Buena Vista Montessori Parent Teacher’s Association (PTA)
Minutes of the Meeting
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 2:30 p.m.
Members Present: Michelle Moore, Brenda Wiley, Megan Caruso, Shirley Pace, Chris Alvarez, Amy Edwards, Michelle Vandepas, Noel Black, Miriam Ballard, Diane Bertini, Natisha Walker, Catherine Tantengco, Marta Fioriti, Amy Knight, Deanna Sanders, Cindy Stanley, Gail Mayne, Wendy Palmer, and many others who we are sorry, we didn’t your names. (Let’s send around a sign in sheet next time)
The president, Michelle Moore, called the meeting to order. The agenda was passed out.
Old Business:
- The mission of the Buena Vista PTA is to promote the welfare of our children by supporting teachers and parents while providing enrichment activities for students so they have the best advantages in physical, mental, and social education.
- confirmed and voted in PTA board positions. Michelle Moore- President, Megan Caruso- Vice President, Brenda Wiley and Shirley Pace- co treasurers, we still need a secretary. Any one interested??
- SAC committee meets 2nd Thursdays and needs support. This committee addresses issues such as having a 6th grade, Spanish, nutrition, marketing the school, etc. Their 1st meeting is September 9th at 2:30
- Music garden is half complete. Bongo drums and benches are on order. Thank you Whole Foods
New Business:
- Budget. Budget reviewed. Will be finalized and put on the web site for review. www.buenavistaelementary.org
- fall fundraising. What to do this year?? Ideas were presented and discussed:
- Fall Bulb Sale. Although it has done well in the past, members felt there needed to be a change. Neighbors and friends that had bought bulbs in the past had enough and didn’t need want or any more. The quality of bulbs was also an issue. It was motioned and seconded that fall bulbs would not be sold this year.
- Bike a Thon. This would be fun, but maybe not for this fall
- Trees for the Orchard. Members thought this was a good idea. It was discussed that local varieties of fruit or other types of trees would be planted. Someone with gardening expertise was needed to head up this project. Where to plant the trees, the time of year to plant and any permits that may be needed to plant on school property need to be determined. Were people going to donate money or the trees??
- Electronics Recycle. The Eco-fest has just ended. How can we “green up” the school? Recycling is provided at the school but teaches don’t recycle as much as they could. There is a lot of food waste that could be composted and added to the garden. Recycling needs to be a bigger part of the school. Diane is interested in heading up some projects.
- Cookbooks. Buena Vista is stressing nutrition and healthy eating habits for our children through a “Rainbow of Colors” diet. The cookbook should be family friendly. It was suggested that kids be allowed to “dictate” the recipes, maybe drawing a picture of the “final” dish. Everyone liked the idea. The motion to use cookbooks as one of the fundraisers was brought forth, seconded, and approved. The president, Michelle Moore, will head up this project.
- Reflections National Art Competition. This is a program where students compete in various artistic mediums including music, dancing, writing, photography, multi media. Winners go on to the city, state and national levels. Members like the idea, however no one was willing to head up the project. The city competition is at the end of October so if anyone is interested in making this happen, please let Michelle Moore know.
Upcoming Events/ Volunteer Needs:
- Chil-Fil-A, Sonic, and other National Chains. Most fast food is not a healthy choice and doesn’t send the right message to our children. We want to stress the “Rainbow of Colors” diet Buena Vista has adopted. The president, Michelle Moore will contact Chic-Fil-A to cancel this Sept. 21st event. Noel suggested Mountain Mama, Ranch Foods Direct, Sy’s Drive In, would be more appropriate choices. The motion to use more healthy choices for our sponsors was brought forth and seconded.
- Open House (Sept 21 5:30pm). This had been a great success in the past. The motion to have a BBQ for the open house was brought forth and seconded. The president, Michelle Moore and Noel will head up this project.
- Fall Carnival (Oct 22). The people who loaned us the props for the haunted house are willing to loan them to us again this year. A more extensive range of prizes was discussed and Noel suggested better prizes.
- Garage Sale (Oct 9th 8-12noon). A lot of good clothing was brought in last year, but was unsellable because it wasn’t clean, sorted and on hangers. It’s important to have these items since they make a difference to some of the families at Buena Vista. All items brought in would be dropped off in the gym. It’s better if this event is outside so people passing by can participate, but if the weather is bad, we could hold this event in the gym. Diane Bertini, Gail Mayne, and Deanna Sanders will help coordinate this event
- Box Tops (due October 16). Natasha will be unable to help with the activity this year. The box tops must be trimmed before sending them in and that is very time consuming. Try to have parents trim these before sending them to the school. Gail Maybe offered to be the Box Top coordinator this year.
- Parent’s Night Out. (Sept 24th 5-9pm) PTA will sponsor a time for parents date night. We need a parent chaperone to help with the children in the gym. Events for this night include movie, crafts, games. Coronado students to help cover during this time.
- School Wellness Training (September 14th at 3pm) This is a presentation about nutrition and children’s health. More info to follow in the Friday folders
Other business:
- Student Directory. It will be on line this year in a PDF format. For security reasons, the student directory will be password protected with a separate password from the web site. Looking for advertisers. Michelle Vandepas and Cindy Stanley are heading up this project?
- Coronado Honor Roll Students participate in volunteering. Mariam to make this contact.
There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned.
Minutes submitted by Shirley Pace
