MS PTO – January 15, 2013, 6:35pm
In attendance: Tracy Kirkman, Ann DiPetta, Torie Lines, Mary Procter, Jeannie Vallely, Neil Clifford, Teresa Sawester, Francisco Paler-Large, Sharon Bilotta, Nancy Grossman, Nancy Bonn
Media literacy – Neil gave a presentation on the new media literacy special
- Made possible because a home & careers teacher retired
- Each grade is a bit different – since it’s all new, it’s hard to know what the kids know before they start
- Give exposure to a variety of tools that can help them succeed inside and outside the classroom
- Google drive – tremendous power from collaboration point of view
- Netiquette – internet is forever… discuss scenarios of things that have gone awry, cyberbullying
- Kids need to be prepared for the cyber world
- Neil will teach the 8th graders how to develop apps
- Contacts – kids can email their teachers if they are home sick
- Support each of the disciplines with projects, connect with what’s happening in the common core
- Keyboarding and other basic skills – type to learn
- The kids love this class and they want to share what they make
- Edmodo is an application similar to Facebook
Game Night – Friday, Feb 8, 7pm
- $2 admission, wheel of misfortune, bake sale, all the same stuff
- parent room and silent auctions (Ann and Torie), keep messy games in cafeteria (Jeannie and Sharon), keep wheel of misfortune (Teresa), games in the gym (supervised by a teacher maybe Neil Clifford), games in the library (teacher Andy Moore or Daryl Anderson), bake sale (Nancy and Gail), robot table (Tracy)
- need teachers for wheel of misfortune, some from each grade is better
- maybe assign a few parents for crowd control, need help with admission and raffle
- can only drop off middle school students, parents have to stay with elementary students
Staff Slam (basketball game) – Friday, March 1, 2013, 6pm-9
- looking for volunteers still for front door, raffle, bake sale, hoop shoot
- Teresa will do flyer, elementary PTO will do trophies and tickets, high school doing face painting
- Motion for all the proceeds to go towards building a bathroom out at the track? Unanimous yes.
- Sports boosters will do snack shack and all that money will also go to the potty fund.
- Jeannie will bring a toilet seat, Torie will make the potty bucket, Tracy will ask robotics kids to program a robot to do the flushing
Grassroots
- Committee forming with Paul Pennick from Youth Commission.
- Is PTO on board? Can we have a rep to the committee?
- Will we want to split the work and split the money with them?
- Need good signs and more signage so that people know where the money will go
- Maybe parents can sell advance tickets
- Ulysses Youth Commission needs someone from the town of Ulysses and not the village to be on the committee
- Sharon will be the PTO rep to the Youth Commission
Treasurer’s report
- Still have $7500.
- Only Amanda Kolunio and Kristin have come forward and asked for money. They are very happy.
- We need to spend the money. We need teachers to come forward.
- Mr. diSantis needs legos.
- Might be able to use $$ for Doig Diner
- Last meeting we voted to pay for a teacher/advisor to run a middle school jazz band. Ann will look into that.
Cyber Issue
- There is and will continue to be cyber issues. We need to talk to our kids about it.
- Kids know the social norms but don’t translate them to cyber space
- It’s usually unintentional and the kids are always profoundly remorseful when they realize it
- The kids think of it as talking with the computer or like it’s writing in a diary
- Need to unplug our kids, especially girls, so kids can get their own sense of self and not from what all their friends are saying
- Bullying is bullying regardless of who started it. Need to be careful to label as conflict since bullying is a repeated offense.
- Will have an assembly for 7&8 to hear from a professional about cyber bullying
Associate Dean: Scott Miller, former PE and health teacher in the elementary
Jazz Band – Ann will ask Christine about
Boxtops – Meggan and Cynthia need to pick up the box tops!
Target points – Mary says middle school is all set up. Just need people to sign up.
Next Meeting: 3/25, and 5/20