January 9, 2025 Meeting Minutes

Treasury Update:

• Checking: $7,995.90
• Savings: $280.82
• Paypal: $924.91
• Cash: $408.25
• Total: $9,609.88

Fundraiser:

Direct donation drive: Raise $99 by the 100th day of school. Dates: Monday, Jan 6 to Friday, February 7th. The point person is Sarah. The website is set up and social media promotion is scheduled. PTA members will try to get business sponsor support. Sarah LeVan will make a Google Drive spreadsheet to list businesses that have supported the PTA in previous years. We aim to raise $10k; the PTA was shy by $1k last year and hit $9k. So the PTA is under budget by $1,000. This direct donation drive helps fund us for the entire year, so we really want to hit that goal. No donation from any business is too small! We are a tax-deductible organization, so make sure to let these businesses know!

A question was asked if anyone who doesn’t want to be on the pledge drive can be unsubscribed from the newsletter. Currently, there isn’t an automatic option.

Reminder: The prize is Principal for the Day.

Trivia Night:

Wednesday, Jan 15, 2025. We have confirmed with Peter Hallen. We are currently looking for a point person and volunteers. We have a semi-confirmation from Portland Pie Company to provide pizzas for the event. We need hot dogs, nachos, and bake sale goods. Sarah LeVan, Jessie Meredith, Jen Meredith, David Motel, Carrie LeVan, and Sarah Staffiere are confirmed to help out, plus additional volunteers possible from the email blast.

This is an Albert S. Hall event, and we’ll be promoting it heavily on Facebook.

A question from Sarah St. Pierre asked what time we’d like to arrive to set up. Sarah LeVan said 5:30 PM. We asked to have all the tables set down and if the PA system could be set up beforehand. Sarah St. Pierre says Dalton, School, and North Playground are good for parking.

Spring or End of Year Community Carnival:

We are looking for a potential date and to start the committee for planning. Possible community partners: Educare, Waterville Creates, Children’s Museum, Colby, High School.

June 7th is the best date and shouldn’t have any conflicts with the majority of PTA members or faculty from the GJM school. Any volunteers are needed as many as possible, so please connect via email to watervillemainepta@gmail.com. Any help at all such as clean-up at the end, manning a station, or being part of the planning is appreciated.

Student Enrichment:

Read Across America Week, 3/2 – 3/6: PTA has helped with setup and decoration for the schools in previous years and hopes to help again. We let the administrators of both schools know we’d like to help.

Request from Alisa Snipe, 1st grade from GJM: LC Bates Bugs Bugs Bugs, 2/28, $122.60 and LC Bates Flower Power, 3/28, $122.60. We majority approved the request. A question came up if a field trip rather than a presentation at the school would be better. We were wondering about pricing. 4th graders usually go to the LC Bates museum, but it’s mostly a tour of the museum, not the same activities. Sarah St. Pierre from Hall school will let us know how much it would cost.

4th-grade request from Melanie Massey: The first 4th-grade request is writing a book of poems. Student Treasures Publishing can put it together for $255 and would pay for a book for each student in the class. We majority approved the request.

100th Day of School Celebration:

Erica Morrison will check with the team leaders to see if they require the PTA’s help. At the end of the pledge drive: a school-wide spirit day is an idea.

1st Annual Science Fair:

All information is on the website and material has been sent home! Plus emails, and there will be a Jan 22nd for the parents to receive information about the science fair in person or over Zoom.

We appreciate Carrie LeVan and Sarah Staffiere for all their hard work on the backend, David Motel for the updates to the website, and Sarah St. Pierre for wanting it to be a Hall School staple.

Teacher/Staff Appreciation:

Sarah St. Pierre said that the staff loved the golden ticket; they all had a lot of fun. Erica let us know they were super excited and happy and that they have a ton of photos. We received 70 different gift cards ranging from $10-$50 from different establishments and $200 in donations from Elm City, Old Soul Supply Co, Selah Tea, Oliver and Friends Book Store, Opa, Holy Cannoli, Peppermint and Incense, Pickles Potions and Lotions, and Pink Crow Collective.

Yearbook Updates:

We require the list of students from the two schools about the students who don’t want to be in the yearbook. Sarah St. Pierre will reach out to the parents to make sure all the kids will be able to participate. Erica Morrison will also send out an email about the restricted students. An email will be sent to teachers on how to upload 3 to 4 photos. We are also trying to get photos from the Hall school from the clubs. The yearbook team will be printing out fliers to send into the school. Rebecca Parker and Christina White will be putting together the layout after the students have been confirmed. For next year, we may approach businesses to sell ad space. The journalism club may write something for a yearbook page.

A Big Thank You:

“I just wanted to extend a tremendous thank you for your generous donation of $50 to my Classroom. With that money i was able to do a homemade memory keepsake craft with them to take home. I bought the supplies needed so I can continue to do this year after year with each class. Thank you, and I wish you all a wonderful holiday!” – Christina Wastella

Next Meeting:

Thursday, February 6th, 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM.