West Hanover PTA
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Meeting Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm by President Smith. In addition the following members were in attendance: Amy Zook, Devia Clare, Jen Szekeres, Monica Marker, Ashley Shirk, KannanArunachalam, Carrie Criley, SharrelVanWagner, Jennifer Kratzer, Alyssa Iddings, Melissa Leonard, Sherry Eichelberger, Michelle Snyder, Aimee Grim, BrigittaScheib, Barbara Ferster, Kelly Horney, Jaime Holmes, and Nicki Meyer.
A motion to approve the January minutes as written was made by SharrelVanWagner and was seconded by Monica Marker. The motion was approved unanimously.
Recognitions: none
Treasurer Report - cash in check book $30,203.76 plus a CD balance of $5,422.44 for a total of $35,626.20.
Correspondence: none
Presidents Report: Thank you for supporting Julie Watson and her family. Flowers were sent to the Watson family at the service. Sent from the West Hanover Family. There were questions about the WH logo and we reached out to Mr. Vogel’s graphic Arts class at Vo-Tech to work on a new logo. Kindergarten registration to be held on March 8th. Sharrel is looking for volunteers to assist. Will try to scan all licenses at that time. April 16th will also be kindergarten registration – so far there are 40 appointments scheduled. We would like to recruit parents on these days to assist with committees. I have tried to list every event through the remainder of the year on the Facebook page. The talent show was a success. The kids did great and had a good time.
Vice Presidents Report: We have been hearing different things about communication and what events are coming up, ect. Carrie Criley has been doing a great job with keeping the calendar up to date on the PTA website. Ms. Heter has been doing a good job with the school website. The newsletter goes out with the updates. Is there another way to keep people up to date? We are approaching the busy season and will try to make sure everything is listed on the calendars. Also, we are always looking for babysitters. If you know of a teenager who needs volunteer hours or just wants to babysit, please see me.
Dena Clare – CD Middle School: Daughter in 8th grade so moving onto HS. Will need someone to take over the Hersheypark Volunteer committee. If anyone is interested please see Dana. There is also help needed on the other committees. Please let Dana know if there is any interest in joining any of the committees. In addition CD Middle School spirit forms were given to WH to distribute to the 5th graders to give them the opportunity to purchase their spirit wear now so they have it for the next school year.
Carrie Criley – Calendars and other important information: there are multiple sources online to stay up to date with the upcoming events. We have been doing a great job with sending the information out. Are we reaching everyone? We are looking to see if there is a better way where everyone can stay updated. A link? An app? Should we look into a survey to get an idea of how people are getting the updates?
Committee Reports:
Art goes to school- This is in progress. Looking at possibly May. This needs to be firmed up with the museum which will come to the classrooms. More information to come.
Assemblies – the 10th will be Clyde Peelings on Rainforest Preservation.
Bake and Sub sale- set up for 4/25 and 4/26 flyers to go out before Easter.
Book fair – nothing new to report at this time.
Consumer Rewards: Boxtops are declining. We earned $4,000.00 two years ago, $3,000.00 last year and this year so far only $1,800.00. This is free money. Maybe a reminder should be posted on Facebook? You can turn them in throughout the year and do not have to wait for a contest. Karns is off the list and Target has ended their program.
5th Grade Committee – The dates are set. 5/26 Graduation and 6/2 the Ozzy's trip. We are planning on doing photo/memory books and to have a slide show.
Directory – nothing new to report.
Fundraising – Lottery tickets did not do as good as expected. Only 200 tickets were sold.
International Week – Committee has met. This is in the works. Unsure if it will be held before or after the PSSA’s.
Mayfair – Will be held on 5/21 11:00-3:00. Looking for local businesses to donate for the Mayfair raffle.
Membership - Welcome our 2 new members Nicole Lowden and Jodi Conrad!!!
Moms and Muffins – nothing new to report at this time.
Party / Room Parents – The Valentine parties are over! The next and final party will be the end of the year party which will be on 6/8, which is the last full day of the year.
Reflections – no response to date, not sure what is going on with the submissions.
Scholarships - picking up the printout and dropping of the high schools 4/8. Ordering the plaques. This is open to students who attended WH Elementary for at least 3 years and is a $1,000.00 scholarship.
School Spirit – Hershey Bears game on 3/20. The 4th and 5th grade chorus students will be singing the national anthem. Over 100 tickets were sold. They will be picked up and distributed next week.
Spirit Wear – spring sale starts 3/21 and there will be a limited number of items available at the Mayfair.
Service Project - $20,445.00 raised for the 4 diamonds! There are 4 cases of water left. Leukemia and Lymphoma Society materials will be handed out by the teachers. There will be 1 box given to each family.
Staff Appreciations – Currently planning on May 2-6th teacher appreciation week.
Talent Show – went well. You can still order a dvd.
Year book – candid shots are due by Friday the 11th.
Parent advisory Committee (PAC) – Focus on Rigger, Relevance, Relationships – HS gym. January Barb Ferster.
Central Dauphin School Board Meeting – March 7th at 7:00 – CD East.
Principal Report – 3 more months of school. It looks like it will be a quiet month. The reading together celebration went well. We had 300 plus students attend. Thank you for all of the patience in picking up as it took longer than expected. The students were well behaved. We will try to figure out a different dismissal procedure for next year. At this time it appears that we will have a full spring break. We are starting the spring activities and with that tends to be a decline in the students academics. We need to remind the students that school comes first. Please keep in contact with your child’s teachers as school is priority!
Unfinished business: remain a PTA or switch to PTO?
A motion was made by Christine Warren to form an exploratory committee to look into PTO vs PTA. This was seconded by Carrie Criley and was
New business: there will be an open PTA President position and Secretary Position for the upcoming school year. These are two year terms. A minimum of three people are needed to serve as a Nominating Committee to coordinate this. Melissa Leonard, Alyssa Iddings, and BrigittaScheib volunteered.
A motion to adjourn was made by Jen Kratzer and seconded by SharrelVanWagner.
Respectfully submitted,
Nicki Meyer