PTO Notes- Prepared by Adriann Divozzo, PTO Sec.

- 10/14/13 Volunteers: What a good turn out tonight, with teachers, administration and parents/caretakers present. Thanks for coming! Great news: 85 names came in on Volunteer Opportunities sheets! Hours are logged and incentives are set up. Background checks are taking longer than normal, but administration at the district level is working hard to get everyone through. Copies: We need a youngest and only list for families at East with more than one child. This would cut down on copies sent home. We also need to monthly check the new class list for students changing in and out. Mrs. Poppen will check into the Infinite Campus system to see if they can automatically sort. Thank you! Trunk or Treat Reading Night: We currently have 20 trunks with a lot of staff kicking in. There are 5 reading stations and students have to go to 3 of the 5 in order to trunk-or-treat. Cars can be parked in back ahead of time because each one will have a tag (made by Gina ahead of time). Stamp kids hand when they have fulfilled punch card, on their way outside (via back door out Blue Hall door). Parent suggestion: For Santas Workshop, add a box to check to give option of donating more to sponsor children who dont receive any money from parents. In the past, this was discreetly tracked (via small mark on ticket) and when tickets were given to families in need, 90% used tickets for food not games. So, this has been successful, wed love to continue giving, especially during the season of Christmas. Crafting (no charge) or shopping is an option for any student. Receipts: June 10 is deadline for submitting all receipts to PTO. Teachers- please, plan to submit everything for the current school year within the same school year. This makes the books even out more easily. Thanks! Teacher suggestion: Can you put all money together in one grade level? Yes! Grant Proposals: Friday, Oct. 25th is the deadline for teachers to submit grant proposals . Last year, $13,000 was available. ~$2,500 will be given to each school, as we try to keep it even throughout the district. This is accumulated interest from a past large donation that PTO can use every year. When the stocks market value is low, theres not much to give but this year we should have about the same amount as last year. Cash for Class and field trips also come out of PTO budget. $275 for K-5; $1,300 to be split between 6 and 7th grade. Box Tops were collected last week. This Thursday, there is a cutting party and it will be fun! Box Tops are time sensitive and if we dont get them in 4 times/year at the deadline, we wont get a check. One student turned in 1,000 Aunt Millies! Campbells are used to order out of their catalog. Box Tops money goes to district

and is then distributed evenly. The goal is to be competitive but also community minded, so the hallways are being grouped together. Principal Cassidy suggestion: Send him a blurb about how were doing w/ Box Tops, so he can give an encouraging message during morning announcements. There is a chart that will be put up in hall so the whole school can follow our progress. Maria Yoder used to make it a part of calendar time to really encourage it (and she always won at West as a teacher!). Idea: 3:30-5 or 5:30 on Thursday, theres an National Honor Society. Bethany and Anita: Do you want to have them help cut and count after their meeting is over? Popcorn: In Dec., were going to offer pre-pay for the rest of the year. Other schools are doing this and its going very well, some brought in $700. This could cover the whole bill up front, which is great because we are usually billed at the beginning of year for everything and dont have the funds until the end of the year. Being careful: We have experienced theft a couple times. Amanda in the office is aware and watching the candy in the office. The popcorn system is now set up with two people who count money and sign off on it at all times, its then given to Amanda to lock up in office. Parent suggestion: Can we move Lost and Found to the front of the door for Trunk or Treat? Yes, lets! Need: Lets stock the nurses closet! We need little boys pants and underwear, 3rd grade and under for accidents. Do we have a church that sponsors us? No, it falls to parents. Lets ask Kids Hope (6-7 churches are represented here). [Update: Adriann is helping organize the closet, with input from the nurses.] Thursdays: Gina helps counts copies, etc. in the office and she could use more help. Margi has offered; thank you! Suggestion: Re: Fundraiser, print information on which sheet to keep on actual pages (white, yellow or pink). Gina agrees and will contact FUN Services with this suggestion. Parent Suggestion: A parent emailed last week- she is interested in helping with a cookbook fundraiser. She was on staff at a west Ottawa school and the idea is based on how diverse the school is, that each family could be encouraged to submit a recipe or pay a few dollars to ensure their recipe was included and then the cook books are bound and sold. The card she gave had each book at $5 to make from the supplier and sold at cost or marked up for profit. These notes are an addition to tonights full agenda, prepared by Gina Cobb (gmcglines@gmail.com). Thank you for coming! Next meeting: Mon., Nov. 11, 7:00pm, East Cafeteria