Tavelli PTO
Meeting Minutes
December 7, 2004
Kristen Draper called the meeting to order at 7:00
p.m.
Approval of Minutes:
A motion was made by Roxanne Powers that the
meeting minutes from November 9, 2004 be approved. Ellen Holmes seconded the
motion.
Treasurer’s Report:
Dawn
Dorsch discussed the Income and Expenditures Report and Financial Summary.
Committee
Reports:
Dream Team: Everything
is going well.
Innsbruck: Ellen Holmes reported that
the committee made close to $8,400. She
recommended that the committee go back to Sally Foster. The committee is looking for a new
representative as Ellen will not be heading this committee next year. Kristen recommended forming a committee to
look into a spring fundraiser. A
request for persons interested in chairing this committee next year will be put
in the Thursday Notes.
Book Fair: Sheila Lorentzen reported that there was a big
turnout at the book fair this year. The
committee made close to $2,300, with a profit of 25% of the total sales. There is an option of getting 50% of the
profits in books, instead of 25% in cash.
The committee began a community sponsorship last fall and brought in
$600 which was used by the free and reduced lunch kids to purchase a book ($5
book value). The $600 supplied 134
books. The committee received a $630
grant from Freddie Mac with which it purchased books from the Lopez Elementary
Book Fair. These books will be given to
the free and reduced lunch kids at the spring book fair.
Read-A-Thon: Kristen Draper reported
that the committee will have its first meeting in January. She is using a list of the names of parent
volunteers signed up for the read aloud day.
Anyone not on that list who is interested in being on this committee
should contact Kristen. Kristen will be
requesting that parents donate snacks for the event. Marian at the Fort Collins Public Library has agreed to do book
talks for every grade. Kristen is
currently working on getting a list of professional storytellers interested in
helping out with this event.
Boundary: Dr. Lawler reported that he had talked with Kris Clagett, who
attended the boundary issues meetings.
The results showed that the boundary changes would not affect Tavelli at
this time. The focus was on Eyestone
Elementary and Wellington Junior High.
VIPS: Roxanne Powers reported that they started with 160
unregistered volunteers and are now down to 60. Dr. Lawler will talk with the teachers. He will begin contacting the remaining unregistered volunteers in
February.
Box Tops: Kristen Draper reported in Deb Catlow’s
absence. Deb will not head the
committee next year. Anyone interesting
in taking over this committee, please contact either Deb or Kristen. A notice will be put in the Thursday
Notes. The money raised from box tops
goes to the Student Council.
Valentine Party: Kim Miller reported that there will be a meeting in January to
discuss the classroom parties. PTO
gives $25 to each classroom to help cover the cost of this party.
Great Books: There will be two training sessions on January 14th
and 15th for persons interested in heading this program at
Tavelli. The cost to cover the training
sessions for two parents has already been included in the PTO budget. Anyone interested in attending this training
should contact Kristen or Dr. Lawler. A
request for volunteers will be put in the Thursday Notes.
Jan
Carter (Art), Brad Deal (P.E.), and Rob Deakin (Media/Tech) were special
guests.
Jan Carter discussed her committee’s work on the Mexico
Multicultural Festival. She sent
letters home to the parents of Hispanic students at Tavelli, requesting their
help by sharing their customs and culture with the committee. She has also sent e-mails to the School
District requesting a list of students and teachers from Harris Bilingual,
Laurel Elementary, and the high schools who are willing to work with our
students on the Festival. The Festival is scheduled for the first week of May,
the week of Cinco de Mayo. Anyone
interested in helping with the Festival should contact Mrs. Carter. The next committee meeting is scheduled for
January 12th at 3:45.
Ms. Carter next discussed
the art projects that her students have been and will be doing. They have just finished a number of 3-D
construction projects. After Christmas,
they will begin working with clay. Last
year they used 600 pounds of clay. It
is not definite whether or not there will be an art exhibit at the Foothills
Mall due the change in ownership.
However, art projects will continued to be displayed throughout
Tavelli. Ms. Carter has been pleased
with all of her students, but especially pleased with her first graders. They have come prepared to work, energetic,
and focused. Ms. Carter has been
pleased with the year, so far. She
thanked the PTO for its support and funding.
She also thanked the parents for their support.
Dr. Lawler commented that
there is such richness in what Ms. Carter does for Tavelli.
Rob Deakin reported that Linda Payton requested he discuss the
AR Quizzes (now totaling 2,640) and how she has seen this program renew the
students’ interest and enthusiasm in reading.
Ms. Payton needs volunteers to read to the kids on Tuesday and Wednesday
from 9:15 – 10:15 beginning in January.
Jane Harvey has been
working on a new program with the third graders this year in the Mac Lab. The students are learning Internet Explorer,
Power Point, and the basics such as terminology, Word, Kid Pix, Apple Works,
Perfect Copy, and All the Right Type.
Rob showed samples of the projects.
Jane is also a teacher’s aid in the third grade classrooms and is
integrating what the kids are learning in class into the computer lab class.
Mr. Deakin is teaching the
fourth, fifth, and sixth graders keyboarding resources and e-mail. The students are using “All the Right Type”
for keyboarding. This software can be
purchased from Mr. Deakin for $20.
Mr. Deakin has a new
grading scale for keyboarding:
Effort: MT - Most
of the Time
R - Rarely
Achievement will still be
graded as E, S, I, N, but the two most important things that Mr. Deakin will be
looking for are quality work and efficiency.
There is a Wall of Fame showing the name and words-per-minute for
keyboarding.
The School District has
purchased EBSCO, which is an online database.
It includes magazine articles, newspaper articles, Internet sites, maps,
flags, and more. The Merriam Webster
Dictionary will even pronounce the words for you. There is also a World Book online, which can be set up by
article. The site also includes digital
curriculum, which is an online video library where teachers and staff can
download videos in either Quick Time or Windows Media formats. Mr. Deakin gave a presentation of digital
curriculum and shared a video on germs, which he had shared with the
students.
The students have done
“Wanted” posters, an online treasure hunt, and an expert study project. The fourth grades are working on Power Point
with a Colorado theme. The fifth and
sixth grades will give presentations using Power Point.
Mr. Deakin is teaching
kids how resourceful e-mail can be, above and beyond sending a message to
someone. He is teaching the kids to
attach files and e-mail them home so that they can work on them, and then
e-mail them back to Tavelli.
Open Lab is beginning to
catch on with the students. The Lab is
open Monday – Thursday from 3:30 – 4:30.
Kids wanting to stay after school and do Open Lab should have a note from
their parents.
The Computer Lab has spent
$90,000 on new equipment including four new computer carts containing smart
boards, six wireless laptops, and 30 Alpha Smarts keyboards (students can type
their information and then download it on the computer for printing). The Alpha Smarts can be checked out by the
students on a daily basis.
Budget
Requests:
There
were no budget requests.
The
meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
This
was the third PTO meeting for this school year.
Respectfully
submitted,
Stephanie
Barber-Haile
Board
Secretary