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.
