Lakewood Montessori PTO
September 9, 2010 Meeting Minutes

The regular meeting of the Lakewood Montessori PTO was held at Lakewood Montessori on Thursday, September 9, 2010 at 6:00pm.  Melody Whigam, PTO President, presided over the meeting, a sign in sheet was circulated and the meeting began at 6:05pm with introductions of all in attendance.  The current officers, elected at the end of the last school year, also introduced themselves:

Melody Whigam, President
Tammy White, Vice President
Rosemary Wilford, Secretary
Sara Carpenter, Treasurer

Mission Statement and Year in Review
Melody Whigam talked about the PTO’s mission statement and how the PTO is here to support the school and it teachers.  She reviewed the fundraisers from the past and what those funds have purchased for the school.  Last year’s events were reviewed including the successful Art Auction and the purchases the PTO was able to make from the proceeds, such as Montessori bell sets for the classrooms, continent maps and assisting in the completion of the 2 year olds’ play yard.

Financial Report
Sara Carpenter, PTO Treasurer, reviewed the financial report including income and expenditures over the summer.  Our current balance is $441.55.  This includes a $150 reserve for library expenses.

Goals for the 2010/2011 School Year
·       Bead Cabinets – for all classrooms the cost would be around $2,700; Mary stated this is not an immediate need as they have 2 cabinets  that are moved from room to room.
·       Library needs – the school is budgeting $500 for library books this year since many books are in bad shape; the library contains about 4,000 books currently.
·       Maria Kilgo, primary teacher, discussed an idea of purchasing science lessons from Micron’s K-12 science program; she participated in this science program over the summer and saw how successful the program is for introducing children to the world of science in a hands on way.  The lessons cost $30-$50 and we hope to be able to purchase 5-6 lessons and all the materials to complete the kits this year.
·       Community needs - Mary introduced Jessica Nasman, a current Lakewood mother, who has a son, a Lakewood graduate, who is autistic.  Jessica’s family, after much research, has decided to get a service dog to help him with his needs but the cost ranges from $2000-$3000.  Her oldest daughter organized a lemonade stand this summer that raised $500 towards the costs for the service dog.  Mary brought this need to the PTO’s attention in the hopes we could come up with some ideas of how to help.  Melody Whigam expressed a desire for the PTO to help but pointed out the limits placed on the PTO as a non- profit organization of the school.  The PTO will be able to assist but cannot sponsor a fundraising event.  Several fundraising ideas were presented, a spaghetti feed held at a local restaurant, a penny drive, a chili cook off/bake sale, pancake breakfast, and renting a booth at the Saturday market to sell lemonade or hot chocolate, manned by Lakewood kindergartners as a teaching and learning lesson.  Mary will contact someone at the Saturday market to find out specifics of renting a booth.  

Teacher Presentation
Mary took this opportunity for a presentation on sound bottles.  She demonstrated how she would present this work to a child.  The work consists of 2 sets of small wooden bottles that make different sounds when shaken and the child can learn to match the sounds and how to distinguish high to low sounds.

2010/2011 Fundraiser Ideas
·       Family photos at the Holiday Carnival – need to locate a photographer to assist with this project
·       Lakewood Shopping Night at the Children’s Store – Sara will coordinate
·       Jennifer Ashby Photography – Sara will speak with Jennifer about her donation of a percentage of sales
·       Square 1 Art – children will start on their art in October and we hope to have all finished pieces in by 2nd week of December
·       Supervalu promotions – we will display a welcome mat and poster about nutrition for Supervalu/Albertson’s and they send us $150 for each flight of their program
·       Box Tops –Keep clipping those box tops!  Go to www.btfe.com to sign up for extra box tops and to shop through the Marketplace and Reading Room to earn more money for the school; also offering a new program – growlocallearning.com in conjunction with Albertson’s to earn money for the school; we earned over $300 last year  - Melody Whigam will continue to coordinate this program
·       Campbell’s Labels for Education – keep clipping these labels too!  The school was able to purchase moving solar systems with the labels collected from last year. Tammy White will coordinate this program
·       Melody Whigam will research a program through Amazon called School Rewards.  The PTO could get up to 10% of sales made on Amazon.com through a special link for the school.
·       Small Hands catalog sales and Scholastic book sales will continue
·       Rosemary Wilford mentioned that another Lakewood parent who works for the Department of Agriculture may have a good idea for a spring fundraiser but it will need to be started early in the year.  Seeds can be started in her lab and the seedlings sold in the spring.  Mary said the kindergartners already have a field trip planned to her lab so this may be a good opportunity for them to help.  Rosemary will follow up.

The PTO’s expectation is for Lakewood families to have many choices of how to support the school and the PTO.  Our organization is successful because of all the parent volunteers and wonderful teachers we have at Lakewood Montessori.  Thanks so much to all who attended!

The meeting was adjourned at 7:15pm.