Marlow PTA
John D. Perkins, Sr. Elementary School
919 NH Rt. 10
Marlow, NH 03456

PTA Meeting Minutes - January 8, 2007

The meeting was called to order at 3:10 pm with 9 members and 2 staff present.

Treasurer’s Report:

The treasurer’s report for the period of October 24 - November 23, 2006 shows a balance of $2541.84

Old Business:

Campbell’s Labels and Box Tops for Education - Nancy received approval from Mrs. Peterson to collect Campbell’s Labels and the Box Tops for Education. We will now have to register for this. Nancy will send a note home and set up boxes to collect them.

Classroom Enrichment Program - Nancy received the following three applications by the January 5 deadline:

1. Mr. Brewer would like to have a program from the Harris Center on winter birds. The cost is $6 per student plus mileage.
2. Mrs. Moore and Ms. Antel applied for a program together. They would like to have a whole school contra dance with a caller, fiddler and piano player. The cost is approximately $400.
3. Mrs. Giles and Mrs. Wyman would like to invite Michael Zurfee of Vermont, whose program, Zanyax, includes clowning, storytelling and puppets. There would be a whole school performance followed by workshops in the classrooms. The cost would be $400 - $700 depending on what we want and what we can afford.

After some discussion, all three programs were unanimously approved.

Future Fundraisers - Nancy mentioned that a representative from Genevieve, the fundraising company we have been using, has been very persistently calling her to see if we will use their company for fundraising again next year. There was discussion about how hard it is to connect with everyone, that the catalog items are not that great, and that they seem so overpriced.

A decision was then made to do direct donations this year. An idea was suggested of a thermometer poster to track our fundraising progress. We could mention the idea at the end of this school year and state what we hope to earn.

Discussion followed on possible incentives, and instead of some type of trinket, it was decided to write the names donators on hand-shaped cards and display them in the school. The fundraiser can be called “Perkins’ Helping Hands”.

New Business:

Thank You Notes - The PTA received thank you notes from Mrs. Peterson and Mrs. Wyman for Christmas gifts and also from local families for the Christmas gift baskets.

Spirit Week - The question was asked if there is going to be a spirit week this year. Mrs. Giles mentioned that she is going to set up a student council. This will be a great way to get more students involved in school decision-making. Instead of one spirit week, she hopes to have the group plan a once-a-month fun activity, such as a theme day, and one community day each month. Student council will be comprised of students in grades 3-6, with two students from each grade. Interested students will have to write an essay on why they would like to be involved and be selected by teachers. Meetings will be once a week during lunch recess. Student input will be sought from all grades. The PTA thought this was a great idea.

School T-Shirts - Sarah would like to see school t-shirts. She suggested students could do a contest to design the t-shirts. Sarah will work with Mrs. Giles to see if students are interested in this. Sarah and Nancy will check into costs. We will have to decide if we will charge students for the t-shirts.

Next Meeting:

Monday, February 5, 2007, 3:00 pm

Meeting was adjourned at 3:40 pm.