Teach Boosters Meeting Minutes May 7, 2010

Attendees: Taffy Gonzalez, Susmita Gupta Pal, Laura Finz, Kathryn Rogers, Jen Flachman, Altee Vigil, Cheryl Clark, Ahmad Amir, Sunshine Cowgill, Anika Clements, Mavis Wong, Jocelyn Leonard, Grace Abroms, and Lori Olson.

Meeting was called to order at 8:38 a.m. First up was a presentation by Julie London with Genevieve’s Fundraising. She explained about her products (wrapping paper, candles, candies, and gifts). There will be an assembly the first Friday of the next school year to let the kids know about the Fundraising. 50% of what each student sells from the main catalog go into each student’s individual account, to help offset the study trips. 40% of the sales from the other catalogs go toward each student’s account. People can order online year round. You don’t need to collect taxes, as they are already built in. The sales period will run until Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010.

Financial Report: Financial reports passed around. Everything looks good. Altee has expressed an interest in becoming Booster Club Treasurer next year. This will be discussed later in the meeting.

Teacher’s Report: Mr. Crabb submitted a request for a book series for next year. They are Shakepeare books, and would cost approximately $400. Taffy motioned that we buy the books, Sue seconded the motion. All were in agreement.

Principal’s Report: Mr. Block is off campus today, and does not have a report.

New Business: Laura Finz, who heads the Student Council announced that the Student Council was looking for a project to fund, as their legacy to the school. It was talked about that they could possibly fund the books for the fourth graders, but it was decided that the Student Council should decide how they would like to spend their money.

There was a discussion about Village Host restaurant night. Not many are going to this fundraiser. People may not be aware of it. It was decided that for next year, there needs to be one person in charge of this…advertising for it, and collecting the money, etc. It was also discussed that we might look into other restaurants that may offer larger percentages back.

Mavis Wong and Lori Olsen came in to talk about the Garden. They have been working on this project for the last 2 ½ years. Both schools now use the garden. One of the parents of a Bishop’s Peak student is a Cal Poly professor in architecture, and she had 3 of her senior students submit a design for the garden. The plan is amazing. It would turn the garden into an outdoor classroom, that could be used by all. There was imput from kids at our schools, and they are ready to move ahead with this project. The question now is, Who is going to fund this? Currently the three Cal Poly students are writing grants to try to get money for the project. They have written to HealSLO, Lowe’s, and PG&E. The cost of the garden will be between $2500-$6000. The garden committee would love support from the Booster Club/Teach community. If the grants go through, the committee would still need to raise money. They would like to have the kids help out with the garden, so that they would have some ownership in it. Sunshine suggested that maybe the Student Council would like to fund a specific part of the garden for their legacy gift. It will be brought up to the Council. Cal Poly architecture students are working with the Construction Management students to build this. It was suggested that in order to get the kids excited about the garden, an assembly could be held to show them the plans for the garden. It is unsure if this will happen this school year, or next. There is a Facebook page to check out the garden plans: Bishops Peak/ Teach Experimental Classroom. There will be a fundraiser at California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) on Tues. May 25. Please come. Sunshine will assist with the website for the garden. The designated point persons for this project from the Boosters Club are: Altee, Sue, and Taffy. Jen volunteered to help with PR. The Boosters will set up a table at the Chili Cookoff to show off information about the garden to parents/students.

Next, there was a presentation by the SLO Youth Symphony. Brian Hermanson, Executive Director, and Andrea Stoner, Music Education Director, told us about their pilot program to bring strings into the schools . They would need 5 kids to sign up per grade level. ( K-6th) Ideally, they would like the program run 2 times per week for the school year. It was suggested that they talk to Mr. Block about bringing this into the schools. Their website is: www.slosymphony.com. The phone number is 543-3533.

There will be an e-mail coming out regarding International Day. Date not set yet.

Chili Cook-off/Bingo scheduled for May 26. An e-mail/flyer will go out once the incoming 4th graders receive notice as to whether or not they have been accepted to Teach. More information to follow.

There was a discussion regarding Booster Board Members for next year. Altee was nominated and approved for the Treasurer’s position. Jocelyn will be the Secretary. Laura Finz will continue with the Student Council next year. President and Vice President positions are still unfilled, though there are a few who are considering it.

Meeting adjourned at 10:36 a.m.