Graham PTA General Meeting – 9/14/16
Attendees: Claudette Walton, Noelle Klinko, Elena Dugger, Amy Mahalla, Meg Wrobel, Julie Hill, Corinne Dimmick, Karen Masters, Tamara Anderson, Michelle Shiles, Rachel Witkowski, Suzie Perkins, Brooke Murphy, Tiffany Treacy, Emily Chen, Stephanie Melone
I. Call to order – meeting was called to order at 9:36am by Emily Chen
II. Introductions – board and general attendees introduced themselves
III. Approval of Minutes
a. to save paper this year we will be posting our meeting minutes online on the Graham website and the district website.
b. Suzie Perkins motioned to approve the Committee Chair meeting minutes from August. Tiffany Treacy seconded the motion.
IV. Communications and Recognition
V. Administrative Reports:
a. Claudette Walton, Principal - Ms. Walton thanked the PTA for the help with all of our efforts. She then welcomed questions from the general membership.
i. Meg Wroebel asked about signup for parent teacher conferences. We have not been officially given a date for parent teacher conferences. The district will send out an email with this information in the future. All schools K-12 will be using the system, Power PTC. On the parent end, it will look similar to a Signupgenius. This will only be for fall and we will learn more about spring conferences as it gets closer.
ii. Stephanie Melone asked how the new pickup line system is going. The new pickup system has been going well and on most days, pickup is complete by 3:40pm. We appreciate all of the patience and help from parents as we implement the new system.
iii. Meg Wroebel asked if we have to wait til mid-September to request bus stop changes. Ms. Walton said that requests can be sent to her.
VI. Executive Committee Reports
a. Treasurer, Suzie Perkins
i. 2016-2017 Audit
1. Every July an audit committee reviews the budget from the previous year. This past July our PTA budge was reviewed.
2. Suzie P made a motion to approve the budget from 2016-2017. Tammi Anderson seconded the budget from 2016-2017.
ii. 2017-2018 Budget
1. Suzie Perkins reviewed and explained the proposed budget for the 17-18 school year.
2. Suzie P motioned to approve the 17-18 budget. Karen Master seconded the motion.
3. Please note the Moby Max budget is for a 2-year period.
b. President, Emily Chen
i. Membership
1. We are up to 103 members for PTA out of 259 Graham families.
ii. School Kits update
1. We are still working to complete the order for school kits. We will be receiving reimbursement from the school kit company and distributing it to the classrooms affected.
iii. Nancy Goodfellow
1. On Monday, September 18th Nancy Goodfellow will be coming to Graham for an all-school presentation. She will speak to the students to raise awareness on inclusion and acceptance. This is for Graham students only.
2. We will follow this by kicking off our Buddy 2 Buddy program.
3. We are collaborating with the STEPS program this year. 18-21 year olds within the district who have additional needs. You may see our STEPS students, Ivan and Matt working in the front office.
4. Noelle Klinko working on our anti-bullying week presentation. Updates on presentation will be available soon.
iv. Box Tops
1. We will begin collecting box tops soon. Information will be sent home to parents soon.
c. Vice President, Tiffany Treacy
d. Vice President, Stephanie Melone
VII. Standing Committee Reports
a. Falcon FUNdraiser
i. We are halfway to our goal of $8500. Falcon FUNdraiser event will be held on Friday, September 29th. A signupgenius for parent volunteers will be sent out this week.
b. WatchDOGs
i. Tonight we will be hosting our WatchDOG information session. We have a great number of dads who are interested in participating. October 13th will be the first day we will have our WatchDOGs here. This is a new program so please be understanding and patient as we work through this program. Please contact Michelle Kapinus with any questions you may have on the WatchDOG program.
ii. Makerspace is another great option for dads, grandpas, etc to come in and also work with Graham students. On Thursdays and Fridays, mentors are available to work with the students in the LMC Makerspace. Orientation will be held on Friday, September 15 at 9:30am. Contact Brooke Murphy or Michelle Shiles if you would like to participate.
iii. We still have openings for volunteers in the LMC. Contact Kristin Kirchner if you are interested.
c. Room parent signups
i. Jennifer Amato is our head room parent for Graham this year. Parents were able to sign up as classroom room parents at the Activities Fair in August. Jennifer will hold a room parent meeting shortly to discuss responsibilities for room parents.
ii. Classroom party signups will be opened on a rolling basis. We are trying to get two head parents per class. There will be an additional 3 parents (approximately) available per party.
iii. Our first classroom party this year, Harvest Party, will be held on October 27th.
d. Restaurant nights
i. Oberweis is our first restaurant night coming up. Beth Miller and Kristen DeGuiseppe are in charge of restaurant nights.
e. Skate Nights
i. There will be six skate nights this year at Aurora Skate Center. Most will be held on Wednesday evenings. Each night will have a theme that will be sent out to parents in the newsletter. Contact Michelle Coles with any questions you may have on the Skate Nights. The first official skate night will be on Tuesday, October 3rd from 6-8pm. The theme is 80’s night. Thank you to Aurora Skate Center for your generosity with this fundraiser.
f. Reflections
i. Sudha Murali will be chairing Reflections this year. The theme is “Within Reach”. Reflections is a national PTA program for the arts that is open to all kids across all grade levels. There are all sorts of submissions accepted (poetry, photography, etc). There are strict guidelines for submission. Details will be sent out early next week. Entry deadlines for Graham School will be October 18th. Information can also be found on our PTA website.
g. Mother/Daughter Night out
i. Our first Family Fun Night will be our annual Mother/Daughter Night on October 20th. The Graham PTA receives money back from this night and is used to benefit our Blessings In A Backpack donation program. This year’s project will be a mosaic. The cost for this event is….. and $5 for every participant will be given back to Graham.
h. Spirit Wear
i. Becky Steimer is chairing spirit wear this year. We have four options this year: tshirt, hoodie, flannel pants and a baseball tee. There will only be one bulk order this year.
i. Coat Drive
i. In October, we will begin to collect coats for the IPSD coat drive. We will collect coats of any sizes for this drive (infants, kids, adults).
VIII. Unfinished Business
IX. New Business
a. Elena Dugger raised the question on whether our school does Trunk or Treating. Ms. Walton confirmed that this could be a possibility during after school hours but cautioned that the park district also uses our parking lots.
X. Adjournment - meeting adjourned at 10:39am.