September Minutes
President, Shannon Scott, called the regular meeting of the Middle Paxton School Association to order.
Members Present, Shannon Scott, Dawn Durham, Steve Burns, Suzanna Alleman, Missie Thrush, Carla Hagy, Catherine Smith, Tracy Kocher, Angela Rist, Tara Truskey, Nikki O'Gorman, Molly Mc Gowan, Cassie Moyer, Laura Briner, Jen Schmidt, Kristen Stahl, Melanie Song, Shelby Sammartino, Bonnie Peisner, Missy Baird, Kelli Flickinger, Christina Lauver, Tammy Novinger, Amy Zoellner, Amy Keiffer, Katie Burton Skocik, Carol Lopez
Recording Secretary – Minutes were taken by Tracy Kocher.
August Minutes – Motion was made by Nikki O’Gorman seconded by Laura Updegrave to approve the August 2012 minutes. All were in favor. Motion stands approved.
Since we had a high attendance to the meeting, the treasurer and various committees will give an overview to all the new comers.
Treasurer – Steve Burns
August Treasurer’s Report: Steve gave an overview of the Treasurer’s Report layout and then went over the report itself. We issued $1400 in classroom expense checks to the teachers. We had a $30 expense from the Correspondent Secretary as a gift for Mrs. Stahl. We issued a check for $83.88 to the Hospitality Committee for Kindergarten Orientation expenses. Santa’s Workshop had $20.03 in expenses and we issued them an advance check for $300 so they could do some shopping. We bought a voice recorder for the Recording Secretary to record meeting minutes, which came out of the General Fund.
Motion was made by Laura Updegrave and seconded by Cassie Moyer to approve the August 2012 Treasurer’s Report. All were in favor. Motion stands approved.
Report from the Executive Board:
-We issued checks to all the teachers for classroom expenses. Each teacher gets a check for $100 to help them purchase classroom items for the upcoming school year. We wrote letters to the specialty teachers informing them we would reimburse up to $55 of classroom expenses providing a receipt. In the past we just issued checks but, they weren’t always needed so we decided to streamline it.
-MPSA purchased new playground equipment for the classrooms. We spent approximately $145 and bought 2 jump ropes, 2 kick balls, 1 basketball, 1 soccer ball and 2 footballs.
Old Business:
-Back to school night was August 28th. The MPSA provided refreshments and information tables. Giant A+ unfortunately went to the wrong school so we encourage all parents to fill out the forms being sent home. We also provided our tri-fold directory and pledge forms. On the back of the tri-fold lists all of the school events for the year. These are great reminders for parents of our events.
New Business:
Carol Lopez
-We are starting off the school year at Central Dauphin with higher targets for the PSSA. The targets are going higher and higher, but financial support for the schools is not so that makes it difficult for everyone.
-Right now Mrs. Lopez is approving teachers to make copies until everything is put online.
-You will be receiving many School Messengers throughout the year via e-mail and phone. All 23 district principals are now required to do as many School Messengers as possible to get the word out for events and important documents to as many parents as possible to keep them informed.
-A big change this year is of course is going paperless. Parents are now required to go online and print out the forms that are needed to be returned to the school.
-The School Calendar is on E-Backpack and it can be printed off, in addition to the Code of Conduct Book, which parents need to have their child sign.
-Mrs. Lopez provided a drawing of the track for Race for Education – 4 laps equal one mile and she will be distributing
-We started out the year with the Rules Assemblies, Recess Rules and No Weapons Rules.
-We had the Road Show for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Grade to introduce them to playing instruments. It’s called the Road Show because every instrumental teacher takes part as speakers. They explain the instruments and play them.
-September 5th was recess with the Girl Scouts. September 13th is recess with the Boy Scouts.
-Upcoming events - Bus Safety Assembly on September 14th, Fire Safety Assembly in October, a 2-hour delay on September 26th and Picture Day on September 27th. A lot of things will be listed on E-Backpack.
Shannon Scott
-Shannon updated everyone on MPSA’s printing issue. MPSA decided rather than lease a copy machine, to have our items printed by David A. Smith Printing. She is friends with the owner and he is willing to print all of MPSA’s information for 2 ½ cents a sheet. They will also deliver all materials to Mrs. Shickley at the school. He is also willing to do this for MPSA for the foreseeable future.
-Giant A+ Bonus School Rewards – MPSA is running a contest for the child that signs up the most bonus cards. This year Giant is giving a $50 gift card for the store of the child’s choice from their end-cap display of Store Gift Cards. We can begin earning money from October 7th through March 30th. The contest runs through September 19th and the winner will be announced October 1st.
-There are many volunteer events coming up in September and October, which will require lots of volunteers. School Store is September 21st; Grandparents Day is October 10th, Book Fair, Dads and Donuts October 16th and 17th. If anyone is interested in helping out, please let us know.
-Our Fall Fundraiser is in full swing and information will be coming home with the kids very soon.
Laura Updegrave
-Fall Fundraiser - Race for Education – update. This fundraiser doesn’t entail students selling things, it’s simply writing down names and addresses asking people to sponsor your child and they will walk or jog for an hour. If the student brings in 10 names, you should expect to receive $75. For 300 students, there’s the potential to raise $22,000 – based on 10 names/$75 per student. There will be a lot of neat and fun prizes for each student to earn per every 5 names they bring in– sit with a friend at lunch card, free homework pass, $1 school store voucher. MPSA will be sending home labels for parents to use for the names.
-Mrs. Sammartino is our teacher correspondence and cheerleader. She is very excited about it for many reasons, however it’s a great fundraiser because 80% of the proceeds come back to the school the first year and 100% the second year. Each classroom will earn popcorn and a movie.
-If the kids reach the school’s goal, Mrs. Lopez will kiss a PIG!
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-The date of the run/walk is November 9th.
Committees:
Assemblies – (Mrs. Brumfield) – Mrs. Lopez went over the various upcoming Assemblies.
Book Fair (Tara Truskey & Ellen Wenrich) – The theme this year is All Star Readers and there will be raffle prizes, a Family Night when you can come in to buy books and Grandparents Day is a big day for Book Fair because grandparents buy books! Information will be coming out soon.
Eagles Nest (Kathy Conway) – Shannon - Kathy is not here this evening, but we discussed printing for the Eagles Nest this year and decided we’ll be printing two editions.
Fifth Grade (Kim Heck 2012-2013) – Shannon - Kim is not here tonight, but basically this committee works on the 5th grade party all year.
Helping Hands (Kathy Conway) – Shannon - This committee works with the 4th & 5th graders. They meet every other Thursday. They do a lot of different things, help out with Grandparents Day, they make grandparents gifts, do a food drive, will be helping with Race for Education and will help Shannon decorate the tree.
Historian (Harriet Bull) – Shannon - Harriet is not here, but she goes to all the school events and takes pictures. At the end of the year a slide show is put together. The kids love it Last year a grandmother put it together, but she cannot do it this year. We are in need of a computer savvy person this year to do the slideshow. If you’re interested, please let me know. . This is something that has to be worked on all year long.
Hospitality (Missie Thrush) – Quarter Days is coming up – We have one in the fall and one in the spring for 1st through 5th grades, during lunch time. Our first one is EVERY Wednesday in October. Dates: October the 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st. Students will bring in snacks on a particular day by their last name. Oct. 3rd, A – E; Oct. 10th, F - J; Oct 17, K – O; Oct 24th, P – T; Oct. 31st, U – Z. Information will be sent home closer to the date asking for snack donations. Students will then be able to purchase a snack for a quarter per item. The proceeds go toward MPSA activities. Volunteers – There are three shifts – During the 1st shift you must arrive at 10:45-11AM arrival to set up and divide all snacks. The entire 1st shift is 10:45-12:05. 2nd shift is 12:05 to 12:35. 3rd shift is 12:40 to 1:30 for clean-up and counting the money.
Dads and Donuts is Oct. 16th (A-K), Oct. 17th (L-Z) – event is 8:15-8:45, but dads show up at 8 and are ready to eat. Volunteer time is 7:30-9:30.
May Fair (Shannon Scott & Dawn Durham) – Discussions begin in January with a meeting with volunteers who want to help out. The event is held in the spring. The only thing that happens in early winter is Laura with the Ways and Means Committee will start working on donations and information will be sent out. Right now there’s nothing to report.
PAC (Pat Conway and Matt Scott for 2012-2013) – Shannon - Pat and Matt alternate going to meetings held within the district that parents attend with Superintendents. They basically go over things going on in the district and parents are able to discuss concerns. Right now there’s nothing to report.
Publicity (Shannon Sholtis for 2012-2013) – Shannon is putting together a student directory and discussing ways of improving the 2 hr. volunteer form. She is aiming to have it done by the end of September.
Santa’s Shop (Jen Tressler & Liza Smith) – They have been SHOPPING. Santa’s Shop is located in Room 210 (MPSA’s Room) and volunteers will be needed when it’s open. Students will receive a letter and envelope so parents can write down who they are shopping for and a limit price. The Helping Hands Committee also helps in the next room with wrapping the gifts.
Scholarship (Dawn Durham) –We offer a $1000 scholarship to a student who is graduating and attended 3 out of their 5 years at Middle Paxton. When they are graduating, they are eligible to apply for the scholarship. There’s a in-depth process they go through and it’s all anonymous. All names and personal information is whited out, you do not even know if the applicant is a boy or a girl. At the very end, once the applications are graded, a student with the highest number is chosen and the Guidance Counselor then informs us who it is. We go to their Awards Ceremony and present them with their scholarship. We ask that they come to our Awards Ceremony here at Middle Paxton and talk about going to Middle Paxton, school and college. The committees and the process usually start at the beginning of February.
School Store (Missy Baird & Laura Briner) – They purchase all kinds of fun little items for the kids to buy during School Store. There’s a $10 spending limit on it because kids were bringing in a lot of money to spend. Nothing is over $4. We do it 4 times a year; it’s a very busy and fun time. They will need volunteers.
School Spirit (Kelli Flickinger) – One of the big things we do is putting together a list for School Spirit Days. The first day is September 21st. Wear green and white and the school logo. Mrs. Lopez put the list of days on E-Backpack. We are going to try to get a whole list put together and send it home. We do other fun things like fall and spring guesstimations. In the fall we usually do guessing the weight of a pumpkin. Last spring was really fun because we did the egg hatch, students guessed when the baby chicks would hatch. We do a holiday door decorating contest for all the classrooms. Kelli is looking for someone to shadow her and assist her. She will be doing it again next year, but after that someone will need to take it over.
Special Events (Amy Zoellner) – Amy does Teacher Appreciation. In the fall we do something for the teachers and then both times during Parent/Teacher Conferences we provide lunch so you will be getting a sign-up sheet so please sign up and help out! We do the Christmas gifts for the teachers and staff. There’s a lot of staff including bus drivers and our budget isn’t very big so if you know of any bargains, please let Amy know. Last year we used 31 gifts. We also do Teacher Appreciation Week and unfortunately it falls right before May Fair so it’s difficult asking parents for help with this, but the teachers really appreciate it.
Student Achievement/BUG Club (Nichole O’Gorman 2012-2013) – At the end of every marking period we award kids with good grades and for bringing up not-so-good grades. We give them coupons for School Store. At the end of the last year, we handed out a coupon for ice cream at Fox’s.
Volunteer Website (Carla Hagy) – Carla sent the 2 hr. pledge forms home and entered in all the information she received. All the volunteering e-mails you receive come from Carla. She puts everything on the website and will be adding info on Giant A+ and Race for Education.
Ways and Means (Laura Updegrave, Ashley Bullers and Tanya Pomeroy) – Tanya and Laura are doing a lot for Race for Education. On our off season from our large fundraisers, we’ve done different restaurant nights, sold sports cups, etc. Ashley handles all the Giant A+ information and Box Tops for Education. We might look into restaurant nights after Race for Education is over.
Upcoming Events:
School Store – September 21st
Two-Hour Delay – September 26th
Fall Picture Day – September 27th
Book Fair – October 9th – 12th
Grandparents Day – October 10th
Dads and Donuts – October 16th & 17th
Family Night At Olympic Skating Center – October 21st from 4:30-6:30 (we do two a year and it does not consist of any volunteer time, parents are expected to stay and a release form needs completed)
Fall Parties – October 26th –Parade is at 9:15 and parties at 2:45. Send your child IN costume.
Next Meeting:
Monthly MPSA Meeting is Monday, October 1st in the School Library at 7P.M.
Minutes submitted by Tracy Kocher, Recording Secretary.
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