75 Orchard Street, Walden, NY 12586
Meeting Minutes for February 2, 2017
Welcome and Pledge of Allegiance
Roll Call - please make sure you sign in.
Approval of Minutes – Minutes from January 5, 2017 meeting were approved. Meeting minutes were previously shared on the school website, Facebook and via e-mail to all PTO members.
Treasurer’s Report – shared.
Principal’s Report - Principal Gregory Heidemann
· What a great night at the Science Expo. I really appreciate the opportunity to present an experiment to the children and I hope this event keeps growing each year. I have already selected the experiment for next year.
· State of the District is cancelled for this year. Information will be available online.
· Budget for 2017-2018 School Year – We are getting into the heart of budget season and information will be shared on the District web-page. I recommend that any taxpayers with questions about next year’s budget, call Central Office to seek answers.
· Report Cards will be distributed next Thursday, February 9th.
· Please do not send in candy for Valentine’s Day, as we are promoting alternatives such as pencils, stickers and cards.
· We are all excited about the upcoming drama production of Alice in Wonderland. Performances are planned for 2/24 at 6:30pm and on 2/25 at 4:00pm and 7:00pm.
· Playground Equipment – Mrs. Tavormina will be organizing a schedule so that more children will have access to the new playground equipment in the spring.
· Stage – I am sorry to report we have not had much luck in this area. The stage we have is not suitable for performance-based activities. The portable stage at East Coldenham is too cumbersome to move from school to school, and we also do not have the storage space at Walden. I will work with Central Office to see if we can find a way to purchase a new portable stage in the future.
· Internet Safety reminders went home with students today. Please speak with your students about this important issue.
· Presidents’ Weekend – No School from 2/17-2/20. School resumes on 2/21.
· Our cafeteria Mural will begin on Monday and hopefully be completed soon.
· We are attempting to provide storage for PTO Sprit Wear. Once we get a locking mechanism, we should be able to help.
· Community Reading Day is scheduled for April 7th.
· We are planning our free (2) Mad Science in-class workshops for grade 4. The school will pay for the third class, so all students can be involved.
Teacher Liaison’s Report – Karen Uszenski
No Update.
Ongoing Committee Reports
Membership – Stephanie Freeman & Amy Fontana
There are currently 212 members, including 58 WES teacher/staff members. Thank you to everyone who has joined so far!
PTA/PTO Council – Pam Nasser
No update.
Fundraising – Dawn Sweed & Trupti Sprowls
Previous Fundraisers:
● No update.
Ongoing Fundraisers:
● Amazon Smile – Please keep posting on your personal Facebook Page along with the PTO page to get the word out. We are completely up and running with this program.
● Shoprite for my School- We currently have 867 electronic box tops for WES. The February promotion is ‘Buy 6 products and receive 25 box tops’.
● Shoparoo – Currently we have 48,822 accumulated since the beginning of the school year. In order to reach a donation of $100.00 we need to reach 50,000 points.
Future Fundraisers:
· We have decided to postpone the $10,000 raffle because we are worried about it conflicting with our yearly Dinner-a-Day fundraiser. We will revisit this fundraiser and find a more appropriate time for it.
· A Sip and Paint at the Wallkill River School will be held in March. The date will be finalized soon.
· Spring Bling Vendor Blender will be held on April 23rd at the Walden Fire House. We will be giving our vendors from December an invite to the event first, then open it up to other vendors. We will be able to fit more vendors at the firehouse, as well as have a concession stand, something many vendors and shoppers were asking about.
· Dinner-a-Day Fundraiser – Trupti Sprowls and Dawn Sweed are co-chairing this fundraiser. Tickets will be sold during the month of April 2017 and daily drawings will be during the month of May 2017. We are looking for volunteers to help us obtain donations from restaurants. Please reach out to either one of us if you have any connections with local restaurants or have obtained gift certificates for this fundraiser in previous years.
WES Dines Out – Dawn Sweed & Trupti Sprowls
· January WES Dines Out – we made a profit of $200 from Mainline Diner
· The next WES Dine Out will be held on Thursday, February 23, 2017 at Daxxon’s Chinese Restaurant in Walden
· On March 23, 2017, we will have a WES Dine Out at Sweeney’s Pub in Walden.
Family Fun Nights – Jen Burke & Nichole Rubino
January 20th: Science & Hobby Expo. Our Scientists and Hobby Enthusiasts shined at the Science & Hobby Expo! It was our biggest event yet with 30 participants and the Ecology Club! The Wallkill Valley Times covered the event and we are in the paper this week. A lot of people helped to make this a fun and educational event for our students. Thank you Mr. Heidemann and Mrs. Tavormina for a fantastic science presentation! Thank you Carrie Burns and Mrs. DeCastro for a fabulous Star Lab experience! Thanks Mrs. Nancy Phelps for participating with Ecology Club! Robert Casper and staff, thank you for transforming the gym into a science lab!
February 10th (snow date March 3rd): Cookies & Canvas. The first Cookies & Canvas event at the Walden Fire House is sold out! We will compile a waiting list for the event. We are looking for bakers or shoppers to provide cookies for the event. We will look into opening the event to more participants next year or possibly having two sessions. Thank you for your support!
March 24th: Me and My Gal Sports Night. This mother/son event is being planned. It is TBA. We are considering a bowling night, which would require a date change. Bowling alleys can only host large events on the weekends when there are no leagues. The cost would be $10 p/p for unlimited bowling and shoe rental. We are also looking into a Lego event, some type of novelty game night, rock climbing, or activities at Gold’s Gym. More info to follow.
Spirit Wear – Karen Del Pilar & Nichole Rubino
Noupdate - sales are ongoing.
Box Tops – Taghreed Elkashef
No update. The second contest is underway and ends on April 5th.
Yearbook – Pam Nasser
Yearbook sales began on February 1, 2017 and will run through April 1, 2017. Cost is $15 per yearbook.
Seasonal Committee Reports
Book Fair – Holli Jaeger, Jennifer Tuthill & Suzanne Christein
No update.
Assemblies/Author’s Day – Jen Burke & Carrie Burns
No update for Assemblies.
Author’s Day is tentatively scheduled for April 21st with author, Brian Floca. According to Mrs. Phelps, we will basically use the exact format from last year. Jenn Atkins, the librarian has been reading the books to the kids for the pastseveral months. Each grade level will do a project based on a book. The cost will not be more than the $1,500 budgeted for an author visit, as we will be sharing him with the Josephine Louise Public Library.
Walden's Family Reading Program – Carrie Burns & Kristina Storaska
The committee is putting together a packet to send home to families encouraging everyone to participate in reading activities. This year, the program will begin on March 13th and end on April 7th. It will incorporate the theme of Alice in Wonderland, the 5th grade play. There are school reading days on Fridays (Wear green, read a shirt day, BEAR day and dress up for the "Tea Party" with our community readers and tea). Tuesdays will be a day to bring in a "reading project" to share in school. These days are optional, but we encourage the partnership between parents and teachers through your participation. Students who hand in the contract and time sheet will be awarded a certificate to receive a special reading gift to encourage the love of reading beyond the 4 weeks of the program.
Mad Science Program – Carrie Burns
Flyers were sent home. We have 2 parent volunteers. As of February 1st, 14 students are registered for grades 1 and 2 and 13 students are registered for grades 3-5.
Mad Science is giving us 2 free classroom workshops. The school will be paying for a 3rd workshop. These workshops will be for 4th graders only.
Old Business
a. High School Musical Ad: Discussion was tabled until the next meeting.
New Business
a. Playground Equipment: Principal Heidemann provided an update about this in the Principal’s Report.
b. Stage for Talent Show: Principal Heidemann provided an update about this in the Principal’s Report.
c. Storage for Spirit Wear: Principal Heidemann provided an update about this in the Principal’s Report.
Open Discussion
a. PTO Member Carrie Burns asked for consideration of purchasing another canister for the Star Lab when PTO funds are available.
Adjourn – The meeting was adjourned at 8:12pm.
Please join us for our next meeting on Thursday, March 2nd at 7:30pm!
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