October President's Report

What a busy October!

We've had a lot going on, and it's been great.

1) The Highland View Garden won this years all-school garden challenge! We had over 20 volunteers who helped raise over 200 pounds of produce throughout the summer. We'll get the garden cleaned up and ready for winter this month, and start looking for a repeat next year!

 2) Thanks to Colleen Thiel, Highland View set a new school record for attendance at the Greendale Step Up To Better Health Fun Run. The Final Count was over 140 walkers and runners represented our school. 

3) Our school continues to dominate the Greendale School District Kilowatt Challenge, winning the monthly award for most-energy-improved-school again!

 4) Our Family Dinner Night was a big success (Thanks Mary Braun!) we had over 100 attendees, which was a considerable increase in attendance from last year. Everyone had a really fun time too. The magician that performed for us was great, and the kids were talking about him the next day. Thanks to all the volunteers and chefs that helped make this a big success.

 5) Musical Lunches continued in October with Paul Smith, a folk guitarist who played us some selections from Woody and Arlo Guthrie and Jorma Kaukonen. I don't know who enjoyed it more, the kids or the teachers! Paul did a great job keeping the kids involved and answering their questions and showing them neat guitar tricks.

 A couple quick reminders:

 1) One of Highland View's premier events still needs your help! The All the World festival is still looking for families to share a little bit about their culture. The event is Friday November 15th. You can make a display, or share a craft or song, or dance, or food. Contact Srta. Bradley at jessica.bradley@greendale.k12.wi.us . Please!

 2) Our next meeting is Monday, Novemeber 11th in the Highland View library at 6:00.

September President's Report

We sure have a lot going on this year!

The Welcome Back events all went well, and we learned a few things too.  Coupling the Ice Cream Social with the Meet-Your-Teahcer days for 4K and for the other grades worked out well.  Between the two of them, the PTO served out 22 gallons of ice cream!  But most importantly, Highland View families had a chance to meet their compatriots and fellow-wanderers for the year, and make connections that'll benefit everyone in 2013-2014.

The Highland View garden, my pet project since last spring really took off.  Classrooms and teachers and helpers have already enjoyed a lot of great produce, and the (literal) fruits of their labor.  We're still hammering out a date for the championship party, but no matter what, the garden proves that when we all work together, we all win!

Our other new projects for this year are rolling to a great start too.  We're an inch away from getting a final specific set of guidelines for our new "Handy Helpers" committee to use in determining what they can and can't fix for teachers.  The musical lunch program is moving forward too, with a handful of volunteers already set to come perform for our students during lunches this year.  

I'd also like to take moment in my report to remember one of the PTO (and Highland View's) most dedicated volunteers.  Bruce Paprocki passed away this month, and he will be missed by all of us here.  

Highland View you later!

Aleks

September 9th Meeting Minutes

Highland View PTO

September 09, 2013

Minutes

Thirteen individuals were in attendance (including Mrs. Weber and Mrs. Flater).

Aleks Skibicki welcomed members and asked everyone to introduce themselves.

The minutes of June 10, 2013 were approved.

The treasurer’s report was approved.

Report of Past Projects/Events

Village Days: Jason Patzfahl noted that the booth was well received.  There are still prizes leftover.  We will also look into prize donations for the 2014 booth.  The games at the booth were spin the wheel, toilet paper toss and a Frisbee tic tac toe. The profit was approximately $350.00.

Welcome Back Picnics: Aleks Skibicki reported that Welcome Back Picnics were both well attended. After Highland View families met their teachers for the 2013/2014 school year they enjoyed a nice cool treat on a hot day. We went through 17 gallons of ice cream. Mrs. Flaters suggested we should think about possibly placing toppings in shaker type containers. This the way children wouldn’t be placing their hands directly into the topping bowl and help germs from being spread. 

Back to school Breakfast: The welcome back breakfast had good attendance.  Parents enjoyed muffins, fruits… after dropping their children off for the first day of school.

Current Projects/Upcoming Events

Family Dinner Night: This Event is scheduled for October 18, 2013.  Mary Braun is still looking into a restaurant or possible Caterer for the event.  Discussion around possibly having some small raffle prizes at this event to draw in more interest.

Garden Championship: Gardens are doing wonderful.  The date for the event is October 16, 2013 at Greendale High School. We discussed devoting a yearbook page to the gardens.

Box Tops: Katrina Cooper was not present but had wanted to know if there would be a classroom competition for raising the most box tops like in years past. It was agreed that there would be a classroom prize.  The specifics were not discussed.

Fun/Run Walk: The walk is set for October 20, 2013 at 10:30 am. Aleks Skibicki passed out flyers to promote the event.

Bruce Paprocki Volunteer Award: Kristin Settle will being looking into a cost and a way to sustain a school volunteer award named in honor of Bruce Paprocki who recently passed away.

Neil Gaiman Visit:  He is an English Author who resides here in Wisconsin. His publicist has been contacted and he may be willing to do an assembly for our school. We need to know what the cost of the visit. We need to ask questions to allow us to maximize his talent. Kathleen Skibicki is the liaison for this project.

Handy Helpers:  This new committee is well underway.  We will need to solicit for handy volunteers.  All volunteers will need proof of insurance and sign a waiver. Mrs. Flater will work on getting a list of the jobs that can be done by the handy helpers. 

Musical Lunch Program:  Have been receiving quite a bit of interest in performers. 

Campbell’s Soup Labels:  Michelle Persike reported that we have 20,000 points.  She is looking for some guidance on what the school needs.

Spirit Days: Haven’t established a definite plan for Spirit Day. Looking into purchasing   shirts for the students.  Mrs. Weber Suggested Will Enterprises.  The number of shirts need is approximately 500. Discussed if we should give parents an option to buy a shirt to help offset the cost of the student’s shirts. We could possibly get help from PCA with the shirts.

Florentine Opera Assembly 

The Florentine Opera Assembly is only performed for our younger students. $500 was approved for an additional assembly for the older students. Grades for the assembly will be determined at a later date.

Principal’s Report

Mrs. Flaters report that Highland View was off to a great start. She said she has been focusing on getting to know the students and spent time in each classroom reading poems.  She has also spent some of her time helping getting the 4K students settled in their new routines.

She mentioned she is looking at a supervision schedule and a crosswalk being painted for the back parking lot.

Announcements

September 16, 2013 district budget meeting.

We are looking for a Chairperson for the sock hop, Lori Hanlon is willing help the new chair.

Meeting Conclusion

The gift for most parents at the meeting was given to Ms. Severson.

The meeting was adjourned.