January 2023 Meeting Minutes

Global Arts PTA Meeting Minutes 

01/09/23 at 6:00 pm

Meeting Participants: Principal Jones, Dawn Puroway, Stephanie Stegeman, Maureen Mullaney Vu, Lynne Bourgoyne, Michelle Klemmer, Emily Harer, Danielle Beck, Kira, Muna Karama, Cara Weston, Jason Johnson, Nancy, Kaylan Pundsack, Jen Collins, Jill Johnson, Yvonne White, April D. Lucas, Saul Salgado, Jonathan Waldo

Meeting called to order at 6:01 pm by Dawn Puroway 

Introduction Discussion - Dawn Puroway

1. Shared joys about successful e-learning days.

2. Introductions

3. Expectations - mute when not talking, put your name in the chat for attendance

4. Explanation of why we use Robert’s Rules of Order

5. Questions - share in the chat or ask and we will answer now, at the end of the meeting, or get back to you, or at the next meeting

6. Recognize the diversity in your community, openly discuss intentions to be inclusive, and encourage people to voice their concerns.

7. February meeting in person?

Secretary’s Report - Maureen Mullaney Vu

1. Approval of December Minutes. Motioned by Stephanie Stegeman, seconded by Jason Johnson

Treasurer’s Report - Stephanie Stegeman

1. Conversation about December income along with Direct Ask update. PTA met our goal of $1,000 for Give to The Ask. 

   1. Income for December was $9,308.34

   2. Expenses for the month included office supplies, Staff recognition, Teacher reimbursements, Teacher Welcome Lunch, Direct Ask Supplies and thank you Flowers

   3. Ending balance in checking is $16,698.22, $4,7779.30 in savings account. Total funds are $21,477,52. Historically we would have 16k-20k in savings. 

   4. Anticipating check of 10,000 to Principal Jones for Arts Residencies at the next gathering.

2. Principal Jones - $10,000 will support efforts in arts residencies. Every grade level can have a residency. Costs include insurance and fees and every penny helps. Thanks to PTA for being committed in supporting efforts for students to experience integrated arts lessons.

3. Direct Ask - there may be a few checks trickling into the school. Nearly $15,000 was raised during Direct Ask, after fees it was closer to $14,000. There were 139 unique donations. Average donation was $108 dollars.

4. Question about continuing to ask for donations.

5. 468 households in the school. 17.4% of families gave. Kira pointed out that continuing to ask is ok as long as we are not being pushy. Reminding people that part of why the school is special is because we are able to provide these experiences.

6. Jason Johnson asked if the $10,000 was approved in the budget previously. Stephanie Stegeman said it was. We have enough funds and we will make it work. Upcoming expenses are ongoing teacher reimbursements and dance fees for custodian and DJ. Carnival rental equipment is around $3000.

7. Stephanie asked Jason Johnson if the numbers made sense based on previous years. Jason answered that the past philosophy was to always have $20,000 in the savings account.

8. Jill Johnson pointed out we have only done 1 direct ask fundraiser before. They hoped for $10,000 and barely made it. This was a smashing success.

Principal’s Report - Chreese Jones

1. Kudos to the PTA Board for getting us on the right track and for the efforts made in fundraising. We are all on the same page when it comes to supporting our students. Thanks to our commitment and the work behind the scenes. The shared goal of diversifying the PTA meetings to be a representation of the families at Global Arts. Race does matter. Race does impact. We are reflecting on our own biases. 

2. E-learning happened last week during the snowstorm. Admin and clerical team were up at 5:15am to send out information to families. Teachers have to upload activities and work in seesaw. Kudos to Ms. Dennis who is getting information out through Blackboard.

3. We know we have a group of families that don’t have internet so we need to work on that. We need to ensure that families are ready to go for e-learning days

4. Open House is coming up for prospective families. January 19th at Lower Campus from 5:30 to 7pm. January at 26th at Upper Campus. We plan to have representation of arts and grade levels

5. Also on the 19th the Arts Residency Gallery walk was rescheduled.

6. No school on January 27th which is a grading day for upper campus and professional development day for Lower Campus staff. There will be Innocent classroom training.  

7. First Friday of the month at Upper Campus is dedicated to clubs. Students involved in clubs can connect and belong at the building.

8. The Family Sing Along event will happen on Thursday January 12th, at 6:30. All families at Lower Campus are invited. It will be an evening of singing. Cara Weston asked about ventilation at sing along. Could there be air purifiers in the room? Principal Jones is open to that idea.

9. Jason Johnson added that the current filtration upgrades at the school are extremely effective and should be sufficient

10. April Lucas asked if this is a sing along will the words be available for the rest of us to sing with the children?

11. Food shelf is open for families who need food. Ms. Beck collaborated with Seal Team for the Food Drive in December with over $1,150 items donated. We were able to share food with families for winter break. We now have a dedicated area of 2 shelves full of food. Families in need can contact our social worker and go in and do some shopping. Hope to keep this open all year. PTA can share with families that this is available. 

12. Sign up genius is available to sign up for snacks at upcoming Photography Exhibit

Committees Update

1. Fundraising - Kaylan Pundsack

   1. Upcoming fundraisers are in the works - Plant sale and the Square One art fundraiser are both getting started and will roll out in May. We need contacts at both campuses we can partner with. Delivery will be May 9th in the morning.  We will need a large area to receive plants, get organized and distribute to families. Ms. Dennis will be the contact person. Maren, Stephanie and Jason Miller will be PTA coordinators.

   2. For Square One Arts we need to make sure they get distributed to both campuses. We need contacts at both schools to coordinate. 

   3. Kaylan and Kira are partnering to do a fundraiser at Pizza Luce. 25% of proceeds will go to PTA. This is a Proof of Concept to see how it goes. If it works we can work with other businesses and expand. 

   4. April Lucas suggested reaching out to other establishments on Selby perhaps Taste of Rondo. Ms. Lucas is offering to be a contact for reaching out to other restaurants on Selby.

2. Community Building Committee

   1. Meeting next week to talk about possibly a dance and how to connect students and families in their classrooms.

   2. Classroom connector for each classroom

   3. Potentially sledding this Saturday. April D. Lucas mentioned Melanin in motion. Melanininmotion.org. It’s run by Anthony Taylor. He does large events also. 

   4. Question regarding the best way to communicate about pop ups if we’ve missed the newsletter. It can be sent out via blackboard.

   5. Emily Harer mentioned the 6th grade used to go on a ski trip but we we haven’t been able to afford it in the last 4 years. 

3. Carnival

   1. Need one more coordinator

   2. June 1st or June 8th are potential dates for carnival. Should be after Memorial day. Looking for volunteers to lead smaller sub tasks including things like games and activities. 

   3. Carnival committee volunteers needed for the following tasks:

      1. Games/activities

      2. Food

      3. Tickets/admissions

      4. Volunteers/advertising

4. Volunteer opportunities

1. Coordinating volunteers

2. Volunteering at school during the school day 

Discussion about an in- person PTA meeting in February

1. Childcare used to be offered.

2. Jason Johnson - we could use the whiteboard in the lounge at upper, along with a webcam to do a hybrid

Stephanie Stegeman - “Any meeting worth having is worth evaluating”. 

1. Encouraged meeting participants to include one word in the chat to indicate how they  felt about the meeting. 

2. Words included. Supported, hungry, excited, collaborative, excited, settled 

Meeting adjourned at 7:29