IMPORTANT PTO FUNDRAI$ING INFO - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

IMPORTANT PTO FUNDRAI$ING INFO - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: 

 

***NEW THIS YEAR --- ALL PACKETS NEED TO BE RETURNED WHETHER YOUR FAMILY ORDERS ANYTHING OR NOT!!!

1. Our Fall Fundraiser with Club's Choice runs NOW - Monday, October 6th.  *** DELIVERY DATE- Wednesday, November 12th from 3:30-6pm
2. ALL ORDERS & MONEY NEED TO BE RETURNED to your child's teacher on OR before Monday, Oct. 6th!!! 
3. Please Make Checks Payable to: WAUKEE ELEMENTARY PTO
4. There are 2 different packets this year going home with each student.  (Clubs' Choice Fundraising & A Save Around Coupon Booklet which sells for $20/ea.)
5. If your families would like an extra packet - Club Choice Packets are located on the info table outside the gym!
6. REMEMBER: NEW this year - we need ALL PACKETS RETURNED BACK TO SCHOOL - whether the student/family sells any items OR not! 
7. Online Ordering Available: visit www.clubschoicefundraising.com - Click ORDER ONLINE & follow prompts using Code: WAUK11
8. REMINDER: CA$H Donations can also be made & are 100% Tax Deducible!!! 
9. SCHOOL Goal- to have more sellers, sell more items, OR sell $40,000 with combined sales from the Club's Choice brochures & Save Around Booklets!!!
10. The fundraising profits help sponsor future PTO activities as well as buy many books, & technology advancements like iPads & accessories for our school & students!!!

 

Let us know if you have additional questions- Thanks so much for helping make this year's Fundrai$ing a HUGE $ucce$$!!!

WE/VM PTO Fundraising Chairs

 

Katie Ogle (katie@charterbanker.com)

&
Tiffany Briggs (tbriggs212@gmail.com)

September 15, 2014 PTO meeting minutes and slides

Waukee Elementary/Vince Meyer Learning Center

       PTO Meeting – Monday, September 15th, 2014

Agenda:

Welcome and Introductions

• Programs and Committee updates
• Budget Update
• Dates to Remember
• Questions/Comments

In attendance: 17 parents and 2 teachers

Welcome and Introductions

This was the first official PTO meeting for the year.  LuCinda Beltman, VP for this year’s PTO, introduced herself and asked others to do the same sharing the student(s) they had attending WE and/or VMLC and their teachers’ names.

Program and Committee Updates

Committee updates were provided by each committee chair.  

Activities: This committee plans Family Fun Night and Movie Night.  

• Movie Night will be held on November 14th and will be similar to last year where we’ll serve popcorn and water.  Students can wear their PJs and bring blankets to “camp out” on the gym floor to watch the movie and enjoy a snack.  
• Family Fun Night planning is underway with the date set at Saturday, February 7th. We will have a basket raffle with themes by grade level as in prior years.  We are also planning some activities for the families.  More information will be coming as additional details are finalized.
• The group is still looking for a co-chair, so please let Alysha Mash or LuCinda Beltman know if you are interested or want to learn more.  

Book Fair: The book fair will take place during the second conference session running Feb 25-March 5.  The book fair will be held in the Waukee Elementary media center.  

Conference Meals: We are hoping Hy-Vee will be catering the fall conference meal for teachers and are waiting to hear back from them.  We will be asking parents to help donate snacks and drinks.

Fine Arts: Again this year, students will be attending live performances at either the Temple Theatre for the Performing Arts or the Civic Center.  The shows by grade level and dates of attendance are as follows:

Grade	Show	Date
Kindergarten	Stella, Queen of Snow Two children discover the world of winter in this charming story told through whimsical puppetry.  Adapted from the award-winning STELLA and SAM books	Nov. 6th
1st Grade/2nd Grade	Peking Acrobats Based on the ancient Chinese tradition from more than 2,000 years ago, the Peking Acrobats perform astounding acrobatic feats accompanied by live music.  This group holds a world record for balancing 6 people on 6 chairs, 21-feet high.	Feb. 12th
3rd Grade	Schoolhouse Rock Live! Megahits like “Conjunction Junction”, “Just a Bill”, “Interplanet Janet”, and “Three is a Magic Number” explode onto the stage for a whole new generation.	Nov. 4th
4th Grade	Adventures of Robin Hood In a forest somewhere near you, a band of brothers seeks to rid the land of evil and return hope to the poorly treated.  Fire up student imaginations with this clever and unexpected take on Robin Hood.	May 20th
5th Grade	Peking Acrobats	Feb. 13th

In addition to these shows, we have the option of purchasing some additional activities for the Stella, Queen of Snow show at $100 per classroom.  We will be exploring this to see if this option to determine if it’s worth the added cost.  

Fundraising: This year, we will have two different fundraising options in the packets.  We will have a Save Around booklet with local coupons as well as the traditional Club’s Choice.  The Save Around booklets will be delivered through students within 10 days of placing the order.  For the Club’s Choice orders, we will have a pickup night on Wednesday, November 12th.  The packets will go home with students on September 26th and will be due on October 6th.   

Gardening: No update this meeting.  We are still working toward creating the reading garden going (space behind the kindergarten and art room). We hope to break ground soon, and then in the spring, we will plant flowers with the special needs students.  

Membership: This committee coordinates school supply kits and district wide directories.  For the directories, please go online to enter information if you want to be included.  Funds raised go to the District office to pay for cost of high school conference meals and new school startup funds.

Party planning: We are doing group party planning again this year.  We have contacted teachers to see what’s worked best to include in the parties/what’s not worked.  Once ideas are in, we’ll form a grand plan for each grade and coordinate with the head parent for each grade.  The head party planner will then be asked about sharing ideas to put together a party for each grade level.  This approach ensures all supplies are collected before the parties, brings consistency within the grade levels, and allows for group purchasing of supplies.

There will also be a letter sent to parents who volunteered to work parties.  This letter will be sent next Monday, the 22nd.  Again this year, we will facilitate gathering party supplies via sign-up genius.  This request will be coming via email from your student’s teacher.

In addition, classroom directories will also be sent out soon for each class which lists student family contact information by classroom.

Teacher Appreciation: Instead of doing teacher treats this year, the PTO decided to purchase teacher “Leader In Me” books for all teachers.  This will help them facilitate the student learning of the leadership concepts in the book.

Yearbook: Beginning to work on a rough layout for the yearbooks.  Like last year, teachers will be able to upload their own photos

Program Updates:

• Box tops – Last year, we collected $2861.90 worth in box tops via two collection turn-in times.  We should receive a check for the remaining amount of just over $2,000 this December.  Please send in your box tops, or you can save them for an upcoming competition between classes.  More info to come on this.  
• Labels for Education – We are collecting these labels on foods, mostly Campbells.  Last year we earned 45,000 points, and with what we had from before, used 51,000 points to buy things for teachers (art supplies, recess equip, etc.) based on what teachers included on their wish lists.   
• Pizza Ranch, Tyson, Sunny D – no update

Budget Update:

We have a budget of $8408 for the year.  The budgeted amounts by committee are as follows:

Committee	Budgeted Amount
Activities	$3,210
Book Fair	$850
Conference Meals	$500
Fine Arts	$1,250
Fundraising	$100
Gardening	$300
General Fund	$568
Party Planning	$500 + asking for $3 per student
Teacher Appreciation	$1,130
TOTAL	$8,408 (plus $3/student for party costs)

Upcoming Dates:

• Fall fundraising packets home 9/26; orders due 10/6 with payments; delivery on 11/12 in gym (3:30 to 6pm)
• Fall harvest party is October 31st;  

Next PTO Meeting: Monday, 10/27 at 7pm; Before the meeting at 6:30pm, Mrs. Tjaden will be leading the first “Leader In Me” book study.

Here is the slide show for review: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-9U_5ZLNTRzWDqv19nOomFShBg6xneJhWcEP1943ZYw/edit?usp=sharing

14-15 Waukee District PTO Student Directory

The PTO District-Wide Student Directory is a helpful tool that provides contact information for fellow students, schools and other community members. The directory is made available for personal use by school district families and staff and is not intended for business solicitations. 

To be included in the directory, you must complete the online entry form by 

SEPTEMBER 26TH, 2014.  

Information received will not be edited and will appear in the book as entered online.  

If you would like to order a directory, the cost is $10.00 per directory, and payment will be received through Paypal. You may order a directory when completing the entry form or via the online order form. 

Visit the following link to enter student information and order a directory:

https://waukeedistrictpto.wufoo.com/forms/waukee-district-pto-directory-

entry-form-1415/

To order a directory without entering any student information click here:

https://waukeedistrictpto.wufoo.com/forms/waukee-district-pto-directory-

order-form-1415/

Please note:

Listings will be by child’s LAST name. Children in the same home with different last names will have separate listings.

Parent 2 information section needs to be filled out ONLY if the child resides between two residences.

A national, secure server supports the data entry system. Data information will be kept private and will not be accessible online.

Purchasing a directory is optional. You may submit your child’s information to the directory without placing an order.

If you have questions, please email: waukeedistrictpto@gmail.com

September 8, 2014 PTO Meeting Minutes

Waukee Elementary/Vince Meyer Learning Center

                    PTO Kickoff Meeting – Monday, September 8^th, 2014

Agenda:

·         Welcome and Introductions                                                          

·         Leader In Me                                                

·         Programs and Committees            

·         Budget Overview                                        

·         Dates to Remember            

Welcome and Introductions

We had a good turnout at the official kickoff for the 2014-2015 PTO year. LuCinda Beltman, the new VP for this year’s PTO, introduced herself and asked others to do the same sharing the student(s) they had attending WE and/or VMLC and their teachers’ names.

Leader In Me

WE/VMLC has recently become a “Leader In Me” designated school.  As outlined in Mrs. Tjaden’s letter in Totem Tales, this means the schools are implementing the 7 Habits of Leadership with staff and students. This program allows the schools to broaden the focus beyond ensuring children are knowledgeable when they graduate by expanding the “education” they receive to ensure they are also healthy, engaged, responsible, and caring people.

The Leader in Me provides Waukee Elementary and Vince Meyer with the vision and language to lead the school in a way that addresses all areas of development. As each child discovers and develops his or her unique gifts and talents, they are given opportunities to lead.  Mrs. Tjaden provided some additional background on this program and shared a video highlighting the types of leaders children can become. 

The Leader In Me program for elementary children originated when a school administrator attended a conference where author Stephen Covey spoke of his popular book, 7 Habits of Highly Successful People.  The administrator whose school was struggling asked Covey if he’d ever applied these concepts to kids.  He hadn’t, so she and her staff used the book as basis for teaching leadership habits to elementary students and found out you can create habits of leadership in people of all ages.  This was the basis for the Leader In Me school designation offered today.

WE/VMLC staff went through 20 hours of training last school year to receive Leader in Me school status.  Now, that they have this training, they’re teaching and leading 7 habits with students.  Some of the teachers have also visited other established Leader in Me schools in Missouri, Texas, and Iowa.  At these visits, parent panels have shared what an impact it made at home as well when students have learned leadership skills. 

In addition, PTO funds used to purchase a “Leader in Me” teacher book for each teacher to help in teaching the concepts to students.

Mrs. Tjaden then introduced a new idea she’s offering this year for parents – a book club to discuss the Leader In Me book for anyone who’s interested in attending. 

There will be more email communication about these discussions, but they are scheduled on the same evenings as PTO meetings, but will be begin at 6:30 in the WE Media Center with the PTO meeting following at 7pm. 

If you’re interested, you can purchase a copy of the book, Leader In Me for approximately $6.00 online.  The first session will be on October 27^th at 6:30pm where the group will discuss questions about the topics covered in the first two chapters.  Mrs. Tjaden will also cover how they’re applying these concepts in the student-focused learning in school.    

Programs and Committees

LuCinda went over the programs and committees both at the district and the school level.  Please refer to the PTO blog or Facebook page for a summary of the District PTO positions, the fundraising programs we participate in (Box Tops, Labels for Education, Pizza Ranch, Sunny D Book Spree, and Tyson), and a description of the various PTO committees and the events they plan for the year (Activities, Fundraising, Yearbook, Gardening, Membership, Party Planning, and Teacher/Staff Appreciation)

Budget Information

The PTO gave WE/VMLC $13,500 last year.  These funds were combined with some remaining funds from the prior year and some building funds to purchase an additional 4 iPad carts with 30 iPads each, giving the schools a total of 6 iPad carts.  WE and VMLC now has one iPad cart per grade level (only school in the district with this). 

LuCinda also shared a breakdown of the budget for this year by account.  This detailed budget information can be found on the blog. 

Dates to Remember

Key dates to remember for this year’s PTO activities were then shared, including the fundraising kicking off this month, Family Fun Night likely the first part of February, and the list of this year’s PTO meetings, all beginning at 7pm, as follows:

·         Monday, September 15

·         Monday, October 27

·         Monday, November 24

·         Monday, January 26

·         Monday, February 23

·         Monday, April 20

Next PTO Meeting: September 15^th, 7pm in the WE Media Center; Packet party to assemble fundraising packets at 6:00 (bring your highlighter and stapler)

2014-2015 Informational Kick Off Meeting Slides

Here is the slide show from this evening's PTO meeting in case you missed it or want to review anything. Please reach out if you have any questions and join us next Monday at 7 for our first official meeting of the year!  

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Ghl-rMTZZc6ViLMaXuajyvr0uCwmfd-4cJ8bmK7jnV8/pub?start=true&loop=false&delayms=30000#slide=id.p