PTO Members Present:
Mandy Shonak – Co-President
Erin Grimes – Co-President
Chris Castonguay – Treasurer
Stacey Brown
Christina Kryzwicki
Allison Hill
Becky Leiphart (teacher)
Dina Senecal (SES Assistant Principal)
Rob Kapner (MBA Assistant Principal)
3:33 pm – Meeting called to order.
Approval of Secretary’s minutes from May’s meeting. Chris made a motion to approve, Mandy seconded.
Renata Bowers, author, is coming to SES on October 27th. Pat Clark will take care of getting her a thank you gift, as she offers her presentations for free to all students. Pat will submit her receipts for reimbursement.
Treasurer’s report was passed out (see attached). Reminder to sign up for Amazon Smile…make sure people know to choose Somers PTO as their charity of choice, and we get a portion of purchases. Dina will look into hooking up our SES Corporate account to that. Mandy will send Dina some PTO reminders to add to the October Newsletter (Amazon Smile, Target, Shop Rite, Box Tops, etc.) A flyer will also be made to hand out at the movie night with this information. As of the end of August, the PTO account has approximately $28,000, which is a comfortable place to be. The previously approved budget was reviewed. Chris is convinced that we will be in very good shape as long as the fundraising stays where it has been in year’s past.
Erin is trying to set up a meeting with Mrs. Oliver and Mr. Krevolin in order to find out what they are hoping to accomplish with PTO this year. Scheduling has proved to be difficult.
Covering cost of field trips for students on an as needed basis was discussed. Dina will let staff know that if there is a need, the PTO can be contacted (or the child’s teacher can let Dina know and then she will contact the PTO).
Dina discussed the cafeteria account system that will most likely be coming down the pike….January maybe?!? Very exciting!
Motion to approve the Treasurer’s report by Stacey, seconded by Erin.
Mandy discussed a “Welcome Wagon” idea for new students/families to the town. Perhaps a ‘basket’ with important town and school info…a water bottle, local restaurant menus, Somers rec sign up info, local parks, school Remind app instructions, etc….Would Geissler’s perhaps donate their reusable bags to house each ‘basket?’ This would be a committee that would be in place for August…need a chair.
Movie Night September 30th!!
Free movie and snacks for families. Hotel Transylvania 2. This is geared towards SES students, but thinking about another one in the spring for MBA students. Movie Theater is donating popcorn, Big Y is donating candy. We are partnering with the library for that.
Halloween Happenings at Sonny’s Place on Thursday, October 20th.
5-7 for SES, 6-8 for MBA. Looking for volunteers to help set up and break down. Free trick-or-treat street. Passes have gone up to $25 for the 2 hours. Erin will check with the manager to see if the go kart and zip line rides will not “expire” in case of long lines. Corn maze is OUT. Discussion about POSSIBLE laser show in the white tent…maybe too expensive? Dance party with Halloween music? (Kevin Huss? Bus driver Sandy?) Pumpkin decorating? Haunted hallway redefined? This would require an enormous amount of volunteers….
Book Fair! Mandy, Lauren and Allison will chair this year. STILL NEED VOLUNTEERS!! Volunteers for set up and during book fair hours.
Take a look at the meet and greet sign up sheets for volunteers. Set up takes a long time.
Book Fair-
Lisa Forest has a new job and can help run it but, cannot set up or clean up. PTO doesn’t profit from the book fair, but they do get scholastic bucks for the library.
Possible idea- have the 6th graders come to SES before SES hours to shop at the book fair. A way for grade 6 to purchase books when they do not have a book fair specifically for grade 6…7:45-8:20am (ish… ). Just about the grade 6 first period.
Rob Kapner will talk to the grade 6 team and see if this is something they are interested in.
Cultural Enrichment-
Waiting on Corinne to confirm dates for the activities we are going to book.
Many of these presentations are going to include grade 6.
Fundraising:
Next Meeting Date: 10/13 at MBA @ 7:00 pm.
Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Erin at 4:35, seconded by Christina.
Respectfully submitted by Pat Clark.
Mandy Shonak – Co-President
Erin Grimes – Co-President
Chris Castonguay – Treasurer
Stacey Brown
Christina Kryzwicki
Allison Hill
Becky Leiphart (teacher)
Dina Senecal (SES Assistant Principal)
Rob Kapner (MBA Assistant Principal)
3:33 pm – Meeting called to order.
Approval of Secretary’s minutes from May’s meeting. Chris made a motion to approve, Mandy seconded.
Renata Bowers, author, is coming to SES on October 27th. Pat Clark will take care of getting her a thank you gift, as she offers her presentations for free to all students. Pat will submit her receipts for reimbursement.
Treasurer’s report was passed out (see attached). Reminder to sign up for Amazon Smile…make sure people know to choose Somers PTO as their charity of choice, and we get a portion of purchases. Dina will look into hooking up our SES Corporate account to that. Mandy will send Dina some PTO reminders to add to the October Newsletter (Amazon Smile, Target, Shop Rite, Box Tops, etc.) A flyer will also be made to hand out at the movie night with this information. As of the end of August, the PTO account has approximately $28,000, which is a comfortable place to be. The previously approved budget was reviewed. Chris is convinced that we will be in very good shape as long as the fundraising stays where it has been in year’s past.
Erin is trying to set up a meeting with Mrs. Oliver and Mr. Krevolin in order to find out what they are hoping to accomplish with PTO this year. Scheduling has proved to be difficult.
Covering cost of field trips for students on an as needed basis was discussed. Dina will let staff know that if there is a need, the PTO can be contacted (or the child’s teacher can let Dina know and then she will contact the PTO).
Dina discussed the cafeteria account system that will most likely be coming down the pike….January maybe?!? Very exciting!
Motion to approve the Treasurer’s report by Stacey, seconded by Erin.
Mandy discussed a “Welcome Wagon” idea for new students/families to the town. Perhaps a ‘basket’ with important town and school info…a water bottle, local restaurant menus, Somers rec sign up info, local parks, school Remind app instructions, etc….Would Geissler’s perhaps donate their reusable bags to house each ‘basket?’ This would be a committee that would be in place for August…need a chair.
Movie Night September 30th!!
Free movie and snacks for families. Hotel Transylvania 2. This is geared towards SES students, but thinking about another one in the spring for MBA students. Movie Theater is donating popcorn, Big Y is donating candy. We are partnering with the library for that.
Halloween Happenings at Sonny’s Place on Thursday, October 20th.
5-7 for SES, 6-8 for MBA. Looking for volunteers to help set up and break down. Free trick-or-treat street. Passes have gone up to $25 for the 2 hours. Erin will check with the manager to see if the go kart and zip line rides will not “expire” in case of long lines. Corn maze is OUT. Discussion about POSSIBLE laser show in the white tent…maybe too expensive? Dance party with Halloween music? (Kevin Huss? Bus driver Sandy?) Pumpkin decorating? Haunted hallway redefined? This would require an enormous amount of volunteers….
Book Fair! Mandy, Lauren and Allison will chair this year. STILL NEED VOLUNTEERS!! Volunteers for set up and during book fair hours.
Take a look at the meet and greet sign up sheets for volunteers. Set up takes a long time.
Book Fair-
Lisa Forest has a new job and can help run it but, cannot set up or clean up. PTO doesn’t profit from the book fair, but they do get scholastic bucks for the library.
Possible idea- have the 6th graders come to SES before SES hours to shop at the book fair. A way for grade 6 to purchase books when they do not have a book fair specifically for grade 6…7:45-8:20am (ish… ). Just about the grade 6 first period.
Rob Kapner will talk to the grade 6 team and see if this is something they are interested in.
Cultural Enrichment-
Waiting on Corinne to confirm dates for the activities we are going to book.
Many of these presentations are going to include grade 6.
- BMX Bikes- will include MBA. Corinne will coordinate with MBA on a date for those.
- Mid-December for Painter. (to include MBA 6-8 grade performance) Corinne will coordinate with MBA on a date that works for both schools.
- Met with Dina and Jennifer prior to PTO meeting to secure shows and discuss the dates.
Fundraising:
- Notes to school (“opt out” forms- check box to include a free notes to school)
- Coupon Books – will sell at the PTO table.
- Raffle at Parent-Teacher Conferences.
- Square 1 Art is happening at SES and MBA. Sue Koulisis has taken it on for this year with 8th grade. She will also allow for submissions from other grades even though they don’t currently have art. Extra forms for other family members, but it might be difficult to explain. PTO will work on getting the word out. Put them out in school offices.
- Butter braids – Make a lot of money. Labor intensive. Scrap it.
- Gift Cards – may or may not do.
Next Meeting Date: 10/13 at MBA @ 7:00 pm.
Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Erin at 4:35, seconded by Christina.
Respectfully submitted by Pat Clark.