The meeting began at 6:00 with a note of appreciation to Jennifer Tachell and Cindy Moseley for organizing the teacher/staff appreciation week.  Thank you also to all the parents who brought food and goodies to help make this week a resounding success.   A recap of the week:

Monday – coffee, pastries, bananas and yogurt
Tuesday – goody bags for each staff member
Wednesday – 15 minute chair massages
Thursday – lunch and cookies
Friday – treats and cake and an “unbirthday party”

Anne Moe gave us the update on the recipe gathering and an example of the cookbook that will be put together and sold at the Global Picnic.  It will be a 3-ring binder with dividers consisting of the children’s artwork between each class’s submitted recipes.  Anne will be getting the cookbook print-ready to send to the publishers which reduces the cost per book.  Thank you, Anne for your willingness to do this.  Pre-sale of the cookbook will take place towards the end of March with delivery scheduled at the Global Picnic on May 16th.  Later in the meeting it was decided that all money raised from the sale of the cookbook would go towards the playground maintenance.

A committee was established to help organize the Global Picnic scheduled for May 16th.  The committee is headed by Maria Kilgo and members include Kyle and Sara Carpenter, Susanna Reay, Kelly Macpherson, and Stacey Hammer.  Anybody interested in helping this committee can contact Maria at mkilgo@cableone.net.

The financial report was given by Melody Whigam, Treasurer.  She reported total funds in the account of $2, 481.10.  This includes the $291.39 raised from the BoxTops for Education program coordinated by Susan Mills.  A big THANK YOU to Susan and congratulations on a job well done!  Keep saving those box tops!  The money raised will make a noticeable difference in our school!

At our last meeting we decided to maintain a balance of $600 dedicated to future library expenses and a carry-forward amount of $200.  Previous fund-raising efforts were designated for the purchase of a kiln for our art program.  Trevor Wilford and Elizabeth Scoggins are currently researching available kilns to purchase.  

In addition to these needs, Mary explained the maintenance needed for the playground and discussed the school’s goal to get it re-seeded, as well as upgraded with bark and cement curbing.  This will eliminate the mud and mess issues we currently are all experiencing and bringing home.  Mary and Karen are in the process of gathering bids for this project.  The PTO approved the dedication of $1000 and proceeds from the sale of Cookbooks to be used for the playground.  Any additional fundraising will be discussed when the bids are received and a budget established.  

In addition to the playground project discussed above, Mary and Karen are currently planning to place paving stones between the sidewalks on the playground during the Spring Project.  

A proposal to elect new PTO officers in the Spring instead of the Fall was brought forth and approved.  The election will take place at the last meeting of the year (May or June).    Anybody interested in holding an officer position or nominating someone should contact me at dmiller@bmhc.com.

Results from previous fundraising efforts were reported by Mary.  The school raised approximately $270 in credit from the Small Hands Catalog.  The credit will be used to purchase classroom materials.  The school earned $285 from the Children’s Store during the special shopping night in November.  Wooden farms, animals and people were purchased to be used by each primary classroom. They are used in the Montessori curriculum to teach parts of speech.  These valuable teaching tools will be used to teach nouns, articles, verbs and adjectives.  What a great asset to each classroom and our school!  Thank you to the owner of the Children’s Store for hosting this fun event and for giving the school such a generous discount.

Questions brought up by parents attending the meeting:

Q:  What is the library policy for lost books?  
A:  At this time there is no set policy.  At the end of the year we will evaluate the frequency of this occurrence and determine the best way to address the situation.

Q:  Will the hole in the driveway ever be repaired?
A:   Mary explained that the owner of the lot is not going to repair the hole and has asked us to not use that entrance.  The other entrances were restriped to facilitate their use for traffic coming both in and out.  Eventually, the South parking lot will be removed and high-end carriage houses will be built.  The new parking area and entrance will be to the East of the school.  

Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting.  It was a great turnout and much was accomplished.  The next PTO meeting will be held on Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 6:00pm.  Childcare will be provided.   Lilia Byrd (Spanish teacher) will be present to discuss the Spanish program.   I hope to see you there!  If you can’t make it to the meeting but have questions, concerns or ideas, please email me and we will be sure to address it at the meeting and communicate back to you.

Debbie Miller
PTO President