PTA Meeting Minutes January 14, 2019

• By : Trish Mitchell
• February 25, 2019 February 25, 2019
• Home Page, Meeting Minutes, News
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Molly Colling: Welcome to all who are here. Second semester seems to be off to a good start. A few housekeeping reminders: make sure you sign in, and grab a slice of pizza. If you’re using the childcare option tonight, please compensate our teen chaperones. There are a few copies of October’s meeting minutes floating around if you’d like to look at them.

Treasurer’s Report Lex Morrison: We had an amazing turnout for BASH this year. We raised a little over $8000.00. Ruth Farrington and Nicole Brown led up this effort and headed the committee of folks who contributed to the success of this event. From a budget perspective, we are sitting well. We are $1100 ahead in the budget this year. Lex has a copy of the current budget available for anyone who would like to see it.

Principal’s Report Dr. Haynes: We were unable to find a boys’ basketball coach for intramurals. We offer the position to staff members, parents, etc., and did not find anyone. We’ll try for boys’ football and girls’ volleyball. We are partnering with Waypoint to offer a dance club after school for kids. o Just a couple reminders – classroom photos are coming up this Friday, January 18th. That afternoon, we also have Kindergarten Roundup. We usually have around 20-30 families that round up with us. o Harrison has had closed enrollment for 5 years now after we experienced large class sizes. We fought hard to close enrollment and it has been that way for 5 years. Class sizes have become much smaller during this time. What it’s also done is pulled our enrollment down. It was a significant decrease but one that needed to happen. I am now being approached to open up enrollment at Harrison again. At this point, we are still closed, but this may change. Even siblings are not eligible for attendance at Harrison as long as the closed enrollment continues. Enrollment may open up for kindergarten and first grade. Everybody wants to come here, and it is not a bad problem to have. We are comfortable and class sizes are where research says they should be. o January 23rd is I Love Public Schools Day. Also, no school on January 21st for MLK Day. o Mrs. Herzog sustained an injury (rupture to Achilles tendon) while playing with her kids and is out, possibly, for another 2-3 weeks. Haynes has listened to her voice mails and is keeping up with things. Mrs. Shafer is substituting for now and she has experience working in our guidance classroom from previous years. We will welcome Mrs. Herzog back in a few weeks, on a scooter.

Formative testing / MAP testing is happening right now – these are not high-stakes tests. These show us where kids are at and where we need to take them next. The end-of-the-year, high-stakes testing will be in April. The OWH showed a school rating scale – Harrison was rated ‘good’ but should be ‘great.’ Haynes has appealed this rating. The majority of OPS schools fell into ‘good’ or ‘great,’ and a few were ‘excellent.’ Haynes sent over 422 documents to appeal our rating. Scores are based on achievement but other things as well. Harrison consistently scores above district average. Science scores went down a little last year which may have hurt us. Schools are also scored on things like family and community partnerships, parent partnerships, and staff development. We were three points away, and anyone within five points could appeal. o The staff in attendance tonight are Mrs. Portis, Mrs. Lenz, Ms. Prieksat, Mrs. Fischer, and Mrs. Barsness.

Old Business

The staff appreciation committee did a lot of work for holiday gifts, and this comes from the whole membership so we wanted to share a little of that. Jennifer Woolf showed the clipboards that the committee designed and created for the teachers and personalized with their names. There are extra clipboards and supplies leftover from that. This committee also does birthday gifts/treats, treats during testing, staff wish lists, and lunch for conferences. The teacher and staff appreciation lunch is coming up too. o Update about combined teacher/staff appreciation week (Dr. Haynes): In the past, teacher and staff appreciation took two huge weeks and everyone ended up spending lots of money – it was great but got to be a bit much. Now it will be combined into one week. This should be much easier to coordinate for everyone, PTA included.

Yearbook (Annie Johnson): The yearbook deadline is coming up at the end of February, and now is the time to send in your photos from this year, teachers included! We especially need photos of classroom activities and clubs – like Girls on the Run and Student Council and other special groups. The yearbook will have a comic book theme this year – it’s very cool! Thanks in advance for anything you’re willing to send in.

New Business

Star Grant recipients: We were able to fund all of the Star Grants this year. But the only people that really know about these grants are the people who applied and the people who were on the committee, so we wanted to give you a chance to hear from some of the teachers whose Star Grants were funded.

• Mrs. Portis and Mrs. Lenz: We have a wonderful mindfulness specialist/former teacher who comes in and covers more than just yoga. The kids learn different breathing techniques. She does yoga with them through music and stories. Mrs. Lenz brought letters that her students wrote about what they get out of learning about mindfulness. They work on improved attention, controlling emotions, better behavior, empathy and understanding others, test anxiety, and stress. Second grade also has morning meetings where the kids hear a story that helps them focus for the week. Mrs. Portis and Mrs. Lenz are using the mindfulness strategies in their everyday teaching as well.
• Mrs. Prieksat: Brain Pop has short educational videos – up to 5 minutes long – that give different kinds of information. The videos cover lots of topics – not just library. Mrs. Prieksat uses it a lot to review strategies for things like doing research and paraphrasing, etc. They can watch a video and take a short quiz. The program includes related reading and games and gives kids a refresher or just another way to make the information come alive besides a teacher telling them. There are some Brain Pop videos that can be accessed from home for free (Brain Pop Jr.). The free stuff on Brain Pop is limited – like a video of the week. Brain Pop Jr. does a video of the day.
• Mrs. Barsness: First grade got a Star Grant to go to the Safari Park. It’s important to take the kids out of the classroom and into the real world. They can see how big a bison is, look at living and non-living things, actually see an eagle up close, get out and pet some animals. It’s a good application to what we do in the classroom.

As you can see from these examples, Star Grants offer an array of different activities and opportunities for Harrison teachers and students.

Hearts for Harrison (Lex Morrison): We’ve been working on different ways to tweak our fundraising process. Starting February 1, we are following through on a project through the Omaha Schools Foundation. It is a direct ask campaign where everyone will get an email saying that we are doing a direct donation campaign. This is a way for us to avoid having kids sell things. A great thing about this is that you can pass along the link to extended family members, alumni, etc. This will broaden the base from which we get funding. Our goal this year is to raise $1500 during the month of February. We may do some classroom competitions. You’ll be seeing posts on FB and getting emails. Some schools do this as their only fundraising method. This will not likely be the case for Harrison. Another great thing about this is that 100% of every donation goes toward Harrison – there are no administrative fees. It will be shareable for everyone through the OSF website as well. We are really excited about this. Be on the lookout in the weeks to come for more information. Right now our goal is to hit it hard in February, and if we hit our number, close the campaign. We also might continue through the duration of the school year. We are still having these conversations. We’re not targeting the money toward a specific thing, but just general support for our outreach and other school events. There will be a budget committee in the spring that can help us reallocate money or make changes to the budget. There are always unexpected events where it’s nice to have extra resources.

Science and Art Fair: In the past, this has been a big process and we’ve been talking about ways that this might look the same or different this year. If you’d like to be part of this committee but didn’t originally sign up, please sign up tonight (list being passed around) or contact the PTA if you’d like to participate in this committee / conversation.

Other committee opportunities: The 6th grade celebration and carnival committees are still welcoming more members. The 6th grade celebration has happened in the past in lieu of a graduation ceremony. There is a send-off party at school and then an off-site activity (last year it was bowling). PTA has shouldered a lot of the responsibility for this in the past. It’s a busy activity, and we’d love to have more volunteers. The committee has been mostly 6th grade parents in the past. Carnival is May 17th this year. It is not as much of a fundraiser as BASH, but we still like to come out ahead. If you’re interested in any other committees, please let us know.

Robotics: They are having a short gathering after tonight’s meeting. Harrison earned first place at the first Robotics competition in two categories. The teams have made a lot of progress. Haynes got good feedback from the Saint Margaret Mary principal as well about our students’ great sportsmanship, respect, collaboration, etc. Harrison will host a Robotics tournament on February 16th – please come! It’s come-and-go for all ages. There is lots of food, and it’s a great way to see what happens in Robotics in person.

PTA Board positions: Next year, we will need a new treasurer and vice president on the PTA board. We have monthly board meetings and monthly meetings with Dr. Haynes. Please let us know if you’re interested in learning more!

Landscaping award: Although this wasn’t on the agenda, Dr. Haynes asked us to give a little update since many people have come forward with questions. Unfortunately, this has not been a smooth journey. We have been disappointed in the response from Kinnan Scaping. Dr. Haynes and the PTA are working together with TAC to try to figure things out. We got posts for the sun shade donated, but unfortunately they were not suitable. We are still hopeful that some of the basic landscaping needs will be met, but the winter season has interrupted things. We all stayed up late voting – but it turned into a bit of a nightmare. The problems have come from the individual we’re working with and some of TAC’s guidelines clashing with each other. TAGG has been contacted and has slightly pushed back but to no avail. We’re not done. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like it will be what we envisioned when we won, but we had no way of knowing this would happen. We left this off of the agenda for the meeting because very little has changed since our last meeting – we are hoping the conversation will pick up again after this winter.

Upcoming Events

January 28th– Family Night at Raising Canes; Raising Canes has been very generous in helping us with Bash. We’re trying to create a reciprocal partnership based on that. This will take place from 4:00- 11:00 at the Raising Canes on 71st and Dodge. A percentage of your purchase will come back to Harrison. o February 1-28th – Hearts for Harrison

February 14th– Classroom Parties; Room parents should be on the lookout for more info about this

February 16th- Robotics Tournament at Harrison; An online signup will be coming out for volunteer opportunities. No experience needed!

February 18th – No School

March 7-8th – No School/Parent Teacher Conferences

March 11-15th – Spring Break o March 25th-29th – Penny Wars; Please note that this date has shifted. This is a competition among classes to raise money. Last year we made $1100.00!

Special program

Toni Choquette is the parent of a second grader at Harrison. She is a literacy specialist at Liberty Elementary as well as a Harrison parent. She “invited herself” to speak because of how much she loves Harrison and appreciates the parent support and principal support. She is very passionate about reading and loves informing parents about reading and teaching children how to read. She struggled with reading

growing up. She had parent support but not the kind of resources and strategies that would have made her reading process easier.

Toni talked to us about creating a literate home. Parents are their child’s first teacher and the same strategies apply to us as they do to teachers. The purpose of reading is always understanding / comprehension; even if a child can read the words, they may not be comprehending them. There are many things parents can do to foster comprehension. We need to think past the 5 W’s. We don’t all have the time to sit next to our kids while they read, and we often ask them questions like, “What? Where? When? Why?” but this doesn’t always lend itself to a conversation.

Text tagging/coding is a strategy for readers to capture their thinking while reading and to be aware in the moment of what they are reading. It’s the difference between deeper thinking vs. surface level and helps readers slow down and monitor their thinking. If you practice this at home, your kids will be impressed. Kids get a stack of sticky notes and use them to “tag” their text while they’re reading. A simpler one to use at home is visualizing. This asks kids to use their five senses, like making a movie. They tag with a “v,” and then kids can show their sticky notes and explain their thinking about what they read. Connecting is a another strategy. “This reminds me of . . . “ (text, self, world). They tag with a “C” on sticky note. Questioning (wonder about characters, outcomes, new info, concepts, etc.) – tag with a “?” Inferencing (reading between the lines/drawing conclusions) – tag with “I.”

They can tag in other ways too that work for them: “L” (I learned something), “!,” “LOL,” heart shape, or smiley face.

This is a great way to have a positive interaction with your child at home about reading. Text tagging is happening at Harrison but we’ve never shared strategy with parents.

Meeting Minutes – August 27, 2018

• By : Trish Mitchell
• September 10, 2018 September 10, 2018
• Home Page, Meeting Minutes, News
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Welcome: Molly Colling

• Thanks to all for coming to the first meeting of the year. We hope you find this a good time for connecting and learning about what students experience at Harrison. Our board members for the year are Molly Colling (president), Scott Gillespie (vice president), Lex Morrison (treasurer), and Annie Johnson (secretary).
• Four important to-do’s: Make sure membership and directory forms are completed by September 7th; pay attention to volunteer opportunities on the back. We will walk through some of the committees tonight because they are timely and coming up soon. We encourage everyone to subscribe to the PTA calendar. Try to meet someone new.

Treasurer’s Report: Lex Morrison

• Last year, we were being very careful with our budget. For our revenues we came in at $500 less than we had budgeted for the entire year. Thanks to everyone who contributed and participated. The budget, at this point, is pretty uninteresting since it’s so early in the school year. One important thing to know is that we offer teacher reimbursement for supplies that teachers buy for their classrooms, and some of those forms have already come in. We have also paid the PTA insurance for the year. Last year’s carnival was a huge success; we exceeded our revenue plan and kept costs low. It was a night when you just love to be at Harrison because there were so many people here connecting and having fun. Please contact Lex if you’d like to know more about how PTA funds are distributed.

Principal’s Report: Andrea Haynes

• We have many staff members here tonight: Quackenbush, Barnes, Barber, Yuskovich, Stuthman, Copenharve, Herzog, Brodkey. What we are going to do tonight is roll out some information about bigger things happening at Harrison. Tonight, that is MTSSB, which stands for multi-tiered systems of support. Every school in OPS has had to roll this out at some point, and Harrison is in the last round. There were some schools that really needed assistance, but the teachers and staff here are rockstars. We have the highest scores for school climate and the lowest for referrals.
• We have a new superintendent, Dr. Logan, from Philadelphia. She asked schools to roll out a new mission statement and mascot. We have an official tiger, and our new mission statement is: “Teach. Lead. Succeed.” The staff theme is “We Are Harrison.” Along with that we have a new vision statement: “Through high expectations and caring hearts, the Harrison staff and school community will ensure success for EVERY student!” We have a mission and every single day our staff work toward that collaboratively with parents and community partners. MTSSB is designed to support and teach students appropriate behavior in school through defined rules and expectations, lesson plans that teach expected behaviors, rewards and recognitions, and consequences for misbehavior. This was previously called citizenship plan. We had to choose school rules that students would be able to say if a staff person asked them. We decided to make them pretty easy since they already say them every day in the Harrison Daily Pledge. We say it every day, emphatically. We took the rules and wove them into what we were already saying every day.
• Dani Herzog: Positive recognition. Classroom management plus behavioral building plan. Just as in years past, we have a principal’s treasure box to reward kids who show good behavior and choices. We now also have “Good ‘cents’ today” – for kids who may struggle but show that they are trying. This is a reward for them that boosts their esteem levels. E.g., “We saw you doing this, we saw that you usually have a tough time, but you used good sense today.” They turn this in to the main office and they can put a quarter into a candy machine and get a reward. Quiet Lunch Friday will continue. Student Council and 6th Grade Ambassadors give students leadership opportunities. There will be “You’re one terrific tiger” quarterly letters home: teachers will pick two students each quarter to send a letter home and reinforce good behavior and choices. We will continue to have quarterly Citizenship Assemblies for kids who haven’t had a PAC referral; they do a fun activity or presentation at the assembly. Kids don’t always get the recognition they deserve and this helps with that.
• Carrie Cophenharve: Consequences. Five steps. 1. First warning: verbal; 2. Second warning: stop and think / extended verbal reminder; 3. Third warning: buddy room, then return to class; 4. Fourth warning: PAC room; 5. Fifth warning: office referral (severe, doesn’t happen very often). Teachers have a clipboard to know where students are in their plan. This is tracked on the computer to track patterns of behavior that can be prevented or worked on constructively. It helps us keep track of what’s going on and what we’re doing to help. Students start with a blank slate every day. The first two steps are not necessarily relayed to parents, sometimes the third is, and always the fourth and fifth. And if it’s consistent, then parents know. Andrea Haynes: It’s an important point that we track this data because this affects other students too.
• Nicole Quackenbush and Abby Barnes: Booster Lesson Plans. We sometimes assume that the rules at home match the rules at school, but this isn’t always the case. There are plans for following directions, using the restroom, playing outside, attending assemblies; you name it, there’s plans for it. We want common language for everybody, so teachers rolled these out last week. A lot of these rules are for safety reasons. They create boundaries between school rules and family/home rules (for instance, playing on the playground may be different after school than it is during school hours). Most teachers are already doing these lessons, so this wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but it unified the language being used. Andrea Haynes: The student handbook goes over the consequences for different behaviors. We have a very safe school where the majority of students are following the rules every single day. The handbook can tell you the district consequences (which we have to follow). Some kids will work toward a goal of attending a citizenship assembly. The majority of the students are attending the assemblies (90+%). The younger grades do not have as much of an issue as the older grades.
• Andrea Haynes: Yearly goals. Every elementary school has to turn in focused goals for every year. 1. Guided reading; differentiated individual reading instruction so that advanced readers and beginning readers’ needs are both being met. 2. MAP reports 3. Growth mindset with mathematics; students’ ability to be good in math is always changing and growing 4. New science standards, Elevate Science. After spending millions of dollars on science curriculum, the district had to buy all new science books this year. It seems pretty silly to us that we went through Pierson training last year and now we’re doing this new curriculum. It feels hands-on and more meaningful, but I don’t think we needed a whole new curriculum to do it.
• Andrea Haynes: Other updates. Explanation of losing our Pre-K classroom. We have had a phenomenal parent-pay Pre-K program. If you’re upset, I’m sorry. I fought hard to try to turn that bus around, but it was not happening. New Attendance Initiative – Strive for 95, reduce absences by 5%. $10,000 landscaping grant is moving slower than expected. New technology has come to the building. An HP Streams laptop cart is being used by 6th grade students.
• Molly: Dr. Haynes will be here for all of our meetings. We’re open to your ideas that you’d like her to address.

Old Business: Molly Colling

• Our last PTA meeting was last April. The meeting minutes are being passed around and will be sent out to our membership list after each meeting. The meeting minutes were unanimously approved.
• Nicole Brown: TAGG summer classroom challenge. The second and sixth grade classrooms won the TAGG summer challenge. TAGG is an app on your phone that generates “free money” for Harrison. There are places all over the city where you can TAGG. It’s super simple. You spend money at these places, and take a picture of your receipt with the app. 5-10% of proceeds go to Harrison. We did a challenge over the summer and raised $384. That’s really great. 2nd grade had the most TAGGS, but 6th grade earned the most money. Those classrooms will get popcorn parties. Popcorn will be popped outside. If anyone wants to help on Sept. 12th, Nicole could use it!
• T-shirts. Nicole has examples to look at. Order forms are due by Friday, September 7 th. There are extras available.
• BASH is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year, and many families come. We have a silent auction, dance, dinner, games, etc. Please consider donating something for the silent auction or inquiring at local businesses or workplaces. This is one of the biggest ways we raise money for STAR grants and teacher appreciation. We will pick a theme for this year’s bash but haven’t done it yet. Room parents create BASH baskets for auction; we will likely do this again. Ruth Farrington and Nicole Brown will answer questions if you have them.
• Angela Smith: Landscaping update. We won the TAGG landscaping challenge. We were the top vote-getter and had an interview and “wooed” Brandon from Kinnan Lanscaping. Brandon is donating his time for this and wrangling people to donate materials. Dr. Haynes had the great idea of polling the teachers for their thoughts. We also welcome parent suggestions – it’s not too late. It helps us establish a wish list for future landscaping.
• Annie Johnson: I am the yearbook coordinator and welcome parent and teacher submissions of photographs throughout the school year. Please email them to anniejohnson78@gmail.com. You may have noticed that there was some new language in the photo release form (green sheet sent home on the first day of school). This is related to using photos on social media. We are hoping to create more social media engagement this year. If you have questions about the photo release, please talk to Annie Johnson.
• Molly Colling: All of us have to go through the volunteer application process to attend anything Harrison-related during the school day. Andrea Haynes: If you are not going to be alone with a child, you don’t have to do a Level 3 (background check), but you do have to do a level 2, even to have lunch at school with your child. Dr. Haynes approves Level 2. If you attend a field trip, you would likely have to complete a Level 3. We were highly encouraged to do this by the district. If you did one last year, you need to it again this year. Please try to complete this at the beginning of the year. It’s good for a year. If you’re not sure which level you checked, you have to log back in and bring up your application, or Mrs. Davey can look for you. For large Harrison school events, the clearance is not necessary, but for anything that’s not a school-wide event permission is needed. If you did it last year and you remember your username and password, your info will still be on the form.
• Molly Colling: Star Grants are an opportunity for Harrison teachers to apply for something they’d like implemented in their classroom (field trips, special activities, items, etc). PTA budgeted $2400
  for Start Grants, an increase from last year. Unfortunately, this large chunk of money doesn’t cover ALL Star Grant applications. PTA members (not board members) go through a rubric to rank the applications. It’s a great volunteer opportunity for new parents. Applications will be due September 28th. If there is a staff member who’s NOT applying for a Start Grant, we encourage them to join the committee. It’s difficult to be biased due to the rubric; this helps to prevent parents from being biased toward their own classroom.
• Ruth Farrington: Scoops of Support. Harrison is joining four midtown OPS schools in a cool fundraiser. A dollar from every pint of Cool Cats ice cream sold at eCreamery will come back to
  the school. The entire proceeds will be divided by the four schools. The ice cream is vanilla with M&Ms, Oreos, and cookie dough. It’s just the pints that bring back money to Harrison. Our day is
  September 19th – the proceeds will go just to Harrison on that day. It’s not just the pints that day, it’s everything. We’ll be promoting between 4-8 p.m. Annie will take yearbook pictures. Each of
  the four schools picked a sundae. Ours is called Tiger Tracks, vanilla with caramel and brownie rights. They’ll tally this and it will be a friendly competition. If you have questions, please contact
  Ruth Farrington.
• Lex Morrison: Hearts for Harrison. We’ve looked over our fundraising opportunities over the last few years, and we wanted to try something new. This will be a direct campaign. We’ll do this in February and connect it to Valentine’s Day. You can make a direct donation to the PTA. It’s a great way for family members outside of Omaha to feel like they’re supporting the school. It’s a tax deductible donation. This has been successful in other schools. If anyone else has fundraising ideas they’d like to share, please let us know.

The meeting ended with a “What to Expect” activity asking small groups to match different Harrison milestones with the grade level when they happen.

The next meeting will be Monday, October 1st, at 6:00 p.m.

April 2 Meeting Minutes

• By : Katherine Fischer
• April 9, 2018 August 5, 2018
• Home Page, Meeting Minutes, News
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Opening Meeting: Nicole Brown, PTA President

Approval of January 2018 Minutes

• Matt Wynn moves to approve, we have a second. All in favor unanimously approve the minutes.

Year In Review (Nicole Brown)

• This year has gone fast and slow all at the same time. We’d like to say thank you for all the help and participation that everyone has provided.
  • Stand up if you…
    • are a room parent or served on a committee
    • are a teacher or staff member
    • donated any item or good or money for anything during the year
    • volunteered for an event
    • attended a PTA meeting
  • Also a big thank you to Dr. Haynes and the office staff: we meet every month for over an hour, sometimes over 2 hours, and she graciously gives us her time and her ear.
    • Office staff help us with so much like making copies, etc.
  • Whether you think it’s big or small, we are so appreciative of everyone’s efforts and support of the PTA throughout this year.

Principal’s Report (Dr. Haynes)

• State testing: this month we kick off testing for grades 3-6. You got a letter with your child’s state testing times. If not, email me or come see me and we’ll get that clarified. Good news: there is only 1 session for each content area this year. If you’d like to come chat about state testing, I’m always happy to talk with parents about questions and concerns.
• We’ll be halfway through 4th quarter in 9 days, so you’ll be getting progress reports home soon.
• National walk out day planned in response to school shootings on Friday, April 20th. We as elementary staff don’t plan on having conversations with the students unless it comes up in genuine meaningful conversations. If any of your kids walk out, we’ll notify you, and then after 20 minutes they’ll go back to class. As long as they stay on property and stay safe and respectful, we absolutely respect their right to be heard and to demonstrate their voice.
  • If you have any questions about safety or security here, I sent out an email recently, and I’d also be happy to talk with you.
• Calendar: April & May are full!
  • Robotics: So proud of all our teams! They have worked so hard and did amazing at the regional tournament. On Apr. 5 our teams will be participating in the national tournament at the MidAmerica Center during the day.
  • Monday, April 9 we have 5th grade dancing classrooms.
  • On April 13, there is no school for a teacher planning day. It’s a districtwide day.
  • Disney: We’re so excited. I got to watch rehearsal this past Thursday, and it’s amazing! Our kids are the most talented in the city. We’re so thankful to Mr. Stuthman, Mrs. Rivedal, Ms. Prieksat, Ms. Goodrich and Mrs. Herzog. Please join us that night even if your student isn’t in the musical! (Dates and times are listed below).
• Introducing staff in attendance: Mrs. Quackenbush, Mrs. Portis, Ms. Behrens, Ms. Brodkey & Ms. Birkemeier.

Treasurer’s Report (Lex Morrison)

• Status of Accounts
  • Things are continuing to go along well. We’ve kept expenses low, so thank you to all of you on committees and helping with events who’ve been mindful of our budgets.
  • We do have some big outflows of cash still coming in the year, like Carnival.
  • We had a few parents volunteer to help us talk about the budget for next year. At our last meeting we asked for volunteers to help look at the budget and come up with a plan for next year, and we did have some parents respond and help do that, so thank you! It’s just good to broaden the look at the budget outside the four of us board members; It’s so great to have other input on these things.
• 2018/2019 Budget Approval
  • We came up with a proposed budget for the next year. It’s slightly less than our budget last year, but because we’re getting better at watching expenses, we were still able to provide funds for some of the things that we feel are important.
  • Nicole: At our last meeting, we discussed whether we needed to do a “Hearts for Harrison” direct campaign. Shortly after that conversation, we ran a concessions stand at our Robotics tournament. Thankfully, because all of the food was donated, we were able to raise a significant amount on that day. Considering that, we decided as a board that it wouldn’t be in the best interest for us to do a direct campaign this year. It’s not necessary for this year, but we are putting it in the plan for next year.
  • Lex: the Robotics tournament was a smashing success. We ran on time, which those of you who attend robotics will know is amazing in and of itself, and we also made money, which was awesome.
  • Angela Smith motions we approve the proposed budget, Matt Wynn & Ruth Farrington both second the motion. All unanimously approve the budget.

New Business 

• Outdoor Classroom maintenance schedule
  • Angela Smith: We have a little cleanup to do from last fall. We’re coordinating a date with our cub scout group for that. We’ll remulch everywhere. It would be great to get some PTA volunteers to help Cub Scouts with that, and maybe to split some perennials to get everything looking nice. Throughout the summer we’ll have week-long “watches” to make sure we keep an eye on things, that everything is in good condition, and water as needed. We’d love your help with that, so be on the lookout for an email to sign up.
  • Nicole: It’s right out the gym doors, so if you’re not a Kindergarten parent and don’t see it regularly, go take a look because it’s really a cool project that we’re proud of.
• 2018-19 Board Nominations & Elections
  • Molly Colling (current PTA Vice President): The PTA truly is a collective impact, and it’s all of us working together. This year, we’ve asked a lot of people, been working hard to find candidates, but we’re not bringing forward a full slate of candidates. We have individuals who’ve expressed interest, but have no firm commitments. There is an opening for Secretary and Vice President. If you have any interest and want to have coffee or want to ask questions, please ask us. If you know of someone who might be a good fit, please let us know. Our work is for the benefit of all Harrison kids and families, so if you have any interest or leads, please contact us.
    • The board is recommending Lex Morrison for treasurer and myself, Molly Colling, for President.
    • Jennifer Woolf moves to accept, Ruth Farrington seconds. Unanimously approve those nominations.
  • Nicole: As scary as it can sound to not have a nomination, we do want to find the right person/people who can really make the commitment the role needs.
• Clothing Closet
  • Ms. Boden helps us manage our clothing closet. It’s a place where we can donate new or gently used items for any kids in need. We always update the needs on our website under “stock the closet.”
    • Right now there is a huge need for girls tennis shoes, sizes 13-2.

Upcoming Events (Nicole Brown)

• Disney Musical
  • All School Matinee Thursday, April 19 2:00 pm
  • Performances Friday, April 20 5:30/7:00 pm
    • We are considering doing pizza in between performances, depending on if we have enough interest. Be watching for communication about that.
  • Need volunteers to work Bake Sale and also for Bake Sale donations. We would so appreciate your support that night if you’re able to help.
• Carnival
  • One of our big fundraisers of the year, and also a really fun community event
  • Friday, May 11, 2018; 5:30pm-7:30pm. We’ve worked with Dr. Haynes to make sure that we can bring it inside if the weather is ugly. So it will happen rain or shine!
  • Look for Sign Up and Pre-Order Coming Soon!
  • We’re having a mtg tonight so if you’re interested in helping with that, please stay after to chat.
  • Invite your neighbors. We really want to invite our community—this is a really fun event and a great opportunity to get more people involved. A lot of families around here have “pre-Tigers,” and we want to encourage them to come be a part and start the relationship with our school community now. If you’re willing to pass out flyers to your neighbors, please let me know and we’ll get you flyers. It’s a great, easy way to volunteer.
  • 6th Grade Celebration – May 25
    • Small committee in the works, but no one as yet to head up that committee, so I’m looking for someone who’s interested in taking the lead with that.
  • Lex is now going to get the kids, and so we’re going to let the kids get filtered in so they can be a part of the rest of our programming.
• Harrison Elementary PTA Wiese Citizenship Award Presentation
  • (Molly Colling:) Jennie King, a Harrison alum who received this award “just a few years ago,” is going to present this year’s award to our recipient.
    • Jennie: I was the 2nd recipient of this award, so it’s quite an honor to be here to present it.
    • For many years, the PTA has honored a 6th grade student with a scholarship on behalf of Daniel Wiese, a former Harrison Elementary student who attended Harrison from 1975 through 1982. During Dan’s 6th grade year, he was diagnosed with leukemia. In 1982, Dan underwent a bone marrow transplant, which was first of such procedures involving a child in the State of Nebraska. Dan went on to attend Lewis and Clark Jr High School and graduated with his class at Central High School in 1988. Dan’s desire to help others with leukemia was a driving force in the formation of a support group at Clarkson Hospital for families involved with bone marrow transplants. Sadly, Dan passed away in the spring of 1989 from complications related to his illness. His determination to be successful and his positive attitude toward life are an inspiration to all who knew him. In 2016, the PTA membership voted to discontinue the scholarship and create a new award to honor students who exhibit exemplary citizenship qualities while still honoring the memory and legacy of Daniel Wiese.  6th grade students are nominated by their teachers and scored against a rubric of criteria inclusive of their efforts in the areas of work ethic, behavior, academic achievement, interpersonal skills and the 6 pillars of citizenship: honesty, compassion, respect, responsibility, courage and inclusivity.It is with great pride that this year that we honor Amy Fischer with The Harrison Elementary PTA Wiese Citizenship Award. Amy, will you and your family please join us up here at the front?Amy, on behalf of the Harrison Elementary PTA, we honor you for your dedication to honesty, compassion, respect, responsibility, courage and inclusivity and present you with this award. Please join me in congratulating these students and her family for their achievements. Amy, congratulations.  
• Science and Art Fair winners (Lex Morrison)
  • Science, K-3:
    • 3rd: Liam Cowherd Richardson
    • 2nd: Claire Wynn
    • 1st: Oliver Sewthaisong
  • Science, 4-6:
    • 3rd: TIE between Ella Shafer & Tessa Priesman and Nell Farrington
    • 2nd: Sophia Acosta
    • 1st: Ruth Gardner
  • Art K-3
    • 3rd: Amos Vignolo
    • 2nd: TIE Violet Little and Karen Vignolo
    • 1st place: Claire Wynn
  • Art 4-6
    • 3rd: TIE: June Little and Hugh Lowe-Weyand
    • 2nd: Paw Eh
    • 1st: Norah Hicks & Claire Shafer
  • Nicole Brown: Big thank you to parents’ efforts. We’ll open up the science and art fair now.

Program

• Science + Art Fair
• All projects, except 5th grade Science projects, should go home tonight!

April

13th – No School / Teacher Work Day

19th – Disney Musical Performance / All School Matinee 2:00 pm

20th – Disney Musical Performance / Performance – 5:30 / 7:30

May

4th – No School

7th – 11th – Teacher Appreciation Week

11th – Carnival – rain or shine, will move inside if needed

25th – 6th Grade Celebration / Last Day of School

Attendees:

Allison Birkemeier

Sherry Brodkey

Scott Gillispie

Seth & Ruth Farrington

Anjenette Justice

Sarah Wynn

Matt Wynn

Joel Fischer

Susan Beeghly

Kelly & Ben Little

Apirat & Seiko Lattison

Angela Smith

Rachel & Tak Yamamoto

Megan Campbell

Rebecca Firestone & Ohng Sewthaisong

Katie Coughran

Leo Acosta

Phillip Caylon

Alice Goodwin

Brian Priesman

T.J Shafer

Richard Young

Marion & Steve Priesman

Emily & Zach Winterwood

James & Kelly MacMillan

Beth Behrens

Jennifer & Vincent Woolf

Trish Mitchell

Deb Heimes

Wynetta & Keith Jones

Theresa Portis

Dan & Annie Johnson

Ben & Katherine Fischer

Anthony & Meredith Gardner

Hassan Bakhit

Jennie King

Bill & Molly Colling

Nicole Brown & Cecil Hicks

Lex Morrison

Andrea Haynes

January 29th Meeting Minutes

• By : Katherine Fischer
• February 5, 2018 August 5, 2018
• Home Page, Meeting Minutes, News
• No Comments

Opening & Welcome: Nicole Brown

Reading of Thank You Notes: Katherine Fischer

Approval of October 2017  Minutes

• Angela Smith moved to approve , Sarah Wynn second, all in favor unanimously.

Principal’s Report (Dr. Haynes) 

• We’re busy at Harrison, which is a great thing! We are so fortunate to have so much going on for our kids to be involved in. Ross Cotton is coaching boys basketball as a volunteer, we have Disney going on. We have robotics, and we won the honor award at the St. Margaret Mary tournament just recently.
• New 6th grade ambassadors will be announced tomorrow
• Midwest Tai Kwan Do is a great partnership we recently began. Master Todd is donating all $800 back to the school that he raised through registration costs.
• Waypoint Reading Club: We have a partnership with Waypoint Church, for which we’re very grateful. Offering tutoring/mentoring every Tuesday over the lunch hour. There are about 20 individuals who come over the lunch hour and volunteer to read to and mentor our refugee kids. This is a great school initiative in partnership with Waypoint Church. If you know of anyone who would like to volunteer and do this, that would be awesome. We have two volunteers who need to step down for unforeseen reasons, so we’ll be in need of someone to fill those spots. The time is somewhere between 11:30-12:30 every Tuesday.
• Progress Reports going home Friday.
• Successful Kindergarten roundup. Had about 22 families which was a good turnout.
• Next Week is School Counseling Week. I encourage you to reach out and thank Mrs. Herzog for a great first year!
• Tomorrow newsletter goes out
• Cecil Hicks: question: have you seen a spike in flu cases?
  • Dr. Haynes: we haven’t had a high enough amount to send out a CDC. Had a few cases of A & B. Snow days helped keep it from spreading (we deep cleaned during those days). Still working hard at having good sanitary practices. We have all the kids use hand sanitizer before they eat.
  • Mrs. Lenz: We’ve been using Lysol on everything, spraying tables every day.
  • Dr. Haynes: Clorox wipes are great! Teachers always really appreciate receiving more of those!
• Staff in attendance: Mrs. Lenz, Mrs. Y (BSP room), Ms. Johnson (resource special ed), Mrs. Anding (Speech and language pathologist), Ms. Goodrich (4th Grade), Mrs. Herzog (new guidance counselor)

Old Business

• BASH recap – $6864.13 net profit
  • Nicole: Big thank you for coming out and supporting BASH, and for being patient as we figured out accurate numbers. Last 2 years: we netted ~$4500, and ~$5000, respectively. So this year was a significant increase. Thank you so much to everyone who helped that effort!
  • This year we tried an online auction, with success. Huge thanks to Matt Wynn who helped navigate that! It was designed to reach a different audience so we’re not all recycling our own money.
• Ladies’ Day Out – Ruth Farrington
  • Jan 13 Saturday at Pranam Yoga Shala, we spent an afternoon in a yoga class and eating and mingling afterward. They donated their space and an instructor. We collected 27 new or gently used coats for the coat closet (bringing a coat was the entrance fee for the afternoon). It was a success and I think we’ll try to do it again next year.
• Robotics Update – Frank Luceri
  • We’re in the middle of our season, doing really well. We’ve had 2 tournaments. At both, one of our teams won the honor award.
  • Our own tournament at Harrison is coming up on Saturday, Feb 17 and we’re looking for volunteers. These are really fun. They’re like a swim meet: a lot of waiting around and then lots of excitement, and then more waiting around. We’re looking forward to it and we could use all the volunteer help we can get.
  • Nicole: We’re really lucky that at Harrison we have parent volunteers because we’re not using our sponsor money, so that can be reinvested in the program.
  • Dr. Haynes: only started this 5 years ago and we’re a force to be contended with!
• Teacher / Staff Appreciation – Jennifer Woolf
  • Bought umbrellas for all classrooms and in the office for dismissal. 5’ wide golf umbrellas that hopefully helps teachers at dismissal on those rainy days.
  • Holiday gift: microwave popcorn and a movie code
  • So far we’ve spent about half our budget with fall conferences, umbrellas, holiday gifts.
  • Spring Conference lunch: March 8. We’ll send out an email with an online sign up for donated food.
  • Teacher/Staff Appreciation Lunch on Friday, May 11. Hopefully Flagship Commons will be our food; Nicole has a connection there. If that doesn’t work we’ll find something really awesome.
  • Leaves a little extra money so I emailed Dr. Haynes for some ideas. We’ll do something around state testing time. Goodies in the lounge or something.
  • Nicole: Thank you so much, Jennifer!
  • Birthdays: We gift a little drink and snack for each teacher/staff member on their birthday
  • Nicole: If you’re looking for an easy fun way to volunteer that’s a great way. You can do it on your own time, it’s already organized and it’s an easy fun way to get involved.
• Yearbook (Nicole Brown)
  • Annie Johnson, who is running with our yearbook, couldn’t be here
  • Any teachers / staff, please send us your photos.
  • Dr. Haynes: I sent about 50 to Annie.
  • Annie won’t be able to be here on Valentine’s Day, so if you’re a room parent or are just planning to be here on that day, please take photos and send them to her.
  • Our deadline for submitting is beginning of March, so please send any photos off to her right away.
  • We don’t have any candid photos so far of sports or activities, so if you have those we’d really appreciate them.
  • And tell Annie thank you! It’s a big job and she’s done it cheerfully.
  • Her email is in the printed newsletter. The first info you’ll see about yearbook will be in the newsletter.

Treasurer’s Report (Lex Morrison)

• We wanted to have a conversation about where we are in the budget
• Checking balance – $13,226
• Year to date outlook
  • Additional revenue – $2,283.00
    • Soliciting corporate donations
    • Bump in TAGG: we’ve made ~$300 this year through that.
      • Nicole: this is not our own money, the store donates their money, so it’s a great way to get others’ money
  • Expense savings  – $786.13
    • BASH committee did an amazing job of keeping their expenses very low and were very mindful and it helped a ton.
  • Budgeted revenue –  $5,085.00
  • Budgeted expenses – $12,823.00
    • The way it works is we tend to raise all the money throughout the year and then spend it all at the end
  • Year to year difference in starting balance – [-$1,917.00]
  • No giant cause for alarm. We’re not going to not pay for anything we budgeted for this year.
  • Kristin Rasmussen: question: Any Amazon Smile revenue?
    • Nicole: very small percentage, we made half percent. We plug TAGG more because of the much higher percentage donated to us.
  • We have copies of the budget if anyone would like them.
  • Nicole: What we can do is either look to create a smaller budget for next year, do the hard look at where we’re going to cut back, or work really hard to raise that money (almost $2,000). Last year when we decided to cancel golf, we came up with a plan…Solicited about 20-30 businesses for corporate sponsorships, and it’s gotten us about $850. I’m a little disappointed in that, honestly. But I can’t spend more time analyzing why that is, we need to focus our efforts somewhere else that will generate the money we need.
    • TAGG idea: what if each classroom or grade level had a competition to have the parents submit receipts. I see it in the newsletter, but I wonder how many parents actually download the app. Even for non-PTA members, they might be convinced by the kids when they have an incentive.
      • Nicole: TAGG has a classroom challenge. What you suggested is a different twist on it, and I like it.
      • Lisa Vignolo: we could include a flyer with most common/popular businesses.
      • Nicole: great idea. I think it won’t make up $2,000, but I think the more we increase that participation and effort is awesome.
      • Sarah Wynn: isn’t there a way to ask businesses that don’t participate to join TAGG?
      • Nicole: Yes, absolutely. One of the largest TAGGS was from someone’s dry cleaning bill. The more places the better. Please try to get them on board if there are places you frequent that aren’t participating yet.
    • Mrs. Lenz: What happened to family dinner nights?
      • Deb Heimes: they kind of fizzled out. Don & Millie’s were easy to work with, and also Peffer’s, etc. We made about $75 per night.
    • Scavenger Hunt idea: do a picnic with it also.
    • Lex: Trivia Night. Adults only.
    • Game Night with $5 cover. Spielbound does that.
    • Deb Heimes: Carnival. Not usually a fundraiser, but is there something we could add onto that as fundraiser? Annie take a photo of each kid and then try to sell them to parents? Or some kind of auction?
      • Nicole: We are looking at upping food truck prices and collecting the margin, talked about doing a raffle, and also eliminating Fun Services (they do all setup, games, prizes, etc.). It makes it easy for us, but it costs us profit. It’s hard to get volunteers during the day, though, because it starts at 5:30. So having Fun Services is helpful.
      • Deb: Yes, canceling Fun Services would make it really labor intensive
    • Angela Smith: Question about Budgeted Revenue: Does expected revenue include what we expect from the Robotics Tournament?
      • Lex: does include what we expect from team fees, but not what we might expect from concession profits.
      • Deb Heimes: when we ran the snack bar a year ago, we made around $450-$500.
      • Nicole: awesome! that’s my hope! This year a parent is underwriting the kitchen fee so we can use the kitchen. Lori will come and supervise. Approved list of people who can go in the kitchen. The kitchen fee pays Lori and Joe (custodian) to be here. Baked goods is on the list for parents to donate.
      • Dr. Haynes: things served out of the kitchen has to be under Lori, but bake sale items have to be at a separate table since kitchen won’t “claim” those items.
    • Angela Smith: What about a direct campaign?
      • Nicole: We have looked at doing a direct campaign, that’s would be a really good option.
    • Nicole: We need to leave here tonight with a plan, and we need people who would be willing to help with whatever plan we feel good about.
    • Angela: I would vote for direct campaign. All these ideas have been great, and I don’t want to shoot any of them down, but planning and executing is difficult in this amount of time. As someone with a lot of experience in the non-profit world and with these fundraisers, I think a direct campaign seems the best option. And it could be even if families could give $5, so that it doesn’t exclude anyone.
      • Nicole: Open to any minimum amount. Very cognizant that we are a very diverse population of families, and we’d love for as many families to be involved at whatever level they feel good about.
    • Mimi: Are we a registered nonprofit? Have you thought about Omaha Gives?
      • Nicole: Yes, we are a 501(c)3. We explored it, but it’s at the end of our year. It happens in May which is an almost impossible month for us, and it can’t help us for this current year.
      • Angela: historically PTAs don’t raise a lot of money from it, but we could definitely try it.
    • Nicole: We really need support on this direct campaign to share on social networks, make connections, find alumni, etc.
    • Opinion Poll: Overwhelming majority (unanimous) for direct campaign. Nicole: that’s the course of action we’ll take.

New Business

• Hearts for Harrison Direct Campaign
  • We had one taker on the online auction for BASH, but that may have been because there were so many great options for goodies to purchase. We will create an online campaign: bigger push with a wider audience. We’ve checked with John Mitchell and he says we can do that. We have a Paypal account. We’d do it toward the end of February. We need to get it done then so we have that number in mind before we approve the budget for next year. We need to know how much to count on so we can create the right plan for next year.
  • Sarah Wynn: what if there were some sort of incentive, like kids of Harrison sending out a thank you, something cute that draws donations?
    • Nicole: the kids tonight are actually coloring thank you posters for our corporate sponsors. But because this is a social media campaign, it will have to be electronic.
    • Dr. Haynes: Because other schools do this, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We can research and learn from their successes and failures to get the most benefit.
    • Mrs. Anding: Student Council (3rd -6th grade) could help out with that or do thank you’s.
• New thoughts & ideas for next year / Budget committee (Nicole Brown)
  • we’ll continue to brainstorm for next year.
    • Lex: I like the spielbound thing, attracts different group.
  • We really need to hear from you with ideas; how to engage new parents. We do sometimes get stuck in a rut.
  • We also really need people to sit on a budget committee (non board members). We as a board usually craft the budget, and we’d love to have more individuals involved, more eyes looking at everything. Possibly coming up with one or two plans. Please let us know if you’d be willing to be a part of that.
• Science + Art Fair – need volunteers (Nicole Brown)
  • It will be held in conjunction with April 2nd PTA meeting.
  • Great success last year.
  • Info going out maybe as soon as this Friday. If that happens, it gives 5.5 weeks to do a science project, 5 weeks to do an art project. Spring Break is in the midst of that.
  • We have a committee, but need new volunteers. It’s super fun to be a part of and interact with kids.
• Board member recruitment / VP and Secretary positions open (Nicole Brown)
  • If you’re interested, we do need you. We’ve talked to Dr. Haynes and we’d love to have a staff member, so please consider that. It would be wonderful to have your perspective.

Upcoming Events

February

14th – Valentine’s Day Class Parties / 2nd grade – 1:30 / Kindergarten – 3:00 / All others – 2:45

Email for room parents went out today. Double check times if you’re planning on attending.

17th – Harrison Elementary Robotics Tournament

19th – No School / Presidents’ Day

March

8th – Spring Parent Teacher Conference Meal / No School / Parent Teacher Conferences

9th – 16th – No School / Spring Break

26th – 30th – Support Staff Appreciation Week

Stock the Closet

• Girls elastic waist pants size 4/5/6
• Classrooms: tissues, hand sanitizer, post it notes, clorox wipes, notebooks
• Nicole: There’s a recycle bin in the hallway, or you can just send items in backpacks.

Program – Guidance / Danielle Herzog, Harrison Elementary

Next Meeting  |  Monday, April 2 in conjunction with Science + Art Fair

The PTA schedules but does NOT pay our teen chaperones. Thanks for compensating them!

Attendees:

• Lisa Vignolo
• Annie Anding
• Angela Smith
• Megan Johnson
• Sarah Wynn
• Axis Sawyer
• Mimi Boswell
• Scott Gillispie
• Alice Goodwin
• Ruth Farrington
• Danielle Herzog
• Jennifer Woolf
• Kristin Rasmussen
• Emily Winterwood
• Callen Goodrich
• Minden Yuskevich
• Lisa Lenz
• Andrea Haynes
• Nicole Brown
• Lex Morrison
• Katherine Fischer