Treasurer’s Report – Connie Wheeler reported our balance is $22,278.87, which includes $11,387.15 from Avon deposits. A check for approximately $6,900.00 will be sent to Avon directly which will decrease the reported balance.
Helping Hands List– Has been handed out to the P.A.C. coordinators forAvon and Market Day. In addition, there will be a List made available for the school Staff members to use as needed. In addition, 84 e-mail addresses are now listed within our website. Those e-mail addresses receive meeting agendas and notes.
Flag Football Concessions Report – Cindy Taft, the P.A.C. coordinator this year, reported that we hosted concessions for 7 of the 8 weeks of Flag Football. The total profit is estimated to be over $650. Cindy provided those in attendance at the P.A.C. meeting a report as to the items sold and their price as well as a summary of sales. The discussion of purchasing a tent will be postponed until next September. Thank you to all who donated baked goods for the sale and to Cindy Taft for all her time in organizing this fundraiser.
Staff Appreciation Meals – P.A.C. will be providing meals to the Staff members on the evenings of the Parent/Teacher conferences on Tuesday, November 15th and Thursday, November 17th. Michelle Wagner will be using the “Helping Hands” list and e-mailing those individuals who volunteered items for the meals.
Avon Fundraiser – Stephanie Piepenburg is the P.A.C. coordinator again this year. She passed around a sign up sheet for volunteers to help with the school delivery on Monday, November 14th. P.A.C. volunteers will help organize the orders for distribution and help parents with picking up their orders during the conference evenings. Stephanie will be using the “Helping Hands” list to obtain volunteers to help.
Teacher “Wish List” Book/Teacher Requests – Teachers will be turning in their “Wish List” items by Friday, November 4th. Teachers were asked to provide us with “Wish List” items that are $20 or less. Connie Wheeler will be putting the “Wish Lists” into a binder for parents to use for ideas for teacher/staff Christmas gifts. The “Wish Lists” will be available to see at Parent/Teacher conferences on Tuesday, November 15th and Thursday, November 17th. The following are the requests that we received this past month.
A request has come into P.A.C. by the 3rd grade team to pay for an Incubator for the chickens, prior to hatching. P.A.C. approved the $120-$150 expenditure.
A request came into P.A.C. by Mr. Awe to pay for a 5 foot by 7 foot “Hands Around the World” Rug. P.A.C. approved the $195 expenditure. Mr. Awe also requested P.A.C. to pay for a kidney-shaped table to be used for Guided Reading. P.A.C. approved the $125 expenditure.
A request came into P.A.C. by Mrs. Van Handel also for a kidney-shaped table for her class to use during Guided Reading. Mrs. Van Handel is a new teacher this year. P.A.C. approved the expenditure, however, directing her to coordinate her order with Mr. Awe to obtain better pricing.
A request came into P.A.C. by Sara Roberts to pay for board games, chapter books and a classroom Jeopardy game and pencil sharpener. Sara is new to teaching 5th grade this year. P.A.C. approved the $99 Jeopardy expenditure as well as the $50 expenditure for the pencil sharpener. P.A.C. is recommended for her to put the games on her “Wish List”. Stephanie Piepenburg will be talking with Sara re: her needs for books. Stephanie will coordinate purchasing some of the books.
Staff/Technology Report by Mrs. Czech – Mrs. Czech reported that the teachers are continuing to work on the grading portion on Skyward. Teachers should also be working on getting the report card grades online as well.
Pre-K/Kindergarten Playground Equipment – Mrs. Czech reported that a sign has been ordered and will be going up on the fence by the entrance to the playground. The sign will say that the playground is for children 7 years old and younger. Mrs. Czech met with the Pre-K/Kindergarten teachers and gave them some pictures of available new items for the playground. Mrs. Czech distributed these 4 options to those in attendance at this P.A.C. meeting. All items are self-standing. All items should pass insurance inspection. If P.A.C. approves the expenditures, she will go to the Building and Grounds committee for their approval. Costs are anticipated to be just under $10,000 total for the 4 items. She will need volunteers to help with the installation. Mrs. Czech will be talking to John in Maintenance re: the space and the condition of the current items to determine the appropriate placement of the new items. She will report back at our January meeting where we will discuss the plan to purchase the items.
Nature Center News – Mrs. Czech stated that Mr. Quinlan, a second grade teacher, will be coordinating the efforts on behalf of the teachers, however, he is hoping to work with P.A.C. volunteers as well. Connie Wheeler reported that there were 8 individuals on the “Helping Hands” List who volunteered for Nature Center projects. Mrs. Czech asked if P.A.C. would like to pay 1/2 of the costs for the YMCA to come out and do 50 minute classes for each of the grades/classes. She is setting up for sometime in April or May. Connie Wheeler is going to check to see if P.A.C. paid any of the expenses for last year and will discuss at our next meeting. Connie reported that George Van Wychen came after school one day and mowed down the weeds/grasses. Kirk Schuh will be looking into trimming the trails and what is needed to be done at this time. We will need to decide if we want to have different committees to handle the Boardwalk expansion project, the Butterfly Garden and the overall Maintenance efforts required.
Artist in Residence Program – Michelle Gloudemans presented the handful of different Artist options to consider for the March/April Artist-in-Residence program. Artists included paper mache artists, clay and ceramics artist, fused glass artist and children’s book authors/illustrators. The fused Glass artist was chosen. The costs are anticipated to be between $600.00 and $6500.00 for a 2 week program. This will include Kindergarten potentially through 5th graders. Students will work with the artist on individual projects to take home as well as large community/school projects/murals. We will tentatively plan the program for the last 2 weeks in March.
P.A.C. “Thank you” cards – Michelle Gloudemans presented a handful of different design options for the “Thank you” cards to be used by P.A.C. Michelle will be printing them and then coordinating with Sue Mannebach for distribution. P.A.C. wants to better recognize those individuals who volunteer and/or donate items to the school.
Market Day Report – Connie Wheeler reported that profits for October’s Market Day were $157. She stated November is Pie month where we will get 30% of pie sales if we sell 100+ pies. People can donate a pie to the Food Pantry and Amy Lahay and Connie Wheeler will be delivering the pies that night. The Food Pantry will be handing them out in December for a Christmas meal. We will be putting a posting on the website and Facebook re: the option to donate pies to the Food Pantry.
Paper Recycling Drive – Connie Wheeler reported that The Freedom Pursuit ran a “Thank you” note and a separate article re: the Paper Recycling Drive. Connie is hoping to obtain some assistance via Eagle Scouts to help with the various loads of magazines/catalogs received from a local business. Connie has the boxes but would like help loading/unloading. Thenext Paper Recycling Drive is set for December 26th through the 30th. Mark the dates on your calendar! Reminder, please NO wrapping paper.
2012 P.A.C. Meeting Dates – The following dates were set for the remainder of the school year, Thursday, January 5th; Monday, February 6th; Tuesday, March 6th; Wednesday, April 4th; Thursday, May 3rd. All meetings will start at 6:00 pm. If you haven’t come to a P.A.C. meeting recently, please come join us at our next meeting! Everyone is welcomed and appreciated. Let’s work together to make our school and community a better place!
Preplanning for Brain Bowl/Sock Hop/Family Fun Night/Winter Book Fair – Those individuals who volunteered for any of these events should please come to the January meeting to report on the progress. Connie Wheeler will be in contact with these individuals so they are prepared.
Ways to welcome new members – Connie began the discussion stating we would like to brainstorm ideas on how to welcome new members. Some of the suggestions include giving a background/history on some of the projects at the meetings to help educate those who are new to P.A.C.; also to have Committee Leaders/Coordinators, ensuring those Committee Leaders/Coordinators have past folders of information; possibly calling those new to meetings to welcome them; Committee Leaders/Coordinators should be calling those individuals who volunteered via the “Helping Hands” List. It will be put on the agenda for our January meeting to ensure every committee has a Leader/Coordinator and they know who they are.
New Business – Connie’s new e-mail address is cjwheeler73@gmail.com.
Facebook: “Like” us on Facebook at Freedom Elementary P.A.C. (Parents Activity Committee)
P.A.C. Website: Please go to http://www.freedompac.org and enter your e-mail address in the subscribe field and you will receive postings on the website including the meeting agendas and notes.
There will be NO meeting in December. Our January meeting is set for Thursday, January 5th in Room 22 (Art room), 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Memory Book Photo will be taken after the meeting. Free babysitting is provided by the Freedom High School National Honor Society. Please come join us!
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Connie Wheeler, P.A.C. President, at 920-788-5961 or cjwheeler73@gmail.com.
Meeting notes recorded by Michelle Gloudemans, P.A.C. Vice President
Freedom Elementary Parent Activity Committee 