May 21, 2015
Minutes of the May New Lenox PTO Meeting
The regular meeting of the New Lenox PTO was called to order by President Patty Rickman on Thursday, May 21st, 2015 at 9:36 a.m. at Peace Lutheran Church. 35 people were in attendance.
Spotlight Schools:
Liberty Principal Shane Street was in attendance at the meeting. He reported that graduation season is upon us, and many of his students received the Presidential Award for academic excellence, and also many received honors. Principal Street shared a thank you to the PTO for providing funds that allowed his school to have many speakers and programs for the students. He also talked about the Student Behavior Committee. The main goal of the committeeis to provide students with a great model for anti-bullying. This committee also works closely with Lincoln Way West and their student leaders. Principal Street also reported that the National Junior Honor Society participated in Feed My Starving Children, as well as school supply and food supply drives.
Cherry Hill principal Emily Schissler was also present at the meeting to report on her school. She gave the PTO group a highlight of what happens at Cherry Hill. Principal Schissler let the group know that all community pre-schoolers are welcome to participate in speech screenings that are held at the school. Cherry Hill is also home to “at risk” programs and drop off speech services as well as a phonological language class. Principal Schissler spoke about the importance of early education and early intervention. Cherry Hill will also be renovating its playground this summer in order to be handicap accessible, which will help serve not only its students, but the whole community.
Super Session:
[Ma1]Dr. Manville was present at the meeting. She shared with the group that the retirees were acknowledged at the Board meeting the previous evening. Dr. Manville also went into detail about the soft lockdown situation that happened district wide the week before. After explaining the situation, Dr. Manville acknowledged that they had learned much in the process, including the need for a new tier for situations like the one we encountered. This new tier would be called “Heightened Alert”, and would be used before an actual soft lockdown is announced.
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Secretary:
Kathi Casper reminded everyone to add their name to the sign-in sheets. The PTO Minutes from April were approved. A reminder that there will be no PTO Corner for June; however, if there is any information that needs to be distributed before the end of the school year, please send Kathi an email. We had one new member to announce-Julie Wheeler. Welcome aboard, Julie!
Corresponding Secretary:
Please see Ginger Wattafor a list of the cards and books that were sent.
Treasurer Report:
Approximately $53,519 is currently in our account. The Treasurer’s Report was sent out and approved. Please see Colleen Lucchettior CathyO’Connor for questions on money that has been allocated this month. Colleen brought in two proposed budgets for the following school year and reviewed them with the group. The group voted on two budgets for the following school year; one included the cost of chicken for the teachers for Teacher Appreciation Luncheon ($700), and one did not. The group passed the budget including the $700 for chicken.
Market Day - Denise McAvoy reported we have 71 orders this month, for a total profit of $1114. Orders were up this month, so the PTO will receive 20% of the profits from the sale. There will be a June Market Day on June 18th from 4:30-5:30 at Bentley. Please come by to help if you are able!
Dine and Donate –The PTO received $200 from the April Dine and Donate. There will be a TCBY Dine and Donate on June 5th.
Flowers- The sale went well. The PTO earned $2400 this year from the sale.
Upcoming:
PTO 5K - Chair Patty Rickman reported that 219 people are registered for the Color Run on May 30th. The race starts at 8:00 am. Packet Pick up will be on Thursday the 28th at the Nelson Campus under the shelter. Volunteers are still needed to help with the clean-up crew.
Calendars–Co-Chair Kathi Casper reported that all of the dates from District Office are in and they have been sent to Chrissy Draper. There are still three ad spaces available; please see Kathi if you know of any business that may be interested in putting an ad in the calendar.
School Supplies – Ginger Watta reported that the committee will meet to process forms on May 22nd at District Office.
Summer Events – Tina Baumann shared that tickets will be available to New Lenox District 122 students and their families for the June 6th Slammers game. Forms are due back May 22nd. She also reported that PTO members will again have an opportunity to work at the Triple Play Concert on June 20th. The PTO receives $1200 when we volunteer at this event. We will need at least 18 volunteers. Please see Tina or Barb Hotter if you are interested in helping.
End of the Year Information
The PTO awards two scholarships to graduating seniors. This year, Lincoln Way Central senior Grace Glading and Lincoln Way West senior Hannah Hunter received these awards. Congratulations to them!
The PTO also recognizes our “graduates” every year—these are members who have children who will be graduating eighth grade and are therefore moving on from our group. Our graduates this year are Karen Ahern, Lara Smith, Stacy Murphy, and Denise McAvoy. Thank you so much for all your years of service and help! We are sad to see you go!
At 10:45 a motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Sue O’Donnell and seconded by Teri Wallace .
Submitted By:
Kathi Casper
PTO Secretary
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