75 Orchard Street, Walden, NY 12586
Meeting Minutes for November 17, 2014
Welcome and Pledge of Allegiance
Roll Call - please make sure you sign in.
Approval of Minutes – Minutes from October 7, 2014 meeting were read and approved.
Treasurer’s Report – shared.
Principal’s Report (Principal Catherine Tavormina) – Greenkill Experience: Thanks for all of the support with the Greenkill Experience. We could not have made this happen without all the tremendous support from PTO. Individual teachers and businesses also contributed.
Thank you to all of our parent volunteers! From the fundraisers to picture day, and the Monster Mash, book fair, those who help with the farm to school taste tests and those who decorate our lobby…. Thank you for your dedication to our school community.
Electronic Communication: Google calendar is coming to fruition. Would like to have WES events and PTO events on one calendar. We are also trying to send out email blasts and will continue to ask parents to provide us with current email addresses.
We have completed all 8 fall fire drills and our two bus drills. We will have 4 more fire drills in the spring.
Literacy Collaborative Workshop for Parents was well received. Parents experienced what students experience during ELA.
Upcoming events in November include American Education Visitation Day, the Book Fair, Rotary Club dictionary distribution for the 3rd grade, tree lighting choral group rehearsals, and report card conferences. Upcoming events in December include: DARE graduation for the 5th grade, a half day on December 3rd, the Walden Tree Lighting, the Holiday Craft Fair, First Grade Math in a Bag Night, and the Holiday Family Fun Night.
Teacher Liaison’s Report – Co-Vice President, Pam Nasser reported on behalf of the Teacher Liason, Karen Uszenski. The teachers reported that all is good.
Committees’ Report
Book Fair – Holli Jaeger is the chairperson. The PTO fall Scholastic Book Fair will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 18th and 19th. On Tuesday, the fair will stay open after school until 4:00pm and then re-open from 6:30 - 8:00pm. Set up will be on Monday the 17th after school and break down will be at around 3:00pm on the 19th. Volunteers are needed! A sign up genius page has been created and sent to all the people who signed up to volunteer. We still need more volunteers!
Family Fun Nights – Jen Burke is the chairperson. The October Monster Mash had amazing attendance! Went through 12 gallons of water, 120 glow necklaces and most of the art materials. The DJ was amazing! Notes for changes next year: added security to stop kids from roaming, possible use of cafeteria for snacks and a quiet area.
November: The Be a Friend Craft Night with Mrs. Phelps was held on November 14th. Thanks to Mrs. Phelps for hosting a wonderful Craft Night! The kids had a fun time creating mini masterpieces for the upcoming Holiday Craft Fair. It was great to see parents and kids working together on projects. Thank you to all our fabulous parent volunteers and extra helpers who made this a fun and successful evening for everyone!
December: Submitted new ideas to board for review. Co-President suggested a Polar Express Mystery Reader event. Discussed potential formats: 3 - 4 guest readers and kids go into different classrooms based on the color of their jingle bell necklace. Discussed using the gym, art room, and cafeteria and rotating through these rooms to hear the story, do crafts and have some hot cocoa and goodies. Will need bakers for goodies, a musician for carols, a face painter and perhaps Santa can make an appearance too. Possibilities for the guest readers: Mrs. Tavormina, Mrs. Malley, and Dr. Hooley. We will prepare Polar Express tickets again for the Thursday folders and students can bring them to the Family Fun Night.
A motion was made and approved to provide $50 for supplies for the December Family Fun Night.
Membership – Stephanie Freeman is the chairperson. As of November 11th, we currently have 111 members. Discussed creation of a Membership Box to have at events where the Membership Committee cannot attend.
Farm Fresh – Melissa Benincasa is the chairperson. Secretary, Amy Fontana provided the update on Melissa’s behalf. We have no updates, but are looking for a volunteer to work on fundraiser cookbook. Carrie Burns has offered help out with the cookbook. She suggested including pictures from school tastings and the farm field trip.
Dinner-A-Day – Tracy Stadler is the chairperson. Co-Treasurer, Kelly Kelly provided the update on Tracy’s behalf. Tracy is currently working with Kelly on drafting a letter than can be given to those businesses that donate. We need to make sure we word it appropriately with our status.
Tracy is meeting with Brian Christein, a volunteer, on November 18th to make a list of local restaurants and map out a calendar. Some suggested restaurants are: Garrison’s Tavern, Main Line Diner, Orange County Choppers Café, and the Barnside. If anyone has connections to any restaurants in Orange/Ulster Counties, please reach out to Tracy. If anyone else is interested in helping with this, please email Tracy.
Twin Ponds – Erinn Lennon and Susan Morrison are the chairpersons. Our holiday flyer/order form went out in the Thursday folders. Deadline was originally Friday, November 14th but was extended to Tuesday, November 18th if you are picking up at WES on November 24th or Monday, November 24th if you are picking up on December 4th. There are two pick-up dates at WES to choose from because some people like to decorate early (before Thanksgiving) and some like to wait until after. The ONLY items that will be available to pick up AT TWIN PONDS are the Christmas trees. If people order a tree, they will get a paid receipts sent home with their child. They will need this receipt to take to Twin Ponds and pick out their own tree.
Miss Chocolate – Lourdes Nieves and Allison Gillette are the chairpersons. The order forms and monies for this fundraiser were due on November 10th. We made over $4,000 from this fundraiser. Pick up is on December 11th. We need volunteers for sorting and distribution starting at 1:30pm on December 11th. Pick up will be in the Art Room from 3:45 – 7pm.
Holiday Craft Fair – Mrs. Lennon and Mrs. Heaney are the chairpersons. We are working full steam to get all our crafts done. One more workshop will be held at the school on November 20th. Several PTO members now are helping by working on things at home. We will be holding 2 workshop nights at Mrs. Lennon’s home to make the wreaths and other things that are not convenient to bring to do at school. Those nights will be December 2nd and 3rd at around 6pm. After finishing on December 3rd, we will then load our cars so that we can begin set up immediately after school on December 4th. Anyone interested in helping, should let Kathy or Wenda know so we can give you my address. We have a great time and all discover our creative side. Volunteers were requested for the Craft Fair set up at 2:40pm on December 4th.
5th Grade Greenkill Trip – Courtney Stafford and Jenn Krzeminski are the chairpersons. From all accounts, from the students and teachers, the Greenkill Trip went very well! The students had an amazing time learning within the natural environment setting that Greenkill offers. The students also took part in many " team building" activities, which helped in making many lasting memories for years to come.
Pam thanked Catherine for the many phonecall updates during the Greenkill Trip. They helped to ease parents’ worries about the overnight trip.
WES Spirit Walk-a-Thon – Courtney Stafford and Jenn Krzeminski are the chairpersons. WES’ first annual Spirit Walk-a-Thon was held on November 4th. Our grand total for the WALK-A-THON $2,240.00.
The grand prize winner of the new bike was Nathaniel Storaska (5th grade – Mrs. Revoir). Second prize $25 gift card for Toys R Us winner was Joseph Belli (3rd grade – Mrs. Danon). Lottery drawing of all $10 pledges (ticket picked in main office with Mrs. Malley) - Emma Krzeminski (5th grade – Mrs. York).
Thank you to all for making the 1st Annual Spirit Walk-A-Thon 2014-2015 a huge success!! Catherine suggested that for next year’s Walk-A-Thon, perhaps we could offer raffle prizes for every student who submits a donation.
Spaghetti Dinner – Courtney Stafford and Jenn Krzeminski are the chairpersons. A spaghetti dinner was held at the Walden Fire House on November 6th. The dinner was a great evening, many families and teachers from WES were in attendance. We made $1,000 from the dinner. Thank you to all the volunteers that helped make this event a spectacular evening.
The Walk-a-Thon and the Spaghetti Dinner fundraisers will be used towards the Greenkill Field Trip for years to come.
Box Tops – Taghreed Elkashef is the chairperson. Pam provided the update on behalf of Taghreed. Official "Box Tops" collection boxes have been placed in each class. We also placed one collection box in Walden USPS office. A letter was sent out in the Thursday folders to start collecting the box tops. We advised the parents that our first contest ends on December 19th. The winners will get a pizza party and a trophy.
Jane suggested the possibility of purchasing games for indoor recess as a future prize for Box Tops.
The collected Box Tops from last year were submitted and a check for $386.50 should be received.
Yearbook – Pam Nasser is the chairperson. Large posters to post at school, and flyers to send out in the Thursday folders have been received. Flyer/paper sales and online sales will be offered. A Yearbook Pre-Sale will be offered from December 1st through February 1st for $12. The yearbook will cost $15 after February 1st. It will be 40 pages in full color and will include all grades. Fifth graders will receive a yearbook at no cost.
Yankee Candle – Janet Werner is the chairperson. Karen provided the update on Janet’s behalf. All Yankee Candle orders have been picked up. Any errors have been reported to the company and have been shipped. Anyone that had an error will get the correct items shortly! Kelly reported that this fundraiser raised $4,000.
DARE Reception – Susan Morrison is the chairperson. Karen and Lourdes provided the update on Susan’s behalf. The DARE ceremony and reception will be held on December 3rd. A request was made for bakers for the reception. Set up is being handled. Some balloons and other items to be purchased. A motion was made and approved to provide $100 for the reception. Jane stated that invitations will be mailed to the 5th grade parents.
Picture Day – Alisha Capicchioni is the chairperson. Karen provided the update on Alisha’s behalf. Retake day was Friday, November 14th. There were many retakes due to various Lifetouch issues. Karen thanked Catherine for reaching out to LifeTouch to correct their mistakes. We will be using a new company for school pictures next year.
Old Business
a. Chris Poulos Assembly 10/27 – Red Ribbon Week – assembly went very well and was enjoyed by all.
b. Miscellaneous - none
New Business
a. December Family Fun Night 12/12 – see Committee’s Report
b. Miscellaneous
Lauren O’Connell has been hired as a Drama Advisor to oversee the 5th Grade Play. Lauren is a previous Valley Central graduate and a familiar face to WES. A sign-up sheet will be created for volunteers to help with the 5th Grade Play.
Open Discussion
Karen read a letter from Lisa Goland, Christine Gustafson, and Elizabeth Henriquez of the ESL Teachers of Valley Central School District. They requested a donation of $50 towards food, beverages and dessert for their December 2nd gathering. A motion was made and approved to provide this donation.
Karen mentioned that the Orange County Soccer Club will be having a Coin Drop at ShopRite in Montgomery from 4 – 7pm.
Adjourn – The meeting was adjourned at 9:05pm. Our next meeting will be on Monday, December 15, 2014 at 7:30pm.
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