December 1, 2008 PTA Meeting Minutes

MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF CAHS PTA

December 1, 2008

President, Anne Hoke, called the meeting to order at the South High Library, 3540 South High Street, Columbus, OH at 7:00 pm. In attendance were thirteen (13) members (constituting a quorum). Those present introduced themselves. Stephanie Ludwig acted as Secretary.

Principal’s Report: Mr. Qualls reported for Dr. Dixon in her absence. He indicated that there are twenty-four spaces open for seniors for credit recovery, and progress reports recently went out to the parents of those seniors. Credit Recovery will be offered at a later date to juniors who have more than one course to make up. The Robotics Team went to Detroit the weekend before Thanksgiving for a competition. The presentation went well, but they did not place. Battelle and STEM Columbus will sponsor the best team to go to Las Vegas in March.

Secretary's Report: Julie Lovett moved that the meeting minutes from November 2008 be approved. The motion was seconded and passed.

Treasurer’s Report: Kim Dillard was absent, but Jeff Sherman said that the books had been audited by the Audit Committee and appeared to be in order as of the end of September 2008.

Alumni Association Committee: There was no report.

Activity Coordinator Report: The coffee and brownies sold well at the last Bake Sale which netted $217. The next bake sale will be December 19th.

Hospitality Report: Michele Sherman said that the teachers loved the pies baked for the last Teacher Appreciation Breakfast. The next Teacher Appreciation day will be December 10th.

Fundraising Report: Anne Hoke announced that we have collected about $1200 so far for the No-Phone-a-Thon, and Kim Montague will send out request letters to parents of recent graduates.

Grant Writing Committee: Toni said that the Columbus Foundation has been contacted, and will match any grant money received by the PTA. They will be holding a workshop in January for anyone interested in learning more.

Publicity Committee: Gerry distributed articles printed in the local newspapers regarding the Robotics Team and the Chess Team.

Committee Outreach Committee: Members engaged in a discussion about a possible school dance. Julie Lovett moved that we ask Dr. Dixon about a Winter Dance to be held on December 20th for which we would charge the attending students $3.00 per ticket and $2.00 for 2 slices of pizza and drinks. The motion passed. Jeff Sherman made a further motion that we spend up to $500 of the PTA’s funds to sponsor the dance. The motion passed.

Old Business:

Alumni Panels: Anne said that alumni panel held on November 24th was not well attended, but was a nice event. In light of the low attendance, Andrea Russell volunteered to sit in on a Student Council meeting to see what the students were interested in.

Internships: Julia Harrison said that the list of employers has not been updated by Mrs. Norton.

Meals on Wheels: Toni Dodge had no report, but has dates for sign-up.

T-Shirts and Badges: Stephanie Ludwig announced that we had 40 orders for t-shirts which would be delivered to the students the Tuesday before Winter Break. Andrea Russell indicated that she may know of a vendor who will donate badges.

Martin Luther King Trip: Anne will speak with Dr. Dixon about the possibility of an assembly with a student who attended the trip last year as the speaker.

Pass It On: Mr. Qualls will make sure that an announcement is made to the students reminding them to pick up a book from the Pass It On section in the library before Winter Break.

New Business:

Teacher Requests: Officer Williams has requested money for pizza for the class which contributed the most to the American soldiers. Jeff Sherman made a motion to pay for the pizza. The motion passed. There was discussion regarding the recent trend of requests for PTA funding of items before the PTA was able to meet. Gerry Brevoort volunteered to put notices in the teacher’s mailboxes to request that donations by the PTA must be requested prior to the Member meetings. Toni Dodge made a motion to set up a Discretionary Fund of $200 for emergency situations arising between member meetings with expenses from that fund to be approved by the Board members. The motion passed.

Royal Shakespeare Theater Collaboration: Currently, the university is only coordinating with STEM schools, but Michele Herman is working to get them to consider coordinating with CAHS in the Fall. Michele Sherman will follow up with Michele Herman to see if she can help.

Membership: Anne Hoke asked the members to ask their friends to join the PTA.

Alumni Panel: There was discussion regarding the students’ interest in the alumni panel to be held during lunchtime on December 19th in which recent graduates will relay their college experiences to the students of CAHS. The members determined that it might be a good idea to have a sign-up sheet to see how many students are interested in attending the event before the alumni are requested to attend.

There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 9:00pm. The next PTA meeting will be January 6, 2009, 7:00 p.m. in Room 128 at CAHS.

Respectfully submitted,

Stephanie Ludwig,
CAHS PTA Secretary