Waukee Elementary/Vince Meyer Learning Center
PTO Kickoff Meeting – Monday,
September 8th, 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 27th
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 15th, 7pm in the WE Media Center; Packet
party to assemble fundraising packets at 6:00 (bring your highlighter and
stapler)
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