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PTA Meeting Minutes: 9/10/24

PTA Meeting Minutes: 9/10/24

BOARD MEMBERS / CHAIRS IN ATTENDANCE

  • Kate Lindsay Scher – Co-President 
  • Allie DeLong Thomas – Co-President 
  • Renee Hartnett – Vice President / Spirit Gear (zoom) 
  • Melissa Ivancevich – Co-Secretary 
  • Emily Robertson – Co-Secretary 
  • Michelle Nemeth – Treasurer 
  • Meg Herscher – Communications Chair 
  • Ashley Schiavone – Fundraising Co-Chair 
  • Jess Templeton – Fundraising Co-Chair 
  • Kathleen Donahoe – Hospitality Co-Chair 
  • Jess Twardzik – Hospitality Co-Chair 
  • Meg Pietz – Events Chair 
  • Emily Schweiger – Family and Community Engagement – Outreach Chair Laura Zingg – Programs Co-Chair; Student Directory 
  • Jen Foreman – Programs Co-Chair 
  • Jon Overman – Legislative Representative 
  • Anjean Vanden Bosch – Membership Chair 
  • Kristin Laughlin – Volunteer Coordinator 
  • Kiana Swearingen – Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Co-Chair 
  • Jill Muscatel – Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Co-Chair 
  • Megan Wildenradt – Website Editor 
  • John Shaw – Tech Support 
  • Brie Gardner – Back To Business Co-Chair 
  • Leah Lansberry – Back To Business Co-Chair; Yearbook Co-Chair Anika Anand – Yearbook Co-Chair 
  • Jared Cortese – Fall Festival Chair 
  • David Peabody – Move-a-thon 
  • Elan Simonson – Spring Fling Chair 
  • Sara Lukas – Room Parent Coordinator 
  • Nicole Kaczmarek – Member at Large 
  •  
  • Lana Sturmer – Member at Large 
  • Courtney Sievers – Member at Large

COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE

  • Principal Watters 
  • Bonnie Smith (PTA member; Kraken ice skating event) 
  • Katie Stiver (PTA member; Mariners event) 
  • Sarah Ruben 
  • Josie? PTA member 
  • Therese Miranda-Blackney 
  • Anna & Gabriel Bond 
  • Rena Giannoulakis 
  • Mike K 
  • Brian Wold (PTA member) 
  • Haydee Wali 
  • Bingbing Zhu 
  • Rosario Sethi 
  • Nichole Maiman Waterman 
  • Jessie 
  • Rohit Rege (PTA member) 
  • Jeanette 
  • Hanni Pichel (PTA member) 
  • Bri 
  • Tanya Cunningham 
  • Jessica Rigby 

Meeting Called to Order at 7:35 PM 

WELCOME

  • PTA Dashboard (slide presentation) 
  • Board & Member Introductions

PRESIDENT UPDATES

  • 2024-2025 Goals 
  • Dashboard Review – 118 members today 
  • Meeting Structure Overview – 2nd Tuesday of the month PTA meetings, with an optional work session on the first Tuesday of the month at 7. Next month’s topics are brainstorming a future potential goodbye to Mr. Pule. Open to all 
  • Standing Rules Updates – Kate will pass around, will vote on next month
  • Curriculum Night (9/19) Table: Ideas & Volunteers  

TEAM AND CHAIR UPDATES

Chair Updates

  • Hospitality report on pre-school start activities and upcoming (tears and cheers, curriculum night staff dinner, October 5th grade staff appreciation sign-up)

Programs 

  • We’re adding a Lego robotics club to our fall lineup for grades 4-5!
  • Kong Academy for grades 1-2 
  • View all fall programs here: https://bit.ly/whittier-after-school-programs
  • Registration opens 9/23 
  • Clubs begin week of 10/7 (M,T,Th; ~2:15-3:30/4pm) 
  • Clubs conclude 12/9 
  • Various promos going out over the coming weeks (thank you, Meg!)

Room Rep Coordinator: 

  • Room Reps full! Need to support Faith and Rose and other extended resources.
  • Training & Get Together scheduled for 9/17 

Elan – Spring Fling Co-Chair – 

  • Seriously looking for a co-chair 
  • Rena Giannoulakis wants to help 
  • Start thinking about donations and connections 

Communications 

  • Still working on refining the process. Support family participation in Whittier and PTA activities by providing relevant information through accessible channels at a sustainable frequency. 
  • Monday: (Community Update – Watters) 
  • Tuesday: Take Home Tuesday – PTA Channel / (Infrequent Konstella)
  • Wednesday: WildChat – PTA Channel 
  • Thursday: Konstella – PTA Channel 
  • Friday: (Teacher Weekly Newsletters) 
  • Submit all requests through the Submission Form 10 days in advance – can be found on the website 
  • Plan Your Communications 
  • Example One 
  • Example Two 
  • Make a Copy of the Examples to use for Yourself! 
  • Meg Traveling 9/9 – 9/13; first Wildchat will be 9/18 or 9/25 

Annual Give 

  • $38,715 (28% of goal) – great for first week 
  • Doesn’t include employer matches 
  • Most participation gets Sharkcat 
  • Trying to wrap up by end of September 

Membership: 

  • Board members all renewed memberships 

Treasurer’s Update (michelle) 

  • New bookkeeper – Courntey with Day By Day Bookkeeping
  • Approved budget from last year will have changes and those will be reviewed at the next meeting. 
  • Michelle will email everyone what their approved line item budget number will be. People will send reimbursement requests to Michelle 
  • 6 people on Financial Review Committee – still in progress, will have update in October 

KUDOS AND THANK YOUS

  • Brie and Leah – Back to Business Chairs 
  • Angie – Visual design 
  • Ashley and Jess – Annual Give Kickoff 
  • Laura and Jennifer – Programs Planning and flyers 
  • Emily – Popsicle Playdates, Kinder Pizza and Shirts 
  • Campus Clean-up Volunteers 
  • Back to Business Volunteers 
  • Staff Lounge Restock Donors 
  • Kathleen and Jess – Staff Lounge, Staff Welcome Treats and Gifts, Kinder Tears & Cheers
  • Anika – Back to Business Info Copyediting 
  • John – transition and Google Accounts support 
  • Angie – incredible visual design! 
  • Laura – Student Directory planning and flyers 
  • Megan – Website updates 
  • Anjean – Great early membership push! 
  • Sara – Great drive for Room Reps! 
  • Meg – Working with Bonnie over the summer for Ice Skating, Grade-level Happy Hours 

VOTING FOR PTA MEMBERS

  • Approval of Executive Committee Addition – Allie Delong Thomas
    • Katie Stiver motioned to approve
    • Sara Lukas seconded
      • Approved 
  • (Executive Committee) Approval of Board of Directors 
    • Allie DeLong Thomas motioned to approve
    • Sara Lukas seconded
      • Approved
  • Approval of May and June 2024 Meeting Minutes 
    • Kate motioned to approve
    • Sara Lukas seconded
      • Approved 


PRINCIPAL WATTERS UPDATE

  • Curriculum Night next week – students will be your guide
  • School closure options will be provided tomorrow at 3:30pm
  • Will include an interactive website
  • Whittier could potentially add 3 or 4 more homerooms in the building
  • Custodial budget got cut, now we don’t have the late evening shift. Cindy is taking out the garbage 


Work Session Round Up – Minimum Floor Definition

  • Minimum Floor Definition 
  • Objective, Current Results to Review 
  • Use and Next Steps (Please add to it before 9/29!)

Conversation: EDI & Belonging

  • Book recommendations including Design For Belonging 
  • PTA group activity prompt: What is a moment in your life when you felt like you truly belonged?
  • Discussed moving this topic up in the agenda for subsequent meetings

Meeting Adjourned 9:01 pm