Ponderosa PTA Meeting
November 14, 2016
Meeting called to order at 5:35pm
Board Members: Emilie Ayoub president, Lucy Stredde president, Nicole Jackson Vice President, Stacie Davis Treasurer, Amy Gebhardt Secretary
In Attendance: Lucy Stredde, Emilie Ayoub, Shana Cundall, Amy Pett, Barbara Midgett, Erin Scheck, Kyla Neuhalfen, Kandi Smith, Kim Bruno, Dayna Campbell, Andrew Shearer, Lou Nypaver, Jeremiah Polucha, Rich Stubbins, Debra Stubbins, Cindy Glass, Stacie Davis, Nicole Jackson, Kim Deitrich, Shannon Voggesser, Lisa Downer
President’s Report: Walk-a-thon complete- will discuss in detail later in the meeting. We will not be having another fundraiser even though we were shy of our goal. Budget is finalized for the year and handed out copies for all. We do have a few social nights coming up that we have potential to earn a little money from. Although, we do want it to remain a night for community building and not necessarily fund raising. Kids Night Out will be the week before Christmas, Chipotle Night is February 8, and Lisa Downer is working with Studio Vino to create a social night for PES families there.
Treasurers Report: Stacie informed us that the completed budget is more accurate this year since it is money that the PTA ACTUALLY HAS instead of money that we hope to earn at a later date. There was some concern of the budget not balancing, but Stacie let us know that this is a new system, and it balances, but shows differently until checks clear in the bank.
Principal’s Report: Kandi reported that conferences went well and expressed gratitude for everyone that provided dinner for the teachers during conferences.
Loveland Rotary has donated dictionaries for the 3rd graders.
Halloween, and Veterans Day Celebrations went well.
Representatives from the Bill Gates Foundation for Literacy visited the 4th and 5th grade classrooms.
Global Kindness Assembly was this past month. Gabrielle VanRaj visited the school and spoke to the children promoting her message of kindness and anti-bullying.
Pandas Taking Action- Food Drive is happening right now. Kids can bring in cans to help our community. They are able to earn pieces toward the school wide mosaic. School-wide pajama day soon after the mosaic is full.
5th Grade has had their showcase for upcycled crafts and the 1st Graders had an American Symbols Showcase.
The decision was made to separate the winter holiday concert to alleviate congestion.
Kandi encouraged everyone to come to SAC meetings which happen right before the PTA meetings in the library.
The Thompson School district had a Kindergarten Open House at LHS, and it went well and was very busy with new parents.
Thanksgiving break is coming up.
Traffic Safety has been a concern. Teaching kids to use the crosswalks, and to stay out of the parking lot. The City is aware that we are in need of lights on our crosswalks.
Parents expressed concern for the traffic related to the construction next to the school. Unfortunately, there is not much we can do about that, but teach kids traffic safety. Lou Nypaver reminded us that we have ‘Safe Routes’ with the Tires and Tennies program to help kids get to school safely.
New Business:
We have a sum of money that has not been allocated yet. PTA is encouraging staff members to bring proposals for big ticket items to the PTA’s attention no later than the January meeting. It would be helpful to have an estimated cost, details of the project, and what students it would benefit.
The PTA has had parent feedback saying that they would prefer donations went to a big ticket item for the current school year. There was some discussion on this, as some of the little items are important too and we want to make sure that we aren’t overlooking anything.
Panda Prowl: It was a beautiful day, great event. Kids, parents, teachers, all had a great time. Did a great job fundraising and prizes went really well. Lou Nypaver was grateful to have a sub so she could oversee the prowl all day.
There was a suggestion to have the date for the Panda Prowl set before the summer break for next year, so that we can be fundraising and doing Cheddar Up all summer long.
Milage Club Proposal from Lou Nypaver:
The Mileage Club has grown from 20-50 kids in previous years to 300 kids this year! Lou has heard a lot of positive comments from teachers, students, and parents about Mileage Club. She had some leftover tokens from last year to give to the kids who have earned them, but she is in need of money to order wrist bands, footies, water bottles, and shirts for children who are reaching that level in the program. Once a kid runs 25 laps, they get a shirt and can cross it off as they achieve 50, 75, and 100 miles. Lou estimates that she needs $600 for incentives right now, and would potentially need another $1000 to order all of the supplies she needs. The PTA voted to approve the $600 for now and will consider funding the rest at a later date.
There was discussion as to weather this money would be better spent in the savings account for the track that we hope to install in upcoming years.
Shana informed us that the Health and Wellness Committee has funds set aside for Buddy Benches on the playgrounds. They have not finalized their budget for this school year, but funding the mileage club could be an option. Also, we discussed scaling back the promised incentives to the kids, or asking parents to pay a fee for mileage club in the future.
Because meeting was running late, we did not get to discuss the Spring Carnival, but Nicole will post on the PTA’s Facebook page to gather names for a committee. She did the lion’s share of work herself last year, and would like to be able to delegate a lot of it this year.
Meeting adjourned at 6:50pm
Next PES PTA Meeting is December 12, 2016