Aurora PTO Meeting Minutes -May 2013
Jessica asked for approval of April 2013 meeting minutes. Motion was passed for approval of April 2013 meeting minutes.
Treasurer’s Report
Mrs. Zent's Report
Committee Business
Lori Bateman – President
Erika Johnson– Vice President
Secretary – Tanya Thompson
Treasurer – Tracy Boehm
Thank you to all who attended meeting. Next meeting will be June 4th, 2013 at Spitfire.
Treasurer’s Report
- Tracy gave the report and PTO is sitting roughly where they were last month. Nothing new to report this month.
Mrs. Zent's Report
- Mrs. Zent was gone this month so no report this month.
Committee Business
- Jennifer gave information about the Americorps reading program at Aurora. They could really use 2 people at Aurora. If interested get in touch with Jennifer or look online.
- Chip Shoppe gave short presentation on products and also had samples to try.
- The talent show tryouts will be coming up on May 17th and the talent show will be last day of school.
- Mike from Integrity gave short presentation on the coupon books for next year and what to expect if we go with them next year.
- Teacher appreciation week has been going great. Monday teachers had goodies in their boxes plus had desserts to enjoy. The rest of the week is planned and should be awesome!
- Michelle gave update on yearbooks, no problems to report and students will receive them last day of school.
- Great American Fundraising gave short presentation on their products plus gave samples to enjoy. They also gave out some fabulous prizes.
- Paul gave update on school supplies for next year. Looks like it will be $35 and it will not include the earbuds. We will make the cutoff May 31st, 2013. The 5th graders will still pick up their supplies at Aurora.
- The 4th and 5th grade farewells are coming up. Carnalee will take care of ordering cupcakes and cakes. Please watch for doodle poll to sign up to help work the farewell parties.
- The PTO voted on fundraiser for next year and the winner is: Great American Fundraising. Paul made motion to pass and Erika seconded the motion to have them as our fundraisier for next year.
- The committiee's that have been filled so far for next year are: YEARBOOK- Michelle; BOXTOPS- Jen; BOOKFAIR- Krisit and Lauri; FUNDRAISER- Tanya; TEACHER APPRECIATION- TBD and CONFERENCE MEALS- Erika.
- The all star award this month went to Kristi, thanks for all your hard work this month.
Lori Bateman – President
Erika Johnson– Vice President
Secretary – Tanya Thompson
Treasurer – Tracy Boehm
Thank you to all who attended meeting. Next meeting will be June 4th, 2013 at Spitfire.
Aurora PTO Meeting Minutes- April 2013
Jessica asked for approval of March 2013 meeting minutes. Motion was passed for approval of March 2013 meeting minutes.
Treasurer’s Report
1. Tracy gave the report and the book fair made $6722.31. We make 50% of this in scholastic dollars. Not much activity this month, ending balance as of April 2nd, 2013 $19,006.74
Mrs. Zent's Report
1. Mrs. Wester had a baby boy, congrats to her family.
2. First grade music programs will take place on April 18th. Mrs. Chaney, Mrs. Kotzbacher, Mrs. Tiedeman and Mrs. Hanson class performance is at 12pm and Mrs. Stormon, Mrs. Loos and Mr. Regner’s class performance is at 1:30pm.
3. The 3rd grade learning bank will be going to Concordia for a percussion ensemble.
4. The blood drive had about 30 people.
5. All teacher requests for next year are due May 1st, please read the Aurora newsletter to find out more about making these requests.
6. April 9th will be 5th grade orientation.
Committee Business
1. Leslie gave update on play. Everything going well but have made some notes for improvements next year, such as email addresses for parents of cast and just overall better communication. Communication has been a huge stumbling block for this play. We will do a free will offering for the play and money raised will go towards cost of play.
2. Jessica mentioned about school supplies, need to get going on this ASAP. Mrs. Zent will email Paul and Leslie forms tomorrow and will need to be finalized before next meeting.
3. Michelle gave update on yearbooks. Order forms went out last week and are due back April 9th, 2013. Cost of the yearbook this year is $14.
4. Teacher appreciation week is coming up the first full week of May. We will meet after meeting to discuss what we will be doing for this week.
5. The 5th grade trip to Bismarck is planned for Tuesday May 21st, 2013. Will need 3 busses, money for admission to state park for students, teachers and chaperones. Will be approximately $3500 taken out of budget for this. Students do pack their own lunches and times that day are 6am-6pm.
6. The farewells have been set, May 22nd @ 6:30pm will be 5th grade farewell and on May 21st @ 6:30pm will be 4th grade farewell. Will need volunteers for setting up both nights, watch for doodle poll on this. Carnalee will do the ordering of cakes and cupcakes for both nights. Scherling has done a composite for all 5th grade and 4th grade and PTO will give one to each child. Cost for composites is $954. Motion was passed for PTO to pay for this expense.
7. Options were discussed for the 2013-2014 school year fundraiser. The options this year are the Chip Shoppe, Clubs Choice and Great American Fundraising. Will see who can come to next PTO meeting and will vote next month on our choice.
8. May 17th will be tryouts for the talent show.
9. Need to discuss nominations for next year, we will do this as next month’s meeting but all positions are open except for President. Lori Bateman will be PTO president next year. Bylaws state president has to be vice president for one year before assuming the position. Please be thinking of volunteering for one of the positions on PTO. We will be putting in Aurora newsletter all position open for next year with short description.
Thank you to all who attended meeting. Next meeting will be May 7th, 2013 in the library.
Treasurer’s Report
1. Tracy gave the report and the book fair made $6722.31. We make 50% of this in scholastic dollars. Not much activity this month, ending balance as of April 2nd, 2013 $19,006.74
Mrs. Zent's Report
1. Mrs. Wester had a baby boy, congrats to her family.
2. First grade music programs will take place on April 18th. Mrs. Chaney, Mrs. Kotzbacher, Mrs. Tiedeman and Mrs. Hanson class performance is at 12pm and Mrs. Stormon, Mrs. Loos and Mr. Regner’s class performance is at 1:30pm.
3. The 3rd grade learning bank will be going to Concordia for a percussion ensemble.
4. The blood drive had about 30 people.
5. All teacher requests for next year are due May 1st, please read the Aurora newsletter to find out more about making these requests.
6. April 9th will be 5th grade orientation.
Committee Business
1. Leslie gave update on play. Everything going well but have made some notes for improvements next year, such as email addresses for parents of cast and just overall better communication. Communication has been a huge stumbling block for this play. We will do a free will offering for the play and money raised will go towards cost of play.
2. Jessica mentioned about school supplies, need to get going on this ASAP. Mrs. Zent will email Paul and Leslie forms tomorrow and will need to be finalized before next meeting.
3. Michelle gave update on yearbooks. Order forms went out last week and are due back April 9th, 2013. Cost of the yearbook this year is $14.
4. Teacher appreciation week is coming up the first full week of May. We will meet after meeting to discuss what we will be doing for this week.
5. The 5th grade trip to Bismarck is planned for Tuesday May 21st, 2013. Will need 3 busses, money for admission to state park for students, teachers and chaperones. Will be approximately $3500 taken out of budget for this. Students do pack their own lunches and times that day are 6am-6pm.
6. The farewells have been set, May 22nd @ 6:30pm will be 5th grade farewell and on May 21st @ 6:30pm will be 4th grade farewell. Will need volunteers for setting up both nights, watch for doodle poll on this. Carnalee will do the ordering of cakes and cupcakes for both nights. Scherling has done a composite for all 5th grade and 4th grade and PTO will give one to each child. Cost for composites is $954. Motion was passed for PTO to pay for this expense.
7. Options were discussed for the 2013-2014 school year fundraiser. The options this year are the Chip Shoppe, Clubs Choice and Great American Fundraising. Will see who can come to next PTO meeting and will vote next month on our choice.
8. May 17th will be tryouts for the talent show.
9. Need to discuss nominations for next year, we will do this as next month’s meeting but all positions are open except for President. Lori Bateman will be PTO president next year. Bylaws state president has to be vice president for one year before assuming the position. Please be thinking of volunteering for one of the positions on PTO. We will be putting in Aurora newsletter all position open for next year with short description.
Thank you to all who attended meeting. Next meeting will be May 7th, 2013 in the library.
Aurora PTO Meeting Minutes - March 2013
Introductions were done, it was mentioned that every child of parent that attends the PTO meeting tonight will get to have some fun time with Mrs. Zent as an incentive to get parents involved with PTO.
Jessica asked if anybody read February 2013 meeting minutes. Motion was passed for approval of February 2013 meeting minutes.
Treasurer’s Report
1. There has not been much activity since last report. The balance as of March 5th, 2013 is $19,257.54. It was noted that Integrity will pay the rest of games galore which is $600.
Mrs. Zent's Report
1. Just a reminder that casual pictures are due back March 8th.
2. There will be a blood drive on April 2nd, 2013 at Aurora, please sign up by March 22nd.
3. Liberty is scheduled to open on time but still 5th graders will register here at Aurora for Liberty next year. Right now it looks like 5th graders from Aurora and Freedom will just be going to Liberty for one year to avoid overcrowding at these schools. Looks like there will be transfer buses for students going to Liberty. There is going to be a Q&A on website, Mrs. Zent will send out link to everybody for this website.
4. Parent teacher conferences on Thursday and 3rd grade music program.
5. Club Choice would like to know when we are having fundraising meeting as they would like to attend.
6. The play is going on and kids will sign up to try out for play.
7. The Phy Ed teachers would like to know if we have funds left over at the end of the year they would like to suggest a climbing wall for the gym, cost would be around $4000.
Committee Business
1. Leslie gave update on play. There are 68 students signed up for the play. Auditions are on Monday night and rehearsal will start Thursday. Ryan has already met with music teachers and Leslie will be ordering the scripts for the play.
2. The book fair was very busy the first night. The PTO spent $100 in scholastic books for the girl that does daycare for PTO during the meetings.
3. Michelle gave update on yearbooks. Scherling will due the order forms and looks like they will be due March 15th. Michelle picked up flash drives today and they will leave 2 pages blank to add play pictures in the book. Mrs. Zent will be calling about composite pictures for 4th and 5th grade and ask Scherling to not charge us for them.
4. Teacher Appreciation week is coming up, still unsure what we will be doing but still getting some information from the teachers from the doodle poll.
5. Leslie and Paul will start working on school supplies and getting form together for people that want to purchase their supplies through PTO. The scissor collection will be looked at again and maybe doing this the last day of school and parents can donate any leftover supplies that they do not want.
6. We will discuss 5th grade trip next month.
7. We will also discuss more about the 4th and 5th grade farewell programs next month. 5th grade scheduled for May 22nd right now.
Thank you to all who attended meeting. Next meeting will be April 2nd, 2013 in the library.
Jessica asked if anybody read February 2013 meeting minutes. Motion was passed for approval of February 2013 meeting minutes.
Treasurer’s Report
1. There has not been much activity since last report. The balance as of March 5th, 2013 is $19,257.54. It was noted that Integrity will pay the rest of games galore which is $600.
Mrs. Zent's Report
1. Just a reminder that casual pictures are due back March 8th.
2. There will be a blood drive on April 2nd, 2013 at Aurora, please sign up by March 22nd.
3. Liberty is scheduled to open on time but still 5th graders will register here at Aurora for Liberty next year. Right now it looks like 5th graders from Aurora and Freedom will just be going to Liberty for one year to avoid overcrowding at these schools. Looks like there will be transfer buses for students going to Liberty. There is going to be a Q&A on website, Mrs. Zent will send out link to everybody for this website.
4. Parent teacher conferences on Thursday and 3rd grade music program.
5. Club Choice would like to know when we are having fundraising meeting as they would like to attend.
6. The play is going on and kids will sign up to try out for play.
7. The Phy Ed teachers would like to know if we have funds left over at the end of the year they would like to suggest a climbing wall for the gym, cost would be around $4000.
Committee Business
1. Leslie gave update on play. There are 68 students signed up for the play. Auditions are on Monday night and rehearsal will start Thursday. Ryan has already met with music teachers and Leslie will be ordering the scripts for the play.
2. The book fair was very busy the first night. The PTO spent $100 in scholastic books for the girl that does daycare for PTO during the meetings.
3. Michelle gave update on yearbooks. Scherling will due the order forms and looks like they will be due March 15th. Michelle picked up flash drives today and they will leave 2 pages blank to add play pictures in the book. Mrs. Zent will be calling about composite pictures for 4th and 5th grade and ask Scherling to not charge us for them.
4. Teacher Appreciation week is coming up, still unsure what we will be doing but still getting some information from the teachers from the doodle poll.
5. Leslie and Paul will start working on school supplies and getting form together for people that want to purchase their supplies through PTO. The scissor collection will be looked at again and maybe doing this the last day of school and parents can donate any leftover supplies that they do not want.
6. We will discuss 5th grade trip next month.
7. We will also discuss more about the 4th and 5th grade farewell programs next month. 5th grade scheduled for May 22nd right now.
Thank you to all who attended meeting. Next meeting will be April 2nd, 2013 in the library.
Aurora PTO Meeting Minutes - February 2013
Introductions were done, it was mentioned that every child
of parent that attends the PTO meeting tonight will get to have some fun time
with Mrs. Zent as an incentive to get parents involved with PTO. Thank you to
all the new parents that were at tonight’s meeting.
Jessica asked if anybody read January 2013 meeting minutes. Paul made a motion to pass and Lori 2nd the motion, motion was passed for approval of January 2013 meeting minutes.
Treasurer’s Report
There has not been much activity since last report. The balance of PTO is currently at $19,031.04
Special Presentation
Ryan Seacup, a senior at MSUM was at tonight’s meeting to talk about doing a play at Aurora. Ryan went through his proposal with the PTO. Name of play would be Stories under the Big Top. Tentative schedule looks like practice starts March 11th and performances would be on April 5th and April 6th. Rehearsal times would be 2:45pm-5pm, but do these staggering so not everybody would have to be at every rehearsal. The play would consist of 3rd-5th graders. Leslie has gotten back some responses from poll about parent volunteer and volunteer for snacks. Ryan would possibly have others helping him with the play which would eliminate the need to rely solely on parent volunteer. Tanya made the motion to have this proposal passed, Erika 2nd the motion, motion was passed for Ryan to run this year’s play at Aurora.
Mrs. Zent's Report
1. Just a reminder that conferences are coming up on February 28th and March 7th. Times of conferences will be sent home on February 15th. If you have a conflict with time please get a hold of Ronda in the office to reschedule.
2. February 19th casual pictures will be taken at Aurora.
3. Jump Rope for Heart is coming up just a reminder to turn in your envelopes on February 14th.
4. On February 21st the 4th graders will be attending a performance by the FM Symphony at Concordia College.
5. On February 14th the 5th graders will be attending the musical production of Disney’s High School Musical at Cheney Middle School.
6. March 11th is the date for pre-registration for Kindergarten.
7. Next week is Kindness week with each day something fun. Monday: Silly Sock Day, Tuesday: Don’t Sweat it day, Wednesday: Aloha Day, Thursday: I love kindness Day and Friday: Black Friday.
8. Dr. Blowers will be meeting with parents of current 4th graders to discuss the 5th graders being moved to Liberty Middle School next year. Meetings will be February 12th at Freedom Elementary and February 19th at Aurora Elementary. There have been committee meetings to discuss what to do with overcrowding next year and this was the best solution financially to move the 5th graders for one year. There are lots and lots of logistics that still need to be worked out such as bussing, start times, afterschool care, etc. All this will be worked out in the coming months ahead. Mrs. Zent is asking the PTO to sponsor a farewell to the 4th graders this year similar to what we do for the 5th graders. Leslie made motion to pass and Paul 2nd motion, motion was passed to host a farewell party for the 4th graders this year.
9. Mrs. Zent is asking PTO to consider setting money aside to give to the 5th graders next year so they can possibly make trip to Bismarck. The 5th graders make the trip every year to visit the capital. The money would be given to the principal at Liberty next year to decide what to do with the 5th grade class. Mrs. Zent is going to check with Freedom principal to see if they will consider doing the same thing. If PTO has enough money we could send 4th grade this year or just give money for next year. PTO will consider options and vote on this at next meeting.
10. Mrs. Zent is excited to do fun activities with the kids whose parents attended tonight’s meeting. Mrs. Zent will decide activity and turn in any receipts to PTO. This will take place next week due to Mrs. Zent being at conference the rest of this week.
Committee Business
1. Jen Kraft gave update on box top contest. Mrs. Hardwick’s class won the January box top contest. Just in January alone we had over $600 in box tops.
2. PTO conference meals were discussed. Old Chicago is donating the February 28th meal for teachers. March 7th meal we are going to do a potato, soup and dessert bar. Need to plan for around 50 teachers eating. Will be sending out doodle poll for people to sign up to bring goodies Please watch for this.
3. The book fair is coming up and will be the same nights as conferences are held. Will send out doodle poll to sign up to work book fair. Please consider signing up for even an hour. It is fun and it helps out tremendously. The title of this book fair is called The Story Laboratory.
4. Year book update, Michelle met with Scherling and would really like to go with them to do our yearbook this year. The price will be around $14 and on the plus side they have all our pictures already. Will see if Scherling would be willing to throw in a 5th grade composite photo for us for the farewell party. Motion was passed to have Scherling do yearbook this year.
5. There was a question about the Sandy’s donuts receipt. This was for the 100 day celebration at Aurora and everybody gets a donut. PTO has always sponsored this event and receipt was approved.
6. There was a request for the kids who are doing the Battle of the Books this year to purchase t-shirts for them. There are 19 students and t-shirts are $7 a piece so looking at $133 that PTO would give them to make this purchase. Motion was passed to purchase t-shirts for students doing battle of the books.
7. Jessica would like to do a scissor collection this year at the end of the year. Instead of buying scissors off of the school supply list would just buy each teacher scissors for each student in their classroom. But would first take up a scissor collection since it seems everybody has 2 or 3 lying around. Will also look at PTO doing a general school supply donation pickup at the end of the year.
8. There were some questions in regards to the teacher enrichment applications. Teachers can fill out these applications and any money left over at end of year from PTO would be divided between the teachers asking for money. Will be accepting these applications until May 1st and PTO, along with Mrs. Zent will vote on and distribute any money at end of year.
9. Teacher Appreciation week is in May and have sent out a favorite things poll for teachers to give input on what are some of their favorite things are. Will look at doing a general “my favorite things” sheet to have available for parents to take home just so they know some of their teacher’s favorite things to give them.
10. The PTO star awards so far are: October: Chris Ault (helping out with treasurer position), November: Laura (for doing such awesome job with fundraiser), December: Tracy (taking over treasurer position) and Tanya (doing American Education Week meals), January: Lori (for taking care of updating all emails on PTO website). Great job everybody.
Thank you to all who attended meeting. Next meeting will be March 5th, 2013 in the library.
Jessica asked if anybody read January 2013 meeting minutes. Paul made a motion to pass and Lori 2nd the motion, motion was passed for approval of January 2013 meeting minutes.
Treasurer’s Report
There has not been much activity since last report. The balance of PTO is currently at $19,031.04
Special Presentation
Ryan Seacup, a senior at MSUM was at tonight’s meeting to talk about doing a play at Aurora. Ryan went through his proposal with the PTO. Name of play would be Stories under the Big Top. Tentative schedule looks like practice starts March 11th and performances would be on April 5th and April 6th. Rehearsal times would be 2:45pm-5pm, but do these staggering so not everybody would have to be at every rehearsal. The play would consist of 3rd-5th graders. Leslie has gotten back some responses from poll about parent volunteer and volunteer for snacks. Ryan would possibly have others helping him with the play which would eliminate the need to rely solely on parent volunteer. Tanya made the motion to have this proposal passed, Erika 2nd the motion, motion was passed for Ryan to run this year’s play at Aurora.
Mrs. Zent's Report
1. Just a reminder that conferences are coming up on February 28th and March 7th. Times of conferences will be sent home on February 15th. If you have a conflict with time please get a hold of Ronda in the office to reschedule.
2. February 19th casual pictures will be taken at Aurora.
3. Jump Rope for Heart is coming up just a reminder to turn in your envelopes on February 14th.
4. On February 21st the 4th graders will be attending a performance by the FM Symphony at Concordia College.
5. On February 14th the 5th graders will be attending the musical production of Disney’s High School Musical at Cheney Middle School.
6. March 11th is the date for pre-registration for Kindergarten.
7. Next week is Kindness week with each day something fun. Monday: Silly Sock Day, Tuesday: Don’t Sweat it day, Wednesday: Aloha Day, Thursday: I love kindness Day and Friday: Black Friday.
8. Dr. Blowers will be meeting with parents of current 4th graders to discuss the 5th graders being moved to Liberty Middle School next year. Meetings will be February 12th at Freedom Elementary and February 19th at Aurora Elementary. There have been committee meetings to discuss what to do with overcrowding next year and this was the best solution financially to move the 5th graders for one year. There are lots and lots of logistics that still need to be worked out such as bussing, start times, afterschool care, etc. All this will be worked out in the coming months ahead. Mrs. Zent is asking the PTO to sponsor a farewell to the 4th graders this year similar to what we do for the 5th graders. Leslie made motion to pass and Paul 2nd motion, motion was passed to host a farewell party for the 4th graders this year.
9. Mrs. Zent is asking PTO to consider setting money aside to give to the 5th graders next year so they can possibly make trip to Bismarck. The 5th graders make the trip every year to visit the capital. The money would be given to the principal at Liberty next year to decide what to do with the 5th grade class. Mrs. Zent is going to check with Freedom principal to see if they will consider doing the same thing. If PTO has enough money we could send 4th grade this year or just give money for next year. PTO will consider options and vote on this at next meeting.
10. Mrs. Zent is excited to do fun activities with the kids whose parents attended tonight’s meeting. Mrs. Zent will decide activity and turn in any receipts to PTO. This will take place next week due to Mrs. Zent being at conference the rest of this week.
Committee Business
1. Jen Kraft gave update on box top contest. Mrs. Hardwick’s class won the January box top contest. Just in January alone we had over $600 in box tops.
2. PTO conference meals were discussed. Old Chicago is donating the February 28th meal for teachers. March 7th meal we are going to do a potato, soup and dessert bar. Need to plan for around 50 teachers eating. Will be sending out doodle poll for people to sign up to bring goodies Please watch for this.
3. The book fair is coming up and will be the same nights as conferences are held. Will send out doodle poll to sign up to work book fair. Please consider signing up for even an hour. It is fun and it helps out tremendously. The title of this book fair is called The Story Laboratory.
4. Year book update, Michelle met with Scherling and would really like to go with them to do our yearbook this year. The price will be around $14 and on the plus side they have all our pictures already. Will see if Scherling would be willing to throw in a 5th grade composite photo for us for the farewell party. Motion was passed to have Scherling do yearbook this year.
5. There was a question about the Sandy’s donuts receipt. This was for the 100 day celebration at Aurora and everybody gets a donut. PTO has always sponsored this event and receipt was approved.
6. There was a request for the kids who are doing the Battle of the Books this year to purchase t-shirts for them. There are 19 students and t-shirts are $7 a piece so looking at $133 that PTO would give them to make this purchase. Motion was passed to purchase t-shirts for students doing battle of the books.
7. Jessica would like to do a scissor collection this year at the end of the year. Instead of buying scissors off of the school supply list would just buy each teacher scissors for each student in their classroom. But would first take up a scissor collection since it seems everybody has 2 or 3 lying around. Will also look at PTO doing a general school supply donation pickup at the end of the year.
8. There were some questions in regards to the teacher enrichment applications. Teachers can fill out these applications and any money left over at end of year from PTO would be divided between the teachers asking for money. Will be accepting these applications until May 1st and PTO, along with Mrs. Zent will vote on and distribute any money at end of year.
9. Teacher Appreciation week is in May and have sent out a favorite things poll for teachers to give input on what are some of their favorite things are. Will look at doing a general “my favorite things” sheet to have available for parents to take home just so they know some of their teacher’s favorite things to give them.
10. The PTO star awards so far are: October: Chris Ault (helping out with treasurer position), November: Laura (for doing such awesome job with fundraiser), December: Tracy (taking over treasurer position) and Tanya (doing American Education Week meals), January: Lori (for taking care of updating all emails on PTO website). Great job everybody.
Thank you to all who attended meeting. Next meeting will be March 5th, 2013 in the library.
Aurora PTO Meeting Minutes - January 2013
Mrs. Zent's Report
1. Just a reminder there is no school on January 21st.
2. There is map testing next week, not every student will do map testing so don’t panic either way. This can be used by the teachers as a tool to get more information on how a student is doing.
3. The Sheyenne Mustangs Boosters will have an excerpt in the newsletters coming up.
4. There was some discussion on Stem and the way it stands now is that Stem will be fused into the normal school settings.
5. The 10th of January is the midterm cutoff.
6. The 5th graders have asked about having a dance. Will maybe look at doing a family event in the spring instead of doing a dance.
Committee Business
1. The book fair is coming Feb. 28th and March 7th, sign up will be at next meeting. There is another book fair training in Moorhead if anybody is interested in going contact Jessica.
2. PTO is really lacking in volunteers this year. Will be sending out email to teachers to send to parents reminding them about PTO. Last meeting the teachers had some good ideas about having parents sign up at the beginning of the year for what months they will be attending PTO meetings. Another thought was to assign a grade level to each month and focus on a specific topic for that grade. Mrs. Zent has agreed to try something new and the kids of the parents that attend the PTO meeting will get to do something special with Mrs. Zent that week.
3. The box tops contest will run through January 31st.
4. The student leaders are collecting pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald house in Fargo. They are doing this as a service project and all money raised stays in Fargo and helps fund the 2 houses.
5. They will be having a Jump Rope for Heart assembly on January 24th. They are doing a lucky duck program this year. All information will be sent home with the students for parents to look over.
6. We might be due to have a blood drive this year. Aurora does this every other year, so this is our year, will wait to be contacted.
7. PTO will be checking with Scherling to get pricing to do yearbooks this year. Need to make sure all teachers have the flash drives to load pictures on.
8. Leslie talked about the play. The student from MSUM really wants to do this with Aurora students. Would be around $100-$300 for play rights and whatever else he would be asking for. He will need to put together a proposal for the PTO to look at and set a budget for. Will also need to send out a poll asking parents about helping out with play and their commitment to this. Would be looking at just 3rd-5th grade at this time.
9. Leslie talked with Games to Go and they already sent out the contract and are giving us the same price as last year. We will have same setup as last year and will have them on the last day of school.
10. Mrs. Ray wanted to make mention of the talent show at Aurora. Would really like to have a lot of things done way in advance this year. Make sure music is brought in advance, chairs set up and etc.
11. Starting a new positive behavior support system called Stellar Student. This is a way to recognize the really good students. Students will need to fill out an application and then have every one of their teachers sign it.
Thank you to all who attended meeting. Next meeting will be February 5th, 2013 in the library.
1. Just a reminder there is no school on January 21st.
2. There is map testing next week, not every student will do map testing so don’t panic either way. This can be used by the teachers as a tool to get more information on how a student is doing.
3. The Sheyenne Mustangs Boosters will have an excerpt in the newsletters coming up.
4. There was some discussion on Stem and the way it stands now is that Stem will be fused into the normal school settings.
5. The 10th of January is the midterm cutoff.
6. The 5th graders have asked about having a dance. Will maybe look at doing a family event in the spring instead of doing a dance.
Committee Business
1. The book fair is coming Feb. 28th and March 7th, sign up will be at next meeting. There is another book fair training in Moorhead if anybody is interested in going contact Jessica.
2. PTO is really lacking in volunteers this year. Will be sending out email to teachers to send to parents reminding them about PTO. Last meeting the teachers had some good ideas about having parents sign up at the beginning of the year for what months they will be attending PTO meetings. Another thought was to assign a grade level to each month and focus on a specific topic for that grade. Mrs. Zent has agreed to try something new and the kids of the parents that attend the PTO meeting will get to do something special with Mrs. Zent that week.
3. The box tops contest will run through January 31st.
4. The student leaders are collecting pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald house in Fargo. They are doing this as a service project and all money raised stays in Fargo and helps fund the 2 houses.
5. They will be having a Jump Rope for Heart assembly on January 24th. They are doing a lucky duck program this year. All information will be sent home with the students for parents to look over.
6. We might be due to have a blood drive this year. Aurora does this every other year, so this is our year, will wait to be contacted.
7. PTO will be checking with Scherling to get pricing to do yearbooks this year. Need to make sure all teachers have the flash drives to load pictures on.
8. Leslie talked about the play. The student from MSUM really wants to do this with Aurora students. Would be around $100-$300 for play rights and whatever else he would be asking for. He will need to put together a proposal for the PTO to look at and set a budget for. Will also need to send out a poll asking parents about helping out with play and their commitment to this. Would be looking at just 3rd-5th grade at this time.
9. Leslie talked with Games to Go and they already sent out the contract and are giving us the same price as last year. We will have same setup as last year and will have them on the last day of school.
10. Mrs. Ray wanted to make mention of the talent show at Aurora. Would really like to have a lot of things done way in advance this year. Make sure music is brought in advance, chairs set up and etc.
11. Starting a new positive behavior support system called Stellar Student. This is a way to recognize the really good students. Students will need to fill out an application and then have every one of their teachers sign it.
Thank you to all who attended meeting. Next meeting will be February 5th, 2013 in the library.
Aurora PTO Meeting Minutes - December 2012
Introductions were done
Mrs. Zent's Report
Committee Business
Mrs. Zent's Report
- Mrs. Zent was unable to attend tonight’s meeting, we will catch up with her next month.
Committee Business
- Tanya forgot to print out meeting minutes so these will have to be approved at next month’s meeting.
- The committee voted in Tracy Boehm as the new treasurer at Aurora. Chris has already trained Tracy in and she gave the treasurers report. There is a correction from last month’s meeting minutes. The total for fundraiser was not $18,830.59; this was the balance in account. The coupon book fundraiser this year made $14,520. Tracy did a 5 year fundraiser history and this year we actually did better than we thought we did. Will need to take into consideration that Clubs Choice usually paid for the inflatables for the year end party, but we still made a significant amount more than last year. The budget this year is looking pretty good, maybe need to budget a little more for field trips this year.
- Leslie is going to call and see about reserving inflatables for end of school party.
- Laura gave update on box tops. The October amount we made was $1352.30. Mrs. Engelharts class won the party. Not all teachers were aware of the contest so next time we will send out an email to all the teachers. Note: next box top contest will be in January.
- Leslie had an email from guy at MSUM still interested in doing a play at Aurora. We would really need to send an email out to parents and get some input back on volunteers and get some commitments from parents in order for this to work. The committee decided 3rd-5th grade would be involved if it is a go.
- Michelle Angus has taken over the yearbook committee and would really appreciate any other parents help or involvement with this. It goes so much smoother the more parents we have.
- American Education week was in November. The PTO provided lunch for teachers on that Friday. There was a lot of good feedback regarding lunch from Costco. The committee was wondering about conference meals. There was some negative feedback regarding Olive Garden and maybe it being to garlicky and having to talk to parents at conferences. The teachers at meeting stated that they appreciate any meal that is catered in and do not have a problem with it being garlic. Old Chicago has agreed to cater conference meal in February and there may be some garlic so the committee just wanted to make sure the teachers are ok with this.
- Need some new ideas to get parents to come to PTO meetings. Jessica had the idea maybe the kids of the parents that attended meeting would be able to do something special on Friday with Mrs. Zent, like play a game or get a special treat. Will wait to get Mrs. Zent’s feedback on this. Paul is going to spearhead a more aggressive marketing strategy for PTO to try and attract members. Lori is going to start sending email to all the teachers about when the next PTO meeting is and the teachers can then distribute the email to all parents. The PTO does not have everybody’s email address so this way the teachers will be able to hit every parent. The teachers also had some good ideas about getting parents in the door for PTO.
- The All Star PTO award this month is going to Tracy, thank you so much for stepping in as the new treasurer. A huge thank you goes out to Chris Ault who has helped us these past few months.
Aurora PTO Meeting Minutes - November 2012
Introductions were done
Mrs. Zent's Report
Committee Business
Meeting Minutes Submitted By: Tanya Thompson
Mrs. Zent's Report
- There was a short presentation on bullying before meeting started. Mrs. Zent answered question about bullying.
- Was discussed about playground enhancements. Mrs. Zent will look at Dakota Fence to see how much this would cost.
Committee Business
- Tanya does not know how to upload meeting minutes to website. Will have somebody do this or send them to Mrs. Zent to include in newsletter.
- Chuck has resigned as Treasurer so need somebody ASAP, Chris is still doing this for us but really need to get somebody from Aurora on board.
- Jessica did a run thru on the Treasurer Report. It looks like overall the fundraiser final total was $18,830.59 Mrs. Thorstad class had the most sales. Three kids were top winners they will be in the newsletter.
- The book fair carry over to the flu shot clinic had mixed reviews. Next time was noted when doing the doodle poll for book fair to send out to teachers and they can send out to all parents. Not all parents may be on the email list so that way we hit everybody. It was tough finding people to work. The next book fair will coincide with the spring conferences.
- Need yearbook volunteers, the teachers have flash drives, we may need to look at Scherling helping with the yearbook this year due to lack of volunteers.
- Blue84 exchanges were sent back and should be back to Aurora in about a week.
- Need to check with 7 day clinic on how much money the PTO will be getting from the flu shot clinic.
- Next week is American Education Week, 11th-15th. 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade will be testing but the 4th grade testing is the one the school is evaluated on.
- There are 6 leftover yearbooks from last year, will put in newsletter if anybody is interested in buying them.
- The PTO All Star winner for November is Carralee; she helped so much with the book fair. Thank you
Meeting Minutes Submitted By: Tanya Thompson
Aurora PTO Meeting Minutes - October 2012
Introductions were done
Mrs. Zent's Report
Committee Business
Meeting Minutes Submitted By: Tanya Thompson
Mrs. Zent's Report
- Picture money is due on the 5th, you do not have to buy pictures but every child will be photographed.
- Reminder – October 8th no school; Conferences will be held on the 15th and 16th and there is no school on the 18th and 19th.
- The fundraiser seems to be going well only a few minor problems with the booklets.
- The PTO has donated money for the field trips in the past so any money would be greatly appreciated for this year.
- The AmeriCorps Reads volunteer program needs some volunteers. You do one on one reading with students; Aurora has one but can have two. Go to website to learn more.
- The kids and staff are having a lot of fun with bucket filling.
Committee Business
- We still need chair people for the scrapbook, book fair and yearbook committees. Will be giving the teachers flash drives to start putting pictures on for yearbook. Any help is greatly appreciated.
- The PTO paid out $551.95 for milk and juice for kids not able to pay.
- Box tops contest- the winners will be announced shortly.
- Laura updated on fundraiser, Westside made a lot of money with this fundraiser so hopefully we will too. Kids seemed very excited about fundraiser.
- Blue84 should be here in about a week and will be sent home with the kids. Please note do not throw away the slip in case you need to return for different size.
- Conference meals update: Monday, Olive Garden will be supplying the meal and on Tuesday, Buffalo Wild Wings, Perkins, Breadsmith and Walmart have donated. Old Chicago has already said they would do February 28th meal. Thank you to these generous businesses.
- The book fair has a signup sheet going around will also be doing doodle poll to fill time slots. It will be delivered on the 11th to set up but it will not be picked up until the 25th. They are giving us an extra $100 in account to store that long. It was brought up about doing a family reading night or doing something along with the flu shot clinic on the 23rd. Can set up the books and see if anybody will buy while getting their shot.
- Mrs. Boyer talked about United Way week will be 9th-12th. Will have penny drive and dress up week. The student leaders will collect the money and count it. The motion was passed for PTO to have pizza party for top class.
- Danelle Johnson spoke on all the new and exciting things going on at Sheyenne High School. Need people to get involved over there with all the transitions and so many things happening. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
- Leslie talked about the school play. Trollwood is $3500 plus $50 for each child so that is a definite no. There are still 3 students at NDSU that have expressed interest and one from MSUM that is very interested in getting going.
- Reminder that it is hat day on Thursday for Erickson family and also they are having fundraiser on Sunday for the family in Dilworth.
- The PTO All Star winner for October is Laura- thank you for all the hard work on the fundraiser.
Meeting Minutes Submitted By: Tanya Thompson
Aurora PTO Meeting Minutes - September 2012
Introductions were done- nice to see a lot of new faces at PTO.
Mrs. Zent's Report
Meeting Minutes Submitted By: Tanya Thompson
Mrs. Zent's Report
- Newsletters have been sent out so make sure the teachers have your email so you will receive the newsletter every week.
- Aurora has about 540 students this year. Wake up and walk is not an option anymore, to help alleviate the crowding before school only one class per day will have the playground and the others will walk; this is just in the mornings.
- There are 4 new special Ed teachers this year. Hannah Pitts is the new art teacher this year; all students will have art 1x a week. Mrs. Cubb is the new music teacher. Mr. Best is the new Phy Ed teacher.
- Map testing will now only be 1x per year instead of 3; this will be administered in the spring. The school is using alternative assessments as well as the map testing.
- All-star behavior stickers will again be used this year. They are given out to kids who exhibit all 10 life skills. Also all students and staff are encouraged to be bucket fillers. Students and staff will be featured in newsletter each week who have demonstrated being great bucket fillers.
- Lunches have changed a little bit this year, there used to be a minimum amount that needed to be on the plates but now there is a maximum. 5th graders are no longer allowed to go back for seconds. There also will not be bread offered everyday like it has been in the past.
- It is great to see the nice turnout for PTO, please remember that childcare is available at all PTO meetings, we encouraged everybody to attend.
- The treasurer’s spot on the committee is still open. Chuck Schwan was nominated and was elected in with a unanimous vote. This year’s committee is: President- Jessica Kliem; Vice President – Lori Bateman; Secretary – Tanya Thompson and Treasurer- Chuck Schwan. Thank you so much to Chuck for volunteering for this position. We will miss Chris Ault, thanks for everything.
- There are several committees that need chair people to fill spots. If you are interested in helping out please let one of the committee members know. Book Fair- this is done 2x per year, there is a workshop on September 25th from 10am-12pm. Box tops and Daytime Helpers- Jen Kraft is running this but always needs lots of help. They meet usually 1x per week to work on various projects for the teachers. Fundraising- In the past we have only been doing this 1x per year. School Supplies- Leslie has been doing this for the past several years and will be leaving this year. This position will be in charge of getting the supplies ordered and ready to pack for kids to pick up on registration day. Paul has volunteered to take over this committee, thanks Paul. Talent Show – Need somebody to watch auditions and pick acts to perform at the talent show. Teacher Appreciation – Need to plan special treats for the teachers and staff, Lori and Tanya have volunteered for this but still need many more helpers. Conference Meals – Need to arrange to have meal for teachers 2x per year when conferences are held. Events- Plan any special events at Aurora and also keep the displays in the front of Aurora up to date. Scrapbook – May need to make this one part of the daytime helpers group if no interest. Please try to get involved and volunteer for one of these positions at Aurora; all and any help is greatly appreciated.
- Jen Kraft wanted to let everyone know that September there will be a box top class party for the class that brings in the most box tops. Also she sent around a signup sheet for emails for daytime helpers.
- If you are not receiving emails and would like too you can sign up on the PTO website.
- Fundraiser- This is scheduled to begin September 19th. A week before it begins a note will be coming home with the students. It is a coupon book from Integrity, they have coupons from businesses in West Fargo and a lot of them are for free stuff as well. They are $20 and Aurora gets to keep $10 of that. We would like to shoot for each student to sell 10 booklets but want to make sure there is no door to door selling. Mrs. Schultz has agreed to be the staff supplier of the coupon books; if a student needs more booklets to sell they can get more from her.
- Blue 84 Aurora apparel- September 14th is the deadline if you wish to order any Aurora apparel. There was a suggestion that we may do All Star Fridays and students and staff can wear their Aurora apparel.
- The flu shot clinic is scheduled for October 23rd; the PTO does receive $1 for every person that receives a flu shot at this clinic. Will need 2 or 3 volunteers to help out with this.
- Jessica received a letter from the Rotary Club asking for donation to help give all 3rd graders in the area a dictionary. We will see if they can wait until after fundraiser to see how much money we raise.
- Paul handed out Godfathers coupons to show everybody. This year the classroom that has the most parents from their classroom at the PTO meetings will receive pizza coupons.
- All Star Award- each month somebody from PTO will be chosen. This month it is Leslie; thank you so much for your hard work in getting school supplies ordered and organized.
- There have been some questions about a school play. It is a lot of work to do but if somebody is willing to tackle this feel free. There is a program thru Trollwood that is still being looked into.
Meeting Minutes Submitted By: Tanya Thompson
