November 2022 Meeting Minutes

12/5/2022 10:45 pm

PTA MEETING MINUTES NOVEMBER 2022

 Wednesday, November 2, 2022 – 6:30 EDT

  

Present: Leila Samara (Vice-President), Jessica Williamson (Secretary), Jessica Grande (Treasurer)

Other in-person attendees: Catherine Carney (Management Team), Kevin McCaskill (interim Management), Amy Browne (lower school rep), Nicole O’Neil, Chris Rohrig, 

Zoom attendees: Maya Dias (President), Blanca Burgos (Family Liaison), Cait Lozano,Vickie Spiess, Jen Kuchta, Bonnie Carey, Christine Ventura, Colleen Leger, Meaghan Lydon, Josh Spaulding, Uchechi Val-Okolie, Michele Antoniazzi, Valentine Okolie, Sarah Parker, Rachel Linso, 

Agenda

Welcome, Meeting Overview, Introductions 6:30pm - 6:50pm

• Maya welcomed everyone to the meeting via zoom (she did not want to attend as she is ill)
• Today’s meeting is scheduled to be upbeat with positive news
• Reminder that Blanca is is here as Family Liaison and a resource
• Hope to welcome Councillor Kendra Lara 

Minutes Approval, Essentials

• A MOTION to approve the September meeting minutes was approved. The Minutes will be posted to the PTA website. 
• Membership HIstorial Comparison chart is shared - Maya reminded us that it’s important to have a fair representation of the families who attend the school as members of the PTA too. The PTA will sponsor any family’s membership if there is interest/need
• Current 58 families are registered and 22 teachers

UPDATES

• Turkey Trot 
• Carrie Greenaway provided an update about we are 
• After registrations this weekend we may not be able to guarantee shirts because of printing time
• Business Sponsors - many in $500 category, there’s a new $250 level which gets a sponsor’s name announced at the beginning of a heat
• We do not yet have a Super Lion Main Sponsor ($2,500) so if anyone 
• Reminder that ALL kids can enter the competition - don’t have to be Lyndon students. Anyone between the ages of 3 and 8th grade. 
• Still looking for volunteers
• Dr. Elena Luna and Superintendent Skipper have been invited to the Turkey Trot
• Maya reminds the group that we will sponsor any child or family who would like to take part but have financial limitations.
• There will be no paper registration form this year - everything is online 
• Hopeful to have a Teacher’s Race again this year - assurance that it will be fun and not competitive 
• Maya announces that we have filed a Raffle permit 

 

 

• Read for the Record

 

• Sam Lewis was not present to provide update

 

 

• Clean up Day 

 

• Took place on October 22 and was a fantastic success - we removed loads of lockers, cleared rooms including the new library space.

 

 

• Book Fair Update

 

• Jess G. provided an update that it was a great success - heard from families that kids were happy. Revenue was $1700, slightly lower than our target, but we ended up giving away about $1100 worth of books which is 
• In future meetings we can discuss the breakdown in revenue and whether or not we will have a Spring Book Fair

 

 

• Breakfast, Lunch and Recess Volunteers are needed!

 

• Breakfast from 9:05 to 9:35
• Lunch from 11:14 to 1:35
• Blanca noted in the zoom chat: It would be great if volunteers would come in and actually play/draw with/entertain a group of students during recess.  This would be a great opportunity to develop relationships with students.
• Ms. Carney will run a brief orientation session for volunteers 

 

 

• Bake Sale - November 8

 

• We’ve got lots of great bakers but we need volunteers to run the sale

 

 

• Lyndon Gear Store

 

• Thanks to Lee Rushton for organizing this. 
• Store is open until evening of November 7 in order to get delivery to student by winter break

 

 

• Family Photo Day - November 12

 

• Michelle Bysta and Steve Lewis are parent volunteers who are photographers

 

 

• Outdoor Classroom Fall Clean UP - November 13

 

• All are welcome - please bring gloves
• Stephanie Roberts has been taking the lead on the garden

 

 

• FOTL - Cornhole Tournament - November 17

 

• Kelly introduces - should be a fun Parents’ Night Out - hoping to build community and have a fun night out, leading up to the Turkey Trot
• Question from Nicole - what is Friends of the Lyndon? Kelly explained that it’s an add on way to fund activities at the Lyndon. It is also a 501c3 charity. 
• Childcare at the Y will be available - to sign up email lyndonfriends@gmail.com
• Cost is $30/family 

UPDATES

 

• SSC

 

• Chris Rohrig updated that first meeting was 2 weeks ago
• Ratified and accepted results of election
• Agreed to start the work to update and adopt new by-laws
• Convened three committees: School Schedule, By-Laws Update, Hiring Committee
• First committee meeting is tomorrow 
• November meeting is November 17
• Minutes should be posted on the school website 
• In the works to identify a communication point of contact on the SSC who will be responsible for communication to parents, teachers, families… 

Friends of the Lyndon

• Kelly updated that FOTL are working on getting a teacher to be a member

Room Parents

• Pam Foster and Karen XXX are leads. Pamela reports that the beginning of the year was a rough start. There have been some challenging issues with privacy / list serves.
• Craft projects have started.
• Please email Karen or Pamela if there are any questions 

Caring Committee

• Bonnie says there isn’t a specific update, but to stay tuned for the Lyndon Boutique
• Maya says we will be reaching out to staff members, school nurse and others to ensure we get the items we need
• Blanca notes that there was a family who was displaced because of a fire. The mother is working with Red Cross, but the family is looking for items and she will send a list to the FOTL and the PTA
• Bonnie can be reached at bonnie.carey88@gmail.com

CPC

• Cait Lozano attended the Septmeber meeting and reported 
• Importance of having Equity Roundtable, amplifying voices of students and families
• Four initiatives: Parent Engagement, Budget, Special Ed in collab, Green New Deal which 
• Cait was surprised of the low representation - only about 30 people 
• Sarah (previous member) confirmed that number was typical from her experience

Square 1 Art

• Will take place in the Spring - good swag for Mother’s Day, etc.

Treasurer’s Report

• Jess G. reported that we had some good revenue from Book Fair
• We are required to audit our finances and Jess G. reports that it’s been dropped in the mail today.
• Thanks to Fran, Ed and Jess G. for working together to finish the audit. Thanks to Distraction Brewery 

Funding for 6-8th Grade

• One of the PTA’s goals of the year was to provide resources and supports for our upper grades 
• Maya asked if there are any volunteers who would be interested - particularly parents of upper grades
• Natalie Fleury shared that Mrs. McIntosh did a survey with 8th graders and received a survey and some of the things they were hoping to get help with ranged from: Homework assistance, high school application assistance, 
• Blanca confirmed that the 8th graders are not feeling a part of the community, and she is taking lead on trying to fundraise and make new opportunities happen for them like a dance, a nice graduation, a Year Book. 
• Sarah Parker noted that basketball was also something the middle schoolers were really interested in getting off the ground
• Ms. Carney explains that we are probably not going to qualify for the league, but she 
• She will push and make noise
• Maya suggests we have a committee to work on supporting  the 6- 8th graders 

Meeting adjourned.  

Minutes submitted by Jessica Williamson