Meeting Minutes-- June 3, 2008

Friends of CAHS PTA Minutes
June 3, 2008
Location: Room 128 CAHS

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Vice President Anne Hoke with approximately 17 members and 2 non-members present. President Penny Winkle was absent due to the death of her father. Our sympathies are extended to her and her family.

Principal's Report: Mrs. Powell told us that
--Plans for the 9th grade wing are going forward.
--Our Newsweek ranking was corrected to around 500.
--Our school will be published in the next few weeks.
--The school will be receiving several copies.
--Graduation will be held on Saturday, June 7th at 5:30 at St. John Arena.
--Mrs. Powell also announced that she is retiring effective July 31st. She has enjoyed her tenure as principal but is ready to devote her time to family. We thank her for all she has contributed to CAHS! (There will be a Meet the Principal Candidates in the near future.)

Secretary's Report: Left out of the May minutes was the fact that the Nominating Committee recommendations as presented were voted on and accepted unanimously. The minutes were then accepted as amended (motion by Beth Gerber). Membership for the 2007-08 year reached a total of 101 members.

Treasurer's Report: Trish Geoghegan presented the April statement and it was filed for audit (motions by Gail Sech and Gerry Brevoort). The May statement was presented in draft form as the bank statement has not been received.

Recommended Change to Budget: Gerry Brevoort recommended that we change the NHS item for $200 to Friends of CAHS Appreciation. This was approved.

Teacher Purchases: Teachers may purchase approved items and be reimbursed or have PTA make the purchase.

School Store Proposal: Student Chaunta Banks presented the proposal along with Ashante Jefferson. The store will be named 'CAHSmic Corner' and Mr. Matticola will be the advisor. Hours of operation will be 7:15-8:15. Money will be run through the school treasurer. Each year the new senior class will take over. The store will sell school supplies such as pencils, pens, paper, etc. It will also sell CAHS t-shirts and sweatshirts, and bracelets. There was much discussion about how PTA will support this endeavor. New treasurer Kim Dillard has volunteered to work with the students and advisor to work up a business plan. We approved lending $500.00 to start up the store. If the students do not continue the store for any reason the $500.00 start-up money will be retiurned to the PTA. (motions by Beth Gerber and Toni Dodge)

Activity Coordinator: Carolyn Rhodes had no report.

Hospitality Report: Gail Sech reported that we had a successful luncheon for the staff. We thank Gail for her years of service and thank Michele Sherman for taking on this responsibility for next year!

Grant Writing Report: Stephanie Ludwig reported that the Safety Club will hear in the fall if they receive the $2000 grant that they applied for. Jeff Sherman talked about P² (Power Philanthropy). He is trying to get matching funds from the Columbus Foundation. Toni Dodge will coordinate a meeting with Dr. Farley to to request that money given to the Columbus Foundation through P2 for CAHS will be earmarked for CAHS and not be given to the Columbus City Schools.

Publicity Report: Gerry Brevoort reported that articles were printed about the National Honor Society and Valedictorians. She is still working to get an article on Emily McGinty who is going to the Democratic National Convention in August.

OLD BUSINESS:

Internships: Jeff Sherman is still working to obtain more internships for CAHS students. The group discussed and recommends that the school let students know in the spring what internship they have for the fall. Good ones are listed and you don't know whether you have one until it is too late to get another good one. Anne Hoke and and others will talk with Mrs. Powell about concerns.

Online Grades: There were some concerns about whether all teachers will participate.

Alumni Association: Kim Dillard reported that Latricia Wilson has downloaded the database to a computer at school. Kim has had one hit on the yahoo email which is cahsalumniassoc@yahoo.com.

Credit Recovery: Credit recovery committee continues to work on proactive ways to deal with the problem of some students performing poorly, but is waiting to develop its plans until the CAHS staff decides whether it will change from a block schedule to a daily period schedule. One parent with a senior who is in credit recovery, expressed support for credit recovery. She believes that PTA's criticism of credit recovery ignores the fact that some students need it. She thought that PTA's critique of credit recovery was a criticism of parents of students who are taking credit recovery courses.

Spring Celebration: We all agreed that the event was very successful! Thanks Penny for starting this tradition!

Author Series: Michelle Herman volunteered to take charge of this program. She is working to try to schedule the events during the school day to involve more students.

Pass it On Book Sharing Project: These books will be located in the library on special shelves. The books have been stamped to separate them from the books owned by the library.

Mentoring Update: One more volunteer was needed. There will be a July 24th summer reading help session at several libraries from 4-7 p.m. National Honor Society and OSU students will help.

Delegate to OHIO PTA: Carolyn Rhodes will work with Eugenia Marshall to represent CAHS as delegates.

30 Year Anniversary Event: Think of ideas to celebrate this in the fall. This is also a way to develop the Alumni Association.

Improving Auditorium Acoustics: Michelle Herman has provided contacts to help solve the problem of poor acoustics. Several parents will work on this during the summer with the assistance of Dr. O and Ms. Cordy.

FAQ's for Parents: There was lively debate about informing incoming parents about need to re-enter their students in the lottery if the students and parents do not like CAHS..

Projects for next year: Groups will meet in the summer.

Respectfully Submitted,
Edna Reed, Secretary

I want thank everyone for their support as I served as secretary these past three years. I will miss you. ER