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Elementary > T.F. Parents for
Education > September Minutes
Minutes of the regular meeting
Present: Polly Zais,
Dani Strenke, Trish
Swenson, Shanette Maloney, Amy Frischmon,
Tami Miller, Lisa Kubicki, Lori Johnson, Lynn Zemlin, Sheryl Keller, Jina Saueressig, Elizabeth Connell,
Old Business
The open house
went well, but was hectic, particularly for new parents. Due to technical difficulties, only 2 photo
stations were used instead of 3 for school pictures, so students experienced
longer lines than usual. Principal Joe Thimm reported nearly a 100 percent turnout for the open
house, with many positive responses about the event from teachers and parents.
Treasurer’s report
Karla Stoeckman was unable to attend. Polly Zais briefly
reported that the account balance is about $8,000, with checks of $26 and
$24.80 recently received. Two minor
bills are due this month.
Principal’s Corner
• Principal Thimm reported a good start to the school year and the new
air circulation system is working well.
• The 5th
annual Fall Cruise Fundraiser is Monday, Sept. 26. Around 60 tickets have been
sold so far. The money is used to
purchase school supplies and milk break snacks for kids who otherwise can’t
afford it, along with several other miscellaneous items that arise throughout
the year.
• The $8,000
donation from the Shafer Fire Dept. has been well used to supply teachers with
new Houghton Miflin reading series material, as well
as purchasing supplemental material that will help a lot.
• The
horizontal slide apparatus on the playground has already caused several broken
bones among some of the younger kids. A
new policy is in place that only the upper grades can now use it.
• The entire
district is challenging students to bring in $1 to donate to Hurricane Katrina
victims. It is being used as a contest between classrooms at
• Oral fluency
testing is finishing up this week and next week starts the first round of MAP
testing.
• The
• The school
will have practice lockdown and evacuation drills sometime during the school
year and fire drills will be starting soon.
Teacher Time:
• Neva Noyd said 5th graders have sold 68 wristbands in the first
3 days of selling during lunch time. They
will continue selling them through the end of the month, with 50 cents per
wristband being given to the 5th grade classes to share. She also reminded the group that the 5th
graders will be asking for thegroup to fund their
field trip to
Fundraiser News
• The question
was raised whether Pizza Man wanted to continue its fundraiser through the
school this year. Shanette
said she had tried to get in touch with the owner and would continue to do so.
• Volunteers
need to be lined up to clip
• The fall
fundraiser kick off was Sept. 13 and the kids seemed excited to try and earn
prizes. All envelopes were sent home with students by the next day, along with
notes to parents in the communication folders to look for the fundraiser
materials sent with their child.
• With the 68
wristbands sold by the 5th grade, about 160 wristbands have been sold so far.
Board Bulletin:
• Jerry reported that
renovations at the pool are now complete.
A pool tour is included in the Sept. 22 school board meeting, along with
a welcome reception for new superintendent Michael McLoughlin.
• Air quality
improvements made at all the schools are now complete.
New Business
• Media
Specialist Mary Berning said a new program will be
added during fall conferences in October.
Three activity stations will be set up for kids to do different things.
The book fair will be held again in conjunction with conferences, Oct.
13-19. It was noted that parents should be
reminded that the school receives money for each book sold during the book
fair. Scholastic is offering a
fundraiser for hurricane victims. Parents donate $1 to their child’s classroom
and Scholastic will match it and send $1 to hurricane victims.
• Peef author Warren Hanson will visit the school Nov. 18 and
also sign books for the students.
• The group
will provide dinner for the teachers on the first day of conferences, Monday,
Oct. 17.
The next Taylors Falls Parents for Education meeting will be