MINUTES OF BLUE BELL PTO MEETING

March 27th, 2008

I. Call to order at 9:15 am

II. Attendees

Meredith Gernerd Burunda Prince-Jones

Susan Sullivan Beth Knowles

Karen Ciaccio Shari Seitz

Colleen Foglia Sophia Penning

Teri McMasters Pam Ramanathan

III. Principal’s Report - Mrs. Fagan was not able to be present so no report was given.

IV. Treasurer’s Report - Susan Sullivan reported that the PTO is financially sound with a balance of $15,421.14 in the general account as of March 27 th. Expenses for Bingo Night, Reading Olympics, Staff Luncheon and Field Day have yet to be submitted.

V. Committee Reports

A. Art Goes to School - Volunteers are still needed for next year. Susan Sullivan will send out flyers trying to recruit people.

B. Assemblies - Craig Collis presented an assembly on Math and Magic on March 6 th. The students enjoyed it. There will be an assembly on Chemistry on April 21 st. Karen Ciaccio will check on whether or not the Science Trailer has been booked for next year.

C. Bingo Night - Took place at the Middle School on March 13 th. There were many baskets raffled off. The 5 th grade class also raffled off an American Girl Doll, Webkinz and an I-Pod. The evening generated $1173, excluding the 5 th Grade raffles.

D. Fifth Grade -

1. Biz Town - Family and corporate donations have helped cover the cost of this trip.

2. Fundraising - Direct donations have generated over $2,000. Between $700-$800 was raised during eat out at Whitpain Tavern night. Approximately $314 has been raised from the Lee’s Hoagie Coupon Drive. A Bake Sale after the Spring Concert at the High School is being considered.

3. The balance for the Camp Kweebec trip is $4995 after the $1000 deposit.

4. There should be enough money in the 5 th Grade Account to cover all of the 5 th Grade activities including t-shirts for the students as well as an end-of-year gift to the school.

E. Junior Great Books - Program is running smoothly.

F. Playground -

1. The equipment has been delivered and installed.

2. Plans are underway for a formal dedication ceremony to take place

during the morning of Field Day on June 6 th. State Representative

Kate Harper will be invited, along with school officials. At that

same time, a memorial bench will be dedicated in honor of

Raymond Vaneman.

G. Reading Olympics - The teams are nearing the end of their reading and will be preparing for the competition on April 21 at Colonial Middle School.

H. Room Parents

1. Manners Luncheon - No exact date has been set. The PTO will take on more expenses for this, as many parents are tapped out at this point in the year. It was suggested that perhaps there could be more emphasis on manners and etiquette, as well as examples of being kind, during the luncheon.

I. Staff Luncheon -

1. The date has been changed from April to May 16 th. The theme is Mediterranean. Sophia Penning and Lisa Berman will continue to solicit help with food, set-up, service, and take down. Right now there are plenty of desserts and not enough other food items. Sophia will be in touch with parents to perhaps get some of them to change what they are bringing.

2. The PTO does help offset costs, but a suggestion was made to coordinate the luncheon them among the other schools in an effort to reuse decorations, etc. Colleen Foglia suggested that local businesses be contacted for luncheon donations.

3. Sophia Penning will call together a meeting of interested volunteers.

J. Yearbook - Colleen will contact Sharon Raivetz to see if we have a list of children whom the PTO assists in purchasing yearbooks.

VI. Membership - Beth Knowles reported that we have received $2,955 to date. Our goal remains at $3200 for 100% participation from our Blue Bell families.

VII. Fundraising - Teri McMasters is coordinating the school supply boxes for next Fall. Details on purchasing will go home to parents in May.

VIII. Other Business

A. Science Fair -

1. The Science Fair is scheduled for May 9 th from 6:30 - 8:30. A committee of parents chaired by Pam Ramanathan is working on the details. Many exciting and interesting activities are planned including a demonstration from the WHS Robotics team, a visit from the insectarium, and a reptile presentation. There will be experiments from professionals from Rohm and Haas, as well as Merck. Also, many of our talented parents will be running experiments.

2. Pam is working on getting the student chapter of the American Chemical Society to help, along with members of the Key Club.

3. Colleen Foglia talked about the possibility of having color-coded nametags and using the PA system to rotate students. With the large expected turnout, it will be important to have an orderly rotation system.

4. Karen Ciaccio mentioned contacting Derrick Pitts at the Franklin Institute regarding an Astronomy presentation and contacting PECO to get an electrostatic presentation.

5. Pam will continue her efforts to recruit volunteers by sending home flyers and will use sign-up sheets for the teachers.

B. Wissahickon Parent Community Council Meeting

1. The Capital Budget Committee will be holding planning meetings. See the District Web Site for dates.

2. A demonstration of VoiceThread was provided. The demonstration showed how students can post a project, such as a book report, and have others in their class comment on the content via text, video or voice. Anyone can go to voicethread.com to sign up. Classroom projects can have restricted access so not everyone can get into areas where the students are working on a particular project.

IX. New Business

A. Discussion took place regarding the need for a Blue Bell representative to attend School Board meetings. We used to have one but that individual’s children are no longer at Blue Bell.

B. Burunda pointed out that the much of the work on the School Board takes place at the committee level. That is where the majority of discussions take place. To obtain an agenda for a particular committee you can contact Dr. Durtan’s office. .

VIII. Adjournment

Respectfully Submitted,

Teri McMasters

President