Hello Whiting Lane!

We will be having our monthly PTO meeting today at 6:30 in the school library. All are welcome to join in person or virtually on  Google Meet using this link: https://meet.google.com/jon-roma-mud

AGENDA

Meeting Minutes Vote- Ellen Piccolo-Secretary

President:  Emily Baffaro 

• Welcome Back Picnic
• Great turnout!  DJ (who came through at the LAST minute) was engaging and gave parents the opportunity to socialize.
• Blue Ribbon School Celebration
• Amazing turnout and support from families and districts.  Thanks to all who were able to roll up your sleeves and cut sticky popsicles!  What a great day for Whiting Lane! 
• Karen, will we be getting a banner for school?  Thoughts on a “Blue Ribbon School” magnet?
• Reading Under the Stars
• (report from Kate?)
• PTO Bios/Handbook
• All info is submitted to Carmen, including our two Cover Winners (thanks for voting!). Congrats to Oliver Rocco and Sadie Whitcomb!
• School Pictures 
• Thanks to Nicole Daly and Jen Krukas for coordinating this year’s picture days!
• Konstella/Teachers 
• Karen Bridges has offered to pilot Konstella with her class.  Emily will be in touch after she returns.
• Playground/Recess Equipment
• I created a sheet where grade levels are submitting their requests to replenish playground equipment.  Work in progress.  
• Teacher Reimbursement
• I gave every (eligible) teacher a small bag of chocolates with a reminder to spend their allotted $100 before December 23rd.  
• Teacher Wishlist
• Sent Karen updated Wishlist Form (here) to share with teachers.  We’d like to see more whole school/community involvement requests that can engage families.
• Looking Ahead to Upcoming Events:
• Art Pop Up/Farmer’s Market (October 21st 3:20pm)
• Whiting Lane will be a pickup location for root2RISE Fall Community Shares.
• root2RISE is offering a Pop-Up event with a small Farmer’s Market and hands-on artmaking in the Whiting Lane Garden/Courtyard Area.
• Volunteer needs?  Brooke/Nakia will connect with Ilana.
• Veteran’s Day Breakfast (November 11th)
• Carmen would like the PTO to help serve in the morning.  Karen, do you have an idea of what your volunteer needs might be for that morning?  Will the district cover the cost for breakfast items?  Concerned it may be too close to Conference Week to request food items.  Maybe we can request shoppers/servers?
• Conference Week (November 14-18th)
• Ilana, can you send out volunteer requests 2-3 weeks in advance?  Thoughts on variety/amount of donations?
• Turkey Bingo (November 17th (conference week))
• Thoughts on changing the start time to earlier than 7pm (can be late for little ones)?  How can we respect dinner time and also ensure families can participate?  How/Who will facilitate?

Vice President: Odell Gauntlett

• Thoughts on PTO providing meals during PTO sponsored after-school events. 
• Need input from Lindsey regarding families in need.
• Improving social media presence with a large QR-code to have families easily follow our instagram account

Principal’s Update:  Karen Kukish 

Treasurer:  Peter Jorgensen

Fundraising:  Leslie Luksberg

Volunteer Coordinator:  Ilana Waynik

• Thoughts on multicultural night:  Ilana spoke for a while with Mr. Cronin about this event, and they are both excited to make this happen. She would love to do it like we have in the past with families bringing in treats/food and info about their country/culture. Also, it would be great to have 1-2 performances. We have had songs, dances, and capoeira in the past. I'd love to have me or someone else partner with 1 or 2 of the ESOL families to coordinate this event. Mr. Cronin will help to identify the interested families. We need to pick a date for this. Would late January or February work? March?

Outreach: Rusty McMillan

PTC representative:  Jamie Landry 

Room Parent Coordinator: Sasha Dagnall

Health and Wellness:  Open Position

ELC Representative: Gretchen Taub and Taylor 

Food Pantry:  Lindsey Whitcomb

Board of Ed Representative:  KJ Hill

Open Discussion Topics:

• Additional PTO sponsored events ( Ice cream social, father-daughter dance, game night, Social painting-PTO provides supplies, pajama movie night, multicultural night etc)

Up for a vote:

• Teacher’s Wish List Items:
• Farm animals & Barn box toys (Benefits 40 kids) $44.97: Requested by Jenna O’rourke, (Speech/ language therapist)
• Farm Animal/Barn Box: $24.98/ Assorted cause and effect toys: 19.99/ Total: 44.97

• Grade 4 science Enrichment programs (Benefits 40 kids) $880: Requested by Wendy Martin.
• Rocks & Minerals: $80 per hour x 2 classes = $160
• Properties of Minerals: $80 per hour x 2 classes = $160
• Properties of Light: $80 per hour x 2 classes = $160
• Properties of Sound: $80 per hour x 2 classes = $160
• Wave Energy: $120 per hour x 2 classes = $240
• Total Cost = $880.00

• Fluency & Fitness, 1 yr membership (Benefits 19 kids) $125: Requested by Lori Plourde.

• Replacement classroom rug (Benefits current & future students) $145.89: Requested by Kim Hannan.

• Magnetic Whiteboard Easel (Benefits 20 kids annually) $92.99: Requested by Kelly Pierce. 

Follow up:

Upcoming Important Dates:

• School Picture Days:  Thursday October 13th (ELC) and Friday, October 14th (WL)
• Art Pop Up/Farmer’s Market: October 21st 

• Fall into Fun (Adults Only Social/Fundraiser): October 29th
• November PTO Meeting: 11/3/2022
• Veterans Day Breakfast: Friday, November 11th
• Conference Week: November 14-18th
• Turkey Bingo: Thursday, November 17th 7pm?

Next meeting: Thursday, November 3rd 6:30pm