Meeting started 7:10
Upcoming dates were reviewed.
October home and school association minutes were approved.
Business:
The March-a-thon Fundraiser was reviewed. Participation was 67% which is an increase from last year. Total amount raised is close to $9,000; donations will continue to be accepted through the end of November. Sixth grade had the highest percentage of participation as well as the highest amount collected. The donation amount ranges included from $400 to $560. A picture of Mr. Martiello with his dyed hair (incentive) is to be posted. Looking forward to next year's fundraiser and changes. Planning will begin earlier in the year. Possibly with a focus on where everyone plays their part. Miss. Johnson suggested that more volunteers are needed for set-up.
Fruit fundraiser - Fruit of the month fundraiser will continue where families have the option to order half or full case of various fruits.
Holiday Shop - Our coordinators are looking for people to help with setup, helping the kids during the preview and then during the shopping hours during school as well as to help on Saturday, Dec 6th. There is a sign-up genius which is linked to constant contact or individuals could contact Amy Green, coordinator. The holiday shop is looking great, multiple silent auction items. There were suggestions to stretch out the auction part and announce winners at the sing-a-long.
Engineering for kids club - this is an after school club which exposes children to the practice of engineering begins next Wednesday for the younger group and Thursday for the older group. The class runs from 3:45-4:45 with open slots in the older group but the younger class is filled.
Principal Report - Thank you from Mr. Martilello for the great job with Jeff Kinney and the mini book fair. Special thanks to Tiffanie Stanton and Kristen Mallitz for continuing our partnership with Harleysville Book store which allow for opportunities to bring authors to Nash.
Events/ coordinator reports
Restaurant fundraiser - planning Chick-fil-a for December (possibly ticket for party tray) and Wendy's night for January.
Tabs - Up to date, school has collected 500,00. All this was reached within one year. Keep collecting.
Spiritwear order due by Nov. 20th for holiday order, if the order is a gift, let Trish know and the spiritwear can be collected from the office.
Nature nook - volunteers are needed
Action Karate - May be potential fundraiser with an accompanying family night. The fundraising portion is $99 for one month of classes.
Parent suggested possibility of having an author and/or illustrator who was selling at last year's Vendor fair. It was suggested that Ron should ask Mrs. Hannig or Mr. Burns.
Teacher representatives - Mrs. Pronzak - Thank you for the 3rd grade class trip to the aquarium.
Miss Johnson presented on Healthy Mind. The Physical Education department developed a program based on John Rately's book, SPARK, where children who were having difficulty in math and reading participated in a gym class each morning. Results showed that this group increased their scores on math and reading assessments, demonstrated fewer behavior problems and had a decrease in the number of missed school days. It is based on the premise that increased physical activities results in increased brain oxygenation and delivery of glucose which promotes an improved learning environment. As a result of increased activity the brain in physiologically prepared for learning. At Nash this has translated into adding more fitness stations into class which target upper body skills, aerobic skills, and the targeted skills for that class. Physical education department has a lot worked to educate teachers as well as parents on the educational benefits of physical activity. The department is piloting use of Fitness gram 10 which includes an activity log for for 6th graders. Information is to be sent home for parents and information is a lot posted on the website. This would have the sixth grade students log minutes of exercise. It is not mandatory but useful information. It does not track BMI, height or weight but shows students if they fall within "needs improvement" range or "healthy fitness." There is also a pilot program where the fitness gram app for students is available. This app investigates the physical fitness level for students. Website: fitnessgram.com; log in is the student's name and the password is the student's identification number that is used for lunch etc. At the end of the presentation it was suggested that this app/program might be helpful fro triathletes to track their training. Miss Johnson has opened up use of the activity log to any student, if a report is desired for a student, please let Miss Johnson know and she will complete the report. Side note: physical fitness assessments are for 5th and 6th graders only.
Next meeting is January 8th and Josie Charnock, member of North Penn School Board, will be the speaker (Speaker since moved to February).
Always use the Online HTML Converter to compose the content for your website easily.
ng>Teacher Representative - Mrs. Crits
Thank you for book wish lists being filled
Have receive 13 applicants for Nash scholarship - will be reviewed
Engineering for kids programing- Greater Philadelphia area, STEM is very big, tech programs for kids is being promoted, after school program - parents sign kids up individually, 1-1.5 sessions, school gets 10% - 4-6 week programs, program does the work at the school. Ex. civil engineer - also does after school program and summer camps.
Talk about starting a 4 week program for the current school year, he would put together a letter
Mrs. Crits to ask director about a quick class. - Tiffanie will be the contact person - try for Thursday
Coordinator Reports:
Mud Shack
Planning on have a one night for pick-up
6th grade gift are donating microphones and mixer to the school, will be used for the 6th grade class play. Mrs. Landley is going to be given the material. Presentation of the gift may happen before the play.
Coordinating council meeting - next meeting will discuss insurance. H&S may need additional insurance.
Market Day - 15 orders, good month. Can pick up at Nash or schedule your food at another pick-up location.
Adrenal insufficiency - Karen Casey brought in a poster to promote information and increase awareness
Jonathan Cole - former Nash student, in a training mission in Afghanistan crash, he was in a coma, just began to eat and talk, mom is trying to create video of old friends and teachers, want to get letters from the kids at school.
Use the HTML Cheat Sheet for color picker, search for special HTML characters, get examples of the most common tags and generate any tags.
brief period of time. Tanya McGregor suggested seeing if other schools can use the current letters since new ones will come with the sign
Book Fair - Did very well, online fair is still running, around $7000 in sales, teacher wish lists are being filled to be delivered next weeks, rain check should be here next week. Mr. Moore thanked the members. Parents had good feedback, one teacher preferred the tables as opposed to stands.
Principal report
6th grade trip - is on election day, that is going to be considered an excused absence.
PSSA
Try to keep positive attitude with rally in the beginning and culminating activity
If children at feeling anxious about the test contact the teacher
Students are receiving practice packets and students may be reacting to it, Mr. Martiello stressed supporting the students and talk to teachers if problems or concerns arise.
Conferences
Half day on the 31st - online resources about conferences, this is an opportunity to ask tough questions and get a dialogue going, ½ day and schedule as needed. Conferences are available beyond conference days.
Teacher Representative - Mr. Moore
5th grade going to Constitution to Center and Independence Hall, seasonal exhibit - Jefferson's life and slavery. Hope this is a yearly trip, this year is April 25th. Culture club has been doing well, PBS documentary. Can be featured at activities fair - first Friday of Oct.
Reading Olympics was a successful. Parents observed that there was good teamwork and it was great to see the 4-6th grade kids to talk to each other, Great opportunity for children to read a variety of books and try new things.
Coordinating council, once per month, speaker next Wednesday - going to be moving to online registration and update of demographics. Able to get a sense of what is happening on
Ray Wilson is safe schools coordinator and will be talking about the programs Wed. 7pm at ESC
District website, for family then safe school, also has by school you see the plan for individual schools.
Mud Shack - vendor forms are due to tomorrow and is on the website, don't need to pay the studio fee, benefits 6th grade and will be delivered
Box tops - last drive was $600, one more for the spring. Cambells's labels, currently just over 10,000 labels. Tabs - 200,000 tabs have been counted.
2014-2015 6th grade representative, Mrs. Lindsay presented the idea of paying for gambling and raffle license $125 per year, Dec 2014 lottery, all H&S events would be covered. Guidelines are listed under North Penn School district. Mr. Martiello voiced concerns over the actual activities the exchange between student as a minor and another person. Hand out to parents not to students as a possibility as opposed to sending information backpacks. Need to exercise sensitively over differing views of gambling.
***Added note - According to Coordinating Council's agreement with the IRS, we are not allowed to do any charitable gaming, such as raffles that bring in over 5% of our yearly income******