Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Updates from the Bath Elementary PTA posted May 25, 2010

News from the Bath Elementary PTA:

At the May 11th PTA, the following individuals were nominated as officers for the Bath Elementary PTA Board for the 2010-2011 academic school year:

President: Geniene Marco
Vice President (Dike Newell): Kate Foye
Vice President (Fisher Mitchell): Laurie Burhoe
Treasurer: Lisha Wentworth
Secretary: Claire Berkowitz

Additional nominations will be accepted until the next PTA meeting on June 8th at 6:30 p.m. at the Fisher Mitchell school. At that time, there will be a vote to determine officers for the 2010-2011 school year. Please join us for this final Bath Elementary PTA meeting of the year!

A Fond Farewell to Mikaela Rios, Bath Elementary PTA Board Member!
It is with a heavy heart this week that we bid a fond farewell to Mikaela Rios and her family, daughter Kateri, son Nate and husband Ron as they move from Bath, bound for their military transfer first to Virginia and then to the country of Estonia. Mikaela's dedication to the Bath Elementary PTA knew no bounds as she dedicated so much time and talent to our PTA initiatives this year, and in her role as Secretary on our Board. Mikaela assures us she will come back to visit regularly, and even while she's overseas we will continue to share our accomplishments with her and wait for her tales from abroad. Mikaela, you will be missed!

An enormous thank you to the Davenport Foundation for funding summer camp scholarships for 77 Dike Newell & Fisher Mitchell students, and to the camp organizations involved for donating matching weeks!

We are truly blessed to live in a city with philanthropic foundations like the Davenport Trust, who recognizes that children should be given the chance to experience the joys of summer camp. Thanks to their generous gift, the Bath Elementary PTA worked closely with guidance/social workers Gretchen Brinkler and Suzanne Paule to award 77 weeks (1 week awards per child) of summer camp to families with a financial need. The generosity of the Davenport Trust was matched by the camp organizations themselves who all donated matching weeks to the scholarship program. A heartfelt thank you to the Bath Area Family YMCA, Mid Coast Gymnastics, Wolfe's Neck Farm, Kids Down Under, Sea Spray Kayak Camp, the Bath Recreation Department, Camp CREA, Morris Farm, the Maine Maritime Museum, the Theatre Project and Bowdoin Day Camp. Our children will never forget your generosity!

A Call for Volunteers for the City of Bath's Bike & Pedestrian Committee:
The Bath Bike & Pedestrian meetings meet the third Thursday of the month at 3:00pm at the Rec Department. The group is currently working on getting survey out to Bath residents to identify areas for improvement to make Bath that much more walkable & bike-able. The survey will also help to prioritize improvement projects as they arrive. Anyone interested in this effort can just show up at the meetings or contact Jim Upham at the City Planning Office, 443-8363, jupham@cityofbath.com.


Want to stay in touch with the PTA? Here's how!

Email: bathelementarypta@gmail.com
Blog: www.bathelementaryptablog.blogspot.com (read the minutes from our May 11th meeting if you missed it).
Facebook: Become a fan of "Bath Elementary PTA in Bath, Maine"

Minutes from May 11th PTA Meeting

Bath Elementary PTA
5/11/10 Meeting
Meeting held at the Dike Newell Library


PTA OFFICERS IN ATTENDANCE:
Heidi Tucker, President; Heidi Franklin, Vice President (D/N); Geniene Marco, Vice President (F/M); Lori Harper, Treasurer; Mikaela Rios, Secretary.

WELCOME:
Heidi Tucker began the meeting at 6:30pm.

NOMINATIONS:
Heidi Tucker introduced Kate Foye and listed the Nominees for next year’s Bath Elementary PTA Board:

President: Geniene Marco
Vice President for FM: Laurie Burhoe
Vice President for DN: Kate Foye
Secretary: Claire Berkowitz
Treasurer: Lisha Wentworth

Nominees will be announced in the school newsletters this week. At the June 8th meeting, other nominees can be announced and voting will take place.

It was suggested that the responsibility of running the meeting be rotated among the board so the President doesn’t have all the pressure of running every meeting. Heidi T. also suggested virtual meetings instead of Board Meetings (these meetings typically happen a week before each PTA meeting).

SECRETARY’S REPORT:
The minutes of the April 14, 2010 meeting were approved as-is. The minutes are always posted on the blog.

TREASURER’S REPORT:
The coin drive raised $782! We had about $1964 in payments. The current balance is $9,216.80. $3000 of that is for camp scholarships (money already given to us by Davenport Trust).
VOTE: Treasurer’s Report Approved.

It was decided that if we have enough money left in the PTA account by the June meeting, we will give Visa gift cards of up to $50 per teacher (27 teachers) to use for classroom supplies for the new school year. These would be given to the teachers in June. Details can be decided at the June meeting.
VOTE: Approved up to $1360 ($50 per 27 teachers).


OLD BUSINESS:

Summer Camp Scholarships:
Heidi Tucker updated us that we’ve had 80 kids apply for 40 funded camp scholarships. Many camps matched weeks this year, so with matching contributions, 62 kids can go to camp. Heidi is still trying to place the other 18 kids. The Davenport Trust will know by this Thursday if they can fund more or not.

World Language Update:
Marie James gave an update that the School Board unanimously passed a decision to pursue elementary world language for grades 4 and 5 (possible grade 3, too), and the middle school to use Rosetta Stone with a World Language teacher session once a week, and the High School to use Rosetta Stone exclusively.


NEW BUSINESS:

Theater Opportunities during school year:
Heidi T. will check with Larry about a 6/14 field trip to Maine State Music Theater for 3rd and 4th graders to see “Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing” sponsored by the Davenport Trust.

Theater Opportunities during summer:
The Davenport Trust has 250 “Alice in Wonderland” tickets they’d like to offer to our students. The production is on 8/25. Heidi T. will find out if Kim and Delyse can hand out tickets on a first come, first served basis in August. PTA will mail a letter to all families in August, reminding families of this theater opportunity and telling them where to get their tickets. Also included in the mailing will be a letter encouraging membership in the PTA.
VOTE: Approved $150 - $200 for postage.


FUND REQUESTS:

Susan Cyr:
Mrs. Cyr followed up on a previous request for 2 microphones and one stand, totaling $470.
VOTE: Approved $470

Candy Hernandez:
Mrs. Hernandez requested an extra $50 to purchase extra sets of the Chickadee Award Books, as the students are very excited about reading them.
VOTE: Approved $50
VOTE: Approved the $100 from budget allotted to D/N library, as well as $100 for the F/M library. All monies will be sent to Bath Book Shop so the librarians will have a credit there.

Retirement Gifts:
VOTE: Approved $50 Visa Gift Card for retiring teachers/staff and secretary appreciation.


PRINCIPAL’S & PUBLIC’S COMMENTS:

None


NEXT MEETING:
Next Meeting is June 8, 2010 at the Fisher Mitchell Library.

NUMBER IN ATTENDANCE AT MEETING