Follow-up on October board meeting

We rushed through our meeting pretty quick so here's an opportunity to follow up if there were any unresolved issues. The first that comes to my mind is a date and time for our General Membership Meeting in November. I'd appreciate it if you'd all post a comment with a list of any evenings that you are unavailable so we can try to find a time we can all attend. Thanks.

October Board Meeting info

Date: Tuesday, October 14th
Time: 4:00-5:00 pm
Location: To be announced

GES principal & lead teacher meeting report

This is taken from my sporadic notes and my memory (even more sporadic) so if you were there and see something I've missed please leave a comment.

• Junior Engineering - I reported that the Individual Development Commission was happy to contribute $1,250 towards Junior Engineering. I believe that should cover most, if not all, of the cost of that program.

• Orange fund-raiser - They were concerned, and understandable so, about storage and distribution. The fruit cannot stay in the school overnight because of a problem they're having with "critters". We also agree that kids (especially walking and bus students) can't carry the fruit home. I shared one possible solution that had been discussed in a previous meeting with the principal. We could make a schedule for evening pick-up divided alphabetically by last name. The fruit could be kept inside the school near the back doors so parents could drive up close for easy loading. The teachers felt that it would be important for parents to be aware of pick-up procedure before ordering.

• Future fund-raisers - Some teachers wondered if we have ever considered asking for donations instead of a fund-raiser. Apparently Stansbury has had great success with this, although those attending acknowledged that Stansbury has a different socioeconomic make-up than Grantsville. Dominique also commented that she hadn't seen support for that idea in the past. The possibility of doing a fund-raiser and a separate donation drive was briefly mentioned but the district recommends a maximum of two fund-raisers (one school and one PTA.)

• Grants - When asked I told them grants averaged $1,500 per principal, $800 per grade, and $400 per library. The teachers expressed their appreciation for those and for all that PTA does. I was told we have a better PTA than some other schools they know of - good work everyone! I also reiterated that it was important to PTA that the teachers were able to do the activities/programs they needed and if grants money wasn't sufficient PTA would do whatever we could to help.

• Box-tops - Third grade had the idea, which I love, that money earned for box-tops should go directly to the class who collected those boxtops. I bet the inter-class competition and extra motivation for teachers and students would really increase the number of box-tops that came in. Plus, the reward would go to those who made the effort and that's only fair. The teachers also wondered if we're still collecting milk caps. Kacey, would you please get back to me about those two things?

• PTA fliers – We have a new policy that all fliers need to be given to Principal Wyatt at least 24 hours before they're put in teachers boxes. You can send him a copy at jwyatt@tooelesd.org . He gets a lot of e-mail so be sure to put “PTA flier” in the subject line so he'll recognize that. If Principal Wyatt is gone we can also clear fliers with Assistant Principal Zaleski. His e-mail is jzaleski@tooelesd.org . In fact, it may be prudent to send it to both of them every time since we may not know if or how long Mr Wyatt might be away from the school. The same should hold true for Willow. Principal Brunsdale's address is mbrunsdale@tooelesd.org I will ask him if there is someone else at Willow who he would permit to clear fliers. Also (and I know I'm not perfect at this either) we need to remember to set a good example by using our best grammar and spelling when we send fliers home. Lastly, please put your name and phone number on fliers and newsletter entries so people can contact you instead of bothering the principal if they have questions or comments.

• Patriotic art gallery – The GES librarian has also received an art grant so it was suggested that we work together with her on that. I mentioned a suggestion I had received from a board member that we also include art depicting more current events in U.S. History including 9/11. The general consensus was a preference to focus on the more positive aspects of our history. The comment was made that more recent events in history are throughly covered in the secondary schools.

• Bullying-prevention – I was aware that there were reservations about an assembly so I explained that we have already budgeted for it and that Mr. Brunsdale would gladly take it if they didn't want it, but that the board and I felt there was a greater need at Grantsville. The teachers were interested to know more about our concerns about the bullying problem and concluded to solicit the children. Another question that arose was the definition of bullying. I deferred to the district policy. The teachers felt like an assembly was unlikely to have an impact and suggested that it would be more successful if handled in a classroom setting. A teacher showed us a couple of her books on bullying and suggested using something like that. I responded that, having seen the assembly, I was confident that it would have a measurable impact on those who attended. I also shared my observation that teachers who offered to be PTA teacher reps were likewise the kind of teacher who would be on top of any bullying problem in their classroom, but that is not always the case with all teachers. I shared some examples of this that I have seen. The teachers agreed to discuss the assembly with the staff and will let us know their decision.

• A few misc items of business...

• If we use high-schooler to assist with the bike rodeo they suggest we be selective, using groups like the Youth Council for example.

• The teachers requested that we give them advanced warning about Reflections.

• The district has banned war-ball and dodge-ball so we won't be able to do those at field day.

I'd like to thank Principal Wyatt and teachers for taking the time to meet with us, for their valuable input, and for all their hard work on behalf of our kids.

Comments on our Monday board meeting.

I know our meeting was really rushed. Sorry, I was trying to keep it under an hour (and we came pretty close.) However, I got the impression several people still had questions and comments they didn't have an opportunity to share. Plus, sometimes we have new ideas in the days following a discussion. So here's your opportunity to comment...

Fund-raiser prizes

KennaRae has a great idea that every child who participates in the fund-raiser should be given a small thank-you prize plus be entered in a raffle for bigger prizes. Being the brilliant and financially-prudent women she is, she is hoping to have many of the raffle items donated. She asked me to post a request that if any of you know of a businesses who might be willing to contribute a toy or other incentive please leave a comment here.

Monthly meeting schedule

We have a dilemma. It's not convenient for board members to meet after school because that's important parent-time (help with homework, family dinner, soccer practice, etc.) however our teacher reps obviously can't attend if we hold our meetings during school hours. Any suggestions? One ideas I had is alternating meeting times each month so that both board members and teachers have a chance to attend at least sometimes. For example: on odd numbered months (September, November, etc.) meet during school hours, and on even numbered months (October, December, etc.) we meet after school hours - on a Wednesday perhaps. Let's still plan on our regularly scheduled meeting time this Monday because we have a few new board members who need to get acquainted and because Willow still doesn't have a teacher representative yet. As for the future, what do you guys think about this plan? Any other ideas?

Good news for second graders

We were approached by a second grade teacher at Willow who was concerned about the over-sized classes. Currently, they each have 29 and 30 students in each class and were bound to have several more by the end of the year because of the continued growth in our community. Jolene contacted Karen Nelson at the school district and shared our concerns. I forwarded a copy of their correspondence to the teacher who first brought this to our attention. I wanted to share her reply with you all...

Casey,
Thanks so much for all your help and support for the 2nd grade teachers. Also a BIG thanks to your commissioner, Jolene. You guys are awesome and so appreciated. It takes all of us pushing and pulling from all ends to keep awareness high and hopefully a swift resolution to the problem. We're trying to do our part on this end to keep the focus on. Again we appreciate all the help and support you guys are contributing. Keep smiling! Sincerely,
Stephanie Nicholls
2nd Grade Teacher at Willow

Yesterday at Willow's back-to-school night they announced that they will be getting an additional 2^nd grade teacher. I like to think we had some small part in that. Well done Jolene!