Sacandaga PTA Meeting

February 15,2005

Minutes of Meeting

Attendees

Cathie Sweeney       
MaryPat Burke        
Jeanne Derwin Butler

Cathy Conroy

Cassidy Wachtel

Jen King                  

Melinda Prickett      
Brenda Rice

Kelly Millington      
Suzanne Tonsberg

John Tobiassen        
Maureen Ciotoli

Teri Lessard             
Lynne Connelly

Kim Lavery             
Beth Fritzeen

Linda Plemenik       
Christine Polsinelli

Call to Order

* The meeting was called to order at 7:08 pm

Approval of Minutes

* The minutes were approved as posted. Lynne Connelly mentioned that since the theme for the 5th grade luncheon was posted in last months minutes that there is now a different theme for the luncheon this year.

President’s Report-Cathie Sweeney and MaryPat Burke

* A welcome was extended to Teri Lessard from grade 3 and to Kelly Millington who works in the speech department.

* For future reference ...no latex balloons can be used for any school event.

* Congratulations were extended to our Sacandaga Founder’s Day Dinner winners: Peter Lee, Lorraine Bailey, Maureen and Nick Ciotoli.

* The Boy Scout charter for Troop 62 has been signed. It was voted on by the Executive Board via e-mail because there was a time line that needed to be met.

* The March PTA meeting has been changed to March 8th because the 5th grade orientation is March 16th.

* Becky DiCaprio had a baby boy on February 9th. His name is Noah.

* The April PTA meeting may change....look for more information to follow.

* The PTA would like to have a Hospitality Chairperson (a new position) to cover food for special events, gifts for different occasions etc .Lynne Connelly made a motion to form a Hospitality Committee. Maureen Cioltoli seconded the motion, a vote was taken and all in attendance agreed that this committee should be formed. Now a Chairperson is needed.

* Steve Charney did a great job with his magical presentation for PARP and the students really enjoyed him.

* The Reflections Contest is wrapping up. We are waiting on a list of participants and then the students will receive their awards. Mr. Tobiassen said that he has the list of students and Mrs. Lavery mentioned that the students have already been notified about their awards.

Teacher’s Report-Kim Lavery

* There have been 1000+ adopt-a-soldier items donated so far.

* The visiting author was at the school on February 15th. Overall the feeling was that it was a good presentation for the younger students.

* There will be a teacher raffle at the Ziti Dinner and all proceeds will benefit the Bob Kortas Memorial Scholarship fund ( He was a 3rd grade teacher at Sacandaga for 40+ years). There will also be a bake sale at the school walk-about that will benefit this scholarship fund. This is a scholarship that goes to a graduating Sacandaga student that is pursuing education as a career.

* The faculty is requesting the purchase of an Ellison die cut machine. The starter set costs about $1800. They plan to use Box Top money, but there still may be an additional request of money from the PTA in order to cover the total purchase price.

Principal’s Report-John Tobiassen

* The grade 3-5 concert is February 16th at the High School at 7pm.

* The food service advisory meeting is March 28th at Glendaal (this is a change of date).

* On March 5th the grade 5 science classes will participate in a call in radio program. They will be able to call in and ask questions of a scientist. This will be at 2 pm on WAMC radio 93.5 fm.

* The Superintendent Search Committee held a community forum last week to get some input from the community. We should make sure that we have a representative from Sacandaga at these community meetings!

* March 7th will be the K-5 reorganization committee hearing. This will be before the Board meeting.

* The Facilities Committee report will be coming soon.

* Sacandaga had great participation is the Reflections program! Here are some stats:

There were 61 entries, 24 of those were Sacandaga students. 4 students entered in the Literature category, 3 of which are moving onto the district level. 20 students entered in the Visual Arts category, 4 of which are moving onto the district level.

Standing Committee Reports

* Council Representative (Maureen Ciotoli) Council was very impressed with our schools participation in the Reflections program. They thought that Mrs. Lavery had a great idea to do the program as a class project. March 2nd is the Reflections reception. March 3rd is the 5th grade orientation at Glendaal.

* Homeroom Parents (Brenda Rice) Teacher Appreciation and End of the Year parties are coming up.

* Ways and Means (Lisa Dangerfield) No Report.

* Programs (Linda Plemenik) The Circus week will be March 7-11. Help is needed for set up and clean up for the Friday night show at the High School. The theme for this years Circus is "The Wild, Wild West". Linda asked if the PTA would like to do Circus T-shirts for the 5th graders. The cost would be about $400. Maureen Ciotoli made a motion to purchase the t-shirts and Cathy Conroy seconded the motion.. A vote was taken and all in attendance agreed that the PTA would purchase t-shirts for the 5th graders. The PTA will provide lunches for the performers during the week. Volunteers are needed to provide these meals.

* Membership (Suzanne Tonsberg) There are 2 new members.

* Ziti Dinner (Suzanne Tonsberg) April 29th will be the date for this event. A few quotes have been received and so far Carm’s has offered the best deal for the food for the evening. The quotes have come back in the $5-$7 price range per person. Suzanne thought it might be nice to have a craft set up so that the children could make a Mother’s day gift at the Dinner. One idea that she had was to do a Color Me Mine project. The children would paint a ceramic item and the cost would be about $12 per person depending on the ceramic item chosen. There was some concern about the cost of this project.

* Box Tops (Suzanne Tonsberg) Mrs. Montone’s class won the "I love my Teacher" contest and she received a nice gift basket. The students in the class all received a gift bag too. There is $638.40 in Box Tops to be sent out now, which makes a total of $1135.

* Banking (Anne Cardany) No Report.

* Cub Scouts (Jen King) The Scouts Blue and Gold Dinner was this month and some of the Scouts moved up. It was a fun evening for everyone.

* PARP ( Laura Carroll) No Report

* 5th Grade Luncheon (Lynne Connelly) The theme has been changed and all is moving along well. The requests for food donations have gone out and they are waiting to hear back.

Treasurer’s Report-Christine Polsinelli

* $500 was transferred into the Kay Sturdy Fund. Checking has a balance of $3007.38. Savings has a balance of $7880.15. The total amount available in the General Fund is $10,887.53.

Open Floor-New Business

* Linda Plemenik asked if the Girl Scouts can do a cookie booth sale at the Friday night Circus performance. Mr. Tobiassen said that as long as it is a non-profit organization it should be fine. He will check just to verify that it is okay.

* Melinda Prickett is a new parent at Sacandaga and she has some concerns about school security. The previous school that her child attended had security cameras to monitor who was entering and leaving the building and she thought it may be a good idea for Sacandaga. Mr. Tobiassen reassured her that the school does have adequate security and the school is all locked up during the day except for the front door by the office.

* Brenda Rice mentioned that the students are really enjoying the Chess Club.

* The next PTA meeting is March 8th at 7pm.

Adjournment

* The meeting was adjourned at 8:00pm

Respectfully Submitted,

Beth Fritzeen

PTA Secretary

Attachments: for file copy only

Agenda

Treasurer’s Report