In attendance:
William Crockett, Mary Ann Wilson, Lucy Shockley, Maryann Hiscock, Paulette Carrieri, John Sykes, Sabrina Finkbeiner, Jeremy Parrish, Lisa Murphy, and Kim Davis
Paulette Carrieri called the meeting to order at 7:10pm.
Special Speaker: Skylar Anderson spoke about a possible Study Skills program coming to Athens Drive. The program, “Study Skills;Study Right”, offers 5 sessions for $149.00 which teaches students how and why study skills are important. A portion (30%) will come back to the PTSA, so this is considered to be a fundraiser. Mr. Anderson spoke about how he sets the program up and does offer scholarships, if needed. There were different discussions about how would students be identified as needing a scholarship, a possible PTSA policy problem with promoting a business, if students fail, who is responsible, and how would the program be publicized. Paulette Carrieri will talk to Mr. Anderson about our concerns and will report back.
Treasury Report: Maryann Hiscock
We will receive a check in the amount of $314.10 from the VIC Rewards cards (Harris Teeter).
Administration’s Report: William Crockett and Jeremy Parrish
Mr. Crockett reported the faculty and staff Holiday Party was a great success. A big thank you to the people who sent in items and/or helped with the serving.
Mr. Crockett commented about his upcoming retirement. The Area Superintendent will have an interim principal assigned to Athens Drive by January 2. Mr. Crockett also stated the new principal will need to make safety a priority here at Athens Drive.
Mr. Crockett and Mr. Parrish reminded us about the upcoming exams which will be the week of January 13-17, 2014.
Mr. Crockett reported the new counselor for Athens Drive is Mr. Ken Sweat. Mr. Sweat is replacing Mrs. Mettler.
Teacher Liaison’s Report: Sabrina Finkbeiner
Mrs. Finkbeiner reported the staff and faculty members had a great time at the holiday party. The food was delicious.
Mrs. Finkbeiner asked where Tutoring Forms could be accessed. Paulette Carrieri responded by saying forms are online, in the library as well as posted on the walls throughout the halls.
Tutors are needed for the CTE exams in January.
OLD BUSINESS:
PTSA Position Profiles: Paulette Carrieri has contacted all the names from Mrs. Watson, ADHS Attendance person. There were a lot of interests in the PTSA, but no one volunteered to lead a committee or a board member.
Nominating Committee: Karin Evanoff asked her name to be removed from the Nominating Committee. Luisa Price’s name was added. We are still in need of at least two more people to create the Nominating Committee. If anyone would like to suggest a name, please follow up with Lucy Shockley.
Board Members’ and Committee Chairs’ Email Addresses: Paulette Carrieri will talk with Terri Voltz, PTSA webmaster, about setting up email addresses and forwarding the email addresses to the intended recipient.
The Clothing Closet is moving from Ms. Silva’s room to the Tutorial Center’s room. Paulette Carrieri and Mrs. Brown, ADHS counselor, will continue to go through the clothes. Mrs. Brown has created a Referral Form for faculty and staff members to submit names of students for assistance.
Y-Achievers will start during the lunch period at Athens Drive with Mr. Hammond leading this program.
Instruction Junction, our tutorial center, is still in need of tutors. We have 14 students on a waiting list now. Due to the shortage of tutors, Paulette Carrieri suggested having 10 students working with 5 tutors. Lucy Shockley asked Mr. Parrish about contacting Meredith College to get tutors.
The Mentoring Program is still in the planning stages for guidelines and referrals.
A Canned Food Drive will wrap up on Saturday, December 14th with the Ekklesia Church (which meets here on Sundays) will host a community movie with popcorn. Participants will be able to pick up canned goods and clothes from the Clothing Closet. On Thursday, December 12, the STEM students, CTE students and drafting students will build a structure to be judged. Lucy Shockley stated pictures would be taken and Paulette Carrieri will contact WRAL.
Teacher Grants have been awarded to Glenda McKeithan, Jason Hunning, Chris Ramaley, Allen Rasmussen, and Burgundy Trimmer.
Ground’s Report: John Sykes showed us a sketch of his plans for the Ground’s Beautification Project. A second beautification day will be set for the spring.
Budget Amendment will be discussed and voted on at our January 14th PTSA meeting. Paulette Carrieri, Renee Brown (outgoing treasure) and Maryann Hiscock (incoming treasurer) will meet to make recommendations.
PTSA versus PTO will be discussed and voted on at our January 14th PTSA meeting. Paulette Carrieri, Renee Brown, Lucy Shockley and Mary Ann Wilson met to discuss the pros and cons of changing over to a PTO instead of the PTSA. The bottom line for our PTSA to become a PTO is money. If we switch over to a PTO, all membership dues will be kept in our budget. If we stay with the PTSA, we will still send money to the local and national PTAs.
Grade Level Representative’s Report
Senior’s Breakfast will be held on January 23, 2014. Susan Hume, the PTSA liaison, was not in attendance but Mary Ann Wilson reported for her. If any PTSA member is interesting in helping with the breakfast, please contact Susan Hume.
A juniors’ parent meeting was held at Bruegger’s Bagels hosted by Lisa Murphy, our junior parent representative. The topics discussed at the meeting were about testing dates and the date of Prom (May 17). A second parent meeting will be after the holidays.
Eighth Grade Orientation will be February 20, 2014. John Sykes suggested we have a PTSA representative attend the feeder schools’ PTA meetings to encourage more participation when their child enters ADHS as a freshman.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:41 pm by Paulette Carrieri.
Respectfully submitted by Kim Davis for Rebecca Davis