Island Creek Elementary School

Parent Teacher Association

Minutes for Meeting

April 4, 2006

Attendees: Kyle Weller, Sarah Weller, Lesley Jacobi, Kevin Brugman, Jim Diersing, Lynn Lehman, Jen Bishop, Anglia Kinston, Cory Kinston, Cole Bishop, Steve Wallen, Ann Adkins, Marsha Porter-Houghton, Jeanne Igo, Jud von Kolnitz, Margaret von Kolnitz, Megan von Kolnitz, Hank von Kolnitz, Mike Macrina, Cherie Rogers Mazyck, Toni Shipe, Susan Owner, Sharon Shrader, Liz Dunn, Sandy England and Suzanne Herold

The meeting was called to order at 7:08 p.m., by Jeanne Igo, PTA President.  Jeanne welcomed all to the meeting.  Jeanne passed on the sad news of the death of a PTA member, James Power.  A sign-up sheet for meals for the family was passed around.

Dr. Susan Owner, Principal, welcomed the representatives from the fifth grade, Lynn Leyman, Ann Adkins and Suzanne Herold.  Lesley Jacobi, first grade teacher, and Jim Diersing, technical instructor, were also in attendance.

Jeanne asked for an acceptance of last month’s minutes.  A change was made to Cherie Rogers Mazck’s name in the list of attendees.  She is our new school supplies person for next year.  Kevin Brugman moved to accept the edited minutes, which was seconded by Marsha Porter-Houghton.

Steve Wallen, VP of Education, presented students with awards from the Reflections contest.  The theme this year was “I Wonder Why.”

Dr. Owner introduced Jim Diersing who would give a presentation on the value of the Smart Board in the classroom.  Dr. Owner said these tools have increased educational possibilities.  We currently have four Smart Boards.  Island Creek students will be doing a reading incentive program called “REACH week” with the ultimate goal of having one Smart Board per grade.  REACH week will be a read-a-thon, encouraging students to read for 300 minutes and earning reading-linked prizes.  This program will take place April 29^th through May 6^th.  Jim Diersing followed up with an informative presentation on the Smart Board, with additional demonstrations from teacher Lesley Jacobi and student Kyle Weller.

Ways and Means – Jen Bishop

• Baja Fresh will be sponsoring a restaurant night on April 19^th.  They will donate 15% of their proceeds to the PTA.  Due to the size of the restaurant and staffing logistics, Jen recommends going early or calling in your order for takeout.
• The school supply orders for 1^st-6^th grade are in and the kindergarten parents will have an opportunity to order during their open house in May.  Cherie Rogers Mazyck asked about rounding of prices and Jen said they round up to the nearest dollar amount.
• Lane Elementary has offered to sell us two wooden signs for Basket Bingo.  Jeanne Igo added that one of our Basket Bingo sponsors was in the “American Lifestyle” magazine.

Education – Steve Wallen

• Congratulations again to all Reflections winners.  Awards were given out at the beginning of the meeting.
• Madd Science is still continuing very successfully.
• There was not enough interest in the FLEX classes to continue with an additional session.  New classes will resume in the fall.
• Dr. Owner had high praise for Megan Hicks, a recent performer sponsored by the CAPS committee.  In addition to her regular performance, Megan visited the preschool classes and gave them their own individual performance.

Community Outreach – Liz Dunn

• Kevin Brugman said the website is looking great.  Please pass him anything you would like included.  Please coordinate with Liz Townsend from the newsletter.
• Sandy England reported for the Beautification Committee.  She said she has weeded the front garden and she needs to add more mulch to the garden in front of the library.  She is waiting to see what perennials will come back this spring and then will assess what additional plants she needs, probably about 6 flats of flowers for the flower beds, new mulch and new perennials.  This should all be less than $100.  The lilac bush for our first PTA President Margaret von Kolnitz should go in the bed by the front sign.  Jeanne Igo said she and Marsha Porter-Houghton has contacted a landscaping company in Kingstowne to see about helping with edging and maintenance.  Dr. Owner added the gardens look lovely and are warm and welcoming.
• Liz attended the Cluster 5 meeting last week.  She reported the School Board is offering more opportunities to increase dialogue between parents and the school board representatives.
• Although the spaghetti dinner was a hit last year, Liz said that they were working on another exciting idea of a picnic at the beginning of June.  More details to come.
• Jeanne reported that although Liz Townsend was not at the meeting, please get all articles to the newsletter to her by Friday.

Treasurer – Marsha Porter-Houghton

• There is still some inventory from the school spirit items.
• This month’s expenditures include the Megan Hicks performance and the after- school tutoring program.
• The estimates for landscaping for borders range from $1,300 to $2,500.  We do have enough money from the beautification budget, including the $100 Sandy had referred to earlier, to complete this project.
• We are thinking about purchasing the Basket Bingo signs from Lane Elementary, as Jeanne/Jen had talked about earlier.
• A motion was put up whether or not to provide the SACC staff with funding for the kids as we do with other teachers.  Marsha said that many of them use their own money to do projects with the students.  Right now they are making art for auction, with the money to be donated to the Head Start program.  Kevin voted to accept this motion, seconded by Cherie.  $500 will go to SACC staff.
• Regarding the recent audit, recommendations were made to tighten internal controls which will help PTA reporting.  Copies of the audit were made available to those interested.

New Business

• Jeanne reminded the group that we still need a nominating committee.
• Jeanne informed everyone of a website for letter writing for “Rescuing Recess.” It is a $50,000 grant which is awarded based on participation.  Liz asked Dr. Owner what the policy on recess was at Island Creek.  Dr. Owner responded that teachers sometimes use recess (or lack thereof) as a discipline technique.  She said it is hard for administrators to intervene and PE takes care of the recreation laws in Virginia.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Sarah Hoyt Weller