Conestoga Elementary PTO Meeting Minutes February 2, 2017

In attendance: Abby Groff, Emily Noll, Bonnie Martin, Alicia Ressler, Debbie Adams, Shannon Brittain, Val Hoback, Dee Greenawalt, Mrs. Altdoerffer, Mrs. Baker.

Meeting called to order at 6:50 pm.

  1. Approval of Minutes- January 2017 meeting minutes were approved.
  2. Treasurer’s Report- Alicia Ressler- Two deposits were made: Santa Shop and Box Tops. Payment made for 5th and 6th grade assembly.
  3. Student/Family Activities
  1. Movie Night: Emily Noll- Scheduled 2/3/17. Doors open at 6:15 pm. Movie begins at 6:30 pm. Movie is Finding Dorie. New DVD was purchase and a raffle will be held. Winning raffle ticket will win the movie. Cost of raffles are 2 tickets for $1 or 12 tickets for $5.
  2. Conestoga Diggers: Val Hoback- A newsletter was sent out last month. Students could participate in an activity. Students submitted poems and a winner was selected- A 5th grade student was selected as the winner and received a Pine View Dairy gift card. So far, 56 students have participated in the Rainbow Challenge. Another newsletter will be sent out next month. The activity will be making a bird house out of recycled materials. Packets of bird seed will be available in the office for those requesting. The students will bring the birdhouses to school and they will be displayed outside the schools. All participants will be entered into a drawing to win a Pine View Dairy gift card. The committee will meet with Mrs. Baker to submit the bus request for the Conestoga Diggers All School Field Trip on June 1st. There is no rain date. In case of inclement weather, activities will be held either inside or under pavilions. Parent volunteers will be needed and a sign up genius will be created.
  3. Year Book: Bonnie Martin- The yearbook cover was passed around at the meeting. It includes pictures of all three schools. Pictures were taken for Pink-Out Day. If anyone can take pictures at the schools on Friday for Wear Red Day for the American Cancer Society, they will be included in the yearbook. There will be pages dedicated to each school- Pequea, Martic, and Marticville. Orders for yearbooks will be taken in March over a period of two weeks.
  4. Teacher Appreciation: Abby Groff and Val Hoback- First week in May. All teachers at all the schools must be included in our teacher appreciation. We will contribute to the cost of the events held at Martic and Pequea. Mrs. Baker will purchase a cake for the staff at Marticville.
  1. Fundraising
  2. Box Tops Contest- Beth Hess- will continue collecting through February 10th. So far, Pequea collected 667, Martic collected 484, and Marticville collected 1305. The goal is to collect 1800.
  3. Gertrude Hawk- Jenny Roberts and Debbie Adams-Packets will be sent home on Monday. Sale ends 2/22. Order forms are due back to the school on 2/22/17. Prices range from $5 to $30. Conestoga will receive 50% of the total profit. A letter is included in the packet. There are prize incentives from Gertrude Hawk and there will be a $50 gift card awarded to the top seller in Primary and secondary grades. Tentative delivery will be March 22nd. Pequea Elementary will be selling over the same time period so delivery dates cannot coincide.
  4. Jakes Way back Burgers and Tropical Smoothie: Dee Greenawalt- This fundraiser will be held on February 22nd from 4 pm to 8 pm at both locations. Fliers will be sent home announcing the event date and time. Conestoga Elementary will receive 15% of the total profits in that four hour period from both restaurants at the Comet Drive location only! Please tell family and friends and plan to have dinner that evening at one or both locations!!
  5. Teacher’s Report- Mrs. Altdoerffer- Things have been going well. It has been a good year. Schools have included Conestoga in their assemblies/activities. Although there is no garden this year, her class was able to watch the farmer in the neighboring field spread fertilizer which created an educational opportunity about the growing process.
  6. Principal’s Report: Mrs. Baker- 5th and 6th grade assembly at Marticville- was a success. It was a musical assembly with student participation. Students went up on stage and were able to play instruments and distort different sounds. Math Bowl was held. 4th grade earned 2nd place. The students did an awesome job working together to solve the problems. Mrs. Baker did check in with Junior Achievement. Planning on May, but the program has changed. They require a parent volunteer to plan the program and teach the lessons. Teachers are not sure that May is the best time to fit this in. The current plan is to put this on hold to allow for more planning and it will be revisited next school year. There will be a grand opening for Conestoga Elementary after school begins in the fall. It may coincide with Meet the Teacher night. Stay Tuned! More information to follow.
  7. Superintendent Meeting: There is an employment shortage this year and there are several opportunities available for custodians, nurses, hourly aides, and cafeteria workers. If interested, application information is available online at pennmanor.net. Proposed calendar for next school year has school starting on Thursday August 24th and ending on June7th.

Next PTO meeting is scheduled on March 2nd from 6:45 pm to 7:45 pm at Pequea Elementary

Meeting adjourned at 7:55 pm.

Meeting minutes respectfully submitted by DeAnna Greenawalt, Secretary, Conestoga PTO