Dassel-Cokato PTA Meeting Minutes
Thursday, April 4, 2013
6:30 High School Media Center
Attendance: Jeff Powers, Melissa Weckwerth, Amy Sluis, Sandy Stertz, Krista Cates, Sandy Arndt, Melissa Sheldon, Kelly Jo Hillmann, Ryan Tool, Dean Jennissen, Brian Franklin, Debbie Morris, Kathy Grochow, Richard Tormanen, Irene Bender, Lisa Linz, Mary Neu, Bonnie Cannon, Mike Seaberg
1. 6:30 Meeting opened by Sandy Stertz
2. Approve the agenda
3. Discussion…Bullying
All DC teachers and staff are trained on Olweus’ Core Program Against Bullying and Antisocial Program Sandy Arndt Cokato Elementary Principal
-Cokato used “Bucket Filler” theme this year
-Social worker goes into each classroom once a month to discuss bullying issues
Debbie Morris Dassel Elementary Principal and Mary Neu -Dassel’s theme for this year
was “Cooking Up Good Character” -The entire school has step up to good character days which includes wearing t-shirt, reading anti-bulling pledge….
-partner with the parents (invite to lunch, family challenge, conversation starters)
-recipe for success bag was sent home at the beginning of the year
-talk/walk/go bracelet (try this first) then go to the teacher/adult for help
-talk a lot about the ingredients for good character with the students
-mix-it up lunch to sit with new people
Brian Franklin DC Middle School Principal -bulling is talked about the first week of school in every classroom by the Principal or Dean of Students -October really focused on
bulling (orange out day, mix-it-up lunch, student skits)
-January had a no name calling week
-health class talks about character pillars and friendships
-All incidents are taken very seriously
-bulling doesn’t stop at school with social media and cell phones…this is out of the schools control
-the school will get involved with social media when it is a disruptive force at school
Question: Is there any curriculum on social media appropriateness?
-Mrs. Beckerman goes through appropriate use with the students.
-There have been speakers brought in to discuss social media.
-DARE does cover Bullying in 5th grade.
Question: Can you do mix-it up at lunch more often?
-At the middle school they have also moved the table configuration to mix things up.
Question: What is the cell phone policy in school?
-At the middle school the student should have permission to use the cell phone or it can be taken away.
Dean Jennissen DC High School Principal
-The High School has a different dynamic…now working with young adults (most understand the expectations and consequences)
-Expectations are clearly laid out the first 5 days of school by the Principal and Dean of Students
-At this age students with inappropriate behavior could be charged with disorderly conduct, very serious consequence
-At the High School Character Building and Relationship Building is done through many programs: Focus Program, Sports Programs, FLY Mentorship, Junior/Senior Leadership Program, Strive, Leadership Camps
Mr. Powers DC Superintendent
-The schools responsibility is to deal with issues progressively until a positive solution has been reached
-There becomes a point with some students that they are given a choice…if you don’t change your behavior you won’t be here at school
-Communication with parents/students with the school is key! If the school doesn’t know about a problem they can’t help with it
-Eighth and Ninth grade is the peek of bulling
-Social Media can be the worst. Can be very widespread and damaging. Remember you don’t have to have and you can always shut it off.
Question: Are kids comfortable talking with adults when they are being bullied?
-It is important for parents to stay engaged. Kids don’t want to be a tattle. Kids need to know that if it is bothering you that much, then you need adult help.
Question: How often are you seeing Bulling?
Hard to put a number on it but approximately once a week. Bulling is happening all over not just in school. The school does have some great tools to help with Bulling.
4. Bonnie Cannon Minnesota PTA President
-She has been an active member since 1986
-The PTA is more than a fundraising organization
Some of the PTA initiatives have been:
-seat belt laws
-Kindergarten
-ratings on video games
-currently advocating for new/updated healthy lunches
-also, trying to re-implement No Child Left Behind, then fix it
-She went over the PTA packet sent every year to the President of our PTA This packet includes many wonderful resources to help the local PTA
-Encouraged our PTA to claim our website from the National PTA
-Talked about the PTA convention April 26-27th
5. New PTA Board Members:
President: Abby Lang
Secretary: Amy Sluis
Treasurer: Mike Seaberg
VP of Communications:Christine Pudas
Membership: Voted on the new Board Members all present are in favor!
Motion made to adjourn by Mike Seaberg, seconded by Melissa Weckwerth. Meeting adjourned at 8:01 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Kelly Jo Hillmann
Dassel-Cokato PTA Meeting Minutes
Thursday, February 7, 2013 6:30
High School Media Center
Attendance: Sandy Stertz, Ryan Tool, Kelly Jo Hillmann, Mike Seaberg, Richard Tormanen, Abbey Lang, Krista Kates, Jeff Powers, Jeff Putnam, Kevin Bjork, Jen Schoening, Jennifer Kotila, Janet Day, Gretchen O’Brien, Melissa Weckwerth, Eric Laeander, Kathy Grochow
1. 6:30 Meeting opened by Sandy Stertz
2. Melissa Weckwerth motioned to approve the agenda, seconded by Mike Seaberg.
3. Membership and Financial Report from Mike Seaberg
48 Current Members
Current balance $3579.69 ($100 outstanding to Dassel Elementary Bingo for Books)
4. School Safety and Security Jeff Powers, Superintendent, Sgt. Eric Leander
Each school in our district has an emergency plan in place…at this time they are looking at each buildings procedure. The goal is to keep kids at school as safe as possible. BIGGEST change will be more controlled access to each building. After buses have arrived all doors will be locked. They will be installing a video/buzzer system into each school. Hoping this will be installed before this school year is over. Everybody must go to the office to check in and get a visitor tag. If a visitor is at the school….they will have to push the buzzer, staff will then look at their monitor to see who it is and find out reason for being at the school, buzz the guest into the school, guest will then go to the office to check in and
acknowledge where they are going. A staff group has visited a school that has this in place it appears very easy to use. Area schools that have a similar system are STMA, Maple Lake, Rockford, Otsego. This system will cost $30-40 thousand dollars to add buzzers and a few more key card accesses. This money will come from the capital budget. This will be more work for the office staff but will become like answering the phone, is what other schools have said. They are looking at adding a separate phone line for attendance. Benefits of having the doors locked:
-Knowledge of who is in the building at all times (gas leak, fire)
-Kids that have already graduated like to come visit can be distracting…guide them to the best times to visit the school
-custody disputes
-Meet upset people outside the school not inside
-It allows time to get an officer to the school
-One access per building
-Control outside venders better
-Will need to educate the kids not to let people into the school
Teachers/Staff are talked to about how to protect the kids:
-Take Lock down drills very seriously
-They are able to lock down the school in about 30 seconds or less
-During an emergency situation if they are able to get out of the building do NOT re-enter the building (this was done very well at Sandy Hook)
-Everybody in the building should have an ID
-Confront people you don’t know and visit with them
QUESTIONS:
Is our school behind other districts in Wright County?
No, not after the buzzer system is put into place. Hutchinson has done a mock drill, will we do that?
Probably not…have to be careful with those drills. Hard to practice all situations and can never predict what will actually happen. Hard to deviate from the drill when in an actual situation. Instead they do table topic exercises with staff to keep their minds thinking of what would you do if…to improve and learn from multiple situations.
The school is also working on running lockdown drills at inopportune times. This is a good learning opportunity. Mr. Powers states that the best way to keep our kids safe is to visit and know each other. Communication will keep everyone safer than door buzzers.
5. School Board Update: Kevin Bjork -Busy preparing for levy questions.
-Special meeting February 11, 2013 7:00 in the Board Room.
-Goal is to keep the levy as low as possible but allow the school to do everything they need to do.
-Levy is expected to pass one year early in case they need the second year to pass it they won’t be without the levy for a year.
-Digital Initiative…getting a lot of positive feedback from staff and students.
6. PTA Nominations for Chair, Co-Chair, Secretary, VP of Communications
No Nominations
7. Topic idea for next meeting: Mr. Powers would like to share a 10 minute “Pizza Video”
7. Next PTA meeting will be April 4, 2013
Motion made to adjourn by Mike Seaberg, seconded by Melissa Weckwerth. Meeting adjourned at 8:01 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly Jo Hillmann
Dassel-Cokato PTA Meeting Minutes
Thursday, December 6, 2012
6:30
High School Media Center
Attendance: Sandy Stertz, Ryan Tool, Kelly Jo Hillmann, Mike Seaberg, Richard Tormanen, Sandi Arndt, Abbey Lang, Dean Jennisen, Krista Kates, Elizabeth Hasti (high school student)
1. 6:30 Meeting opened by Sandy Stertz
2. Richard Tormanen motioned to approve the agenda, seconded by Abbey Lang.
3. Project Lead the Way….presented by Dean Jennisen
(Please see Mr. Jennisen’s detailed notes)
Student Elizabeth Hasti talked about her experience with the Certified Nursing Assistant class at Dassel Cokato High School.
-class was taught by two instructors from Ridgewater college
-received a high school grade and a college grade also the class included clinical
-Maximum of 15 kids in the class because the school has 5 hospital beds
-need to be a junior or senior to take this class
-Elizabeth said “this was an amazing experience and a door way to many opportunities.” Because of this class she will be going onto college to pursue a degree in nursing.
-She is working at the Dassel Nursing Home making a good wage.
4. Richard Tormanen gave a school board update
Forming a parent group to call congressman each week regarding issues that are beneficial for low income districts like ours
MASECO and the school passed the recent audits
Current levy goes through 2014 a new levy will be talked about at the next school board meeting
Approved two new classes….Social Studies and Human Biology
5. Discussed forming a nominating committee for open PTA positions President, President Elect, Secretary, and VP of Communications. If these positions are not filled the PTA
will be forced to dissolve.
6. Sandy Stertz motioned to approve the updated Bylaws. Seconded by Mike Seaberg.
7. Next PTA meeting will be February 7, 2013
Motion made to adjourn by Mike Seaberg, seconded by Abbey Lang. Meeting adjourned at 8:07 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Kelly Jo Hillmann
Dassel-Cokato PTA Meeting Minutes
Thursday, October 4, 2012
6:30 High School Media Center
Attendance: Melissa Weckwerth, Sandy Stertz, Jeff Powers, Ryan Tool, Kelly Jo Hillmann, Kathy Grochow, Debbie Morris, Mike Seaberg, Deb Moen, Richard Tormanen, Sandi Arndt, Gretchen O’Brien, Tonia Olson, Abbey Lang
1. 6:30 Meeting opened by Sandy Stertz
2. Presented Dassel Elementary with a banner to hang at the school for winning the “Blue Ribbon Award.” *Debbie Morris accepted the banner. *Mrs. Morris explained:
-Dassel Elementary is one of seven schools that received this award in the state of Minnesota.
-There are 266 awarded in the nation.
-Julie Redman and Mrs. Morris will be flying to DC to accept the award.
-There will be a community celebration in November.
3. Amanda Berg-High School Phy-ed teacher and coach for Strength and Conditioning Program at DC presented.
*Strength and Conditioning is a free program. Open to both high school and junior high on designated days.
*The number one goal is injury prevention.
* The number two goal is to increase an athletes performance.
*Every sport benefits from proper weight training.
*Typical day in the Charger Strength and Conditioning program:
(a few members of the girls swim team were at the meeting to demonstrate)
-Dynamic warm-up
-Lifting progression
-Core lifts
-Auxiliary Complexes
-12-15 minute conditioning work-out
-cool down stretch
*There is a lettering program for 7-12th grade students.
-must do 60 sessions during the year
-25-30 kids per year letter
*Last year the weight room served approximately 500 kids.
-with the strength and conditioning program the weight room gets a lot more use.
-There is a need for a bigger weight room.
-the emphasis has gotten away from how “much” a student can lift.
4. Membership Report
*There are currently 30 PTA members
5. Financial Report
*$2,328.62 balance
*Fall apparel sale made approximately $600.00
6. Fun Run
*weather not looking good
*100 kids signed up
*walk-ins welcome but will not get a t-shirt
*there are 12 cross country kids signed up to help with the event
7. School Board (Richard Tormanen)
*The school received a very positive CAC Report (covers test scores)
*There is one position open on the Curriculum Advisory Committee…Abbey Lang volunteered to fill the opening.
*School Board approved a trip for FFA kids to go to Nationals.
8. Superintendent (Jeff Powers)
*Update on the Sportsmanship Policy
-There was a meeting Monday evening.
-Every event at the school has an event manager.
-The event manager will kick a kid out if they are inappropriate but this is not the goal. There have only been 3 kids kicked out of events. They were for swearing and inappropriate clothing.
-The expectations of the kids is for them to be respectful, appropriate, and cheer positive.
-The school encourages the kids to attend events. There have been many wonderful fan participation events for both kids and adults….Dig For The Cure is one example.
-The kids can dress up but can not cover there face.
*Update on Computer Technology
-The school has a four year plan at the High School level. That 1 student to 1 computer in 4 years. This will allow the students to update and have current information.
-The biggest transformation in the classroom is that there will be a time in the near future with no textbooks.
-Educating the teachers on technology is very important.
-Each of the schools in the district have a or a few wireless cart labs.
9. PTA is in need of a Vice Chair
10. Open to suggestions for the December 6th, 2012 meeting topic.
11. Motion made to adjourn by Mike Seaberg, seconded by Kathy Grochow. Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly Jo Hillmann
PTA meeting October 6, 2011
In attendance: Kevin Bjork, Deb Griffiths, Richard Tormanen, Jeff Powers, Kelly Jo Hillman, Joel Hillman, Krista Cates, Deb Moen, Tonia Olsen, Mike Seaberg, Irene Bender, Melissa Weckwerth, Sandy Stertz, Ryan Tool, Kathy Grochow
Meeting brought to order by Stertz, motion to approve agenda by Weckwerth, second by Cates
Presentation ;, speaker: Deb Griffiths, Director of Communications and Community Outreach for Schools for Equity in Education. SEE is a coalition of 66 school districts in MN, which represents approximately 1/3 of the MN school population. Entire presentation from Deb Griffiths is available by contacting a PTA board member or emailing chargerpta@yahoo.com.
Agenda item: donation to All Pro Dads organization. Speaker, Joel Hillman, All Pro Dads at Cokato Elem. requesting $500 for the program. Funds would be used to supply breakfast for kids and dads, and pay for curriculum on various topics. The past months curriculum covered humility and being humble. This is basically a mentorship program to be a “better dad”. Breakfast and curriculum/handouts are the costs that are attributed to this request.
Motion made by Grochow to support and fund the full amount of a $500. Discussion held by various members about the amount. Contingency addendum added by Grochow to have PTA recognized and supported at these breakfasts, memberships to be gathered? Second amendment from Grochow to cover only $300 which would support curriculum, copy costs, etc., second by Weckwerth. Discussion – ongoing costs of copies and other costs. Seaberg to work with Hillman in the coming months on further costs. Following discussion, a $300 donation was made to All Pro Dads for curriculum and materials.
Stertz to contact Dassel Elem administration about getting program started there.
Agenda item: Request for two scholarships for Middle School Math League. $120 donation is requested. Discussion held by members about the inability for PTA to cover “activities fees” since this would lead to requests for all types of activities. Donation request was denied after further discussion. Monies to be requested from Perry Thinesen, AD, donation from Community Member. Has this been looked into? Can we cover just the fee for registration materials? Business donations from the area? Request has been denied. Purpose is good fit, but because it’s a coaching/activity fee it can’t be honored.
Addendum: Following this meeting AD Thinesen was contacted in regards to scholarship money for math league students. Scholarships were awarded through a donation that had been previously made to the Activities office.
Agenda item: School Board update: Irene Bender wondering about access to the above mentioned activity. Suggested speaking to Mr. Franklin at the MS and Mr. Thinesen about donation of math league scholarship. Kevin Bjork spoke to changes in the school fund balance. Question was asked about any upcoming referendum, but it is believed at this time that none will be requested in the near future, but a year from now we’ll have a better picture of how we’ll be. Dassel Cokato has approximately a 3 Million dollar reserve on an 18 Million dollar budget. This will be spent down due to funding delays from the state. Open enrollment re-opened again for 5th and 6th grade. Target enrollment is about 54 students short, PSEO are part of change.
Agenda item: Hockey Arena Update: Occupancy permit must be obtained in the next 4 years. Capital campaign to be kicked off end of 2011-beginning of –12. About $300,000 left to be raised before this occupancy permit can be obtained. Approx. 20-25 people paying monthly installment amounts, after occupancy permit then permit and no further deadlines once that is met. The arena was promised to be built with no debt, so work is moving forward slowly.
Adjourn motion at 8:13 by Seaberg, second my Cates.
Minutes submitted by Melissa Weckwerth
October 6 Board notes
Advertising, need more? Should we do ½ sheet reminders in Friday Folders?
PTA Website: Order form on line? Any other info on line?
Apparel sales: Inventory issues that we need to do differently in the future. Trying to decide how to proceed with wrong sizes and late orders. Need to close orders from this order before moving forward on new orders/forms for holiday sales.
December topic to be about school lunches. February? State of the District? Health of our children/concussions?
Advertising for various topics in the newspaper? Donation check and picture to be emailed to local paper.