Association Meeting 09/11/12

Were you totally overwhelmed at this jam packed back to school week? Were you stuck at soccer practice? Did you not realize that there was a PTA meeting tonight and are so bummed that you missed it? 
It's cool. I gotcha ;)

(warning: it was a long one. to attend, to type, to read... brace yourselves! lol)

Meeting called to order by president Paula Nathan at 6:09pm. 

Slide show of various Emerson events by Kryssie Booth. (it was rad. i'm biased. cuz it's me. side note: didn't realize the word d*mn is in the song I'm Yours [even though i sing it all the time] until I put it in my slideshow at a PTA meeting. sorry.)

Pledge of allegiance. Moment of silence remembering September 11, 2001.

Guest speaker, Kendra of the Jazz Angels,  a non profit music organization. Jazz angels have been invited back to Emerson to provide a fee based music program for Emerson students. There are two choirs, brass, string, and woodwind instruments. Sign up sheets will go out.  Jazz Angels offer choir and instrument instruction to students in grades 3-5. Music is also extended to grades K-2 for choir. Each session is 8 weeks and included 8 rehearsals and 2 performances (one for peers and one for parents). The Jazz Angels are hoping to have 3 separate sessions. 
Rehearsals are held either in the morning or afternoon, outside of school time and typically last 45 minutes to 1 hour. Costs are still being figured out but will stand somewhere between $65-$75 for choir and $95-$115 for instrumental instruction. The Jazz Angels do have limited grants available, there is an application process and decisions regarding recipients will be made by the Jazz Angels Board of Directors. 

Treasurer, Mrs. Jeanna Luzzi, presented the 2012-2013 budget to the association line by line. (See Attached)

Jeanna Luzzi moved to approve the Emerson PTA 2012-2013 budget. Cynthia Antonette seconded the motion. The motion carried.

Mrs. Maggie Kerns moved to approve the Emerson PTA programs for the 2012-2013 school year as outlined in the budget. Tamara Burke seconded the motion. The motion carried.

Former Auditor, Mrs. Michelle Worden, completed the last audit for her term. Treasurer, Mrs. Jeanna Luzzi presented the audit to the association. The audit was for March 1, 2012 through June 30, 2012. It was reviewed and no discrepancies were found.

Roberto Curiel moved to approve the audit. Pam Harmon seconded the motion. The motion carried.

Mrs. Tamara Burke, Financial Secretary, presented the deposits for June , July, and August ($0). See attached. The report will be filed with the treasurer.

President’s report.
Welcome to the new members. An outline of the organization is given. PTA is not a fundraising organization, rather it is an advocacy organization that advocates for children’s rights at every level. Important programs have been instituted throughout education’s history thanks to the PTA. We try to increase numbers to act as a collective whole, it gives us a powerful voice when it comes to our advocacy efforts. At the unit level, we provide and support programs that benefit children and help to provide a well rounded educational experience.
5^th grade speakers from last year’s promoting class fondly recalled program after program that was offered and or supported by the PTA. Moved by that, we are trying to add more activities and community building events. The PTA has specific rules and guidelines at the unit, council, district, state, and national levels that must be observed in order to maintain our charitable trust status. It is unable to directly pay teacher or staff salaries like a foundation can. Emerson PTA will continue to work with and support the efforts of Emerson Foundation to provide the best educational experience possible for our children.
Nominations were made to fill vacant board positions after the election process concluded last year. They included: Kelle Erwin for VP of Fundraising, Paula Barrow for VP of Membership, Yvonne Santos for Corresponding Secretary, Felice Sparks for Parliamentarian, and Peggy Walker for Hospitality.

Jeanna Luzzi moved to ratify the nominations. Erin Moland seconded the motion. The motion carries.

Introductions of the PTA Board followed:
President, Mrs. Paula Nathan. Mother to 5^th grader that has attended special day classes at Emerson since Kindergarten. This is her last year at Emerson.
Executive Vice President, Mrs. Cynthia Antonette. 2^nd grader and a daughter that graduated from Emerson last year and has started middle school. Was the former treasurer for two years.
VP of Fundraising, Mrs. Kelle Erwin. Has a 3^rd grader and a 10^th grader at St. John Bosco.
VP of Activities, Mrs. Stacie Cardena. Has two girls at Emerson
VP Teacher Liaison, Mrs. Pam Harmon. Has a 1^st grader and a 9^th grader at Milikan.
Treasurer, Mrs. Jeanna Luzzi. New to Emerson, kindergartener in Mrs. Sees class.
Financial Secretary, Mrs. Tamara Burke. Has 1^st grader at Emerson, a just graduated from Emerson son who is in middle school and a 3 year old who will attend Emerson in the future. Total expected years at Emerson = 14!
Recording Secretary, Mrs. Kryssie Booth. 2^nd grader in Ms. Norko’s class. 
Parliamentarian, Ms. Felice Sparks, was not present at the meeting but has a 2^nd grader at Emerson.
Hospitality, Mrs. Peggy Walker. 5^th grader and 8^th grader
Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Yvonne Santos, has a 3^rd grader.
Auditor, Mr. Rene Justin, was not present at the meeting but has a 2^nd grader at Emerson.

Membership Report
VP of Membership, Mrs. Paula Barrow and Membership Chair, Mrs. Erin Moland have tallied more than 340 memberships already. Past membership expires in October, please renew. Emerson was one of 3 schools in the council to receive a 100% membership award last year. Membership does not require attendance, it is a show of support for the things that the PTA organization advocates for and provide to the students at our school. For membership questions, please email membership@emersonpta.com

Teacher Liaison, Mrs. Pam Harmon reported that a luncheon for teachers and staff was provided from Portos (yum) on the Tuesday before school started to welcome them back and thank them for all the hard work that they do!

VP of Activities, Mrs. Stacie Cardena and President, Mrs. Paula Nathan outlined the new ME Project. ME stands for Mind Exercise. It is a free of charge program for Emerson students to promote mind exercise through art, science, music and fitness. Monthly activities will take place after school on the 2^nd friday of each month after school at Emerson. After attending the event, students will receive a ME Project sticker and a “passport”. When they have collected at least 5 stickers, having participated in 5 events, they may turn in their passport and be entered to win a bicycle at the end of the year.
The ME projects will be as follows:
09/14 Drum Circle
10/12 Hip Hop Dancing
11/09 Aquarium on wheels
12/14 Chalk murals and chalk artists
01/11 Mad Scientist science experiments
02/08 Sculpting with different mediums (marshmallows, play dough, etc.)
03/08 Two parts. Week 1 ceramic creating. Week 2 painting projects after they have been fired
04/12 Animal Encounter
05/10 Mobile Planetarium

Principals Report
Mrs Kerns would like volunteers to attend and report on various district forums and committees. It is a great opportunity to get involved and will give a grander picture on the situation we find ourselves in at the school and district level. For each committee/forum there are approximately 6 meetings a year and they typically last an hour and most are held at the Board Building. Please contact Mrs. Kerns if you are interested in becoming involved this way, your time is truly appreciated.
This Wednesday’s packet will include the first of “Waldo’s Words” and principal to parent communication letter that will come home at least once a month that talks about the goings on of the school. This week’s Waldo’s Words will have the new bell schedule on the back.
Back to School night is this Thursday, 09/13. It is a chance for parents to meet their children’s teacher. You are encouraged to attend this event without your child, they will get the opportunity to show you what they have worked on at Open House in the Spring. 
Traffic safety is an issue. Due to our increase in enrollment (approximately 720 students), please allow extra time to find parking and walking children to the school. Please DO NOT drop children off in the center of the street. If you would like to drop off, utilize the coned off valet area in front of the school on Josie Ave. We will look into having volunteers help to streamline the valet process and will also look into potentially setting up an additional valet on the small, one way, inner section of Willow.
We have a new secretary in the office. She has been working very hard to bring the website/calendar/roster up to date, the office appreciates the patience of parents as they continue their efforts.
The grassy area will only be available for lunch picnics on Fridays. Blankets or sheets should be sent with your student if they would like to picnic on the grass. The cafeteria is also now open for students to have their lunches there.
The staff parking lot should be reserved for staff during school hours.

Committee Reports
Back to school bash will be Friday, 09/21 from 4pm-9pm (or at the conclusion of the movie). There will be booths by Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts, the Emerson Market, and the Bee Authentic Fundraiser. The featured movie, “The Lorax” will begin approximately at 7:15, around sunset. Bring blankets and chairs to enjoy the movie on the grass with your old and new Emerson Friends. Please be mindful of picking up the trash around you.
Reflections Art Program has begun. It is a national program sponsored by the PTA. Entries in any of the following categories will be accepted by October 19, 2012: Film Production, Visual Art, Photography, Literature, Dance Choreography and Music Composition. The 2012 Reflections theme is “The Magic of a Moment”.
Family dinner nights will begin with Panda Express on September 26, 2012. The fundraiser will run from 10am-10pm. Please refer to the flyer that was sent home in your Back to School Packet.
Tuesday Recycling started today, 09/11. Our first day we made over $100. Volunteers are ALWAYS needed. It is not a glamourous job but Emerson raised $1500 last year doing something good for the environment. We collect #1 plastic bottles (please rinse and remove caps), aluminum cans, and foil juice pouches. Consider gathering the aluminum cans and plastic bottles at your weekend sporting events.
Fresh and Easy Shop for Schools program kicks off tomorrow 09/12 and will run though 12/31. Receipt totals need to exceed $20 after discounts and coupons. Receipts can be turned in and Emerson will receive $1 for every increment of $20 on a single receipt.
School Cents at the Center Malls (Stonewood Center Mall in Downey, Lakewood Center Mall and Los Cerritos Center) begins Saturday 09/15. Turn in original receipts (they can be returned to you if you choose) from any of the stores on the mall property (including Costco, Costco gas and all establishments on “Restaurant Row”, the stores on Candlewood between Clark and Lakewood) and Emerson will receive points. 100 local schools participate in the program that ends on May 15, 2013. Based on the amount of points we collect, we will receive a portion of $50,000. Last year we were 8^th out of 100 and received $954. Please visit shoppingpartnership.com and sign up to receive communication from the program (less than 1 email per month) and Emerson will receive 1,000 points for each email signed up.

The Book Exchange cart will begin on Friday, 09/14 after school. Brina a book and get a book. 

No new business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:49pm.

Next meeting: Tuesday, October 9, 2012 
6:00pm in the Auditorium.

Oh my goodness... that was a crazy long meeting. Come next time, it won't be this long! ;)

and if there are typos, my bad. lemme know and I'll edit. It's late.

Association Meeting 06/12/12

The last association meeting of the year was well attended!

Members from the Emerson Student Council led the association in the pledge of allegiance.

Awesome slideshow :)

Secretary Mrs. Michelle Arslan, presented last months minutes to be review by a committee of three. (Last month, honorary service awards were presented... sorry no post, busy gal drops a ball on occasion)

President, Mrs. Paula Nathan, thanked the outgoing board members for their service during the President's report. The incoming board members were announced as well.

Two board positions are open, VP of fundraising and corresponding secretary. Please contact if you are interested!!

A few points about the PTA as an organization were reviewed.

"The mission of the California State PTA is to positively impact the lives of all children and families by representing our members, and empowering and supporting them with skills in advocacy, leadership and communications."


PTA is and organization that advocates for children and fundraising is not the primary goal. We are a registered Non Profit 501C3. PTA units are now required to become registered charitable trusts and required to file an RRF-1 form annually. The Bylaws are revisited and reviewed every 3 years. Emerson PTA filed bylaw changes this year that were reviewed and approved by the state parliamentarian. Emerson PTA is a unit that is part of the Long Beach Council that is part of the 33rd district that is part of the California State PTA that is part of the national PTA. 
PTA members and leaders are required and encouraged to attend training. PTA may donate to other charitable organizations. 


Your PTA, your time and your membership, positively impacted Emerson children with these awesome things this year (to name a few):
Back to School Packets, RIF (reading is fundamental, where your student chooses a book to keep), ELMOS for every classroom, recycling, beautification, box tops, back to school bash, silent auction, kindergarten tea, and Reading at Home...
Go You!


This upcoming school year, PTA will be supporting the Our Children, Our Future initiative. Please read more about that here. You may search our school in particular and see that if the initiative in November passes, Emerson will receive approx $525,000.00


Membership expires each year in October. Membership is open to everyone, parents, teachers, students and members of the community. Education is a shared responsibility, please consider renewing your membership.


Secretary, Mrs. Michelle Arslan read a motion proposed by the PTA board. "The PTA moves to donate $15,000.00 to the Emerson Foundation" The motion carried. (yay!!) A (fake) check was presented to Emerson Students.

Treasurer, Mrs. Cynthia Antonette presented the treasurers report. She moved to ratify checks #3178-3209. Kryssie Booth seconded the motion, it carried.
Mrs. Antonette moved to approve a preliminary budget for summer, Executive VP Mrs. Peggy Walker seconded the motion, it carried.


Financial Secretary, Mrs. Bridgette Jones presented the Financial Report listing the deposits that were made for the month of May.


Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. CJ Holder presented in VP of Membership, Mrs. Kris Williamson's absence... School Cents brought us $954!! We were 8th place of all participating schools. Thank you for your participation! 
When you sign up for your PTA membership, you are entered into an opportunity drawing held at the end of the year. Congratulations to Mr. Tony Sees for winning a $50 American Express gift card!


Carnival Report: After expenses, we cleared about $12,500.00! Wow. The position of Carnival Chair for next year is open.


Helene Ansel, from the office of State Senator Alan Lowenthal visited our association meeting to bring the Senator's congratulations to students, parents, educators and administrators on their hard work in earning the Distinguished School Award. A California state resolution was presented to Emerson.

Mrs. Maggie Kerns gave the principals report. She thanked PTA for an amazing year and gave thanks to so many who have been supporting the Emerson Foundation. Kudos were given to Jen White and Michelle Worden for heading the Emerson Foundation and to the wonderful supporters. Waldo's words had been written and already the news was old. In the last 3 weeks, at the time of this report, we have raised $45,000.00. Mrs. Kerns stated that if we can make it to $60,000.00 we would be able to save our science and PE programs and our block schedule. The $15,000.00 donation has helped us reach that mark!!


We will continue to raise the additional money as we will need to supply many things to our increasing school population like text books, chairs and desks, and many other necessities. Mrs. Kerns added that School Site Council and a Board of Directors will govern the funds from the foundation. She addressed concerns that had been raised regarding the recent Kinder play area construction and tree root maintenance. The tree roots were to be shaved down and the asphalt replaced. At the request of our school, grass will be put down instead. This is at not cost to us. 6-7 years ago, a fund was started to raise money for a soccer field. To reach that goal, approximately $300,000.00 was needed. It raised $28,000.00. As the money had been allotted to a Student Recreation fund, we were limited in the ways we were allowed to spend it. Extending the kinder playground is appropriate usage of said funds and will be largely necessary and welcome as we increase our kinder population by an additional 1.5 classes next year.


Classroom assignments will be handed out differently this year due to Student Right to Privacy. On a specific date, you will be able to pick up your child's class assignment in a confidential envelope.


We will continue to have full GATE and PALS classes as well as combo classes at every grade level. 


Student council members that were present, were thanked again for their service. 4th graders received certificates for their hard work and 5th graders will be presented with theirs at their promotional ceremony.


Mrs. Jen White and Mrs. Michelle Worden, representatives from the Emerson Foundation presented their report.  The foundation will be run under the School Site Council. A Foundation chair will sit on the committee. We can continue to fundraise throughout the year. The foundation is in need of a treasurer, secretary, an Emerson Store chair, an Art Auction chair, a banner real estate chair among other positions. We have 4 small businesses already committed to the banner program. We have a webmaster in place to help build a website where information regarding the foundation will be largely available and accessible. We are hoping to have the website live by September. We welcome volunteers, there are many jobs to be done and a job for all who are willing. Please contact helpemersonnow@yahoo.com and many thanks to those who have already given in any way they have given.


The Foundation thanked the PTA as the largest benefactor to date. Mrs. Michelle Worden explained the process of receiving the donations... Checks are made to the LBEF (Long Beach Education Foundation) for Emerson Parkside Academy. When they are turned in to the office, they are logged into a spread sheet. The checks are then walked into the LBEF office where they are logged, checked and cross referenced with the logs at the school site. As they are logged, a thank you letter is printed and held with the check until it is deposited. When LBEF deposits the monies, the thank you letters are then sent to the donors. The money we have collected thus far is specifically earmarked for PE and Science programs.


Fundraising efforts will continue. Pastry sales are still taking place in front of the school in the morning and have helped to raise $500.00. There will be a "Gold Party" in front of the auditorium on Wednesday 06/13 at 8:30am where you can bring your old unwanted jewelry. Emerson will receive 10% of the amount paid to you and you may chose to keep or donate your payment. Amy Word, a Cabi representative will be donating a portion of clothing sales from a 06/16 event. We will have an opportunity to celebrate Emerson and mingle with friends and neighbors at the Emerson Stroll that will take place from 6:30pm-9:00pm on June 30th. Six host houses in the plaza neighborhood will host snacks, drinks and cocktails. Maps will be provided and participants will "Stroll" from house to house. All proceeds from the $25 wristbands will go to the Foundation.


Questions may be directed to helpemersonnow@yahoo.com


No unfinished business announced. 


Under new business, questions regarding the $21,000.00 PTA technology donation were raised. Previously, at the unanimous recommendation of technology committee, which is made up of parents, teachers and administrators, PTA was going to fund the purchase of 30-31 PC computers. Much has happened and continues to happen with regard to district and state guidelines for computers in the school and compliance with national "Common Core Standard". Unsure of the specifics, it has been said that beginning in the spring of 2015, standardized testing will be computerized. Rumors suggest that the district will be providing Mac Labs for each school. As we are in the unique position of being a Charter School, funding for the computer lab would, as of this moment, not be provided for our school.  


With the help of Mrs. Kerns an active discussion was held regarding the allocation of those funds, the technology needs of the school and the desire for transparency and efficient communication as we all strive to give our school and our students the necessary tools to succeed. 


Due to the recent changing and unknowns, the spending of funds in the technology budget will be put on hold until more information can be attained, reviewed and made available to the association. 


Under announcements: there are a few year books still available, please see the office. Each 5th grader was given a year book compliments of the PTA. The Reflections Art program theme for 2012-2013 is The Magic of a Moment. Students may begin working on their submissions this summer! 
Emerson PTA won several awards at the Annual Long Beach Council In and Out Breakfast (no, not animal style burgers and chocolate shakes... for the incoming and outgoing boards) Thanks to the hard work of our many volunteers. Let's keep this train going!


The meeting was adjourned at 7:30




Side Note: This has been a wonderful and amazing year at Emerson. I've enjoyed hosting this blog and hope you don't mind my tendency to ramble a bit. I try to give you as accurate an account as I can but I too make mistakes... I also got pretty caught up with work/school/life, you all know, and dropped the ball on some posts. Many apologies. That being said, I like to keep the blog as sort of a journal for the Emerson PTA. At the end of the each year, I plan to print it and store it. If you EVER would like to contribute, PLEASE don't hesitate to contact me. I'd love your help. We try to remain very neutral and drop a little something to draw a chuckle so that readers don't feel like their eyeballs are going to pop out of their head by the time they FINALLY get here to the bottom... Are you still reading? Really? I'm impressed, and blushing just a teeny bit.
Thank you for a great year. Have a great summer!

Association Meeting 04/17/12

In case you were filing those last minute taxes and thus could not make it to the PTA meeting tonight... We missed your company, file earlier next time and... Here ya go:

Emerson Students let the association in the Pledge of Allegiance.
We viewed a short (but still awesome) slideshow.

Recording Secretary, Mrs. Michelle Arslan, presented last month's association meeting minutes to be reviewed by a committee of three and submitted for approval. She also presented to the association a board recommendation to increase the Cheesecake/Cookie Dough budget by $7557.50. We sold more cheesecake that we originally budgeted for! It was approved by the association without discussion, nays or abstentions.

President, Mrs. Paula Nathan, updated that Fitness Day raised approximately $13,000 in donations. Thank you for your generosity and support. Prizes have been ordered and will be distributed mid May.
The Limo ride prize (for the Cheesecake/Cookie Dough Fundraiser) will also be taking place mid May.

Spring Book Fair profited $2975.00. Thank you again for your support and a special shout out to Auditor and Book Fair Chair, Mrs. Michelle Worden and all the wonderful volunteers who continue to make this possible for our children.

The Emerson Wild West Carnival will be held on June 2nd. Pre-paid tri-tip, bbq chicken and potato dinner plates will be available. This year we will also be hosting a Crafter's Corner. 10'x10' booths are available for $40.

Mrs. Nathan also had the opportunity to attend the Sacramento Safari, an event for the 33rd district held in the State Capital. The 33rd district is comprised of PTA's from southern California, the majority of Los Angeles county with the exception of LAUSD. 69 people were in attendance with about half being high school students learning about advocacy. She prepared a powerpoint presentation to share her experience. Boldly decorating the wall of a meeting room was the quote:  "Participation in the rights of citizenship presumes participation in the duties of citizenship".

PTA supported legislation can be viewed in depth HERE on CAPTA.org

Here are the realities of California Education:
- 47th in per student spending
- 50th in class size
- In 3 years we've seen over $20 BILLION cut from education
- Over $9 BILLION in deferred payments owed to schools
- Over 40,000 educators cut
- $2500 less per student spending than the national average
- Only 2% of lottery money goes to schools in a one time lump sum
- Schools are told to plan for worst case scenario
- Schools forced to run with fiscal uncertainty.

Here are the Governor's proposed changes:
- Proposes reshuffling of how money is distributed to schools. 2/3 Unrestricted, 1/3 specific programs.
- Proposed ELIMINATION of second science course requirement for graduation, yet Universities REQUIRE it for admission.
- Proposes to eliminate Due Process before a student is expelled
- Proposed elimination of transitional kindergarten
- Governor proposing a constitutional change to prop 98 to pay for debt services. (I would link this for you but couldn't find anything objective. Please consider doing the research)
- If some legislation does not pass, it will trigger additional cuts of approximately $368 per student.
- Additional cuts could trigger a school year that is THREE weeks shorter, the SHORTEST school year in the WORLD.

California PTA endorses Our Children, Our Future

Executive Vice President, Mrs. Peggy Walker said we will be hosting the E-Waste Recycling Event at Emerson on Saturday, April 21 from 9am-2pm. Volunteers are welcome.

Treasurer's report and Financial Secretary's report were presented by Treasurer, Mrs. Cynthia Antonette. The difference between the beginning balance and ending balance was significant due to the check written to fulfill the commitment of providing ELMOS for every classroom. They have been ordered!
It was moved, seconded and passed to ratify checks 3143-3164. There were 6 deposits made last month.

Vice Presidents Teacher Liaison, Mrs. Nicole Halvorson, presented information regarding our school's winner of the Council PTA District Teacher's Contest. Congratulations are extended to Mrs. Sees! She and her nominating letter will move to the district level where the winner receives a grant for his or her classroom.

Information regarding the Honorary Service awards will come out tomorrow. Nominations will be accepted until April 27th. Teachers, Parents, Staff, anyone who is helping the school can be nominated. Please encourage your student to take the time to nominate someone. More details will be available in tomorrow's packet.

National Teacher Appreciation week is during the first week of May. That is the time that we will be testing so as a school, we will be celebrating our teachers during the week beginning May 14th.

Principal, Mrs. Maggie Kerns presented the State Of The School Address with an accompanying power point. Graphs featured English Language Arts Standards by grade level, Benchmark Book Assessments, Mathematics, Math Facts, and Writing Goals and achievements by trimester.
Campus Improvements include:
- Painted handball backstops
- Replaced kickball backstop
- New PTA storage container
- Repainting of trim and flagpole
- Removal of broken furniture
- Repairing of leaks in staff restrooms
- Replacing patched front windows
- Rewired computer lab
- New project to extend the Kinder Playground

We have received the 2012 Distinguished Schools Award, the LBUSD Growth Award and PTA Recognition for Innovative Projects with the Friday Book Cart Exchange.

Communications Representative, Omar Sekhri from the office of 5th District Councilwoman, Gerrie Schipske, shared several undertakings of the Councilwoman including:
Expansion of the successful fishing line recycling tubes to salt water areas.
Solar Grand Prix held on Sunday, 04/22
The Library Round Up
The 5th Annual Community Baby Shower

Special thanks to Mr. Sekhri for sharing community new with us.

A student asked why computers were still not working even after the lab has been rewired.
A service ticket has been requested to come look at/fix the computers that are not working still.

350 Yearbooks have been ordered and will soon be going on sale for $20. Order Early, we will sell out.

With that, we were adjourned.

Hope to see you next month :)

Association Meeting 03/13/12

Tuesday night we were welcomed to the March Association meeting, also the PTA 2012-2013 Board Elections, with yummy treats from the Cheesecake and Cookie Dough fundraiser that we just wrapped up. As members arrived, they signed in and were marked off as current when given their voting paddle and a multi colored cluster of ballot papers.

The meeting was called to order and an awesome group of students let the large audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. There was a slideshow featuring photos from Emerson Events. (Little Shout out to Mrs. Ashlie Lindstrom, Mr. Ron Antonette, and Mrs. Anni Sees for the use of their photos). The minutes from last month's association meeting were presented to the association by Recording Secretary, Mrs. Michelle Arslan.

President, Mrs. Paula Nathan shared the president's report. The technology committee met last month and their recommendations were reiterated to the association at this meeting. They decided to fulfill the initial technology commitment a year and a half early, all classrooms will be receiving ELMOS by the end of the year. The teachers are coming up with a technology vision so that we may proceed with a clear plan. Other technology needs were addressed, like ongoing maintenance (elmo bulbs) and printing capabilities.

Secretary, Mrs. Michelle Arslan read the board recommendation... The Board proposed that we fund the purchase of 11 ELMOS at a cost of $12,985. Mrs. Cynthia Antonette seconded the motion and it passed without any discussion or abstentions.

Treasurer, Mrs. Cynthia Antonette presented the treasurers report (which is available at any time for viewing by any current member). A motion was made to ratify check numbers 3134-3142 for the month of February. Mrs. Kryssie Booth seconded the motion and it was passed without discussion or abstentions.

Financial Secretary, Mrs. Bridgette Jones, presented the Financial Secretary's report. A copy of the report was filed with the auditor.

Parliamentarian, Mrs. Tamara Burke shared that the amended bylaws were submitted to the district on 10/26/11, then submitted to the state on 12/20/11. We received the approved bylaws signed by the state parliamentarian on 01/20/12. The bylaws were approved and adopted by the executive board. Tamara Burke moved that the new bylaws be adopted by the association. Mrs. CJ Holder seconded the motions. It was passed without discussion or abstentions. The changes that were made have been posted and are available for review by and current member by contacting Mrs. Tamara Burke.

VP of Membership, Mrs. Kris Williamson shared that we met our goal of 609 members last month. We are currently at 626 members. We have had 100% of teachers participation!

VP of Fundraising, Mrs. Wendy Cuellar gave an update on Fitness Day. Next Thursday, March 22, students will be participating in a fitness course, class by class over the course of the entire day. Schedules have been made and will be coming home soon. Your support is greatly appreciated! We are also in desperate NEED of Volunteers on that day. Any time that you can spare will be helpful! We are utilizing the whole school and are in need of people to direct the students to their next station.
Students are welcome to wear previous Fitness Day t-shirts to school that day. Kinder students are invited to wear athletic themed shirts as well as part of their uniform.
The next Family Dinner Night Fundraiser will be at 5 Guys Burgers and Fries at the Marketplace in Long Beach, near Mimi's Cafe on 03/29, all day.

Thank you to Mrs. Sally Wuchner, our Cheesecake and Cookie Dough Fundraiser Chairperson. We have just wrapped the event and it was the most successful yet! We cleared $9500! Way to GO!

Principal, Mrs. Maggie Kerns shared that the we just had a visit from the Distinguished Schools Committee. Emerson was one of three schools that were qualified to submit an application for the award. We were visited by a committee who came to validate our claims from the application process. The team visited all the classrooms, met with students, teachers, parents, faculty, specialists and school site council. They were very complimentary in their findings and offered such opinions as

"There is a clear progression of writing that is easy to see and follow" 

"Kindergarten launches the culture of the school" 

"Data is very collaborative" 

"Great Communication" 

"Emerson sets priorities based on what is best for kids"

As there was no unfinished business, we moved on to the election process.

Formalities needed to be observed. Parliamentarian, Mrs. Tamara Burke read a list of important rules and qualifications.  The positions of President, Executive VP, VP Membership, VP Fundraising, VP Activities, VP Teacher Liaison, Recording Secretary, Auditor, Treasurer, Financial Secretary and Historian are elected by vote. The positions of Corresponding Secretary and Parliamentarian are appointed by the board and subject to ratification by the association. 

If a position is left vacant it shall be filled by the board elect.

Mrs. Felice Spark, chairman of the nominating committee, presented the findings and recommendations of the nominating committee. The considered candidates were presented to the association at the last meeting. President, Mrs. Paula Nathan re-read the slated nominees.

Nominations for the 2012-2013 PTA Board were accepted from the floor.

For the positions of President, there were no slated nominees.

Mrs. Peggy Walker nominated Mrs. Paula Nathan and she accepted. There were no other nominations from the floor and then nominations for that position were now closed.

For the position of Executive VP, there were no slated nominees.

Mrs. Kris Williamson nominated Mrs. Cynthia Antonette and she accepted.

Mrs. Bridgette Jones nominated Mrs. Felice Sparks and she accepted.

There were no other nominations from the floor and then nominations for that position were now closed.

For the positions of VP of Membership, there were no slated nominees.

There were no other nominations from the floor and then nominations for that position were now closed. That position was left as vacant.

For the position of VP of Fundraising, there were no slated nominees. 

Mrs. Wendy Cuellar gave a brief description of the position.

Mrs. Maggie Kerns nominated Mrs. CJ Holder and she accepted.

There were no other nominations from the floor and then nominations for that position were now closed.

For the position of VP of Activities, Mrs. Rose Jackman was a slated nominee.

Mrs. Jackman vacated the nomination with respect.

Mrs. Paula Nathan nominated Mrs. Stacie Cardena and she accepted.

There were no other nominations from the floor and then nominations for that position were now closed.

For the position of VP, Teacher Liaison, Mrs. Pam Harmon was a slated nominee.

There were no other nominations from the floor and then nominations for that position were now closed.

For the position of Recording Secretary, Mrs. Kryssie Booth was a slated nominee.

There were no other nominations from the floor and then nominations for that position were now closed.

For the position of Treasurer, Mrs. Bridgette Jones was a slated nominee.

Mrs. Karen Jordan nominated Mrs. Jeana Luzzi and she accepted.

There were no other nominations from the floor and then nominations for that position were now closed.

For the position of Financial Secretary, Mrs. Tamara Burke was a slated nominee.

There were no other nominations from the floor and then nominations for that position were now closed.

For the position of Auditor, Mr. Rene Justin was a slated nominee.

There were no other nominations from the floor and then nominations for that position were now closed.

For the position of Historian, there were no slated nominees. 

Mrs. Cynthia Antonette nominated Mrs. Kris Williamson and she accepted.

There were no other nominations from the floor and then nominations for that position were now closed.

The association has no dispute to holding a voice vote for the positions where there was only one nominee. For the positions in which there were more than one nominee, written ballot votes were cast. A Teller committee responsible for gathering and counting the ballot votes was appointed. Visiting Long Beach Council PTA members were appointed for the committee. Mr. Michael Morgan, LBCPTA President served as chairman. Mrs. Sandy Shewchuck, LBCPTA Director of Leadership served on the Teller committee along with Mrs. Linda Haines, LBCPTA Parliamentarian.

Voters were counted at 61. A ballot portion was done first to give the committee ample time to count the votes. Members tore a yellow sheet marked Executive Vice President from their cluster of ballots given at the beginning of the meeting. They wrote their choice on the paper and folded it in half. Raising the ballots in the air, they were collected by the Teller Committee. The Committee opted to gather and count the votes for the Executive Vice President position before proceeding with the second ballot vote.

The votes for treasurer were cast in the same manner. Voters tore from their cluster of ballots a sheet marked Treasurer and wrote their choice. The Teller Committee collected the folded ballots and proceeded to count them.

Voice voting continued for the remaining positions and the results are as follows:

President, Paula Nathan. Ayes have it.

VP of Fundraising, CJ Holder. Ayes have it

VP of Activities, Stacie Cardena. Ayes have it.

VP Teacher Liaison, Pam Harmon. Ayes have it.

Recording Secretary, Kryssie Booth. Ayes have it.

Financial Secretary, Tamara Burke. Ayes have it.

Auditor, Rene Justin. Ayes have it.

Historian, Kris Williamson. Ayes have it.

The voice portion was concluded. The ballots counting was complete and the results were as follows:

Executive Vice President, Cynthia Antonette by ballot majority.

Treasurer, Jeana Luzzi by ballot majority.

Following a suggested formality by Long Beach Council PTA, Parliamentarian, Mrs. Tamara Burke made a motion to destroy ballots immediately following the association meeting. Mrs. Wendy Cuellar seconded the motion and it passed without discussion or abstentions. The ballots only viewed by the Teller Committee were destroyed immediately following the association meeting.

The next association meeting will be on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 6:00pm in the auditorium. There will be a drawing held at the meeting next month for all current PTA members!! Come see if you win!

Wednesday packet distribution may be delayed due to a broken copier. 

Yearbook photo submissions are due by Monday, March 19. Please turn them in to the office or send them via email.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:13pm.

WOW! That was a lot of reading! Thanks! Even if you just scrolled down here to see the election results ;)

See you next month!

ps. email me if I have some terrible spelling mistakes. i blame it on the late hour. and if i spelled your name wrong... sorry, let me know and i'll fix it.

Association Meeting 02/15/12

Did you miss the PTA meeting tonight? It was pretty cold out and we had an unusual Wednesday meeting...

Here's what happened:

6:04 the meeting was called to order by Executive Vice President, Mrs. Peggy Walker who was filling in for President, Mrs. Paula Nathan. After the Pledge of Allegiance the minutes from the January association meeting were presented for approval. Historian, Mrs. Kryssie Booth (me! Hi!) motioned to approve those minutes. The motion was seconded by Principal, Mrs. Maggie Kerns. The motion passed without any objections or abstentions.

The slideshow was missed due to the absence of the projector. Bummer... extra slideshow next month!

Cadet Girl Scout troop #1003 were here as our guest speakers. They are working toward their Silver Award, which is the highest award a cadet girl scout can earn. Troop #1003 offered a well spoken presentation about PHYSICAL, VERBAL and CYBER BULLYING. They recognized that all are painful and said that many people have witnessed bullying in their lifetime. Here are a few of the points they mentioned: 1. Bullying Situations can generally be diffused if one person stands up to the bully. 2. We should ourselves and teach our children to Treat Others The Way You Want To Be Treated. 3. They pledge to step in against bullying and encourage parents to teach their children about the harmful effects of bullying.

Executive VP, Mrs. Peggy Walker presented the audit on behalf of Auditor, Mrs. Michelle Worden. It was conducted on January 1, 2012 for the fiscal year 2011-2012. Beginning balance, receipts, disbursements and reconciliation reports along with files, bylaws, ledger, and check book registers. All financial records and membership totals were present. All appropriate reports were filed correctly and there were no audit recommendations were made. Mrs. Kerns made the motion to approve the audit, Mrs. Kryssie Booth (Hi again) seconded the motion. It passed without any objections or abstentions.

There was a problem with the shredding company coming on the planned date of 04/22 which was going to be held in conjunction with another E-waste event. The shredding portion has now been moved to June but the E-waste event will still take place as part of the Earth Day Celebration.

Treasurer, Mrs. Cynthia Antonette presented the Treasurer's Report. Financial Reports were available at the meeting to all in attendance. VP of Fundraising, Mrs. Wendy Cuellar made a motion to ratify checks #3121-3133. The motion was seconded by VP of Membership, Mrs. Kris Williamson. The motion passed without any objections or abstentions. This month the executive board made 3 adjustments to the budget , each falling under the $500 limit that the executive board has authority and permission to authorize under our bylaws. The Holiday Silent Auction expense line was adjusted to reflect an increase of $260.34. The Sparkle Jewelry Sale expense line was adjusted to reflect an increase of $241.51 and the School Uniforms expense line was adjusted to reflect an increase of $378.04.

Treasurer, Mrs. Cynthia Antonette also presented the Financial Secretary's Report in the absence of Financial Secretary, Mrs. Bridgette Jones. The total deposits (including, silent auction, membership drive and sparkle jewelry sale) for the month of January were presented and Hospitality Chair, Ms. Felice Sparks motioned to approve the Financial Secretary's report. Executive VP, Mrs. Peggy Walker seconded the motion. The motion passed without any objections or abstentions.

Parliamentarian, Mrs. Tamara Burke shared the the Executive Board has updated our bylaws this year. Most changes mere made due to changes at the state level. Our revised bylaws were sent in and have been signed and approved by the State Parliamentarian. It is very important that we operate within our bylaws and so Executive Board meetings have been moved to the 4th Monday of the month to be in accordance with them.
The nominating committee made up of Chairman, Felice Sparks, Kryssie Booth, Cheryl Justin, Kris Williamson, and Tamara Burke. The Slate was announced tonight:

President: VACANT
Executive VP: VACANT
VP of Membership: VACANT
VP of Fundraising: VACANT
VP of Activities: Rose Jackman
VP, Teacher Liaison: Pam Harmon
Treasurer: Bridgette Jones
Financial Secretary: Tamara Burke
Auditor: Rene Justin
Recording Secretary: Kryssie Booth
Historian: VACANT

Elections will take place at the March 13 association meeting at which time, nominations for any board position will be taken from the floor. If you or someone you know would like to serve on the board in any of the positions listed above, please be present at the March 13th association meeting to make a floor nomination immediately prior to the election.

VP of Membership, Mrs. Kris Williamson updated that we are ONLY 34 memberships away from meeting the goal set for us by PTA Council! If you're not a member yet, $5.50 covers the base membership! Students, parents, community members and businesses can all be members! Join today! We also have 100% of Emerson Teachers now members of the PTA. As a reward for reaching that particular award, Emerson PTA will be granted one free PTA Convention admission.

VP, Teacher Liaison, Mrs. Nicole Halvorson said the Teacher of the Year award nomination submissions deadline is 02/29. Your submission form NEEDs to be accompanied by an essay. It can be written by parent or student. There is still time to nominate!

VP of Fundraising, Mrs. Wendy Cuellar announced Family Dinner Night for February. It will be at CPK at the Marketplace in Long Beach on 02/23. It's an all day event.
Fitness day updates: Fitness day will take place on Thursday, March 22, 2012. The Event will take place ALL DAY. 4-5 classrooms will come out at directed times (throughout the day) and participate in fitness activities for 20-30 minutes. The children will have a great time, but at the same time, be experiencing a fun workout. we will have a hula-hoop section, base running, monkey bars/slide, jump ropes and much much more to get the children excited about exercise.
Donations to Fitness Day will take place from March 1- March 30. We are setting a goal for every student to raise at least $40 for Emerson. If 650 students bring in at least $40 then the school will have raised over $25,000 for the next school year 2012-2013
All Classrooms with 100% participation will get an ice cream party.
The classroom that raises the most amount of money will get a GRAND ice cream party.
The student that raises the most amount of money for Emerson will win a $50 Target Gift card and an iFLY indoor skydiving (4 visits!)
Fitness Day items for 2012 areL New oval Emerson magnet, Emerson Pennant, Emerson Beanie and Emerson Beach Cooler (12pk).
Our theme this year (voted on by Emerson PTA Executive Board) is: "WITNESS THE FITNESS". Ray Mc Neil won a $50 gift card to Sports Authority. Thank you to the 12 students who participated. The Grand Prize this year will be a Kindle Fire!!

Principal's Report was given by Mrs. Kerns. She said that sadly there are many districts in worse financial shape than LBUSD. We will still be facing budget cutbacks. School Site Council and Lead Teams are meeting to try and figure out how to prioritize when we find out what kind of cutbacks we will be facing exactly. We will be requesting input from parents in the form of a survey soon.
Good news, we were one of 6 schools that got their flag pole painted and our backstops have also been finished.
As part  of a Microsoft Settlement, all teachers will be receiving a new computer and they have decided to move to the Mac platform. The technology committee has had it's first meeting and is full of innovative ideas. They have chosen to finish out a previous 6 year commitment to get projectors and document cameras in every classroom and will be coming out from that 1 full year ahead of schedule. They will continue to meet to discuss how to best meet the technology needs of Emerson students.
School tours are now over and we have a large interest as a School of Choice which is wonderful. A big Thank you to Cindy Emami for a wildly successful Sweet Heart Dance! It was amazing and overwhelmingly enjoyed.

Kris Williamson, School Cents Committee Chair, says we are still collecting receipts from the Center Malls, Lakewood, Cerritos, and Stonewood, until mid May.  If you have a Facebook, we can also get School Cents points by "Liking" the Lakewood Center, Cerritos Center and Stonewood Center malls. I'm not sure how they will know which school to give the points to, you may need to comment or something. When I find out, I'll let you know... Please consider signing up at the Shopping Partnership link to the right. You get VERY occasional emails (I've gotten maybe 5 since August) and we get points for that too. Each point we get gets us closer to our portion of $50,000!

Meeting adjourned at 6:45. Just like that. Short and sweet.

The next meeting will be on MARCH 13. Mark you calendars and PLEASE come to Election night. We will be taking nominations from the floor and should we require a ballot vote to determine the winner if there are more than two people nominated for a position we will definitely need your vote and your help. Plus you'll get to see extra slide shows!  (That's me, kind of plugging myself...) We would LOVE to see you there! Seriously.


March 13th folks.

Association Meeting 12/13/11

PTA held the first of 3 special afternoon meetings today at 3:15 PM.

After being welcomed and doing the pledge of allegiance we heard the principal's report. Mrs. Kerns is excited that the music program has begun! She was also glad to inform us that as of January 30th, 2012 Chess Masters will resume and following that program, Spanish Explorers will begin. There is also potential for an after school Skate Dogs program that depends on the turn out. At least 10 students need to be enrolled for the program to take place. It will be a skateboarding and scooter class, 5 weeks, 1 hr 15 min per week, $90 per session. If you are interested, please let the office know.

Our monthly slideshow was viewed.

Recording Secretary, Mrs. Michelle Arslan presented the minutes from last month's association meeting. There was an amendment made to the minutes and a motion was made, seconded, and passed to approve the amended minutes. Minutes from the association meetings are always posted on the PTA board in the main hall.

Treasurer, Mrs. Cynthia Antonette presented the treasurers report. There was a motion made, seconded and passed to ratify a series of checks. A motion was made, seconded and passed to amend a budget line, increasing by $1500 to repair the PTA shed. A quote was received by the district to complete the work but as the amount exceeded $500, that addition to the budget needed to be passed by the association.

The board has approved an addition of $200 to the hospitality/membership budget which funds all the wonderful treats and snacks that are provided for attendees of the PTA meetings. Our hospitality chair, Ms. Felice Sparks does a wonderful job!

The board has approved an addition of $200 to the Book Exchange Fund. It is a no cost program that we've just started this year and operates mostly on donations but we have allocated funds for the possible need to purchase older reading level books. We have had great success with the "bring a book/get a book" cart!

The board has approved an addition of $100 to the Box Tops program. Small operational costs include packaging and mailing but the increase to the budget covers the prizes awarded to the children that turn in the most labels. Continue turning in your boxtops, they are worth 10 cents a piece. Seasonal tracking sheets are available under the "In the Packet" tab.

The board has approved a line item addition of $150 to contract with Skate Depot for family skate night in January.

The treasurers report will be filed with the auditor.

Financial Secretary, Mrs. Bridgette Jones, presented the total deposits for last month which totaled $5671.45. The financial secretary report will also be filed with the auditor.

Parliamentarian, Mrs. Tamara Burke outlined the nominating committee. The nominating committee is a committee elected by the membership to recognize and seek qualified nominees for the elected leadership of our PTA for the 2012-2013 school year. The committee needs a balance of the new and more experienced PTA members, all of whom should be knowledgable about PTA and willing to devote approximately 3 hours to the responsibilities involved and maintain confidentiality. The committee consists of 5 members and 2 alternates. The committee will meet 2-3 times before presenting their list of nominees to the board and association in March.

The following members were nominated and elected to the nominating committee at the meeting today: Felice Sparks, Tamara Burke, Cheryl Justin, Kris Williamson, Kryssie Booth with the following serving as alternates: Bridgette Jones and Stacy Cardena.

Thanks to everyone who came out to Papalucci's for Family Dinner Night (and the singing of birthday songs to all the awesome celebrants present... ahem, ahem)

Emerson PTA will host a family skate night at Skate Depot in Cerritos on 01/26. It will be open to all emerson students and their whole families! It is not a fundraiser but the cost of entry will be $6.50 per person. Skate rentals will also be available for $2.50, but you can bring your own! Skate Depot's snack bar will be open and selling their own concessions.

Silent auction online bidding ends tonight at 9:00pm. The high bid on each basket will be the starting bid at the live portion of the auction tomorrow night! You do not need to be present to win. Spaghetti Dinner preorders for $5 will still be accepted if you send them in tomorrow. Tickets will also be sold at the door for $6. Cash, Checks and Credit Cards are accepted forms of payment for auction baskets and dinner tickets. From 5:00PM - 6:00PM we will have live music! A harpist and Mr. Gibson will duet! We have over 59 baskets to bid on! Come show your support for Emerson and get some awesome stuff! Bidding will end promptly at 6:30 pm. See you there!
(that was a lot of exclamation points...)

Next month will also be a special afternoon meeting on Tuesday, January 17th at 3:15-4:00pm in the auditorium. It will be directly followed by the teacher hosted bi-annual Emerson Family Science Night! The theme is BEING GREEN. Food trucks will be on site for the optional dinner portion of the night and the Science fun will begin at 5:30. Look for a save the date to come home soon.

VP of Membership, Mrs. Kris Williamson announced that we have reached 500 members! Way to go, let's keep it up. Last year we had 584 members and this year our goal is 609. Teachers, students, brothers, sisters, grandparents, neighbors, and friends can all be members of the PTA. $5.50 is all it takes. It's a small way to say that you support the work that we do here at Emerson and as a whole across the nation.

Way to come together Emerson!! Through the Big Red Bucket program and your donations we were able to directly help 28 families with 28 complete buckets!! Last year we donated 2 complete buckets so this increase in organization and generosity is a wonderful way to impact our community. As an added bonus,  Emerson will receive 5,000 school cents points for each bucket turned in.

Fresh and Easy shopping night we earned $525.35! That is from the shopping portion alone, not including the $1 from each $20 on the receipts collected. Keep turning in those receipts because the Shop For Schools program commences on 12/31/11.

Unfinished Business:
PTA calendars will be coming home soon. If you joined PTA at the $15.00 level, you will receive a 2012 Emerson Calendar. The dates up until the end of school (June 2012) will be customized.
Hawaiian Shirts that were caught up in the cotton madness have arrived. They will be taken to the embroiderers and will be delivered shortly to your child's classroom. We truly appreciate your patience!!
Monday 12/19 in front of the auditorium after school, Jazz Angels will host a "Petting Zoo" of instruments. Bring your child by and they will be able to look at, try and experience different instruments to see if there is something they'd like to learn to play when new sessions start on 01/18.

New Business:
none.

Wow. The whole meeting was under 45 minutes. Thanks to everyone who came! We're excited to offer the meeting at different times so that parents and other PTA members can participate in our association meetings! If catching up via the blog is how you can keep in touch, we're SO glad that you come to read! We want all of our members to feel included.

I (Kryssie Booth) will not be present at next months meeting. If there's anyone who'd like to volunteer to recap for our readers, please feel free to email me or catch me on the playground or find me on Facebook or leave a note on my car, or tell my child's teacher (Mrs. Guy) or send me a letter, or message via carrier pigeon, or call me, bring back smoke signaling, or you know... whatever :) that would be rad.

Now go bid on silent auction items!! you have only 30 minutes left!

Association Meeting 11/15/11

If you missed it, here is a recap of last nights PTA meeting.

A quick shout out to our Hospitality chair, Mrs. Felice Sparks, who always has a wonderful selection of healthy and yummy snacks for every PTA meeting. That front table always looks fantastic! Kudos.

We showed a great (this is me tooting my own horn) slideshow featuring Trunk or Treat, Reflections Art and the Veterans Day Assembly. Although the assembly was a school sponsored event, and not a PTA sponsored one, I still felt it appropriate to share the experience of the day. It was wonderful for our children to understand why we get the day off of school and honor Veterans. The whole experience was very heartwarming. Slideshows are a treat at all association meetings so come on out!

Recording Secretary, Mrs. Michelle Arslan presented last months minutes for approval. Remember, ANY member of the PTA who is current on their dues, is welcome to view minutes and reports.

VP Mrs. Peggy Walker shared that in the 4 hours that Sergeant Shredder Mobil Shredding was on campus for our e-waste and shredding event, we profited over $200 and he even gave us an additional $20 donation! We are still waiting on the final numbers for e-waste but should be getting those soon. Thank you again to all of the volunteers.

Reflections Co-Chairs, Mrs. Nicole Halvorson and Mrs. Rose Jackman presented award certificates to our Reflections participants. We had 29 entries in all and four of those entries are continuing on to the council level! We will know in December if any of our Emerson entries will move further to the state level in this nationwide competition. Great job artists!

Treasurer, Mrs. Cynthia Antoinette presented the treasurers report. A motion was passed to ratify a group of check numbers. The report will be filed with Auditor, Mrs. Michelle Worden who is completing the July 1st - October 31st portion of the audit. We were also granted our Charitable Trust number. It is a new requirement that all PTA's file for this number and after filing the appropriate application and fees, we are set to proceed as a Charitable Trust. Want to know more about it? Find answers by the IRS to FAQs here.

Financial Secretary, Mrs. Bridgette Jones announced the total deposits for the month and from which events those funds came from. That report is also being filed with the Auditor, Mrs. Michelle Worden.

President, Mrs. Paul Nathan reported that the Sparkle Jewelry Sale, which was held last year around the Holidays and Mother's day will be held again this year in December. A motion was passed to hold this sale as a PTA event so that we may direct the donated profit toward the Technology Fund, as it will be a PTA event, credit card transactions will also be permitted.

A Technology Committee has been created or  IT professionals, teachers, administrators and parents that will be meeting after the Thanksgiving Holiday to assess the current state of the Technology Lab and to make recommendations on how to allocate the $20,000 in PTA funds that are presently available to help update our lab. Look for more updates to come!

Currently we have 465 members in our PTA at Emerson. Last year (2010-2011) we reached 600 members and this year, we have been asked by the council  to try and reach 625 members. The PTA is a national organization that advocates for children and education. If we do our part and reach 625 members, and everyone else does their part to reach their membership goals, we could potentially have 1,000,000! That is a very significant number when it comes to making the voice of our children and their education heard at the legislative level. JOIN! Spouses, students, aunts, uncles, businesses, all are eligible to join the PTA for a membership donation of $5.50.

The Red Bucket drive has been organized by School Cents and the Long Beach Rescue Mission to help provide Holiday Dinners to families in need. Emerson is participating in this program and will be collecting specific items from this list, which is available here, until December 2. Glass items CANNOT be accepted. Boxes have been placed around the school and in your child's classroom along with "buckets" in which we are collecting dollars and coins. These funds will go to purchase grocery gift cards in $15 increments which will also be included in the boxes for the recipients to buy a turkey or ham. We sincerely appreciate your generosity. Big Red Bucket Lists will also be available at Emerson's Shop for Schools night at Fresh and Easy on Spring and Palo Verde on Thursday, Nov. 17 from 4pm-8pm and donations will be accepted there.

If you would ever like to be included on the agenda to speak at the PTA association meetings, please contact President, Mrs. Paula Nathan.

VP of Activities, Mrs. Wendy Cuellar reminded about Fresh and Easy Shopping night, which is Thursday, November 17 from 4pm-8pm at the Fresh and Easy on Spring and Palo Verd. Emerson will received 5% of sales and will also get credit for receipts turned it. With Thanksgiving just a week away, we invite and encourage you to come out and support Emerson by doing your grocery shopping with your Emerson Friends! Bring your non Emerson friends too... and your families, and your neighbors! The more the merrier!! (A quick tip: Fresh and Easy Cinnamon Vanilla Gelato tastes EXACTLY like snicker doodles!)
We are still waiting on our Family Dinner night tally from Souplantation and from the Red Robin night, we earned about $100. We would like to encourage families to take advantage of these fundraising opportunities and join us for Family Dinner Nights! Next month is Papalucci's in Belmont Shore.

Principal, Mrs. Maggie Kerns said that with the conference period coming to a close (minimum days are done for now folks), we should expect 1st trimester report cards to be coming home before the Winter Break.
You might remember the great announcement that Emerson was one of two schools in the district that were invited to apply for the California Distinguished School's Award! We have been asked to highlight two best practices and the administration has chosen Emerson's use of the block schedule (you know where our kids go to P.E., Science Lab, Computer and Library) and Emerson's use of data.
The district will be visiting Emerson on December 1st which will coincide with the start of "Write from the beginning" which is an elementary writing program. The campus looks fabulous thanks to the Emerson Beautification team and the families and groups that have adopted plots around the grounds. Maintenance has also done a great job repainting the trim and taking care of many other small fixes in the school.
On the back of last week's Wednesday's Waldo Words was an updated Uniform Policy. Red has been added as a color for tights, leggings and socks. Red has also been added to the approved list of outerwear colors. Thank you for complying with the uniform policy at Emerson.
Safe Moves and the City of Long Beach are presenting Bike and Pedestrian safety course for all students this week. K-3 will be learning about pedestrian safety and walking a course, 4-5 will also be learning about bike safety and will have the option to bike the course. This is a wonderful program that is being provided to the school free of charge!
The Veteran's Day assembly was well received, Trimester Math Tests are coming up and Education Celebration will be on January 21st.
A parent posed a question regarding the Crossing Guard at the corner or Willow and Palo Verde. Crossing guards are employed by the city. Another parent suggested Parent Volunteer Crossing Guards to assist in the morning and afternoon drop off/pick up. Contact the office if you are interested in helping organize something.

Multi-Cultural Fair Chair, Mrs. Bridgette Jones gave us some details of the upcoming Spring Mulit-Cultural Fair which will help to extend the learning of diversity that was highlighted by this year's Reflections theme. Families especially, but ANY type of group is welcome, to host a "tent" that will educate attendees about different cultures. We are looking for craft booths, jewelry, musical and or dance groups to do demonstrations featuring different countries. We would love any and all representations of culture that are family/student/educationally appropriate to participate. We welcome your ideas, your skills and your participation to make this a wonderful all encompassing event. No one will be left out as we promote Diversity and Unity. Knowledge is the key, the more we know, the more accepting we are apt to be. Please contact Mrs. Bridgette Jones with any questions, comments and ideas. We are looking forward to this event.

Guest Speaker, Barry Cogert of the Jazz Angels has announced a new music program for Emerson. I was going to outline the details here but Mr. Cogert has wonderfully made the information available on his website!!  <-- Click to learn more. Thank you to the all those who made this music program possible at Emerson! We are looking forward to it!

There are still a few Beautification Plots available for adoption. Please contact Girl Scout troop #3093. We are still collecting Silent Auction donations until this Friday. The classes with the most student participation and the highest monetary contributions will win and exclusive Bubble Party.

NEXT MEETING will be as special AFTERNOON meeting!! 3:15pm-4pm. There will be supervised playground until 4pm. We hope to see you there.

If you read through all of this, thanks for being so rad and sorry for all of my rambling. I'm a terrible writer, I tend to type like I talk. 

Association Meeting 10/12/11

A quick recap of last night’s PTA Association Meeting for those who were unable to attend. (update: now that i’ve read through the whole thing, it’s not really quick but it is full of what took place at the meeting! Thank you reader for your patience!)

Recording Secretary, Mrs. Michelle Arslan, presented the minutes from last month’s association meeting, a motion to approve them was passed.

Vice President, Mrs. Peggy Walker, outlined the upcoming E-Waste/Shredding event that will be taking place on Saturday, October 22 from 9a-12p. The e-waste event is open to the community so encourage your friends, family and neighbors to bring acceptable e-waste (just about anything with a plug) and drop it off at Emerson! We will have a secure shredding service present as well. Bring your old bills, sensitive documents and anything else you want to have destroyed. The company will shred it right in front of you and securely haul away the scraps. It all makes money for our school!

Secretary, Mrs. Cynthia Antoinette, presented the Treasurers Report for approval. The total deposits for the last month were announced, much of the funds were from Memberships and from our Back to School Bash. The treasurers report is available to any PTA association member who’s dues are current. Motions to approve the Treasurers Report and Financial Secretary’s report were passed

Vice President of Membership, gave updates on membership. We currently have 403 members! Great Job! Our goal this year is to have 625 members. Please encourage your friends, family, dentist, coach, neighbor to become members. Base membership is only $5.50. Any additional is accepted with deepest gratitude! It’s our kids and their future.

Vice President of Fundraising, Mrs. Wendy Cuellar, who also chaired the PTA sponsored Back to School Bash activity, shared updates with how successful the Bash was. It was wonderful to share an evening with fellow Emerson Eagles and their families. We made enough money on glow stick sales, the Super Mex truck, Leroy’s Ice Cream Truck, and concessions to pretty much pay for itself! Which is such a great plus!

We have another Family Dinner Night coming up. Wednesday 10/19 at Souplantation in Lakewood. 

President, Mrs. Paula Nathan, reminded that Reflections Art Contest entries are due (today) 10/12/11. Chairpersons, Mrs. Nicole Halvorson and Mrs. Rose Jackman said that they will accept late entries ONLY until FRIDAY 10/14.

Book Fair is open this week, before and after school. During the evening at Kinder Data night. Your support is appreciated!

Principal, Mrs. Maggie Kerns, praised the wonderful upkeep of the school grounds thanks to those participating in Emerson Beautification! The school looks great. She was so impressed with the success of Back to School Bash and is looking forward to Trunk or Treat and Kinder Data night. 

Due to financial cut backs with the district, permit fees are now in place for any after school program that benefits financially (ie chess masters, spanish, and art but NOT Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or Campfire). Because of those costs, the terms of these programs continuing are still being negotiated. At this point, we are being asked to wait patiently. 

Hopefully, we will have some sort of music/music exploration program developing at Emerson in the future. We have had wonderful past program leaders as well as new members of the Emerson community express interest in creating an enriching program that would typically be available to student in 2^nd -5^th grade. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

On the technology front, there are “kinks being worked out” with the computers in the lab. This is the last year that we will be able to use the MIND institute on our current computers. Mrs. Kerns said that if a technology committee of parents, teachers, volunteers was formed, they could work together to develop a plan for the future of our technology lab. 

There are other fundraising opportunities in the future. School Cents receipts are collected in the office. Any receipt from Lakewood, Cerritos or Stonewood Center malls including Costco Lakewood and Costco Gas (an ANY mall property in Lakewood… Best Buy, Home Depot, Restaurant Row… the restaurants on Candlewood between Clark and Lakewood). We get money just for turning in the receipts! If you write your name on the receipts, Mrs. Kris Williamson will even get them returned to you.

Fresh and Easy Shopping Night is coming up on Thursday, November 17^th from 4pm-8pm. If you would like to volunteer to help that evening, please contact Mrs. Kris Williamson. Turn in your Fresh and Easy receipts (from ANY fresh and easy) to the box in the kindergarten hallway and we will get $1 for every $20 on the same receipt! In order to qualify each turned in receipt must be at least $20.

Trunk or Treat Chair, Mrs. Heather Peterson, gave an update on our Halloween Family Night. So far we have 11 trunk sponsors. The donation boxes at your child’s classroom and in the halls are to collect candy, treats, stickers, pretzels, pencils and such that will be divided among the trunk sponsors and passed out to the costumed trick or treaters. There will be a pre carved pumpkin contest (bring your carved pumpkin to the cafeteria where voting will determine the winners), a maze sponsored by the Booth Family, a movie (Monsters VS Aliens) shown on the grass and lots of family fun.

Guest Speaker Mrs. Jill Rubinelli shared her experience hosting Foreign Exchange Students from Europe. She is coordinating 14-16 year old, english language experienced, students from China that will be visiting from January 11-18. For more information on the rewarding experience of hosting a foreign exchange student please contact us.

Guest speaker from Cardraising.com came to tell us about a fundraiser that we will be participating in this winter. It’s all different types of custom holiday cards. Orders will be placed and accepted online between November 1^st and December 10th. We literally do no work. They take care of all the advertising and marketing and we make 30%! Woot

A slideshow of photos from last month’s events was shown. We’ll be showing slides shows at the monthly association meetings. Come, see the pics, make your voice heard and check out all that’s happening with your Emerson PTA! We are so glad to have your ideas, resources and support!