HB BRUNNER PTA
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING - 7:30 p.m.
November 19, 2013
Meeting called to order by Rita Route, PTA President at __7:35____ pm
RECORDING SECRETARY- Stephanie Alber-
Please sign our attendance sheet.
Copies of our September 17, 2013 meeting minutes were emailed to committee chairs and are available here today. Any corrections or additions will be made during unfinished business.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY- Deb Lambert-
GIFT CARD-
In November, the PTA gave a $25 gift card to Mr. Bortnick for Principal's month.
THANK YOU NOTES - RECEIVED Passed around for all to view.
We received a Thank you note from Mr. Bortnick for the gift card.
NOTES- SENT
A sympathy Card was sent to Kathy Fritz whoseDad passed away end ofOctober.
REMINDER: Any suggestions for appropriate messages send to Deb Lambert, please.
TREASURER – Karyn Gaulin –
See attached report. The budget was approved at the Halloween party.
FIRST V.P. – Susan Judge-
SECOND V.P. –Kate Vanderheyden
Thank you Mr. Bortnick and the PTA for the retiree pictures and the assemblies for the Week of Respect. The teachers are looking forward to the book fair.
THIRD V.P. – Dawn Smith-
Fundraising-
*This year's Kidstuff coupon book sale was our most profitable yet, with the majority of the books sold to parents in the lower grades. Also, many parents purchased books for other counties. We broke a Brunner record this year by selling 105 books! Brunner received $1312.50.
*The recent Mixed Bag Designs sale was solid, though not as profitable as expected. We had sales of $3,023, and a profit of $1,633.70. A number of organizations in the area seem to be the same fundraiser, so perhaps we have reached Mixed Bag saturation.
*I would like to discuss whether we will decide to do the Gertrude Hawk chocolate sale in the spring. I would also like to do a one-time United Scrip sale in the spring, in the weeks before the Teacher Appreciation luncheon. It is difficult to sell the gift cards solely by publicizing it through the Brunner Backpack.
HONORARY V.P. –Scott Bortnick –
Flyers will be printed and sent home via the students backpack to inform parents of the Everyday Mathematics workshop that will be held over four nights.
PTA PRESIDENT- Rita Route-
Thank you to the committees for the Walk to School Day, Pictures, Cultural Arts, Halloween Party and the Clothing Drive.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
ACE –Heather Negley/Karyn Gaulin
ACE will be running again in January, 2014. A few changes have been made thus far. Due to classroom conflicts/limitations, we will be holding classes on Mondays, not Thursdays. The dates are January 6, 13 and 27. There is no school/ACE on Monday, Jan. 20 as we observe MLK day.
We are currently looking for volunteers to teach classes and help ACE run smoothly. Adult volunteers as well as middle school/high school students are welcome. If you'd like to help, but are unsure of what you can do, please contact Heather Negley or Karyn Gaulin. We'd be happy to work with you.
Board of Education/ District Legislative Team- Teresa Keeler
Book Fair- Kaneez Madraswalla/Michelle Mauer/Kathy Stewart
The Brunner book fair will be held on Tuesday, November 19th through Friday, November 22, including evening hourson Tuesday (7:30)and Thursday (8:00). We are doing something new this year by having storytimeon Tuesday evening at6:45 p.m., where Mr. Bortnick will read his favorite bedtime story to the children - who can come in their pajamas!Flyers were sent home via the student'sbackpack, customized with a note as when the child would browse and buy at the Book Fair. We ran an article in the Brunner backpack and also an eblast. We are still in need of volunteers for set-up onMonday, November 18th, through the fair and for pack-up on Friday afternoon,November 22. Please volunteer! Please contact Michelle Mauer at or by phone908-889-8889.
Box Top- Faye Spieler
We raised $1,012.
Brunner Backp@ck- Danielle Hale/Michelle Abate/Matt Fountain
Chemical Dependency – Jennifer Ryan
Children’s Garden/ Beautify Brunner – Susan Judge
Clothing Drive- Angela Scott
The fall clothing drive was a success. I should know the amount of the donations soon. This year's collection will be donated to the disaster relief in thePhilippines. We are working out the details to send the donation to a local church.
Cultural Arts- Jennifer Fazio/Janet Warbeck/Susan CLement
Education Awareness Week is Nov. 18 - Nov. 22.
Cultural Arts Representativehas picked up from the Mr. Rosenberger selected artwork from Brunner students that will be displayedin the SP & Fanwood Library. Brunner pieces will be displayed with a redboarder for identification purposes. Families are encouraged to stop in and view the artwork.
Day of Discovery –Farid Madraswalla
Faculty Advisor- Fernanda Waxman
Family Fitness Night- Danielle Lorenzetti
Family Fun NIght- Deb Lambert
Patriots Game is in June. Date TBD. Suggested date - last night of school - June 20, 2014.
Field Day- Ashley Tufuga
Fourth grade activities: Sharon Au/Caterina DiLollo.
T-shirts designed and waiting to be ordered – confirmed names and sizes for all students and teachers. Target to hand out t-shirts to students as soon as we come back from winter break and wear their shirts the first Friday, Jan 3. Shirts will say Brunner Class 2014, so will help ring in the New Year 2014. Parents can buy 4th grade shirts at cost ($6) to show support of 4th grade class and school spirit . Snowball dance is scheduled for Friday, Jan 24. DJ is booked and committee is planning activities. ACE committee have come up with ideas and prepping for ACE classes to create decorations and banners for EOR.
Go Green- Heather Negley/Susan Judge
Hopes to raise awareness in the Brunner Community about "Going Green" and to increase the number of ways that we engage in environmentally friendly practices at Brunner. The goals are meant to ultimately help our children be more aware of the importance of taking care of the environment.
Guest Reader- Chrissy Hausle
Halloween Party- Rita Route/Danielle Lorenzetti
Health and Safety- Sapna Llano
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Holiday Boutique- Leah Acevedo
Hospitality– Rachel Lassman
KidStuff Coupon Books- Judi Resnicoff We broke a Brunner record this year by selling 105 books! Brunner received $1312.50. Dawn was a huge help by making books available for viewing on the blacktop, and more importantly, by preschool and kindergarten doors, attracting "new blood. "
Labels For Education- Judi Resnicoff/Kathy Stewart
Liaison To CHILD-MaryKate Lesnevich
Liaison To The Community – Michelle Mauer
Liaison To Park Middle School – Jennifer Ryan
....power school is up and running
....5th grade parent/teacher conferences have begun
....student council has begun to meet weekly
Liaison To High School – Jennifer Ryan
....tomorrow is a tour of the HS open to the Community
....powerschool is up and running
....several fall sports made it into the playoffs
....marching band earned #1 in the state
Liaison To Preschool – Sapna Llano
Media Center Rep- Megan Pryslak/Erin Garrett
We have been working with Ms. Hirshhorn on getting volunteers to help out in the Media Center. We have a volunteer scheduled weekly for each morning and an extra volunteer who plans to come in about one afternoon a month.
Our author visit is scheduled for Tuesday, February 11th with author/illustrator Eric Velasquez. We are in the process of gathering information on which of his many books we plan to offer for parents to order and hope to have a display in the library during conference week. We will have order forms going out to parents in the backpack starting the week after Thanksgiving. Orders need to be in before the holiday break so that we can order the books as soon as we get back in January. We were also considering putting a display out and having forms available for parents to order during the pretzel sale that first week of December if possible.
Membership –Jutta DiVizio
We currently have 311 Members. Membership is downfrom last year. If you have not joined the PTA yet, please sign up. The sign up formcan beaccessed on the Brunner Website.
Parliamentarian- OPEN
Parent Social- Sandra Karyczak
Pretzel Sales- Christine Schunke
PTA Council – OPEN
Publicity- Stephanie Young
QUEST – OPEN
Read to Succeed – Rachel Kassick
Reflections – Jean Rosen
Scholarship – Mia Aitken
School Supplies - Sharon Au
First year of doing prepackaged school supplies and only communicated after school year ended in June. Raised $66.60. Will use same supply list for next year and should be able to revise list after contract is signed.
Spirit Wear- Deb Lambert
Sale was kicked off at Back to School Night: October 3.
The Sale Ended: October 18
We had over 100 orders. We will continue to sell Magnets throughout the year and on "pretzel" Fridays.
Summer Reading- OPEN
Toner Recycling- Angela Scott
Variety Show – Samantha Nelson/Tina Price
Ways & Means- OPEN
Walk to School- Tracy Leone
Week of Respect- Sapna Llano
Young Peoples Theatre- Eileen Villar
In the past they would have had all of the information out already and I would have made a poster for the conferences. But last year changed that. So what the new steps seem to be -
- Advanced ticket sales will be in January.
- Hopefully I will get everything in December.
- This year in addition to advertising via the Backpack, Mr Bortnick had agreed (last year) that I can send home a flyer via the students' backpack. This will be a test year of sorts to see if Brunner has any increase in advanced sales. (There was minimal last year.) The flyers will be copied by the PTA chairperson.
The two performances are:
2/1 - Happily Ever After
2/8- Celebrating NJ
Both will be held at Park this year. I do not yet have any details about the shows.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Are there any corrections or additions to the meeting minutes from September’s meeting?
I make a motion to approve the minutes. All in favor, all opposed any abstentions?
(The minutes were approved from the 9.17.13 meeting?) Approved by _Heather Negley, Kathy Stewart and Mrs. Vanderheyden(three names)
NEW BUSINESS
REMARKS FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER
Our next PTA meeting will be February 18, 2014_ at 7:30 pm.
Meeting Adjourned by Rita Route, PTA President at _8:32 pm