McFarland EC-5 PTO
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013
Present:
Stefanie Feralin, Theresa Pimental, Carrie Templeton, Jennifer HeatonAmrhein, Tom Mooney, Sue Murphy, Christine Punzel, Jeff Schraml and
Parents About 20 people total
Next meeting: Jan. 28, 2014, 6:30 p.m., WIS library
Motion to begin meeting by Stefanie Feralin. Second by Jennifer Heaton-Amrhein. Motion
carried. Meeting began at 6:30pm by Jeff Schraml.
Motion by Carrie Templeton to approve minutes from Sept. 2013 PTO meeting. Second by
Christine Punzel. Motion carried.
I.
Technology Open House
Kim Brown - Technology Integration Specialist/Extension Teacher
Andy Meeks – 4th Grade Teacher
Susan Schmaling – Instructional Technology Specialist Teacher
Susan – Parent of two 4th Grade Students
Kim Brown brought iPads for the audience to navigate while she gave a brief sampling of
how questions work with the iPad. She explained how 12 McFarland classrooms have the
iPads right now, eight 4th grade classrooms, two 6th grade classrooms, & two 2nd grade
classrooms. The iPads are owned by the school, and the school purchases the apps. The
students in these classrooms have continuous access to the iPads, while at school & at
home. There are 3 goals that the schools hope to achieve with the iPads:
1. Meet individual needs of the students
2. Reach deeper thinking
3. Meet global needs of a changing technological world
4th grade teachers have writing goals for the students so they don’t lose any of their
handwriting skills. Assessments and surveys will be filled out by the teachers, parents &
students. The results will play a part in the decision of whether the schools will continue
with iPad implementation in more classrooms.
Andy Meeks talked about how it’s nice to have an instant reading of a students’ work at all
times, even when the student is at home. The students like that they can receive instant
feedback on any assignment they are working on. Students are writing more and
collaborating with each other more often. Live tracking is helpful for classroom
management. With the numerous apps, teachers are able to give extra work if needed on
an individual basis. The iPads are bringing more knowledge & better communication into the
educational process.
Susan Schmaling discussed how the 2nd graders utilize the iPads by creating ebooks &
collaborating with each other. They are able to see the books they created in the bookshelf
on their iPad. They use “bookcreator” and they are able to be more creative through
storytelling. They ask each other questions & work together on projects.
Students work together to create iMovies about various subjects.
Susan (parent of two 4th grade students) talked about how this has helped her 4th graders,
especially her one child whom has had handwriting issues since Kindergarten. This allows
her child to be more creative and she says working with the iPad has given her the
McFarland EC-5 PTO – Meeting Minutes
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Nov. 19, 2013
confidence to soar creatively, and not let her handwriting holding her back. It had really
given her a voice. She also spoke on how it was wonderful to get instant feedback from
teachers.
Kim Brown also discussed how they decided to give all the 4th Grade classrooms iPads. The
school needed to have a group of teachers who were willing to take a three credit course &
be ready to implement this technology within a classroom.
Writing samples will be taken at the end of the year to see monitor the students writing
skills.
Fourth graders have approximately 100 apps, of which there are 20 main ones. If parents
were to purchase these there would be about 10 apps that would be important to have on
your personal iPads.
Questions asked by parents:
Q: Are the apps available to follow along with the curriculum?
A: Curriculum can be found on the parent section the school website. As for apps, there is a
list of “Must Have Apps” that teachers have access to. Kim Brown will look into getting
permission to put the list on school website for parents to access.
Q: Should I purchase an iPad for my child to have if he’s not in one of the grades that have
one?
A: That would be a personal decision. In February, there will be more answers on the future
implementation of the 1 to 1 iPad program. The middle school does have a bring your own
device policy.
Q: Is the school tracking the progress of last year’s pilot class?
A: This is something that they will look into.
II.
Principals’ Reports
Sue Murphy, WIS
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Thank you to the PTO and parents for teacher appreciation dinner at Waubesa for
teachers and staff.
Great attendance at conferences almost 100%
Thanks to the PTO for sponsoring Science Night and feeding the UW students
who volunteered for the event. Ian’s pizza gave a 20% discount. Jeff Schraml
donated water.
Thank you to Jenni Amrheim-Heaton for tracking down volunteers for Waubesa
book fair. The fair surpassed the amount raised from last year.
Thank you to the PTO for sponsoring the mentor program.
WKCE state testing is now complete. Future testing will be in the spring.
Dec. 20th the Blue Notes will be visiting Waubesa and the Primary Campus.
Bowls for Hunger is Monday the 25th. The K-12 art department creates the bowls.
The money is raised for the McFarland Food Pantry.
Waubesa classes are paired up (older and younger students) for buddy activities.
The theme is “The Power of Team” how to make the world better. The food
pantry is the focus.
Winter break is the Dec. 23 through Jan. 1. Classes resume Jan. 2, 2014.
End of the 2nd quarter is Jan. 21st. Jan. 20 and 21st there is no school.
Report cards will come out in early February.
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Nov. 19, 2013
Tom Mooney, CEELC & MPS
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III.
PTO Fall Activity Updates
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IV.
Friday, Nov. 22, will be a practice lock down for CEELC School. MPS will be at a
later date.
The primary campus is focusing on different cultural holidays throughout
December. Check school calendar for details.
Thank you to PTO for the teacher appreciation dinners at CEELC and the Primary
School.
Thanks to all students and parents for giving to the food drive.
Parents only need to fill out one background check per school year.
In November there was a temporary road road closing by CEELC. Initially the
schools only asked for pedestrian gates. Now the crossing has been deemed
unsafe. If they close the crossing, the village will be responsible for the cost.
The breakfast program is highly underused. It is served at Primary School for K2.
Counselor Nick Radney will be leaving the Primary Campus for a new opportunity.
Bucky Badger Reading Program will start in January.
Great Pumpkin Party: OCT 30
o 300-400 kids came through. The PTO won a prize for one of the best
decorated rooms. The prize was donated to a local McFarland family with a
special needs child.
No Hassle Fundraiser: SEPT-NOV
o We have extended the deadline to Dec. 6. We are a few $1000 short of
our goal right now.
Teacher Appreciation Program (TAP): Nov 7
o Stefanie Feralin: CEELC and Primary School. Teachers were so
appreciative. They loved the Subway sandwiches.
o Theresa Pimental: Waubesa. Parents were so generous with donations.
Shows the love that the community has for our teachers.
o Storemore and Subway donated water, chips and subs.
Science Night: NOV 22 (Jeff):
o Ians Pizza will provide discounted pizza. 20% of the actual cost. Total
Water systems has donated six cases of water for the UW students who
are volunteering.
Playtime Productions: Ali Baba and a Few Thieves… Dec. 13, 7pm
Trivia Night: March 15 (Jeff/Theresa)
o Looking for a local establishment to host. Raffles will also be a part of the
night of fun. Silent auction will now be a part of the Sock Hop in May.
Treasurers report
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McFarland parent Jessica Karls works for Kohls and her volunteer work along with
her co-workers work earned the McFarland Schools $1000.
$1312 was raised through the Target Red Card program.
No Hassle Fundraiser through Nov. 19 has raised approximately $3330.
The PTO has a net income of: $11,750
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Nov. 19, 2013
MOTION by Theresa Pimental, second by Jenni Amrheim-Heaton to adjourn. Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.