Officer's Planning Meeting
22 August 2001
A meeting was called to discuss the coming year, coordinating with Karen Ellingson and school activities for the year. This would allow us the chance to get our future activities on the calendar in advance.
In attendance were:
OS Elementary Principal Karen
Ellingson
PIE Co-President Dina Davis
PIE Co-President Diana Fulbright
PIE Vice President Rachel Takagi
PIE Secretary Jody Cadle
PIE Treasurer Kristen Hieronymus
Discussions included:
Meeting dates: PIE Meetings will be held the first Tuesday of each month, excepting January and April due to school holidays, in which months we shall meet on the second Tuesday of the month. September meeting will be held on the 18th of September, and Rachel will prepare a flyer to send home with the kids during the second week of school to invite the entire parent contingent to attend.
Tree Auction:
There has been much discussion about the effectiveness
of the Christmas Tree Auction, in that it takes a great deal of
effort on the part of PIE and also a great deal of time for the
teachers, for which there is little return. (Christmas Tree
Auction for 2000-2001 netted just over $400, most of which was
brought in by the tables at the craft fair. In reviewing our
notes from the meeting of 5 December 2000:
The Christmas Tree Auction
was deemed a success, despite mixed reviews. The trees
were beautiful...and the craft fair was well attended. The trees
sold for less than we had hoped, and with
the overhead of purchasing the trees, we made very little. The
craft fair brought in $15 per table, which
contributed largely to our net gain of $400. Mitigating factors
that were cited were that the trees were
perhaps too big for most homes, families already had their own
artificial trees and ornaments, and so on.
It was suggested that perhaps the tree auction might be modified
in future years to be a wreath auction,
sell only the ornaments that the children made, or be aimed more
at businesses buying rather than
families. This was met with some regret, as it is a PIE
institution, and the joy of seeing the children buy
their own trees might outweigh the joys of making a lot of money
off of the tree. The craft fair brought
many wonderful crafters who offered a variety of items, a variety
of prices (none of which was out of
line), and the excitement of finding a unique gift for a loved
one. Nonetheless, the crafters didn't sell a lot
at this fair. We generally believed that this was because it was
the first year and no one knew what to
expect. It was suggested that perhaps we focus more on the craft
fair and make that a big affair to be
anticipated by all. Everyone agreed that the tree auction should
happen at the END of the craft fair, as the
crafters were left with no customers after the trees were gone,
and packed up early and left. The food,
however, was a no go. Not much in sales, although this may have
been attributed to the lack of kitchen
area and such. Santa and the pictures were fun, even with a
temperamental camera! We voted to look
into buying a camera for these uses.
It was pointed out that this is a tradition, and that the families enjoyed it, but others thought that the teachers woulc be relieved if we did not do it this year. It was suggested that we put it to the teachers at their first staff meeting before making a decision to scrap the auction. Alternatives suggested included making ornaments to sell at the Winter Fanta-sea bazaar or selling wreaths instead. A date was scheduled, which can be rescinded, given teacher enthusiasm and general PIE involvement.
Sock Hop/Dance: Everyone seemed to LOVE the sock hop last year, and a dance of some sort was scheduled for October. This would begin at 5PM and include a dinner of some sort. Due to it's popularity, a second dance was scheduled for February 14, Valentine's Day. Possibilities are: selling cookies for your Valentine, pictures, etc. Ideas were discussed for keeping the cost down, as the radio station that did the sock hop last year was quite expensive.
Halloween Booth: Plans to participate in the annual Ocean Shores Convention Center Halloween Party should include buying non-candy treats, perhaps from Oriental Trading. The toothbrushes donated last year did not go far enough, and we ended up buying candy at the last minute.
Book Fair: Scholastic Book Fair was scheduled for twice this year, although we will desperately need someone to head this committee.
Penny Drive: This committee will also need some strong leadership, and nearly everyone agreed that we should not try to put cans in local businesses. Much was stolen, and the businesses seemed mostly uncomfortable with this. We would have two week long drives during the school year.
Basket Bingo: Very much enjoyed by the Officers, who planned to do two Bingo nights during the coming school year. It was easy, fun, and made a good profit.
Christmas Store: A good fundraiser as well as fun for the children, we will raise prices 10% this year to make it an actual fundraiser rather than just for fun, while still keeping prices low.
Perpetual Motion: It was unanimously decided that we would support the Perpetual Motion assembly at the end of the school year. It was tremendously fun for the children and we already have a budget for at least one assembly a year.
Playground: We continue to raise funds to support the playground, although Ms Ellingson has secured a rather large grant to cover Playground expenses. Much of this grant will be dedicated to making the playground ADA approved.
Cash Back for Schools: 1 Aug marked the new year for Cash Back For Schools, and we are again registered to win!!!
Click here to see the schedule of events planned for 2001-2002.