Waterville Elementary PTA Minutes

Thursday, March 14, 2024

• Treasury Report:
  • Cash + PayPal + Checking/Savings= Total: $17,245.65
• Finished Fundraisers:
  • Read-a-Thon: kinda a bust
    1. The emergency school closure on Monday, February 26^th messed up roll out. Didn’t raise any money
    2. But kids had a great week celebrating the love of reading
    3. PTA decorated both schools for the Read-in
    4. PTA purchased books for every student at the Hall School
    5. We got a beautiful stack of Thank You cards from a class
• Upcoming Fundraisers:
  • Family Trivia Night:
    1. When: Wednesday, March 27^th, Doors open at 6:00 PM
    2. Superintendent Peter Hallen to Host
    3. Set up at 5:30 PM
       • Promotion: Sarah LeVan to make Flyers and Social Media Posts
       • Food Preparation: Carrie LeVan to purchase Nacho and Hot Dog and Drink supplies from Sam’s Club. Sarah LeVan to secure Pizza donation.  
       • Bake Sale: Carrie LeVan to coordinate bake sale donations
       • Prizes: Sarah LeVan to secure donations for Grand Prize (team of six)
    4. How it will work:  teams of no more than 6 $5/team to play
       • Several categories, options for small prize winners along the way. We brainstormed several options (category winners, bonus question for winner within category, between category competitions—like dance-offs)
       • Grand Prize: will be given to the team with the most points at the end
  • Carnival Update:
    1. Date and Time Confirmed: Saturday, June 1 from 11:00 AM -2:00 PM @ GJMS
    2. Set-up: Friday, May 31^st the night before inside the GJMS cafeteria
    3. Confirmed Community Partners:
       • Alfond Youth Center, Parent Ambassadors from Educare, Waterville Library, Waterville Creates, Colby Art Museum, Book Donor, Children’s Discovery Museum
    4. Community Partners Need to Confirm:
       • Waterville Police, Fire, Ambulance, Postal Service and National Guard (we want that helicopter)—Sara Wing to make contact
    5. Food Partners:
       • Rita’s Food Truck Lexie Hinners-Mucci to confirm arrangement, but either 10% revenue share for under $1,000 or flat, but possibly 20% revenue share if over $1,000 revenue made. This is still being negotiated.
       • Fred’s Fried Dough also waiting to confirm
    6. Central Maine Motors: donated $500. This will be used to purchase all of the prizes, tickets, decorations (if needed), etc.
    7. Sarah LeVan to start posting promos on social Media
    8. Carrie LeVan to set up next Carnival Committee Meeting
• Student Enrichment
  • To Date Funding:
    1. Kindergarten—100^th day celebration: $230
    2. First Grade—2 LC Bates Assemblies: $245
    3. Second Grade—LC Bates Assemblies: $420
    4. Third Grade—Fort Kent Field Trip: $875
    5. Fourth Grade—LC Bates Field Trip: $300*
    6. Hall School Writers’ Day: $1,000
    7. Hall School Computer-Robotics: $500
    8. Both Schools—Civil Rights Clubs: $500
    9. Both Schools—Read Across America: $600
    10. Both Schools—Fall Teacher Grants: $2,700
    11. Both Schools-Johnny’s Seed Pumpkins: $0.00
  • Total: $7,370**

• *Added this—during the meeting Principal St. Pierre mentioned that Fourth grade had requested money for the LC Bates field trip and there was some confusion about whether that request had come in. I checked the email record and we did approve this funding. Still waiting to confirm that we actually paid it out. But we did approve the $300 for Fourth Grade.
• **Revised the total to include the additional Fourth Grade funding.
• Proposals for Future Enrichment
  • Spring Teacher Grants: need to decide on amount $50 or $75/classroom teacher
  • Solar Eclipse: Monday April 8^th Waterville will be in the partial line of a solar eclipse. To help celebrate this rare event, the PTA would like to support a student enrichment
    • Several ideas proposed:
    • GJMS: rent the portable Planetarium from Children’s Discovery Museum for classrooms to visit and learn about in the lead up to the event (Danielle Bragg to reach out and see if available for April 8^th)
    • ASHS: possibly invite a Colby Astronomer to come and do a talk about the event to help students understand what is going to happen and why it’s so special (Sarah Staffiere to reach out to Colby Astronomy Department)
    • PTA to put together Eclipse goodie bags—coloring sheets, viewing glasses, and informative booklets?  (Carrie LeVan to price out glasses)
  • Fifth Grade Science Fair: the idea would be to introduce this milestone event to mark the ending of elementary and the transition into middle school.
    • Option 1: integrated into the classroom curriculum, so that every fifth grader participates and the projects are completed in the classroom. This only works, if the science fair makes sense with the state standards and core curriculum of fifth grade and if the fifth grade teachers feel like there is room to fit this project into their calendar.  (Principal St. Pierre will bring this up at the next fifth grade teacher meeting on Monday, March 25^th)
    • Option 2: created as an extracurricular activity through the formation of an after-school club, similar to the existing after school club format. Students interested in participating can join the club and participate. Teachers who would like to lead/participate can. PTA could also solicit community partners at nearby colleges (Colby and Thomas) to ask for faculty and students who would like to lead either a year-long or 3-5 week program that would end with the science fair.
    • PTA Role: regardless of which option, the PTA would serve the following role:
      • Coordinate with community partners: nearby colleges to secure guest speakers or student aides/tutors to help students with their projects or to lead demos, provide resources, etc.
      • Provide Funding: help pay for the supplies needed to complete the science fair (poster boards, supplies for experiments, paper, glue, etc.), Prizes/Awards, Day of Event (food, decorations, volunteers), but also try and secure community sponsors for the event/projects
      • Promote the Enrichment: in order to create a school community that is thriving, we need to constantly promote the amazing opportunities we create for our students. Something like an after-school science club or a science fair, draws families and talented teachers/staff to our community. By promoting this type of enrichment, we can help grow our community.
    • Next Steps: Lots of folks seemed excited about this prospect. We may not be able to implement this year. But I think planning should begin now. Step one is gaging whether teachers can see a Science Fair fitting into their academic calendar and curriculum. IF not, then figuring out how we can coordinate this into an after-school club, finding teachers who are interested in participating and community partners who are interested and building a program that makes sense. Is that a yearlong program, or a 3-5 week program? Does this work better in the Fall or Spring? We will touch base next month to see where we stand.

• Communications
  • Yearbook Committee Gives Update
    • Rebecca, Christina, and David
    • Have two yearbooks in the works
    • Have already uploaded all the classroom photos
    • Struggling to get classroom teachers to submit photos. Goal is to get at least one photo from every class. Submit pictures here:  watervilleptayearbook@gmail.com
    • Need photos submitted by end of April
    • Does the PTA want to put together a Promo Page showing what we’ve done throughout the year and with information on how to join next year?
    • Price point: $14.00/$15.00
• Teacher Appreciation
  • Need to start thinking about Teacher Appreciation Week: May 6^th – 10^th
  • Last Year
    • ASHS: Renovated the Teachers Lounge + Teacher Grants
    • GJMS: Room Service + Teacher Grants
  • What to do this year?
    • Asked principals to start soliciting ideas.
    • We need time to order.
    • I checked and last year we spent about $1,300 between the two schools, if that helps give a price point.

Next Meeting Thursday, April 4^th @ 6:30 PM

See Y’all there!