Mckenzie PTA Executive Board Meeting Minutes

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Mckenzie PTA Executive Board Meeting Minutes

McKenzie General PTA Meeting Minutes November 12, 2013 - Final

1) Call to order at 9:17. 37 people (34 parents) attending.

2) Michele Irvin, President a) Michele began with opening remarks. a.i) At the beginning of the year, the Exec Board met to discuss goals we would like to pursue. One of Michele’s personal goals was to research how to be sure that parents were being heard, such as a parent idea bank meant especially for those who cannot attend PTA meetings, but essentially for all parents to have a resource to share ideas. a.ii) The Exec Board has also discussed ways in which we communicate with parents; what’s working, what’s not. We are in the process of creating a survey that will cover these topics. Look for that in January and please give us your feedback. a.iii) Michele outlined ways for parents to communicate ideas or concerns. We have Ask Cheetah where questions are fielded by our VP of Communications and forwarded to the appropriate responder. The Ask Cheetah link is located at the bottom of the home page of the PTA website and is a great starting point. a.iv) If you have questions regarding a specific issue, please contact a VP directly by email or phone. For instance, if you have a question or idea about enrichment, please contact the VP of Enrichment, if it’s a Communications question, VP of Communications, etc. If you’re not sure, please reach out to anyone on the Board or use Ask Cheetah. When we receive questions or feedback, the issues are forwarded to the appropriate responder, to Dr. Welter or to the Exec Board in general. The goal of the PTA is to be solutions-oriented. a.v) Each month, the Exec Board reaches out to 83 chair people to gather reports for the Exec and general meetings. A committee chairperson would be another point of contact. Please reach out to chairs if you have questions or concerns. In turn, if the chairperson cannot answer the question, they should reach out to their Exec Board liaison. (Michele had copies of the committee chair and liaison lists available at the meeting. They are also available on McKenziePTA.com.) a.vi) You can always reach out to Michele by email or phone. a.vii) Michele gave an example of how one parent’s idea became a reality. Last year, Jen Campbell reached out to the Exec Board with an idea to form a committee based on nutrition education and exercise. Through discussion and research, the Power Up to Play committee became a reality! We’re very excited to see what that we’ll generate and appreciate all volunteers and Ms. Krumholz’ participation as a yoga instructor on the Nutrition and Exercise night on January 23! a.viii) As has always been the case, there will be time at the end of each meeting to discuss new ideas and business. Some topics can be discussed during the meeting, others may take more time and will need committee work. During the meeting, if you have comments or questions, when recognized, please come forward to the microphone, state your name and give your comment or question. Michele thanked everyone for attending today. Let’s have a great meeting! b) October Meeting Minutes - Peggy Brink, Secretary, noted a correction that had been made to the minutes (second added for motion regarding park district liaison). Motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes as corrected. Minutes were approved. c) Book Fair Follow Up – Michele passed around thank you notes that Chris Peterson had received from Mr. Moroschan’s class. They thanked the PTA for the books their classroom had received from the book fair.

3) Karen Hirata, Treasurer a) Civics and Safety - We received a late bill from last year for $105 for Bike Safety Day. This year, a budget needs to be set aside that includes $105 to cover last year’s expense, $139 for items for an appreciation breakfast and $50 for gift cards for the crossing guards and bus drivers. We need to add $300 to the Civics and Safety budget to cover these expenses. a.i) Motion was made and seconded to add $300 to Civics and Safety to cover additional expenses. (28 in favor, 0 opposed). b) Grocery Dollars/eScrips – Dominick’s is closing, which will impact our Grocery Dollars and eScrips revenue. Grocery Dollars revenue is expected to decrease by about $5,000 and eScrips revenue by $500. c) PayPal Issues – we have been having some issues with PayPal this year. Please make sure that your cart is empty before making purchases. d) Financial update – Fall Frenzy will end up bringing in around $6,000. Large expenses last month were enrichment (about $2,400) and BidPal software package for the benefit. We already have sponsors for the benefit, which brings the software cost to less than was spent last year. Balance on main account is $13,380.31 and Grocery Dollar Account is $94,561.53.

4) Faculty Report – Kimberly Krumholz a) Kindergarteners are looking forward to Mad Science lessons about water and are excited to have a visit from a Native American traveling museum. b) 1st graders are enjoying their terrariums and watching them change over time. They are enjoying the additional science enrichment provided by Julie Zielke. They are learning about story elements such as character, and setting problem and solution. In Second Step, students are learning about empathy. c) 2nd graders completed their study of sound and enjoyed rotating classes as teachers each taught a specialized lesson on sound. Students were able to review their knowledge of pitch and volume as they listened to the musician performance of Guy Louis. He played instruments from around the world and modeled how he changed the sound with each instrument. Thank you to Connie Bergman and for the added enrichment. Thanks to all the parents for supporting the music instrument effort! In writing, 2nd graders are working on small moments and personal narratives. They enjoyed kicking off their Native American unit at The Grove. It was a curriculum-rich field trip that students truly enjoyed. d) 3rd grade teachers would like to thank the PTA for the delicious dinner they provided. It was so delicious; it is almost worth having conferences more often! Students in 3rd grade recently completed their study of plants. You may have seen the culmination of this project, original 3-D plants, in the hallways during conferences. In addition to field trips, for many classes this unit included projects using the iPads and visiting the McKenzie Garden. The study of pioneers and life in the prairie is now underway and classes will begin reading Sarah, Plain and Tall. In math, they are studying

2 quadrilaterals and embracing the new idea that a square is now considered a trapezoid! Students are being flexibly grouped for Unit 3 on linear measurement and area. The 3rd grade would also like to thank the PTA for a great performance/assembly by Ensemble Española, which performed and explained a variety of Spanish dances. e) 4th grade is finishing up land and water unit in science. They completed four weeks of social work lessons with Mrs. Ibrahim and learned strategies and coping skills to deal with stress. In math, they are working on multiplication using bar models and number lines and number stories. In reading, fourth graders are gathering for book clubs and exploring different genres such as realistic fiction and mysteries. In writing, they are moving into persuasive and opinion writing. f) In art, Ms. Brazee can use recycled gift boxes and wrapping paper tubes. Gift boxes (or shirt boxes as they are sometimes called) are the thinner cardboard and are great for sculpture projects, and wrapping paper tubes have a million uses. g) Senora Goberville and Senora London would like to thank the PTA for the Ensemble Española. h) Kimberly also talked about her yoga training, which was approved as a Beyond Pencils and Gluesticks grant. She is excited to share yoga through staff with the students at McKenzie. She is completing her certification now and will kick off at the beginning of the year. Her goals include teaching yoga to other teachers so they can use it in their classrooms and offering yoga classes during indoor recess in her own classroom.

5) Dr. Welter, Principal a) The conference night dinner was phenomenal. Not only was the food super, but it was a great opportunity for the staff to spend time together. Between the food, the flowers on the table, and getting to visit with each other, it was priceless! b) Thanks to all of the committee chairs and volunteers that have done so much -- Fall Frenzy, School Pictures, and Bulletin Boards, just to name a few. c) Children’s Book Week is coming up. c.i) Still looking for more parents to come talk about their own service experiences or read a book on service learning during library time. Dr. Welter can let us know which classes still need volunteers. c.ii) Sally Schoenberg and Sarah Brazee are planning activities to coincide with the author visit. c.iii) Will ask kids to dress in a color from the Kathryn Otoshi’s book, One. c.iv) After Kathryn Otoshi's visit, Student Council will set up a suggestion box in the school lobby to collect students' ideas on service learning projects. In Dec. they will tally suggestions, and each grade level will select a different project. The side bulletin board in the lobby will be used to chart the each grade’s progress on their project. Student Council will create a final, year-end report. c.v) Have sold 110 books.

d) Curriculum

3 d.i)New social studies curriculum will roll out next fall. Are looking at a lot of new materials, many electronic, as the world we live in is rapidly changing and books quickly become outdated. d.ii) In math, as part of common core standards, are redesigning lessons to align with big ideas. d.iii) Reading/language arts – will be a 2-year journey with rollout in 2015. d.iv) PE teachers went to Northbrook to visit a school with a running track. Could be used for PE classes, recess and by the community outside of school hours. d.v) Sally Schoenberg and Kate Johnston-Legg visited a school in Lake Forest with an exceptional learning commons space. This ties to 21st century learning environment initiative that came out of the CRC. d.vi) Have been reviewing iPad use at the school. With more iPads, we are seeing them being used in places that surprised Dr. Welter. For example, in PE classes, kids have used iPads to do self-assessments of their own jump roping. d.vii) Next Monday at the Board of Education meeting, McKenzie students will be leading the pledge of allegiance. Dr. Welter will be inviting 3rd and 4th grade student council representatives to participate. At the December Board of Education meeting, the McKenzie School Improvement Plan will be presented. d.viii) Senora Goberville had a baby boy on Friday. Julia Nichols shadowed Senora Goberville for a week and started as her maternity leave replacement on Monday. d.ix) There are two student teachers at McKenzie. Christine Meng, who recently had an experience in Thailand, is student teaching with Jennifer Weil. Laura Rollick is working as a music student teacher with Connie Bergmann. d.x) A question was asked about the Common Core. District 39 is rolling it out gradually. Common Core looks at big ideas instead of lots of little bites. Curriculum has been “1 inch deep and a mile wide.” Common Core insists on doing more deep dives. Professional organizations, national councils of teachers in each area, are leading design of core curriculum. Dr. Welter can share a comparison of now vs. then in a future meeting. (d.x.1) Kimberly Krumholz commented that we like to say we are preparing kids for the rest of their lives, and kids are benefitting from it. She talked about how kids are writing about pitch and volume, giving their opinions in writing and learning how to make claims supported by evidence. (d.x.2) Julie Anderson talked about how it is amazing to see the teachers… (d.x.3) Dr. Welter will show a list of curricular topics at a future meeting. d.xi) A question was raised about whether McKenzie would be piloting PARCC testing. Some schools in D38 and D39 have been randomly chosen. Groups of Central and Harper students will be piloting PARCC testing in District 39. McKenzie will not.

6) Louisa Kunzler, FAN Chair a) Dan Siegel, leader in the concept of mindfulness and author of the upcoming book Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain will be speaking at New Trier Northfield Campus tonight at 7pm. b) Daniel Goleman, a founder of the emotional intelligence movement and author of Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence (and one of Dr. Welter’s favorite speakers!), will be

4 speaking on that topic at New Trier Northfield Campus at 7pm on Tues., Nov. 19th. There will be an additional seminar during the day on Weds., Nov. 20th. c) Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity, will speak on “Love, No Matter What: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity” at New Trier Winnetka Campus on Dec. 4th at 7pm. (Note that the time and date became available after the PTA meeting.) d) Additional information about FAN programs is available at www.familyactionnetwork.net. e) FAN is expanding into Evanston and has created an Advisory Board that is bringing a higher level of intellect to further enhance programs.

7) Cynthia Milne, President Elect – School Gift Survey a) Cynthia reported it is true collaboration between the PTA and the school. She thanked Dr. Welter and Michele Irvin for their help with the survey. Survey will be coming out soon. b) Teachers, staff and parents will be getting the survey. A question was asked if it will be going out to students as well. Cynthia reported that this survey is intended for parents and we may consider a student survey later in the year. c) The survey will include specific school gift ideas as well as an open ended question about additional ideas. It will list possible gift items and their benefit to the school. It will include the running track and 21st century learning environment mentioned by Dr. Welter. Will also include air conditioning with an explanation of its costs. d) Cynthia encouraged parents, teachers and staff to respond so their voice is heard.

8) Amy Wolfe, VP Fundraising a) Thank you to Leslie Cash Ray and Melissa Stressler for their work on the Fall Frenzy. It was a great event and earned around $6,000 for McKenzie. b) Spirit wear sale ended Friday. Items ordered should arrive mid-December. c) Cheetah Spirit is doing well. Need additional volunteers. d) Movie Night is scheduled for Fri., Dec. 6th. Will show the movie, Turbo. They are also looking for volunteers.

9) Amy Glynn, VP Enrichment a) Amy mentioned that there are two documents available on McKenziePTA.com. The first is the Enrichment Calendar that shows all activities that have been scheduled. The second is the Master Enrichment Schedule and Planning Document that includes activities being considered. b) Amy talked through a document about McKenzie enrichment programs that answers key questions including how much the PTA spends on enrichment, how enrichment activities are determined, and what types of activities are included. The complete document is included as Attachment 1 to these minutes. c) Guy Louis presented an assembly to the 2nd graders yesterday on the Physics of Sound and Music. It was an example of the music teacher building on the science curriculum. It was a great linkage between specials teachers and core curriculum and was money well spent.

5 10) Cara Gaziano, VP Room Parents a) Everything is going well with the room parents and staff appreciation. 26 families brought food and flowers for the conference night dinner, and teachers really enjoyed it. b) PTA liaison position b.i)Cara talked about the possible role of a PTA liaison to the Park District. A position description is included as Attachment 2 to these minutes. Cara reported parents would like to have after school offerings accessible through the PTA website. A PTA liaison could support more organized communications. A PTA liaison could look into alternatives if the Park District doesn’t move forward. Could find out what the general PTA membership wants. b.ii) It was noted that other District 39 schools are interested in having similar programs with the Park District. Harper is definitely moving forward. b.iii) Dr. Welter mentioned that Carol Heafey is our liaison at the Park District. She can be reached via phone at 847-256-9692 or email at [email protected]. The Park District has already received feedback from parents and the school and is open to all feedback. (b.iii.1) Carol is our liaison to the Park District but it was noted that she has other responsibilities as well and is not dedicated to McKenzie. We do have a site supervisor who is dedicated to McKenzie. Her contact information is: Katy Bradford, phone: 224-725-7400, email: [email protected]. a.i) Cara commented that parents who work outside of the home might be more interested in this role. That was the genesis of the idea. Some parents believe we don’t have adequate input into programming or scheduling. There may not be a lot to discuss now, but if general membership wants a certain club that isn’t available through the Park District (e.g., drama), the liaison can look into options. a.ii) Michele commented that the Park District has already responded to some of our input, for example with chess. The Park District wanted to use their chess group, but because Michele and other parents reached out to them, the McKenzie program uses Chess Ed. At this point, parents can reach out to Carol Heafey directly. a.iii) Dr. Welter noted that the Park District program is a pilot this year. Has been a wonderful honeymoon and hoping for a good marriage. Carol wants input. Dr. Welter gets input from kids but not from their parents. A parent voice could be helpful. a.iv) It was asked whether there is any reason to be opposed to a PTA liaison. It was commented that we are best served when Dr. Welter is spending her time on her responsibilities as principal. a.v) Concern was raised that afterschool program information is not available on the PTA website. There was discussion about putting information on PTA and McKenzie websites. (a.v.1) Shari Gottlieb shared that there is a link on the PTA website under Enrichment and Clubs>After School Enrichment which linked to the afterschool program information on the McKenzie website. As long as content is provided, PTA website can link to it. Liaison could assure content is provided. (a.v.2) There is no Park District listing of just McKenzie options on the website, though each semester, parents receive an email blast listing classes that are only

6 available after school at McKenzie. Julie Garry is returning from maternity leave and will post Park District info. on McKenzie site. Shari can post the link in a more obvious position from PTA site so it is available from both pages. a.vi) Motion was made that a PTA after school liaison position be created and tasked with best ensuring that on-site after school enrichment activities continue to be available to McKenzie students. The motion was seconded and approved (27 in favor; 0 opposed).

11)Peggy Brink, Secretary – Nominating a) Peggy read an excerpt from the McKenzie PTA bylaws related to Nominating (Article IV, Sections 3 and 4). The complete bylaws are available on McKenziePTA.com>PTA Resources>Forms Bylaws and Policies. b) She also provided an overview of the process for nominating members of the Nominating Committee. The complete overview is posted on McKenziePTA.com>PTA Resources>Nominating Committee and Rules.

12)Michele Irvin, President a) Beyond Pencils and Gluesticks a.i) Michele talked about the 4 grant requests that were received last year. The complete list is included as Attachment 3 to these minutes. a.ii) One request has been received so far this year. It is a request from Gwen Faulkner and Jennifer Weil for professional development. It has been approved by the Executive Board and will be funded in its entirety. (a.ii.1) Question was asked about district funding for professional development. District 39 does fund professional development. This year, most funding is going to common core training that is being done in-house. Don’t have a lot of teachers going to outside training. The training requested here is online. Teachers will be able to bring back learnings to the entire building. a.iii) Michele mentioned that the Executive Board discussed potentially having a line item for professional development. Teachers wouldn’t need to go through the gluesticks grant process to be reimbursed. a.iv) Question was raised about iPads from last year. There was a Beyond Pencils and Gluesticks request by 1st grade teachers for iPads that was not approved. Instead, 25 iPads, plus 2 donated by the district, and an iPad cart were purchased for the 2nd floor teachers and students. Can those iPads be moved to 1st grade? (a.iv.1) Michele responded that when the PTA gifts something to the school, it becomes the property of District 39. Although it is unlikely that the district would do this, they could decide to move any gift to another school. At this point, moving the iPads would be a decision that would need to be made by Dr. Welter and the teachers. a.v) Another question was asked about a 1-to-1 pilot at McKenzie, similar to the one currently underway at Highcrest. Dr. Welter responded that there are no current plans for a 1-to-1 pilot at lower grade levels through the district. In the meantime, we have about 70 iPads at McKenzie. Dr. Welter shared that the school could always use more for classroom projects that the teachers like to do. (a.v.1) iPads are included as an option on the school gift survey. 7 b) Michele thanked the parents and McKenzie staff that have volunteered to provide input on the creative play space. Patrick Moroschan, Rachel Gerber and Paula Lundell have all volunteered. c) Michele Sheppard from the Illinois PTA will be here to lead the Illinois PTA’s Road to Success course on Saturday, Nov. 16th at 1pm. All PTA members are invited. d) There are several volunteer opportunities that will be included in the Monitor and posted on McKenziePTA.com. They include: d.i)Chairperson for last day popsicles and lemonade d.ii) Person to research opportunities with Scrips program. d.iii) Chairperson to collect information for a virtual job fair that will allow parents who cannot attend next year’s First Day Coffee to sign up via the web for the same PTA volunteer opportunities at the same time. This is a non-technical job. e) Women’s Club of Wilmette will host an Antiques Show & Holiday Boutique on Dec. 7th from 10-5 and Dec. 8th from 11-4. $1 of every ticket sold will go to the WJHS science fund.

13) Shari Gottlieb, who is Board member of the District 39 Education Foundation, talked about upcoming activities. a) Trivia night will be held February 8th. b) Fall appeal went out. Goal for Inspiring Scientist Fund is $110,000 and we are more than half way there. c) Applications for Gripp grants are due by Nov. 15th.

14)Margie Swain and Kim Peters – Benefit Co-Chairs a) Benefit will be held Feb. 1st at Michigan Shores Country Club. There will be a silent auction and sit down dinner. b) BidPal will include an advance webpage that will allow you to preview items and purchase benefit tickets. Corporate sponsor logos will be on webpage. Have already received $3,500 from sponsors. c) Have 125 auction items. Would like more destinations like downtown dinners and host parties. Donation forms are available on McKenziePTA.com d) Ticket price will be $100 per person and includes dinner and drinks. e) Giving center website rollout and save the date invitation are coming up.

15)Christine Ferdinand, Assistant Treasurer – Grocery Dollars a) Expect to lose about $5,000 in revenue due to closure of Dominick’s. There are currently 49 families that are Dominick’s subscribers, 32 Dominick’s only and 17 Dominick’s plus other stores. b) A PTA member asked about targeted communications to new families to grow the Grocery Dollars program through remaining stores and felt that the program needs more promotion. c) Christine noted that targeted communications are being sent to current Dominick’s subscribers to encourage them to convert. Just found out yesterday that Dominick’s will no longer give discounts on cards. If people do not want to convert, they can be credited.

8 d) We are getting requests for Whole Foods and Grand Food Center. Whole Foods won’t partner for Grocery Dollars, but is part of the Scrips program. e) Do we want to reach out to new grocery stores and build relationships when there is an alternative we are considering? f) Scrips program would broaden the number of stores included. Is an online gift card type program. g) We had a gift program in the past. It was difficult to sell and administer. h) Need someone to research at other options to Grocery Dollars program.

16)Karen Dekker spoke for the Sharing Committee. a) Share the Warmth, Joy and Feast drives are going on now. In addition, have new Share the Joy holiday shop. McKenzie families can sign up to donate an unwrapped toy valued around $20. Carman Buckner parents will select gifts from the gift shop for their children. b) Can still write checks to purchase Jewel-Osco gift cards. Make checks payable to McKenzie PTA and leave them in the Sharing Committee mailbox. c) Joan made a drop off of winter outerwear to Carman Buckner. There were 3 children who would not be able to go on field trips because they did not have the appropriate winter outerwear. There were coats that fit all 3 kids so they will be able to go on the field trips after all.

17)Cynthia Milne, President Elect – Power Up to Play (PUP) – First event will be held January 23rd. Will include yoga classes and tables with healthy food. There will be a SignUp Genius for volunteers. Thank you to Kimberly Krumholz for participating by teaching yoga that evening.

18)Elizabeth Ward, Open Gym – First Open Gym night will be held Dec. 18th from 6-8pm. Bring shoes as lockers will not be available. All ages are welcome; at least one adult should attend with kids (college-aged siblings can count as adults).

19)Sharon Panzica, Yearbook – Cover contest ends Friday.

20)New Business a) Rebecca Guryan inquired about whether the PTA would consider doing something when a McKenzie family member has a serious illness or injury. Michele responded that we do have someone who sends cards as part of the Family to Family committee. We can set up a committee to evaluate this. If anyone is interested in being part of this committee, you can reach out to Rebecca.

21)There will be no December meeting. Thank you to all attending. Have a great holiday!

22)Meeting adjourned at 11:20.

Attachment 1 9 McKenzie Enrichment Programs

How much does the PTA spend on enrichment?  For the 2013-14 school year, $35,000 has been budgeted for grade-level enrichment programs. This includes presenters/programs brought into the school to give assemblies, classroom instruction, residencies, as well as field trips. Additionally, $6,000 is anticipated for bus fees.

 Last year (2012-13), $29,000 was spent on all enrichment programs, with an additional $5,300 spent on bus costs.

How are enrichment activities determined?  Planning enrichment programming is a truly collaborative effort between our teachers and the Enrichment committee. The Enrichment committee consists of the Enrichment Assistant (Rebecca Guryan), Enrichment Coordinators (Colleen Shinners-K, Sue Pelzek-1st, Malia Zoghlin-2nd, Michele Oh-3rd, and Jeanette Gridley-4th), and VP Enrichment. A big thank you to the committee for all of your on-going work on enrichment!

 At the end of each school year, teachers are surveyed about each of their grade’s enrichment programs, as well as all-school programs. The Enrichment committee then meets with each teacher team to discuss their feedback. Teachers decide which programs they would like to repeat, repeat with changes, or discontinue the following year. At this meeting, we ask teachers if there are other types of programs they might be interested in, or other areas of opportunity to enhance their curriculum.

 The Enrichment committee researches any subject areas or types of programs that teachers are looking for. Sources of new presenters include:

o Enrichment committee research

o Referrals from teachers and the McKenzie community

o Referrals from other D39 schools (meet twice yearly)

o Attending the Performer’s Showcase in August where we can meet and preview many school presenters/performers

 Any new programs/presenters that are identified are presented to teachers by Enrichment Coordinators. Teacher teams then discuss and decide if a program suits their needs.

What types of enrichment activities are included?  In-school Programs/Presenters

o Each year, the PTA brings in over 25 programs/presenters to McKenzie. Some may present once, some visit multiple times during the year.

o Cost of presenters varies greatly, from $500 and up.

o Some presenters conduct an assembly with a whole grade (i.e. author visit, Polar Explorers, Great American Challenge.)

10 o Other presenters instruct one classroom at a time (i.e. Mad Science, High Touch/High Tech.)

 Residencies

o Occasionally, teachers are interested in a presenter providing more in-depth, or continuing, classroom workshops. For some subject areas, residencies are beneficial because they allow for deeper coverage of a topic and more hands-on learning.

o Residencies cost anywhere from $1,500-5,000+ depending on the number of days/sessions booked, as they are more time-intensive.

o Examples of current residencies at McKenzie are Julie Zielke, our scientist in residence, Striding Lion (Second Step learning), and Dancing with Class (world dance – Heritage Day.)

 Field Trips

o Each year, about 10 field trips are taken across grade levels.

o Destinations have included The Grove, Botanic Gardens, Heller Nature Center, Wilmette Water Treatment Facility, Brookfield Zoo, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, River Trails Nature Center, Wilmette Historical Society.

o Average cost of one field trip for a whole grade is $600-1200 to the venue, plus $600-1300 for busses (varies based on number of children in grade and duration of ride.)

 Specials enrichment

o PTA enrichment dollars also provide for programs requested by our Specials teachers such as Spanish, music, art, and the Library (i.e. Ensemble Espanol, Guy Louis, author visit.)

11 Attachment 2

PTA ACTIVITY LIAISON

ROLE/RESPONSIBILITIES - PROPOSAL

• Ensure open lines of communication between the Park District (or any other activity provider) and the PTA general membership;

• Be available to discuss substantive programming and schedule options with the Park District (or any other activity provider);

• Be available to research and secure an alternative provider if the Park District is unable to offer an activity that the PTA general membership has voted in favor of pursuing, or if the Park District were to discontinue its activity offerings at McKenzie;

• Provide reports at PTA Meetings if needed with respect to programming changes or options;

• Ensure that current class schedules descriptions, and registration information is posted and available for parents on both the PTA web site and school web site.

12 Attachment 3 Beyond Pencils and Gluesticks Grant Summary – 2012-2013

Month Reviewed Grant Requestor Description of Decision Request January 2nd Grade Teachers Two sets of books Approved referenced in 6+1 writing traits program - $418.98 February 1st Grade Teachers 30 iPads Approved 25 iPads with 2 additional provided by the District. However, iPads would not be for exclusive use of 1st grade and would be housed on the 2nd floor. February Julie Garry iPad apps including Approved iPad apps, up to iMovie, Garage Band, $1,000 to cover cost of apps Pages, Keynote and for additional iPads being Reflection - $750; purchased. Subsequently iTunes gift card approved additional $600 to valued at $1,500 to cover cost of these same fund future apps as apps for all iPads for total of needs arise. $1,600. Did not approve gift card for future app needs. April-May Kimberly Krumholz Yoga training at $495 Approved yoga training at (early bird) or $590 early bird rate of $495. (non early bird); yoga Did not approve yoga mats mats at $450 and or blocks but can be yoga blocks at $300 reconsidered after the program is in place for 90 days.

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