MEETING
OF
THE FRIENDS OF CAHS PTA
November 11, 2008
President, Anne Hoke, called the meeting to order in Room 128 of the Columbus Alternative High School at 7:00 pm. In attendance were twenty (24) members (constituting a quorum) and 4 guests. Those present introduced themselves. Stephanie Ludwig acted as Secretary.
Principal’s Report: Dr. Dixon reported that Credit Recovery begins Thursday at the end of the school day for 11th and 12th graders. Next year, students will take make up classes on the Virtual High School rather than participate in Credit Recovery and their transcripts will indicate that those classes were taken at the Virtual High School rather than CAHS. Parents met with Ms. Webster and Mr. Qualls to explain the program. After school transportation is available for Credit Recovery students as well as those taking tutoring or OGT classes. There will be a meeting on November 18 to determine the structure of the Internship Program. Going forward, the freshmen and sophomores will participate in community service projects and the juniors and seniors will have internships.
Vice Principal’s Report: Mr. Qualls said that revised grades will be going out in the mail for those students who had missing grades. Directions to access the Parent Module were on the back of the flier sent out with grades. Any parent who needs a username and password should contact Mr. Qualls at cahs@columbus.k12.oh.us rather than leaving a message in the office. Mr. Qualls also noted concern over the increasing number of tardies among the students.
Secretary's Report: Toni Dodge moved that the meeting minutes from October 11, 2008, which had been previously distributed, be approved. The motion was seconded and passed. Stephanie announced that there are 86 members to date, and that she has membership cards to be picked up.
Treasurer’s Report: Kim Dillard presented the Balance Sheet and P&L Statement for September. Gerry Brevoort moved that they be approved. The motion was seconded and passed.
Alumni Association Committee: There was no report.
Activity Coordinator Report: Michele Sherman announced that the bake sale for November 4 brought in around $217. A date for the next sale is tentatively December 19th and will be discussed at the next meeting.
Hospitality Report: Michele announced that the last Teacher Appreciation Day was a success and the next one will be November 20th. The teachers have requested “pies” for this breakfast.
Fundraising Report: Anne Hoke announced that No-Phone-a-Thon request letters went out in the mail last week.
Grant Writing Committee: Toni said that the committee met with Dr. Farley to discuss the grant process. Requests by teachers will now go through the office first to insure that they are not things that can be purchased by the Columbus City School system before coming as requests to the PTA.
Publicity Committee: Gerry distributed articles printed in the local newspapers regarding CAHS National Merit Scholars, the IB Art Show at the North Market, and an article about CAHS’ play, “Noises Off”. She requested that members email her with ideas about things to publish.
Committee Outreach Committee: Members engaged in a discussion about the extent to which we should provide free refreshments for various school functions. Gerry Brevoort made a motion to communicate to the coordinators for each of the various school activities (band, choir, theater, etc.) that they should provide their own refreshments. The motion passed.
Old Business:
Meals on Wheels: Toni Dodge said that several members have been trained and can assist with route training. Toni has applications for volunteers.
Pre-Lottery Admission: Mary Ellen Sinclair said Gene Harris has approved of both the Task Force reconvening and of continuing the Pre-Lottery for CAHS next year.
Chess Tournament: The Chess Tournament was rescheduled for November 23rd at Easton.
T-Shirts and Badges: Stephanie Ludwig said that we are close to our 35 minimum order for t-shirts, but not there yet. The order deadline will be extended to November 26th, and placed after Thanksgiving Break. T-shirts should be in and distributed before Winter Break. Michelle Herman volunteered to design badges to sell and Andrea Russell volunteered to help get information about badge suppliers.
Martin Luther King Trip: Anne announced that a letter had been written to request funding for the trip.
Robotics: Mr. Qualls announced that three to four teams will be competing locally on Saturday. Battelle is paying for all of the 2008 expenses, but the team is still in need of a leader.
New Business:
Sara Childers: Sara Childers introduced herself, and said that she would like to interview parents of CAHS students and ask them to participate in focus groups to assist her with her dissertation about urban schools like CAHS.
Parent/Teacher Conferences: The parent/teacher conferences are November 18. The PTA will have a table to serve refreshments, and sell memberships, t-shirts, decals, etc. Volunteers are needed to help staff the table.
Teacher Requests: Kim Montague said that she received a request from Mr. Fawcett for payment for an assessment course. Tracy Taylor made a motion that we table that request. The motion passed. Gail Sech moved that we pay for the musicians that accompanied the chorale at their most recent concert for later reimbursement by Mr. Flemming. The motion passed. Dr. Dixon said that the school will reimburse Mr. Fawcett for pizza purchased for the Theory of Knowledge marathon.
Alumni Panels: Anne said that alumni will talk to students and parents on November 24th at 6:00pm about the benefits of going to CAHS. She requested donations of pop for the event, and said that she was looking for another female speaker. Students can get extra credit for attending. Additionally, there will be an Alumni Panel present between 11:45 and 12:25 on December 19th to talk to the students.
December meeting: Kim Dillard made a motion that we move the next meeting date to December 1 rather than December 2 because December 2 was in conflict with the instrumental music concert. The motion passed.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 8:30pm. The next PTA meeting will be December 1, 2008, 7:00 p.m at the South High Library.
Stephanie Ludwig,
CAHS PTA Secretary
