PTO Minutes for March 10, 2008

Attendees:  Allyson Downing, Monica Nygaard-Ostby, Lynne Baechle, Moira Daly, Rick Ebel, Donna Sullivan- Macdonald, Heidi Hopper, Lisa Hebert

Monica Nygaard-Ostby, PTO Co-President, welcomed all attendees and brought the meeting to order. 

1.  Review of minutes from February 11, 2008:  Moira Daly

The minutes from the last meeting were circulated, reviewed and accepted.   Meeting minutes are available for review online through the Orchard School website. 

2.  Skate Night – Lynne Baechle

• Raffle prizes to date include three grand prizes (Romantic Get-Away, Marmot coat, Lake Monsters Package), 25 business baskets, and 18 themed classroom baskets which have been solicited from room parents to be donated by each classroom.  Baskets should have a value of $25-$50. 
• Volunteers are needed to assemble baskets (Tuesday, March 18 from 6:30-8:30), to sell tickets for the student-teacher raffle at school in the days before Skate Night, and to work at the arena on Skate Night.  Contact Lynne Baechle if you are able to assist.
• Ticket prices are $4 per person or $15 per family. 
• Tickets for the teacher raffle will be a quarter, and teachers have been creative in what they are donating.  Teachers have also been encouraged to attend Skate Night. 
• Tickets for Skate Night and select raffle tickets will be sold at the Science Fair on March 12.

3.  Technology Update:  Donna Sullivan-Macdonald

Wiring for the projection system for the 2-3 wing has begun.  The projector is expected to arrive on March 15, and the computer was ordered on March 10.  Money thus far has come from half of the most recent Unos fundraiser, the PTO ($400, approved at the February PTO meeting), and from the library fund.  A Box Tops for Education initiative is underway, and information will be sent home to families identifying products for which box tops are available.  A more visible container for the box tops will be placed in the school lobby.  The School’s Out program was identified as a possible resource for counting the box tops.  The hope is that $1500 can be raised to purchase the Smart Board component of the 2-3 wing projection system. 

4.  Lake Monsters Fundraiser:  Donna Sullivan-Macdonald

The Orchard night will be Thursday June 26.  Orchard will receive 25% of pre-sold tickets that evening, as well as any vouchers sold for future games.  Orchard will also receive half of the 50/50 raffle.  Teachers have already expressed interest in volunteering. 

5.  Good Search Project:  Donna Sullivan-Macdonald

Through the Green Schools Project, Donna has learned of a search engine that will donate one cent to a registered organization each time the webpage is visited.  Good Shop is a shopping browser that donates a %  of sales to a registered organization.  Donna has posted these on the Orchard website, and provided Orchard’s identification information.  Orchard families will be encouraged through an upcoming email to consider switching their browser to Good Search.  Any money raised will go to the PTO general fund.   This initiated a discussion about posting on the Orchard website web-based purchases of products from local companies that will donate a portion of sales to Orchard.  Much like other fundraisers (i.e. Innisbrook), family members in other areas could log on and use Orchard’s identification to purchase products and have Orchard benefit from sales.  This will be further explored. 

6.  School Communication – Monica Nygaard Ostby

With the increase in email correspondences to families to convey information on school events, there has been discussion of the most effective way to communicate information to families.  We currently use email, the monthly PTO newsletter, and weekly principal’s letter.  Consolidating media would help communicate information in amore timely manner, reduce paper, and redundancy.  A committee will be formed (Monica Nygaard Ostby, Rick Ebel, Moira Daly) to review this with the goal of implementing any changes in September 2008. 

7.  Spring Fling – Heidi Hopper

The event will be held on Friday May 2.  All agreed this will be promoted as a family fun night and not a fundraising activity.  To that end, ticket prices will be nominal.  Food (hot dogs, pizza, popcorn) will be sold at the event in such a way as to not require use of the kitchen.  Andy Pearson will provide the music for $50 per hour, which is less than other sources contacted.  Heidi is exploring T-shirts for the event that could be purchased prior to the event as a means of promotion and also for kids to wear the night of the event.   Teachers are being encouraged to attend and/or participate. 

8.  Fundraising – Heidi Hopper

The Cookie Love fundraiser is no longer being considered as it has been deemed to costly for the proceeds Orchard would receive.  Heidi circulated a flyer and samples from Red Barn for consideration. 

7.  May 20 Vote

Monica is exploring ways to promote the school to the community at large in anticipation of the upcoming school budget vote.  Suggestions included posting children’s artwork in area supermarkets, having a food drive on Election Day, and informing parents of the vote at upcoming parent-teacher conferences. 

8.  Calendar - Monica Nygaard Ostby

Monica will coordinate with committee chairs dates for events for 2008-2009 so as to minimize conflict with other events. 

There being no further items for discussion, the meeting was adjourned.  The next PTO meeting will be on Monday, April 14. 

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  This page last updated: 05/03/08.