PIE
September 12, 2011
In attendance: Kate Dodge, Alyssa Lasher, Joyce Wright, Calen King, Jamie Cudney, Doug Stewart, Kitty Frazier, Steve Hyde, Heather Way, Kim Gordon, Renee Durochia, Joanne Crawford, Deirdre Gladstone, Catherine Goldsmith, Bob Goudreau, Frank Twarog, Jen Prue, Ali Douglas, Carla Wuthrich, Elisabeth Garvey, Joy O’Neil, Amy Sayre, Kelli Brown, Alesia Depot, Patti Drew, Kate Suskin Peterson, Margaret Spivack, Pam Mathews, Marie Ayer
- What is PIE?
· Working Partners in Education group in its second year made of parents, educators, and community members to support the children at HCS.
- Who’s who on PIE?
· Parent/staff partnering from each grade level (k-2, 3-5, 6-8)
· Treasurer
· Secretary
· Facilitator
· PR and communications
· Unified Arts
· Administration/HCS school board
- How do I get involved?
· Shared “official” PIE roles (see above) as well as initiative sub-committees.
· Folks are invited to come to gather information and join in the monthly discussion; ALL are encouraged to participate at the level they feel comfortable with as all gifts of talent and time are appreciated.
- Initiatives
· Playground Improvement
o Jen shared an update on the previous playground efforts (led by Kate Dodge).
o Phase 1 (of the large ‘main’ structure) required large community support and raising a large amount of money.
o Phase 2 is currently underway $14,000 (of $38,000) currently collected.
o This current phase is a “quieter” phase, looking mainly at grants.
· Nutrition Improvement Status
o Kelli Brown spoke to the group about updates. Last year a beautiful garden was planted and maintained all summer.
o Looking for small number of staff, parents, and community members to meet to create nutrition objectives. Some of these ideas could include utilizing local farmers, bringing in consultants to look at creative ways to stretch money while increasing nutritional values.
o Please contact Kelli at kelli_mcgonigal@yahoo.com if you are interested in joining this group.
· Staff Appreciation
o Ali spoke to the group about the formation of a small staff appreciation group. The hope is to have a small token or support to keep the staff aware of PIE, and most importantly share our gratitude for guiding our children in such a positive manner.
- Upcoming Events/Volunteer opportunities:
· Golf Tournament
o Fundraising project October 2, 2011 at Cedar Knoll. (8 am)
o Kate Dodge is spearheading the effort and has had posters printed to get to kids/teachers/community members.
o Anyone interested in helping in preparation for this or to help the day of, please contact Kate Dodge at
§ Need volunteers to set up sponsorship at each hole, to help with day-of registration, photographers for team pictures, score tabulators, getting prizes for awards
· Open house tentatively scheduled for October 13th.
o Traditional spaghetti menu to be changed to a harvest dinner.
o Parent volunteers needed to “man” the PIE information table.
o Donations will be asked for to pay for the dinner and to be a fundraiser.
o More information will be shared at the October PIE meeting. Please contact Kelli Brown if you want to learn more.
· Recycle Bowl Competition
o A teacher shared that students can participate in this. Parent educators needed to help raise awareness of recycling programs.
§ Safe Routes to School (encourages more kids to walk/bike to school where it is safe, and to identify unsafe routes to improve them). Programs such as the “Walking School bus”, mini-grants, and classroom education is offered through this organization. This is a national program with local support from VTRANS. Looking for a co-facilitator
o
§ PIE t-shirts available for volunteers to wear on the day of ($12 per shirt).
- Things We’d like to see in the future:
o Master Calendar
o Bob elaborated that there are 2 school-wide fund raising efforts (fall and spring) with proceeds going to each classroom based on their earnings.
§ If the fall one is successful enough, there may not need to be a spring fundraiser.
§ No classrooms/teams endorsed to do independent fund raising.
§ Sometimes kids ask to spark their own fundraising efforts based on their own ideas (raising money for Irene victims, cancer research, etc)
§ Some parents asked for more information about where the money goes to support.
§ 50% of the proceeds go to the school. Some discussion was had about allowing/offering parents to write a check instead of buying/selling fund raising products.
o K-4 Play
o Enrichment programs
o Fund planning and fund raising
o A committee to continue refining the process of starting/sustaining an organization.
o School House Saving through the Bank of Middlebury
o Box Tops/Campbell Soup Labels
o Greater connection between HCS school board activities and PIE meeting agendas
** See chart on last page of notes for the names of those who have volunteered and where there is still space/a need for volunteers!!
- Action Items: (To be done before the next PIE meeting)
· Ali: Create PIE List Serve for those attending (and those who want continued updates)
· Kate to write more about the golf tournament and hole sponsorship for this week’s Viking (one scholarship
· Jen will send out an e-mail to find out how to match a middle school student with a scholarship offering.
· Jen will e-mail the chair of the school board to open the conversation about how to increase visibility at PIE meetings.
· Alyssa and Bob will talk to other staff members to find a co-facilitator for the PIE group.
PIE Meetings to be held on the first Monday of the month at 6 pm
(Next meeting October 3rd)
PIE roles & volunteers
K-2 representation:
Parent: Kim Gordon
Staff: Alyssa Lasher
Grades 3-5 representation:
Parent Carla Wuthrich and Renee Durochia
Staff: Joyce Wright
Grades 6-8 representation:
Parent: Pam Mathews and Patti Drew
Staff: Steve Hyde
Co-Chairs: Jen Prue and Staff (to me named later)
Facilitator: Carla Wuthrich
Treasurer: Heather Way
Communication/PR: Kate Dodge, Sue Hopeener, Kim Gordon
Secretary: Ali Douglas
HCS School Board representative: TBA
Unified Arts Representative: TBA
Administration Representative: Bob/Jeff
K-4 Play: Joy O’Neil and Kate Peterson
Staff Appreciation: Ali Douglas, Sue Hoeppner, Jamie Cudney
Funds Planning: Kim Gordon, Calen King, Alyssa Lasher, Jaime Cuden, Alesia Depot
Process Improvement Team (PIT Crew): Patti Drew, Jen Prue, Ali Douglas
