellen Bell reported that an informational/inquiry flier will be going out soon regarding the current officer positions of Vice President and Treasurer that are open for the next school year. Lynn Breau suggests targeting the new Kindergarten parents.
Staff Appreciation ~ This event will be held on June 1st. Paula O’Brien thought that Christine Sears is helping Barbara Cudak with this. The PTO board members will follow with these chair people to make sure they have enough help.
**John Bish Event ~ This event has been scheduled for May 29th @ 7:00pm. Discussion occurred as to where this should be held. Kim Samson thought that the WES library was the best venue, all agreed. Fred Ellsworth will be asked if he’d create promotional fliers for this event.(Lynn Breau will follow up with him)
Meeting Adjourned 8:48pm Respectfully Submitted, Jenn Dewey
**Draft Copy until ratified @ the June 7th, 2007 Meeting**