November 2007 Minutes

CHS School Library

Tuesday, November 13, 2007, 7 pm

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW – November, 2007

Cougar Connections are here! Many thanks to Cynthia Sanderson for putting this excellent resource together. Pick up your copy at the next CHSPO meeting on December 11th. Some copies are also available at the ASB office.

Volunteer Opportunities

Father/Daughter Dances will be the last Saturday in January (Jan 26) and the first Saturday in February (Feb 2). The Palapalooza (Mother/Son) Dance will be the second Saturday in March (March 8). These events are a lot of fun and we need helping hands to make it all unfold well. Contact Debra Miles at debrasmiles@earthlink.net to sign up to help.

We can use more help at newspaper folding. The next newsletter should be in early January. The folding is usually on a weekday morning. It is an easy job with a chance to connect with other parents as you fold. Contact: Janell Meehan at j3_meehan@msn.com

First Friday Staff appreciation coffee will be on December 7, 2007. Kathy Ketcher is coordinating this and welcomes donation of baked goods and set up help. This is a nice way to informally meet some of the CHS staffers. Contact Kathy at: kat_ketcher@yahoo.com

The Barnes & Noble Bookfair will be the first weekend in December. Mention that you are from Capital High School when you pay for your books and the CHSPO will earn a donation. You do NOT need to have a coupon. The hours are 9 in the morning until 11 at night. There will also be a teacher’s wish list at Barnes and Noble. Contact Megan Hubbard for more information at: ghwheat1@comcast.net

The CHSPO membership email list is available for project work. For instance, Ed can sort out all members of the Class of 2009 for Class leaders to contact for planning. Contact Ed Thorpe with your list requests at: ed.thorpe@comcast.net

ARE YOU GETTING CHSPO EMAIL? Ed has been sending out email almost every week with important news and updates. If you are not receiving these emails, please do these two things: check your spam blocker and allow emails from Ed. Also, check your deleted mail files and see if emails are being routed there.

See’s chocolate orders are due November 27th. Turn your order into Deb Steele, at 867-9027 or steelerd@comcast.net

Now, do you need to read the meeting minutes? Yes, because it gives you a quick overview of what is going on AND who you should contact for more information or to offer your assistance. DO NOT BE SHY. We parents need to be in contact with one another for our own mental health and teen preparedness.

Meeting Minutes

The meeting opened about 7:06 p.m. on November 13, 2007 with introductions. Susan Lindskog asked for volunteers for the Father/Daughter Dances.

Associated Student Body

Diane Dominiak (ddominia@osd.wednet.edu) was not available, so Ed spoke about the Associated Student Body as the mechanism by which clubs and teams handled money and purchases. Nancy Faaren said that ASB is highly regulated and funds are handled very carefully. Diane Dominik is the ASB advisor.

Carol Riley observed that there are times when it is appropriate to have an account outside of ASB. She gave the fundraising by Classes as an example.

Nonprofit Status

Ed reported that he had met with Diane Dominik and Susan Rivera-Lee (svrlee@hotmail.com) of the CHS Booster Club and there was discussion on when it is appropriate to have 501 c 3 non-profit status. To gain nonprofit status would require a $500 start up fee plus about $1000 for professional help and there would be additional fees for annual accounting reviews plus the challenges of annual tax returns. Debra Miles said she would research obtaining nonprofit status.

Escrip Sign ups

Debra Miles pointed out that the escrip program has more potential and may be easier to sustain than the Top Food Card sales. Ed Thorpe and Karen Schade (theschades@comcast.net) will meet with Diane Dominik to ascertain if clubs can help with building escrip sign ups.

Principal’s Report

Nancy Faaren (nfaaren@osd.wednet.edu) reported that there have been some building challenges, including clocks not running and heating issues. She said that there is ongoing work to develop proper fan behavior at sporting events. She noted that many students and parents do not realize that a game can be forfeited if fans act inappropriately.

Ed asked about the relevance of mailed midterm grades and several parents inquired about what a “P” marking meant. Nancy explained that each semester is further divided into three segments and the mailed mid term report only covers the first one third of a semester. Carol Riley suggested that we should have an opt-out option where parents who accessed the Skyward program could choose to not have mid term grades mailed out, thereby saving the school postage costs.

Parent Educational Forums

Teri Weaver reported on the teen dating forum. She recommends that parents say “No” to participation in co-ed sleepovers and to dating another student who is more than one year different in age. Teri has material to share on dating and on characteristics of abusive relationships. She can be contacted at: teriweaver@comcast.net

Teri hopes that the next forum will be on Nutrition and Behavior and is also planning a Self Defense forum that would be led by our school resource officer.

Dances

There was general discussion about school dances. Nancy Faaren reported that the Freshman-only dance went very well but there was “Freak Dancing” at the Halloween Dance. Homecoming, with its more formal atmosphere, had more appropriate behavior. Another formal dance is coming soon.

Treasurer’s Report

Debra Miles spoke about the challenges of having a lot of dollars committed to buying Top Food cards and suggested that we work to embrace the escrip program more. The June escrip payment was $440. We have 197 families participating. Our current balance is $16,700.

Membership

Debra Miles reported that membership is down and we need to target past members who have not renewed.

Grants (Getting Money into Classrooms)

Grant applications were due November 1. Cynthia Wolfe (Cncwolfe@comcast.net) will assemble the grant review committee and assess needs.

Newsletter

We can use more volunteers at newsletter folding. Next newsletter should be in January.

Contact Janell Meehan at J3_meehan@msn.com

Staff Appreciation

The First Friday coffee went very well with baked goodies coordinated by Kathy Ketcher. The staff were very appreciative. The next First Friday is December 7, 2007. Kathy welcomes donation of baked goods and set up help. Contact Kathy at kat_ketcher@yahoo.com