In Attendance:
Mr. Crockett, Mr. Parrish, Mary Ann Wilson, Kim Davis, Renée Brown, Lucy Shockley, Paulette Carrier, MaryAnn Hiscock, Ann Sykes, Lisa Murphy, Kathy Carmer and Luisa Price
Meeting Called to Order by Paulette Carrieri.
The October 2013 minutes were not approved due to a technical difficulty with the internet. The October minutes were tabled until December’s meeting.
Treasurer: Maryann Hiscock
Budget will be added.
Grounds: Mary Ann Wilson
Mrs. Finkbeiner has the email addresses from the participates who volunteered during the Grounds Beautification Day which was held on October 26th.
Ann Sykes, reported on John Sykes’s behalf, that due to the overwhelming participants and interest in general to the beautification, a Phase 2 will start before Spring 2014. There is a number of individual teachers working on the upkeep as well. The Band Practice field will be handled by the Band Boosters to maintain a safe field for the band and will work with John Sykes.
Administrators: Mr. Crockett and Mr. Parrish
A question about a replacement for the guidance counselor was asked concerning if/when a person would be hired for this position. Mr. Crockett said a replacement should be ready by January 2, 2014
The test scores were received and the administration was overall pleased with growth. Most desegregate groups met or exceeded expectations. Paulette asked how is the Common Core tests are scored. Mr. Crockett commented on the tests by saying the tests come from the state level and the tests are scored in the district.
Mr. Parrish discussed the 2015-2016 Smarter Balance Assessment, when approved, will have more essay responses to correlate with the Common Core.
February 2, 2014 will be the Second Semester Open House. The PTSA will have a table set up for information and ways to join the PTSA.
New Student Orientation date has not been set at this time.
Teacher Report: Mrs. Finkbeiner
Paulette Carrieri reported for Mrs. Finkbeiner who was absent. Proctors are needed for the CTE testing. Please contact Mrs. Finkbeiner if interested in proctoring.
A big thank you to the Beautification volunteers.
Proctors are needed for exam week which will be January 13-17, 2014. If interested, please contact Mr. Hal Hammond. Wake County Public Schools require all volunteers to be registered through their website. At this time, registration can only be completed on Mondays at any Wake County School.
The Career Fair will be held on November 15, 2013 from 9:00am-11:00am in the upper gym. Our PTSA will have a table set up for the students to stop by and discuss different types of programs the students would like to have come to Athens Drive in the future.
ASBAE will be held on November 19th. No volunteers will be needed for this test.
Old Business
Teacher Grants were available again to ADHS PTSA teachers. A committee meeting consisting of Mr. Parrish, Mary Martin, and Mary Ann Wilson was held to determine the recipients. Mr. Parrish found resources for some of the applications. Applicants have been notified.
Position Profiles need to be submitted to Mary Ann Wilson, Renee Brown and Lucy Shockley by January 2014. Committee chairs will need to email their position profiles due to the fact we have several key positions openings in the 2014-2015 school year. The nominating committee, when formed, will need to be able to talk with interested individuals with a correct and accurate description and time commitments for each opening position. The positions of Athens Alert, President. Secretary and Membership will need to be filled soon.
Paulette asked Mrs. Watson (our attendance person), Ms. Thompson (assistant principal which replaced Mrs. Vann) and Mrs. Brown (Counselor) to let the PTSA know of individuals coming in to their respective offices who might be interested in PTSA.
Standing Rules will be available by the end of the year.
Please check the PTSA mailbox and your individual emails regularly.
New Business
Tutorial Center: Paulette Carrieri
Tutorial Center is in need of tutors to meet the demands of students needing tutoring. The Community Outreach liaison, Lucy Shockley, will also try to recruit volunteers through the local churches. At this time, eleven students are being served. However, the need for tutors are increasing.
A new name for the Tutorial Center has been chosen. The winning name, “Instruction Junction” was chosen and the winning homeroom class was Mrs. Clayton’s.
Currently we are waiting on a white board and door for the room. Mrs. Hilton may have her Art students painting murals for the walls. Paulette has talked with some of the teachers at Athens about the tutorial center. Paulette discovered some teachers are promoting the tutorial center, some teachers are not, and other teachers did not know anything about the tutoring program.
The contact person, Betsy, who is an employee with the WELL (Wade Educational Learning Lab) continues to work with volunteers from the WELL to get matched with a student who is in need of tutoring.
Update on the Clothing Closet-Paulette Carrier
The Clothing Closet started this past summer when the WELL had a need for teenage sized clothing. At the time, Paulette was working with Betsy at the WELL on having tutors come over to Athens. Betsy requested help starting the clothing closet here at Athens. An unexpectedly large amount of clothing accumulated over the summer and the first few weeks of school. A sophomore at Athens, who is also a Girl Scout, wanted to take on the task for her Gold Award. Mrs. Brown, ADHS counselor, Mrs. Silva, a teacher, continue to work on protocol and management for the Clothing Closet. At this time, the Clothing Closet is located in Mrs. Silva’s room.
Update on Y-Achievers:
A Nominating Committee needs to be formed as soon as possible to start the process of trying to fill the PTSA positions.
PTA versus PTO and How would we transition if changed are made? Paulette Carrier, Lucy Shockley, Renée Brown and Mary Ann Wilson met to discuss the difference between staying part of National/Local PTA units or breaking away from these units.
As a PTO, we would not need to send money to the local or national level. Right now, we send $1.25 to the local NCPTA and $2.75 to the National PTA. In addition to keeping the money we collect for memberships, we would not be required to have items brought before the General Membership meetings for a vote. We do have to bring certain items for a quorum vote and sometimes we do not have the required number of PTSA members in attendance.
Renée did comment about the money in our budget. She stated per PTA rules, our monies would need to be spent or at the dissolution of the Athens Drive PTSA the remaining money would be given to the National PTA.
ADHS PTSA Mission Statement: The mission statement we implemented from the May General Membership meeting needs to be revised. The Parent Representatives from each of the grade levels will work on a new mission statement.
Future Business
Formation of Mentoring Program with Community Outreach: Lucy Shockley, the Community Outreach chairperson, will continue to work with the local churches and businesses to see if tutors can be found to work with out students in the tutorial center.
PTSA Code of Ethics/Conflict of Interest Training:
These two items are tabled until the December meeting.
Suggestions:
Paulette would like to have the following bullet points wrapped up by the spring of 2014
Position Profiles Completed and submitted to Paulette by the end of January 2014
Budget amendments
Clothing Closet Protocol and Management rules needed to be created. A consensus of the attendees decided that the Clothing Closet did not need to be sponsored by the PTSA.
Volunteers
Nominating Committee-Karin Evanoff’s name was suggested to add to this committee.
Mentoring Program Guidelines
Questions/Comments:
The ADHS Marching Band has completed their Marching Band season. The band won awards from their various competitions. The show was “Finding a Cure” and was a real tribute to people are dealing with different types of diseases or diagnoses.
Fundraising Opportunities: A fundraiser involving Panera Bread is in the works. More details will be available at the next PTSA meeting.
Paulette was contacted concerning a fundraiser for “Study Skills”. The fundraiser would include a speaker, who wanted students to pay for the workshop with some of the proceeds coming back to the PTSA. A discussion started on how the workshop would be advertised to students; and determined since Athens Alert cannot advertise for profit that maybe this workshop could be free and provided during Smart Lunch. The consensus of the attendees decided that even though this sounds like a great opportunity, but having students pay is not part of our mission statement.
Meeting Adjourned by Paulette Carrieri