President, Karen Wojtowicz, brought the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. on February 8, 2011.
Those in attendance were as follows: Officers- President Karen Wojtowicz, Vice President Cindy Hricenak, Secretary Suzanne Kuijpers, Advisor Mr. Shirvinski and Teacher Rep. Michele Petro. Parents: Heidi Andreatti, Diane Mack, Roxanne Zuber, Gloria Seroskie, Sherry Humphrey, Tammy Hodder, Michelle Conway, Dawn Knoebel, Sue Griscavage, Kim Levan, Richard Miller, Vanessa Stine and Marsylvia Weaver.
Leslie Bieber-Brecht, our Elementary School Guidance Counselor, was the guest speaker for the evening. She spoke to the parents about BULLYING. She explained that in grades Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd, she mainly reinforces the Golden Rule. She said that at these ages, they seem to understand that concept. This also reinforces the school rules that the children are familiar with (R.O.A.R.).
She further explained that in grades 2-3 , she focuses on standing up for yourself. She teaches the children to tell someone who is bothering them to "stop it" or " that's enough". She explained that Bullying is a person trying to get power over another person. She also explained that Bullying is a repeated, continued act against someone. She said that the term Bullying is becoming overused in our society and is often used incorrectly. If someone calls someone a name one time , that does not refer to Bullying. She said that although Bullying does occasionally happen at our school, the incidences are few and far between. Mrs. Brecht explained that she and Mr. Shirvinski work hand in hand to prevent such behavior and to work out individual problems as they occur.
In 4th Grade, Mrs. Brecht teaches the students about conflict resolution. She said that it is very important for us to empower our children so they can deal with problems throughout their lives. She added that Bullying behavior tends to peak in grades 6-8.
Mrs. Brecht took questions from the parents and encouraged those with other problems or questions to contact her.
Cindy Hricenak did not have any new information in the Vice President's Report.
Karen Wojtowicz gave the Treasurer's Report as Linda Hoy was away on vacation.
Karen explained that Yankee Candle has given us a reimbursement check in an effort to further apologize for the problems we had related to the delivery of our fundraising items. They had originally given us a 40% profit on the fundraiser, but have now given us 60% profit resulting in a reimbursement of $7,663.00.
Karen gave the ending balance of $23,833.26 in the General Fund Account. She made a motion to ammend this amount by $300.00 which was inadvertently taken out of the general fund rather than the 1st Grade account.
This motion was approved by Marsylvia Weaver and a second from Michelle Conway.
The class funds are as follows:
Kindergarten: $19.11
1st Grade: $1,639.05 ( minus $300.00 for a field trip deposit)
2nd Grade: $1,366.74
3rd Grade: $ 1,501.71
4th Grade: $ 2,069.85
The Treasurer's Report was approved by a motion from Sue Griscavage and a second from Richard Miller.
Suzanne Kuijpers gave the Secretary's Report which consisted of a review of the January Minutes.There was a motion to approve them by Sherry Humphrey and a second from Roxanne Zuber.
Mr. Shirvinski gave the Principal's Report.He told everyone about Kindergarten Informational Night which will take place on March 7th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m..He said this is for people who have children who will be entering Kindergarten in the Fall. The Kindergarten teachers will be present that evening to go over curriculum expectations. There will be babysitting available to those who need it so that you can enjoy the informational session. Mr. Shirvinski asked for volunteers at the meeting who could help with the babysitting that night.
On February 11, Rand Whipple will be present at the school for a number of assemblies. He is from the Box of Light. Kindergarten will be having an assembly on Aesop's Fables, 3rd Grade will be having one based on Fractured Stories and 4th Grade will be having an assembly on Electricity.
Mr. Shirvinski told everyone that the Gertrude Hawk assembly and kick-off for the Spring Fundraiser will be on Feb. 16th.
There will be a Math-a-thon to benefit St. Jude's Children's Hospital beginning on March 11th and this will be for grades K-4th.
Mr. Shirvinski talked about Read Across America Day which is March 2. This will correspond with Dr. Seuss's Birthday. There will be many activities at the school to celebrate these events. The author of Chippy Chipmunk, Kathy Miller, will be at the school for assemblies.You will have the opportunity to purchase her book and get it autographed- information will be sent home with the students soon . Mrs. Pfirman's class will be having a pizza lunch with the author as they were the winners of " Predict the 1st Snow Day" contest!
Mr. Shirvinski let parents know that March 3rd will be RIF day and the children will be going home with a free book that day. Renelle Wetzel is chair person for RIF Day. He also informed everyone that Mrs. Casey was able to purchase over $7,000.00 in books for classrooms as a result of Book Fair Scholastic Dollars.
The building construction project is moving forward and will most likely break ground on Feb. 14th . Mr. Shirvinski asked everyone to be patient as parking, etc. may become difficult as it progresses. The playground will be fenced in as parking will be located directly across from it. The project is looking at a completion date around the time of the 2012-2013 school year.
The Box Tops program is going very well and is organized by Sue Griscavage. The 2009-2010 school year produced $2165.00 in Box Top Money. The current year (2010-2011) has given us $3160.00 in Box Top Money. Mr. Shirvinski thanked everyone who has sent in box tops and labels for education and encouraged people to continue to send them in ( marked with child's homeroom teacher on them).
Mr. Shirvinski informed those present of the snow make-up days. He said that there are 4 to be made up and they are as follows: February 18, March 11, March 14 and June 6.
Karen Wojtowicz discussed both old and new business. As for old business: there are still a few Yankee Candle orders not picked up yet. They are as follows: William Miller, Lindsay Mummey and Cailee Davis.
Geisinger sent a thank you for the donation made from our Muffins With Mom event.
New business included talk of Donuts With Dad event which will be on Feb.26 and is being organized by Amy Snyder. Kits will be provided by Home Depot and there will also be some science experiments done that day with the dads. We will be collecting donations for Habitat For Humanity the day of the event and there will be a rep. from Habitat present at the event.
Karen let everyone know that in addition to Gertrude Hawk, we will also be selling Schwan's Frozen Food during our Spring Fundraiser.No money will be collected for Schwan's orders but will be due the day of pick up. Order forms will be going home with the students on Feb.18th and orders are due on March 10th. April 7 and April 8 will be Gertrude Hawk and Schwan's pick up days from 1:00 to 7:00 p.m..
The Book Fair will be held April 4-April 8. Anyone interested in volunteering for book fair should get in contact with Danee Ryter McCoog at daneerytermccoog@yahoo.com
Karen told everyone that the guest speaker for the March meeting will be a DARE instructor to talk to us about how to talk to our children about drugs. Anyone with specific questions for the DARE instructor, should email them to Karen.
Karen also reminded those present, that the SMART fundraiser Apple Dumpling Sale will have pick up on March 2 and they are still looking for volunteers to help with the pick up.
Our next HART meeting will be on March 1st at 6:30 p.m. in the elementary library. We hope to see you all then!!!! Thanks to all those who attended the February meeting!!!!
Karen made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:20 p.m. which was approved by Diane Mack and a second from Michelle Conway.
HART OFFICER CONTACT INFORMATION:
PRESIDENT: Karen Wojtowicz 317-6606 or 799-5720 klwojtowicz@yahoo.com
VICE PRESIDENT: Cindy Hricenak 239-7404 cinhr1@aol.com
TREASURER: Linda Hoy 672-3161 lhoypta@gmail.com
SECRETARY: Suzanne Kuijpers 672-1283 suzanne.k@sunlink.net
