GRAFTON HIGH SCHOOL PTSA Executive Committee Meeting October 17, 2017
Attendance: Sandra DiGangi (President), Eve Mazaika (Vice President), Kaylin Haywood (Treasurer), Latricia Johnson (Recording Secretary), Gail Asher & Lisa Fazenbaker (Hospitality), Lynda Kramer (Corresponding Secretary), David Hoegerman (Webmaster), Whitney Cataldo (Principal)
Opening: Sandra called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm.
Approval of minutes: David Hoegerman made a motion to approve the minutes, Lynda Kramer seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved.
Treasurer Report: Account balance: $5,469.46 After Prom balance: $6,471.21 Passed the bucket for Hurricane Harvey and raised $152.11. The total collected for Hurricane Harvey victims to date is $370. We are sending Forrest High School PTSA a check. The school is located in Texas. Kroger donations were $532.45. Received $358 in donations. Audit sent to York and VA PTA on 27 Sept 17 York County dues ($100) were paid on 28 Sept 17 The After Prom domain name (graftonafterprom.com) has been paid for the next 5 years. It was $180.
President Report: Action Item: Need to find a parent to organize Karaoke fundraising scheduled for Saturday, November 18, 2017 from 7:00 – 9:00pm. Karaoke advertisement has gone out. We have not found anyone interested in leading this event. The general volunteers have been contacted but no response yet. Action Item: Sandra will contact the chorus and drama teacher to see if they can promote the event in their class. Sandra will contact SCA to see if they can assist in promoting the event. The contestant will e-mail their name and link to the song they plan to sing to [email protected] who will find the radio Disney version of the song. The event will be free to performers. Spectators will pay $4.00 in advance and $5.00 at the door. We will sell concessions during the event. We will need volunteers to sell tickets. Sandra asked who was coming back next year and what position they are serving in. According to the bylaws, elected members can serve 3-one year terms. David has a senior this year and is willing to help train someone. Sandra will advertise the following positions in the Monday message: President, Vice President, Monday Message, Webpage, Sandra attended YCC PTA – they have an APP for all buses so parents can find their students bus. YCC is short bus drivers.
Corresponding Secretary: Lynda prepared/distributed 7 birthday cards for Staff Birthdays One week prior to 10/17/17 board meeting, sent email with meeting reminder, agenda, and minutes from September General Membership Meeting and minutes from PTSA Board Meeting.
Principals Report: What’s been going on??? Homecoming was great. Next year the dance will be from 7:00 – 10:00 pm. We may get more volunteers and we can get the kids home before curfew. The entry process was a lot smoother this year. There wasn’t a long line to get into the dance. VHSL (Virginia High School League) – adding robotics and cyber security to the competitions. PSATs – Over 700 tests were administered SHIP (Students helping to Inform the Principal) – 14 students selected. They will meet with the principal to talk about ways to improve our school. SIP – School Improvement plans – how to grow academically. Last year Grafton did not meet the AMO goal of 65% or higher. This year they are looking at AP enrollment and coming up with ways to get kids involved in AP classes. Spirit Video – We are working to get a team together Monarch Invitational – Marching band won first in class and second overall 1st annual clipper classic – JV Volleyball team won 1st place Honor Chorus – We had 3 students who made it to honor chorus; Rachel Olson, Brandon Chu, and Sarah Petko. What’s coming up?? Sister City Visit – People from France will be visiting this week Earthquake drill – called the Great American Shake out Yorktown Day – 19 Oct – the band and ROTC will be marching in the parade. Football – We are playing Tabb; Booster’s will be selling t-shirts buy one get one free. Cheer competition – We are hosting the last 2. Senior Orders – 10/25 – they will be ordering cap, gown and invitations November 1st – Jimmy Richardson (York County School Board 4th District) will be shadowing the principal for the day. After Prom: Trish Johnson will contact senior parents by the end of October will a date to have the first meeting. We are looking into having a Spirit Night at Barnes and Nobles. Other possible spirit nights Chick-fil-A ($70 last year), Plaza Azteca ($300 last year), Sweet Frog ($13 last year) and gift wrapping at Bass Pro Shop. We will contact SCA (Mrs. Conradi & Mrs. Zwirschitz) and NJHS (Mrs. Logan) for volunteers.
Baccalaureate: Michele Nelson has volunteered to the be chair. She needs the binder.
Historian: Don Mann and Tara Bozick are willing to be historians. They just need to know what the job entails. They will take photos at events and have them posted on twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you want photos posted on the York County site, send them to Ms Cataldo.
Hospitality: Hospitality Committee gave the custodians fruit and nut mix and soda pop for Custodian Appreciation Day on October 9. Thank you to Debbie Gemoets for letting me in the building. Thank you to Latricia Johnson, Sandra DiGangi, Mary Robinson, and Susan Forsgren for passing out goodie bags to our bus drivers on October 16, Bus Driver Appreciation Day. Lisa and I made 30 bags, 20 with chocolate wrapped in school bus wrappers and bananas and 10 for diabetics with apples and sugar free candy. The next teacher lunch is next week on Wednesday, Oct 25. Lisa is organizing the pasta lunch which the teachers requested. As of today, we need more pasta. What are the dates for the remaining Appreciation Days? a. Nurse, Secretary, Admin, Guidance, Library ?
Special Projects: Mrs. Cataldo is trying to get approval to repaint the half wall in the senior atrium with something festive that is relevant to Grafton. We can go ahead and get the G and anchor painted in the bus circle and student drop off. We can begin working on painting the pillars and stairs. Sandra is looking into buying a stencil of a “G” and an anchor. The athletic boosters used to have one. She will check with them. Mr. Seltzer has a 3D printer. We can also contact him to see if we can make a stencil. Mrs. Cataldo will ask him. We would like to get started on these projects before Christmas Membership Report: We currently have 854 members. This number is down from last year this time. Uploading PTSA members in the PTA national database is not working. VA PTA is working on the system. Sandra will be sending an e-mail to parents who were members last year but have not joined this year. Red & Blue crew will meet next Friday for Trick and Treat. We are out of incentives. We will use t-shirts as an incentive. We have peanuts from Texas Roadhouse. We will give them to the faculty. Melinda Parker Gates was the faculty member of the month.
Monday Message: Some faculty members are not getting the Monday message. Mrs. Cataldo will check into this. Inputs for the Monday message must be received by 5:00pm on Friday.
Reflections: This year’s Reflection theme is “Within Reach” Local due date is Monday, October 23rd. We have very low participation so we decided to extend the due date by a week. Due date is no Monday, October 30. Last week I sent 2nd e-mail to Art, Photography, and Literature teachers with information for this year’s theme, specific rules for their category and asked them to share information with their students. Received 2 entries for Reflections 2020 theme search Citizenship Essay: Content theme is “What does it mean to dream big?” Submissions are due 2/1/18. Lynda plans to advertise in Monday Message, morning announcements, Facebook, emails to teachers after Reflections Contest is over.
Volunteers: Tricia O’Grady sent an e-mail to committee chairs asking them to make contact with people on the list especially general volunteers. Some chairs did not get the e-mail so she will send it out again. We had 28 people who volunteered 174 hours from during September
Web Page: David asked if anyone was checking e-mail by logging into the gmail account. The VP e-mail address isn’t working. Volunteer e-mail address isn’t working There have been several phishing attempts made to the PTSA gmail accounts. David is checking to see if there is something that can be done. David is working on setting up Google Docs. New Update: YCC has an APP to track all the school buses. Parents can find their students while they are traveling to and from school. YCC has a bus driver shortage Buses are inspected every 20 days. Plans are in place to make changes to the entryway at schools to restrict visitors from entering the building without checking in with the front office. A new HVAC system will be installed this summer.
Upcoming Events: 25 October – Teacher luncheon - Pasta 27 October – Red/Blue Crew – Trick or Treat 30 October – Deadline for Reflections program
Questions: Gail asked if anyone received an e-mail about interim reports? We stopped getting e-mails last year. How long does it take teachers to get a quiz or test back to students?
Sandra adjourned the meeting at 8:22 pm. The next meeting is scheduled for November 14, 2017 at 7:00 pm.