Monday, December 5, 2005 7:00 pm <!--[endif]-->

Minutes from the November 7, 2005 PTO Meeting were approved as submitted.

T-shirt update<!--[endif]--> (Camille Feng): Camille is taking over from Maggie Wirth-Johnson.  Should they just sell what they have or get a new design and new shirts?  They are part of our fundraising.  There are about two boxes of long sleeve shirts in adult sizes remaining.  Laura Park has names of graphic designers who are interested in volunteering their services.  Camille will explore the possibilities.

Art project update (Mary Reis): Robin Taple and her group will start meeting Mondays in January and February in the afternoon to work on the mural.  Many students have indicated an interest.  The group will need a space for people to drop off donated supplies. <!--[endif]-->

Volunteer needs update (Laura Park): Science Fair is coming up.  She will be looking for coordinators for the dances in January and February.  She is still looking for a PTO/Site Council liaison.  Laura found an e-books coordinator for Gail Pattison and will follow up to connect the volunteer with Gail.

Gamelan (Maggie Wirth-Johnson): The residency is done, and many students have sent thank you notes to the PTO.  Maggie will start gathering a group after winter break to take Gamelan into the future.  She suggested that 5th grade parents might be a good target, since their children will benefit next year.  From September through November, the project took about 50 hours of her time, which could be spread over a number of volunteers. <!--[endif]-->

Direct mail fund drive update (Annie Yetter): When Mr. Mariucci took them to the post office, many letters were not sealed.  Students were working on sealing them, but few people in the room had yet received a letter, so it was unclear if they were done and had been mailed.  Laura suggested that she find volunteers to finish them.  When Mr. Mariucci arrived, he said they were mailed last week.  Next year, we will have parent volunteers working on this instead.

Winter dance update:  Annie Yetter and Becky are still working out dates.  There will be a 1-3 grade dance on January 26 and a 4-6 grade dance on March 9.

Art teacher funds:  Sarah Mergens sent a letter to PTO.  She currently has over 700 students and has only $.70 to spend per student.  She would like to somehow bring that up to $1.00 per student.  PTO has some extra money because the grade level dinners did not cost as much as budgeted.  Laura Park moved that we provide $200 to the art teacher.  Anne Hartnett seconded the motion.  The motion was passed.

Puppets: Teacher John Porter is filming the puppet show provided by PTO funds and will be showing the film to PTO.

Ski and Snowboard Club: They will have five outings starting January 20.  Last year, they had excess money, which is still earmarked for the club.  They will use it for scholarships for low-income students.

Mr. Mariucci reports that the Education Commissioner from the State Education Department wants to nominate the school as a Blue Ribbon school.

PTO will not meet in January but will meet February 6.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:18 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Randi Madisen, PTO Secretary