Garfield PTA Meeting Minutes
August 23, 2007
Present: Alicia Jacob, Kathy Harris, Margit Foss, Mary Peterson, Heidi Garza, Mary Coville, Juan Baez, Annie Boatner-Brambila, Axayacatl Bramila-Villasenor, Lol Cooper, & Sue Helbach
Meeting called to order at 5:50pm.
Treasurer's Report
Passed around report as treasurer was not present. Current bank balance as of August 20, 2007 is $9,196.85
Principal's Report
Principal Juan Baez reported lots of energy with new teachers and new recruits. There will be 2 additional teachers - music and PE - from Spain. The PE teacher has coached many levels including adults. All positions are filled depending on enrollment. There is still a possibility of rolling back positions if enrollment falls.
There is a staff meeting on August 28th to discuss various programs including dual immersion and tag. 4/5 Dual Immersion teachers are Chaundra Smith, Jerry Bryan, and Bonni Villaman. 4/5 English will be Nathan Harris and Janet Cunningham. Janet is a transfer from the district with a background in RTI.
Playground Report
Heidi reported that the playground equipment has been ordered and that it cost more than estimated. Revisions were made. Added chin up bars and a serpentine part. Playground installer has scoped the area. Equipment will be delivered September 26th with September 27th evening set aside to cut asphalt. Installation will take place September 28th and 29th, a Friday and Saturday. There is no school that Friday. Volunteers are needed.
Heidi motioned to borrow money from PTA to cover installation up to $2000. Kathy seconded motion. Motion carried 11-0.
There is a $250 Home Depot gift card that can be used to purchase cement.
Will need a 9 and 12 inch auger as the hole sizes are not certain.
ACTION: Juan to give Calvin church and Hispanic church contact information to Heidi/Sue.
ACTION: Kathy to see if tractor and auger can be used and size of auger available for tractor.
Calzone Booth
September 22nd. Need 8 volunteers per time.
Officers
President - Alicia Jacob
Vice President - Annie Boatner-Brambila
Secretary - Melanie Casprowiak
Treasurer - Crystal Neal
Volunteer Coordinator - Sue Helbach
Soup Label Coordinator - Mary Coville
Interpreting
Annie suggested breaking into 2 groups to discuss PTA agenda in order to attract more Hispanic/Latino parents.
Juan suggested: (1) 2 groups discuss items then come together. Use an interpretor if there is disagreement or need for discussion (2) Simultaneous translations which is difficult for the translator and takes longer (3) Have one meeting per agenda item, then come together. Ensure all reports are done ahead of time so that there is enough time to translate them. Juan also said there were Spanish templates for agendas.
It was suggested that at least one meeting be more inviting for all parents, including Spanish speaking parents: have food, make a short agenda, and have an overview of the PTA.
Schedule of Events
Sept 13 (Thurs) - Picnic at 4:30pm
Sept 20 (Thurs) - Curriculum night
Oct 4 (Thurs) - PTA Meeting
Oct 18-19, 22-23 - Fall Book Fair
Oct 19 (Fri) - Sock Hop
Oct 20 (Sat) - Grounds Beautification
?? - Gecko Run
ACTION: Someone needs to give these calendar items to Debbie for the Gecko Notes before they go out early next week.
ACTION: Kathy to transfer district calendar to website.
Picnic
It was suggested that a PTA booth exist to have the purple volunteer forms to sign up volunteers for 2-3 activities. Bring your own food.
ACTION: Juan will check on ice cream.
Gecko Run
Crystal volunteered to run this. She will need 4-5 volunteers from each class.
Directory
Mary P & Kathy H have volunteered.
ACTION: Crystal to email the directory file to Mary and Kathy
UPDATE: Sue H followed up by checking with Dr. Travelstead who donated $150 to the cost of printing the Garfield school directory. She asked him if he would be willing to contribute this year as well, but he declined since his son no longer attends Garfield. PTA will need to look for another donor or expect to the PTA to pay the entire cost of printing.
PTA Schedule
Tues/Wed are bad for Juan. Just set schedule without Juan. If something important comes up then email Debbie.
First Thursdays were tentatively decided.
ACTION: Heidi has Mariah info and will send to Alicia
ACTION: Alecia to check if 1st Thurs is available each month and 2nd Thurs for January for the library.
Fall Book Fair
Sandra is coordinating. Oct 18-19, 22-23 - Fall Book Fair
Sock Hop
Need Volunteer Coordinator. Maybe Linda from last year? October 19.
Grounds Beautification
Oct 20. Church and scouts (Girl and Cub) may be able to help out.
ACTION: Juan to pass on contact information for Calvin Church and Hispanic Church to Sue.
ACTION: Kathy to see if Cub Scouts may also be able to help.
Curriculum Night
Teachers and staff set this up. It will be held Sept 20.
ACTION: Juan to ask teachers if Heidi can give update on playground
T-Shirts
This is the year we print up t-shirts and give them to students (and staff?). Revisit this agenda item in October to check into costs and see if we can sell as fundraiser.
ACTION: Sue H will check on who does t-shirt printing and give info to Debbie so that they can be printed for new staff.
Gecko Notes
Make a Welcome Back letter and info about PTA.
ACTION: Alicia to email to Debbie by Monday, 8/27.
General Announcements
Announcements and flyers can be posted on tehe bulletin board outside the front doors.
ACTION: Juan to check to see if school translator can translate PTA flyers.
Coffee
Normally there is a coffee and donut welcome table at the school for parents that are returning. Kinders start the next week. The churches were interested in helping with this for teachers.
ACTION: Juan to give Sue church contact info
Special Projects Money
Remind teachers that PTA can give money for special projects. Ensure teachers have access to the PTA request form.
Yahoogroup list
Melanie setup the garfieldpta@yahoogroups.com list. This allows people to join and remove themselves from the list and creates one simple method of contacting the entire PTA membership (garfieldpta@yahoogroups.com). There are several people that want to simply be added (see separate email). There may also be a need to add more than one owner to the list in case of vacation or illness.
Supply List
Supply lists are available at many stores across Corvallis such as Staples and Office Max.
ACTION: Kathy to add supply list to website (http://garfieldelementary.org).
Calvin & Hispanic Church
Calvin Church liaison will be Sue H.
ACTION: Mary to email Sue Kim's phone number. Kim works only until 3pm at the church.
Meeting adjourned at 7:40pm.