Summit Elementary PTO Minutes

November 1, 2007

In Attendance

Joann Alperstein-Abdoo= &nb= sp; Emily Cook &nb= sp; = Susan Schlegel = ; &n= bsp; Doug Waltz

Tara Deppert &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; = Kelly Stegemoller Laura Bates

Vicki Streiff &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Angie Gummere = Heather Rhodes

Call to Order

Meeting called to order by President, Susan Schlegel at 6:38p.m.

Minutes

No corrections made to the October minutes; approved as written. Laura Bates moved th= at the October minutes be approved as written.&nb= sp; Susan Schlegel seconded that motion. All were in favor and the motion p= assed unanimously.

Science Fair

Tara Deppert gave information about possibly starting a science fair at Summit and how the PTO would go about gathering support for this activity. Tara explained= the importance of science fairs in teaching scientific methods and further explained that she thought there were three options for doing a science fair here at Summit.

Option 1: One big school-wide project (for example: do= ing an egg drop project where each student designs their own container to protect = an egg and then the egg is dropped from the top of a building or a helicopter = to see how each students’ design faired…thus each student would be contributing to the one project)

Option 2: A traditional science fair. Each student would choose some experiment they enjoy. There would be a couple brief meet= ings (one initial meeting where the teacher explains things and then possibly two more meetings after that) for the students to discuss their project with librarians and teachers and in that time the students could use the library= or computers/internet to do research. In this science fair each student has their own project and does the= ir own work (though there is an option for a few students to do a project toge= ther if that was preferred). Tara = also suggested that students try to replicate an old experiment. It was suggested that this type of project would start with 3^rd graders.

Option 3: Science (Fun) Night: S= usan Schlegel emphasized the importance of encompassing the whole students body = in anything the PTO does. Susan suggested that it might be best to start small with the science fair and ha= ve a kick-off science night next fall. Susan further explained that the PTO was considering doing a Family = Fun Night either in the spring or fall that would be a free event for families = to attend. There had been consideration in paying WonderLab (about $200) to come in and run a fun fam= ily science night (which had been done at Summit in the past thanks to the Fami= ly Resource Center). It was furt= her suggested that maybe we could make this Science Night a fundraiser and char= ge $1 per family. It was also discussed that the science night include student projects (possibly 5^t=
h/6^th graders) and that these projects could plug into something that the students are already doing in class. Tara suggested that the students fill out entry forms and pay a fee to enter their projects in the fair. Then judges will explain the rules= and will award ribbons.

Tara stated that she would be willing to commit her ti= me to having a science fair at Summit and would help get the word out about this = new idea. Tara also handed out two pamphlets regarding experimenting with science in the PTO and invention sto= ries for kids. Theresa Malone in t= he FRC asks that we keep her updated on this info. Laura Bates suggested having an “Invention Convention” type of science fair where all the stude= nts could be involved. Invention Convention is a patented page for kids’ inventions. Laura also suggested that experime= nts could be environmentally based. Emily Cook stated she had heard of other schools in our area doing similar school projects. Clear Creek supposedly has this type of science fair in the spring and involves t= he kids writing reports and using poster board to show off their projects as w= ell as each class giving it’s own ribbons. Tara explained that a science guy = named “Uncle Fester” had helped in the past with science fairs and th= at he was kid-friendly and might be an option our school should explore for our science fair. Having a science-minded person to help out would hopefully mean less work for others involved. Tara volunteered to= put some fliers together with information about the science fair. The idea of having an invention convention was further discussed. It was suggested that the idea of a Science Night be presented to teachers and discussed with Mrs. Deluce (librarian) to see if she or any of= the teachers would have any down time to work on helping students with this. It was suggested that the PTO woul= d need guidelines and ideas from teachers as well as suggestions on grouping classes. We would possibly gr= oup K-2^nd grades together and 3^rd-6^th grade together for the fair. A time= line of expectations for students and their projects would also need to be determined by the librarian/teachers It was suggested that the science fair take place next November. This would allow the students the = first 9 weeks of school to prepare their projects for the fair (as 2-3 months of = prep work was recommended by Tara). Susan Schlegel and Tara Deppert agreed to talk about the science fai= r at the next staff meeting and present what information we had about this wonde= rful opportunity. Tara stated she = would check on the availability and cost of “Uncle Fester” the science guy. Susan stated she was sti= ll waiting for a reply from the WonderLab representative.

Treasurer’s Report

Laura Bates presented the October Treasurer’s Re= port (see attached) and she also reviewed the revised September Treasurer’s Report (see October minutes). Laura made note that she had not yet received the bank statement for the savings account, but that there would be no activity to report other than a similar interest payment and the reversal of the “copy fee”. She would = make sure the copy fee was reversed on both accounts. Laura noted that the Skate Night (Western Skateland) fundraiser had a lower profit ($13.75) due to it falling the night before fall break. = There was a brief discussion regarding t-shirt profit. There was a question of $20 in rel= ation to the Summit t-shirts. It was thought this was in reference to the three t-shirts given to the girls who = won the t-shirt contest, but it was later realized that this cost would have be= en $24 ($8 per t-shirt)

Old Business:

Playground Equipment

Melissa Hinkle had = spoken with the playground equipment installers and the plan was to have the prima= ry playground equipment installed on Monday, November 5^th. The mulch would hopefully be sprea= d soon after. Hopefully the equipmen= t will all be installed and completed by Wednesday, November 7^th. The edging for around the equipmen= t was significantly less in price that previously noted, as it was on sale and le= ss was needed that previously anticipated.&nb= sp;

Hot Dog Stan= d

The hot dog stand fundraiser will be pushed back to the spring (possibly April). We will hopefully be able to reser= ve the hot dog stand at Walmart, which would bring in more profit for Summit, since Walmart price matches what money we make.&= nbsp; Alena Sanford is helping organize this event.

LGI Calendar=

Just a reminder tha= t the PTO dates are on the LGI calendar in the office.

T-shirts

Summit t-shirts wil= l be ordered only as needed and if pre-paid.&nb= sp; It was noted that the size of “child large” was the most popular this year. It was also stated that it makes sense that this year and in the years to come there be less of a t-shirt profit since older students might already own old Summit t-shirts and will not need to purchase new ones. Susan Schlegel offered to set up a= PTO table at the upcoming Read with Me event at Summit on November 8 from 6:30-= 7:30 in the Gym.

Action List<= o:p>

Susan Schlegel revi= ewed the October action list to make sure everything was done. Mr. Waltz stated he did reimburse Melissa Hinkle the money she needed for the Shining Star incentive supplies= . Susan Schlegel and Kelly Stegemoll= er had been in contact with Charla Lancaster regarding the Summit/PTO webpage and updating some of the information. Kelly had just emailed Charla and was awaiting a reply. Laura Bates noted she had purchase= d a $25 Kroger card and that card would be left in the office for the PTO to us= e as needed for supplies.

Teacher Lunc= heon

Mr. Waltz stated ho= w he and the teachers and staff very much appreciated the wonderful staff lunche= on that the PTO and its volunteers provided.&= nbsp; All of the food and supplies were donated and everything was delicious. It was a great suc= cess! Many thanks to Vonna Pfeiffer who organized the event and gathered volunteers. Mrs. Lee had made a lovely thank y= ou to all involved.

Barnes and N= oble

Vicki Hudson and Su= san Schlegel were working together to get the flier out for the Barnes and Noble bookfair coming up on Sunday, November 25^th from 9am-9pm. This fundraiser is almost effortle= ss and the PTO will receive up to 20% of all sales made by those who use the vouch= er that day. Mr. Waltz stated he= had just proofed the bookfair vouchers and that Vicki Hudson will print the information along with the vouchers (on blue PTO paper) and send them out w= ith students on Monday, November 5^th. Mrs. Peek and the Student Council = will not be able to gift wrap at the bookfair this year, but Mr. Shute and some students have graciously volunteered to gift wrap from 12-4pm at the bookfa= ir and to give all the profit from that to the PTO.

Santa’s Secret Shop

Santa’s Secret Shop will be held on Friday, Dece= mber 14 from 3-6pm and on Saturday, December 15 from 9-11am. Pictures with Santa will be offere= d on Saturday, December 15^th from 9-10:30am. Theresa Malone has offered the use= of a Polaroid camera for the purpose of taking pictures of kids with Santa. The cost for a picture with Santa = will be $1. It was suggested that = Santa hand out cookies since the PTO has a surplus of frozen cookies leftover from the Summit Open House/STARt-Up. The Secret Santa Shop will be counted and packed up on Saturday after the sale = and the truck will be reloaded on Sunday, Dec. 16^th.

New Business:

Shining Star

It was suggested that the Shining Star breakfasts be healthier than they are currently. Though this will cost the PTO more money it was agreed that making t= hese breakfasts/snacks healthier would be a good example to our students. The thought was to replace the pop= -tarts with go-gurts (yogurt), which would cost $1-$3 more.

School Announcements

There was discussion regarding the lack of school announcements on the Summit phone message/voice mail system, and the import= ance of getting information to Summit parents (i.e. such as upcoming events like Read With Me). It was suggest= ed that parents/guardians calling the school phone be able to access school announcements via phone. The = PTO would also like to put announcements on there if possible. Mr. Waltz stated that he would take responsibility for this and will make sure any necessary announcements are added to the phone service. A= ny upcoming announcements should be given to Mr. Waltz until further notice.

Update on PTO Brainsto= rming Meeting

Some of the PTO officers met recently to brainstorm and discuss possibilities and plans for new PTO fundraisers for the rest of the year as well as family fun events for the future. Susan Schlegel and Melissa Hinkle = had recently spoken with Theresa Malone from the FRC (Family Resource Center).<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Currently Mrs. Malone is in charge= of the family events at Summit, but her grant is almost complete and then she = will no longer be at Summit to host these events. It was posed that the PTO might ta= ke some of this responsibility, but during the brainstorming meeting it was ag= reed upon that the PTO can’t take on that responsibility now and we don’t know how much support we would be able to gain from parents and= teachers. It was suggested at the brainstorm meeting that once a semester we as a PTO host a free Family Fun Night open = to the entire school. Some sugge= stions for this fun night included: 1) Science Fair in the fall, 2) Movie Night in= the gym. Susan posed this idea to= Mr. Waltz as there were questions regarding copyrighting and charging money. It was also suggested we use Pic a= Chic services (which would cost about $200).&nb= sp; This would allow us to rent the movie equipment and show the movie. = 3) WonderLab Night (which has been done by the Family Resource Center here at Summit) and 4) A Dance (possi= bly a 50’s theme) with pizza in the cafeteria. Heather Rhodes suggested having a = dance agency come in and teach dancing. There was also discussion during the brainstorm meeting about moving= the spring carnival to the fall and making it a fall festival.

PTO Newslett= er

The new PTO newslet= ter (the S.S. Summit) was passed around during the meeting for those present to view. It will hopefully be distributed to students on Monday, November 5^th. Thanks to Vonna Pfeiffer for all h= er hard work in putting this great, new newsletter together for our school and it’s students and parents.

SumList=

There was discussion about getting more Summit parents to sign up for SumList and what is the be= st way to go about this. Informa= tion on how parents/guardians can subscribe to SumList will be on the new newsle= tter going out next week. Getting = as many parents/guardians to subscribe to SumList will allow them to be able to receive all current PTO/school information and could lead to better parent support/involvement. It was suggested that at the beginning of the school year at least one PTO officer attend each grade level parent meeting and talk to parents at those meetings about the importance of signing up for SumList and having them sign up via paper that day.

Musical Instruments

There was a request= for musical instruments to be purchased by the PTO. It was again noted that the PTO is= going to focus on supporting/giving funds to things that encompass the student bo= dy as a whole and not just specific classes and grade levels.

Market Day

Joann Alperstein-Abdoo gave the October Market Day report. There was a profit of $139.18 with 208 items sold and 37 customers. The next Market Day sale/pick-up d= ate is Tuesday, December 11^th from 5:30pm-6:30pm in the LGI Room at Summit. Paper orders and internet/on-line orders are both due by 12noon on Thursday, Decemeber 6th. Joann suggested that at the Decemb= er 11^th sale we gather extra volunteers and also sell Kroger Cards. This cross-marketing approach would allow two fundraisers to occur at one time and hopefully raise more money f= or Summit.

Other

Snacks/Treats for School Parties

Laura Bates brought up the subject of treats/snacks th= at are brought in for parties and how we can avoid the mass amounts of sugar and s= weet treats. It was suggested that= there be some guidelines on what food to bring to parties. It was stated that some sweet trea= ts are ok, but that there be a variation for healthy food to offer as well. Mr. Waltz stated that at this curr= ent time the menu for parties is solely up to the teacher. Vicki Streiff suggested that some school-wide guidelines be drawn up and printed for all the teachers to foll= ow and for parents to be aware of so there is no more confusion.

MRSA

Laura Bates brought up the subject of MRSA and the nee= d to be fervently washing our students’ hands throughout the day and espec= ially before lunch. It was suggeste= d that we stop using hand sanitizer on our student’s hands because it was thought that the chemicals in the sanitizer encourage these super bugs like MRSA to develop. It was also = suggested that trough sinks be installed near the cafeteria so students can simply wa= sh their hands with soap and water, but due to that high cost that was most li= kely not going to be an option at Summit. There was also discussion about the activity schedule of the students and how that has been altered to effect proper hand-washing. Right now students go to recess be= fore lunch and once they come in the door from recess they wash their hands with hand sanitizer and then eat their lunch.&n= bsp; Vicki Streiff suggested finding some kind of wipe that uses water and soap and putting those on the lunch tables for all the students to use inst= ead of using hand sanitizer. Vicki offered to look into the PTO purchasing these wipes and it was stated that we’d need approximately 500 wipes per day for the entire student body= .

Board Meeting

Mr. Waltz stated that on Tuesday, November 20^{th
Summit Elementary will make a presentation to the school board (the meeting
starts at 7pm). A small porti=
on of
the presentation will be about the PTO.&nb=
sp;
This is an important presentation and will last about 15 minutes
total. An email had recently =
been
sent out to Summit Staff regarding this important event and Heather Rhodes,
Mrs. Ambrose and Mrs. Peek were all involved in it. A video of Summit students highlig=
hting
school activities was being produced to view at the meeting as a means of
showing our students and their school pride. Mr. Waltz stated that Summit Famil=
ies would
be made aware of this important event soon.}

Possible New Secretary

Mr. Waltz stated that Mrs. Chambers; Assistant Superin= tendent for Human Resources and Personnel at MCCSC, will hopefully be recommending = soon that MCCSC hire another secretary for Summit.

Meeting Adjourned at 8:03p.m.

Next PTO Meeting is Thursday, December 6^th = at 6:30p.m. in the LGI Room at Summit

Minutes Recorded by PTO Recording Secretary, Kelly Stegemoller

Action List from November 1, 2007

Summit P= .T.O.

&nb= sp;

At the next PTO meeting it needs to be noted that Camp= bell Soup Labels and Box Tops for Education are not PTO fundraisers but are Stud= ent Council fundraisers used to purchase picnic tables and small equipment items for recess. This fundraising = money is not being given to Cindy Graham to spend on PE equipment as noted previo= usly.

Tara Deppert and Susan Schlegel will present the scien= ce fair information at the next staff meeting and will talk with teachers and staff about helping with the science fair.

Susan Schlegel will set up and run the PTO table at th= e Read With Me night at Summit on November 8 selling t-shirts, baller bands, Kroger cards, etc.

Alena Sanford will contact Walmart soon about Summit h= aving a spring hot dog sale fundraiser there hopefully in April.

Kelly Stegemoller will send Charla Lancaster the curre= nt minutes and PTO newsletters so they can be posted on the Summit/PTO webpage= .

Vicki Hudson will send Barnes and Noble information and vouchers out to parents/students by Monday, November 8^th.

The new PTO Newsletter (S.S. Summit) will also go out = to students and their families by Monday, November 8^th.

Once the Summit Shining Start Breakfast Poptarts are g= one the PTO will buy healthier breakfast choices/snacks such as Go-Gurts (yogur= t).

Mr. Waltz will work on getting the Summit announcement= s on the phone so parents/guardians calling can get current school/PTO information.<= /p>

School wide guidelines should be drawn up and posted s= oon regarding snacks/treats to be brought in for school parties so that teacher= s, students and parents all are on the same page.

Vicki Streiff will try to find some type of hand wipe = that uses only soap and water for students to use to wash their hands after rece= ss and before eating lunch.

&nb= sp;

	Summit P.T.O Treasurer's Report
		Month of October 2007

	Income		(Expenditures)	Year to Date
					Profits

T - Shirts	$16.00	T Shirt Purchase	$95.25		($20.00)
Magazines=	$10.00	Magazine Orders=	$5.00		$45.00
Starlight Drive In	$0.00				$8.00
Western Skateland	$13.75				$37.50
		Summit Star	$34.41		$151.05
		Playground	$259.47		$259.47
		Stamps	$8.20		$8.20
Target Take Charge	$0.00				$422.70
Prior Yr. Kroger Sal= es	$25.00				$175.00
Current Kroger Sales=	$25.00				$25.00
Market Day	$201.29				$370.69
Donations=	$75.00		_________=		$75.00
Total 10/07 Receipts=	$366.04 <= /span>	Total 10/07 Expend.<= /b>	$402.33 <= /span>


Checking Account Balance
Ledger Balance 9/30/= 07	$1,886.94
October Receipts	$366.04
October Expenditures=	($402.33)
	$1,850.65	Checking Balance 10/31/07


Savings Account Balance