Belleville Henderson Central School
PTO Meeting Minutes
January 28, 2016

Janelle Hodge - President						Kim Gordinier - Vice President
Lori Redden - Secretary						Kim Gehrke - Treasurer

Members in Attendance:  Janelle Hodge, Carrie Eastman, Katelyn Costello, Casie Remington, Mercedes LeVeck, Kim Gehrke, Kristin Vaughn & Lori Redden

Meeting Called to Order in the Library @ 6:37pm 

Old Business:

Secretary’s Report:  Minutes from the November meeting were reviewed by all in attendance.  Janelle made a motion to accept the minutes.  Kristin seconded the motion.  

Memberships:  Lori reported that we currently have 35 paid members with 6 seniors being represented and 4 teachers.   I heard from Mindy Grandjean and she gave us a total of $35.00 that is owed to the cafeteria for the ice cream reward slips for the fall fundraiser and class with most memberships.  Lori also had $2.00 in membership funds from Lisa Magos during Kris Kringle that she passed on to Kim Gehrke for deposit.

Treasurer’s Report:  Kim Gerke reviewed the current balances on the treasurer report.  Balances were as follows:  Checking $9,615.11, Savings $2,868.22, Petty Cash $456.00, Kris Kringle $2,107.16.  The $10.00 that Kim was off at our last meeting, she was happy to report that she found the $10.00 discrepancy and was able to balance the books.  Carrie made a motion to accept the report and Kristin seconded.  Kim wrote two checks at the meeting....$25.00 for BoxTop postage and $35.00 to BHCS Lunch Fund/Mindy Grandjean per the above awards.

Fall 2016 Renzi Pie Fundraiser/Spring 2017 Meadow Farms Catalog Order/Fall Fundraiser Check Received?: Lori was informed that we had received a check from Meadow Farms for the online "ship to home" credit in the amount of $132.95 which Janelle deposited in the checking account.  Lori checked in the spring catalogs and reported that there were currently three spring catalogs to review on their website.  Simply Spring which is very similar to the ulitmate gift collection we did this year; Classic Spring Favorites which is a collection of Easter Candy and Art in Nature which is just an assortment of plants and flowers.   We will have to decide next fall if we are going to try a Spring Sale and if so, which two catalogs we would like to use.

Kris Kringle:  Lori reported that Kris Kringle was a very successfull again this year.  She did not receive any complaints!!  She also received a very nice email from Mrs. Marlowe thanking the PTO for giving the students a great shopping experience.  Volunteers stated that the changes to the form such as asking for ages and whether student could purchase an item for themselves if funds allow - were very helpful.  I had a total of 31 volunteers this year and I sent out an email/facebook post thanking 28 of them....Lori mistakenly forget Kash & Kayden Gordinier and her husband Mike Redden on the Thank You.  

Total in Cashbox was $3,453.86 minus the startup cash of $236.00 gives the deposit amount of $3,217.86.  $3,217.86 minus $1,562.48 total of receips turned over to Kim Gehrke is $1,655.38 plus $9.29 that was taken out of the cashbox to purchase needed tealight candles from Dollar General equals....$1,664.67 in Kris Kringle Profits for 2015.  Compared to last year...I spent $1,948.91 and profits were $736.82.  I kept $1,100.00 in cash out of the $3,217.86 deposit for after christmas sales and have spent over $700.00 so far - this makes the actual bank deposit into the Kris Kringle account - $2,117.86.  I have gotten some really good deals for next year - for instance, I spent over $221.00 at Christmas Tree Shop but my savings were over $177.00, Kohls I spend $70.44 and my savings were over $283 and at Kmart, I spent $87.35 and saved $263.25.

Donated items:  Coffee was included with the coffee mugs we sold.  We also left cases of coffee open that students, teachers, maintenance and volunteers could take if they wanted.  Students were told to give it to their parents/grandparents.  Legos were originally listed at $4.00 but students were not purchasing them.  Dropped the price to $2.00 for Wednesday & Thursday.  Still have a tote full besides half of the cases that I had saved for next year anyway.  Baby clothes and shirts (very few purchased) as well as a glass canister set was forwarded to the Friendship Shop in Sandy Creek - where we get our coffee mugs from - sometimes for free.  The donated scarfes, stuffed animals and other donated items were popular items.  Mrs. Marlowe (1) & Mrs. Streeter (2) both stated they had students in need and could they shop for mom & dad gifts free of charge.  I said they could shop on Thursday.  Mrs. Marlowe's student had money and shopped on Wednesday so he did not come back on Thursday.  Both of the pre-K students were allowed to shop on Thursday.  They were both a little upset that they couldn't get toys so I gave each of them a stuffed animal that had been donated.  I had one volunteer who wanted to purchase gifts for three foster kids who are attending our school.  I let her purchase the items at our cost and donated a couple of lego sets free of charge as they were dontated to us.  She brought the items directly to Karen Bertram who will get the items to these students.

Oriental Trading Company Order for Belleville Field Days:  Lori reported that she did place an order for Mini Plush Animal Assortment (good for children under 3) and Mega Kick Ball Assortment for a total of $83.97.  She saved a total of $23.00 on this order with a discount and free shipping offer they had.  We should be all set for prizes for this year for the field days.  Lori paid for this order out of Kris Kringle funds she had on hand - receipt was turned over to Kim Gehrke.

Box Tops/Soup Labels:  Janelle reported that April 2nd is the next deadline.  She asked if the sheets she has been sending home with the elementary students were helping.  It was suggested that the sheets for 10 or 25 are better than the sheets for 50.  Janelle had received a check from the fall deadline in the amount of $430.50 which she deposited.  It was mentioned that the amount of money we make on box tops is going down with each submission.  Kate Costello with Kristin Vaughns help, are going to reverse this trend by making it a competition.  Lori suggested that is should be done quarterly verses monthly as not to get so overwhelming.  Kate is going to organize this, get the other elementary teachers involved and keep a running tally but get the BoxTops to Janelle for ongoing submission. The reward still needs to be decided on.

Yearbook - PTO Ad:  Picture for the Yearbook was not taken as Kim Gordinier was not present.  Kim Gerhke reported we will have an ad in the Yearbook.

Thirsty Painters Fundraiser:  Lori reported we are all set to hold this event at the VFW in Adams on Friday, Feb. 12th @ 6pm.  The cost will be $48.00 per person which will include a free drink ticket.  We will make $10.00 per person that attends.  There is a 50 person maximum.  Participants will need to register at her website...thethirstypainters.com to hold their spot.  Lori had 26 painting examples which she showed to the workers at Kris Kringle...the top five where then posted on facebook and emailed to get final votes on the picture we will be painting.  The Vase with Winter Berries won by two votes and second place was tied between the moose and love birds.  We had a total of 22 voters.  Flyers have been hung at the school and Lori has emailed and posted on facebook.  If we have a really good turnout, we should consider doing an all day event were she does one session in the morning and another in the afternoon.

PTO Sponsored Program:  Carrie Eastman stated that she is going to contact BeeBee regarding the CPR babysitting course.  She also stated that she got the following information from Irene for the Rapitors Zoo program:  2 - 40 minute shows is $375.00 and contact person for this is Elizabeth Elco (sp?) @ 782-6180.  She will also get information on the reptile show as well.  Kate Costello gave information on "Out-of-the-Cage Pet Mobile:  1 hr presentation for six animals was $75.00 plus $10.00 for each additional animal and $15.00 mileage charge for coming all the way to Belleville.  We discussed the issue of getting all of the elementary thru in a 1 hour spand.  They also mentioned that the information they found on a traveling play ran from $600 to $900 per show and thought that was a little pricey.  Lori mentioned The Wild Animal Experience and Park does school programs as well.  She knows that they went to Sandy Creek as she knows someone that got their picture taken holding a baby kangaroo.  Lori is going to get the contact information together to give it to Carrie.  We will decide what program we are going to go with at our next meeting.  Kate and Carrie both mentioned putting on their own Skit Show (like South Jeff does) for the students.  They are going to put a bug in the other teachers ears to see what kind of response they get.

Fundraiser Ideas:  Kim Gordinier was not present for the meeting.  Carrie Eastman offered to meet with Mr. Storey and will report on the following fundraiser ideas...

		*  Valentine-O-Grams - with Candy Suckers or Carnations -- 
							too late for this year, option for next.
		*  Dance for Elementary Students (Mar 18th or 25th 3-5pm)
		*  Fun Night/Day
		*  Dance-athon - check with Mrs. Beebee
		*  Harlem Globbtrotters
		*  Donkey Basketball - juniors vs seniors, parents vs teachers
		*  Fun Run - Springtime with Theme/Costume contest
		
New Business:   

New School Mailing Address:   Lori has contacted New York State for our Tax Exempt, Dollar General (tax exempt) and Meadow Farms.  She asked if there was anyone else who needed to be contacted.  Kim Gerhke mentioned the banks but all current bank statements go directly to her home address.

DieCut Machine:  Kate mentioned that the Library already has a diecut stencil machine but no dies to use with it.  She wanted to know if there were any PTO funds available to possibly purchase some.  If you order them directly from the company they are three times more than Amazons prices.  Amazon's prices are:  $288.90 A-Z Letter Set, $97.00 #s, $68.00 Large Shapes, $198.00 or $157.00 for Holiday Shapes.  Lori suggested that she talk to some of the teachers to see what sets they would find most useful.  We agree that we could probably purchase a couple of sets to begin with.  This will be discussed again at the next meeting.

TOPS for Education:  Lori stated that she got Belleville Henderson PTO added to this program.  She supplied Janelle with a copy of the flyer with instructions on how to register your TOPS Bonus Card to be sent home with the elementary students.  We receive 5% on qualifying purchases and we will recieve a check each August.  This program is something the PTO must re-register for each school year.   

Stewarts Match Program:  Lori had this noted from last years meeting which Deb Clark told us about this program.  Someone needs to fill out an application in January at Stewarts and they match funds donated.  We could use this money for the Teachers Supply Bags for instance.  Do to our original meeting on the 14th being cancelled, we ran out of time to sign up for this program.  Will keep it in mind for next year.

Next Meeting:   Thursday, Feb 25th @ 6:30pm
Meeting Adjourned:  7:45 pm