Sennett Parent Action Team

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

5:30pm-6:30pm, Staff Lounge

Members Present:

Judy Allen, Ellen Carpenter, Mari Davis, Colleen Freitag, Nyra Jordan, Colleen Lodholz, Lisa Rajkovich, Murielle Sago, Margaret Stumpf, Beth Thompson, Dawn Toseff, Kathy Viets, Erica Kersten

Next Meeting: Wednesday, December 8th, 5:30pm-6:30pm, in the LMC (Sennett Library)

Minutes

  1. Welcome to new members: Introductions
  1. Communication in the PAT – How are we going to communicate with one another within the PAT and outside of meetings?
  1. We use multiple methods of communication to share information in the PAT. Emails, Phone, Google Group can all be used by PAT members. The Website and Messenger is also used by the school to share information.
  2. Next meeting – More information about the Google Group and how to use it.
  3. Ellen will distribute Contact information.
  4. Messenger is very new and both the District and the school is still getting used to using it effectively. Please be patient as we work out the kinks!
  5. Monthly newsletter can be found on the Sennett website: Beth Hawker works on the website for us.
  1. Committee Updates

Leadership Committee:

  • Chair & Co-Chair – Murielle Sago & Margaret Stumpf
  • Treasurer – Cynthia Struye-Johnson
  • October Checking Balance Report: $587.56 in checking account.
  • 2010-2011 Sennett Budget Report: Overall, there are more expenses than there are funds, but this is expected – we like to dream big!
  • Please see these reports for more details. Email Cynthia at to see these documents.
  • Secretary – Nyra Jordan (newly elected)

Fundraising Committee

Kathy Viets & Colleen Freitag

*** The Green and Gold incentive party will be on Monday, November 29th at 2:30-3:45pm. We are still looking for volunteers for this event, so please contact Kathy or Colleen if you can donate some of your time! (
) ***

Fall Fundraiser – Where things got tangled up and what we can do to improve for next time.

  • Although a lot of planning went in to the fall fundraiser this year, no information from last year was carried over properly, so it was a learning year for the Fundraising Committee.
  • There were a lot of orders – Matt (our partner in the fundraising project who runs the green and gold party) was impressed with the sales.
  • We need to communicate and promote the order pick-up better next year. (At least a couple reminders, one or two weeks in advance)
  • Kathy and Colleen have lots of information and tips to include in the binder for next year’s Fundraising Committee.
  • We need to dig up those binders, update them, use them, store them and carry them forward.
  • We could also use flash drives (aka pen drives) to keep digital copies of documents also.
  • We should look at ideas from feeder schools for how they handle the Fall Fundraiser.

Student Bake Sale – the students are running a bake sale. It’s the first time and a new experience for these students.

  • We should partner more with the Student Council. They are very well organized and very effective. It could be really good for our understanding of student interests and for partnering on fundraising events.

Family-School-Community (FSC) Partnerships Committee

Judy Allen

  • Judy is working with Beth Hawker to plan a College Planning Parent Workshop in the spring time (March or April).
  • We’re also in contact with DPI regarding the School Health Award. This award recognizes schools which promote healthy lifestyles (nutrition, drug-free, activity, etc.) For more information please check out this link:
  • Beyond the Bake Sale book group – Ellen
  • Ellen’s been meeting with a small group of Sennett (and one La Follette) staff members and facilitating a book study with the book “Beyond the Bake Sale” by Anne Henderson and Karen Mapp. It’s an introduction to family-school-community partnerships, with information about how to begin welcoming parents into the school and working with them as partners in education. Please see the attached notes to get a better idea about what we’ve been discussing.
  • PT3 – Ellen
  • Parents and Teachers Talking Together is a discussion between parents and staff about education, which is facilitated by trained staff members at DPI (Department of Public Instruction) and Parents Plus. Dinner is included. We are going to reschedule our Sennett PT3 for late January, rather than this December. More details to come.

Sennett & Upham Foundation Committee

Dawn Toseff (newly elected)

Communication Committee

Vacant

Volunteer Committee

Vacant

Working on the PAT Meeting Format:

  • M&M’s Corner: Updates from Murielle and Margaret
  • Colleen’s Corner: Colleen will keep the group updated on school-wide, school leadership or district updates
  • Committees will each have designated time to talk about what they are working on at each meeting.
  • Feedback from a parent: Can we have more updates about what’s going on in the school for future meetings?

***Please send a message to the Leadership Committee if you have ideas for discussion topics for future meetings.***

Chair: Murielle Sago

Co-Chair: Margaret Stumpf

Treasurer: Cynthia Struye-Johnson

Secretary: Nyra Jordan