September 9, 2015
LMS PTO Meeting Minutes
Attendance
Please see attached sheet.
Review of Minutes
Kimber Dolloff let the PTO know that minutes can now be viewed on the new LMS website.
http://lmslaconia.weebly.com/pto.html
Grade Coordinators
Kimber reviewed the grade coordinators.
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8th Grade – Stephanie Kirk and Trish Poliquin
7th Grade – Wendy Dickey
6th Grade – Heidi Paiva and Angie Carignan
Treasurer’s Report
Sara Brooks gave the Treasurer’s report. She stated the PTO dance brought in $1,386.
Expenses for the dance totaled $274 with much of the food being donated.
The current account balance is $4,200.
Principal’s Report
Principal Ennis stated next year he would like to move the PTO dance so that it is not the first
dance of the year. He would like to have at least one school sponsored dance, prior to the PTO
dance, which is chaperoned by teachers so that the kids understand the rules and expectations
in regards to proper behavior. It was noted that there were not many 8 th graders attending this
year’s PTO dance to lead by example.
Red Ribbon Week will be organized by Officers Chaisson and Orton of the Laconia PD.
The SAU will be having students carve over 1,500 pumpkins for the upcoming Pumpkin Festival.
It was noted that the tools used to carve the pumpkins are made of plastic. The 7th grade team
has stayed on top of handling the pumpkins with Mrs. Connelly as coordinator.
PBIS t-shirts have been ordered. A team of students, who refer to their group as “The Ripple
Effect,” will handle handing the t-shirts out to the other students. The 8th grade class will
receive their shirts one day prior to the 7th and 6th graders. The Ripple Effect meets afterschool.
Any child in LMS can go whenever his/her schedule permits.
Kimber mentioned she has sat in on a PBIS meeting as a parent. She felt she was able to voice
what the kids are thinking about PRIDE and PBIS. It was noted that kids will be asked to where
their PRIDE shirts throughout the year at specific events throughout the year. Kimber feels this
is a very position initiative.
Academic Recognition
Kimber reminded grade coordinators the Academic Recognition letters will be due to Sue Dore
by November 5th. She also reviewed the recognition dates which will be: 11/17 for the 6th
grade, 11/18 for the 7th grade, and 11/20 for the 8th grade.
November PTO
Kimber reminded everyone that the November PTO meeting will include the LHS PTO. The topic
of discussion will be around the NHHEAF (New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance
Foundation). This initiative is set up to help middle school kids prep for high school and help
high school kids prep for college. Kimber’s hope is to increase parent participation by
sponsoring the dinner for the particular meeting.
There was a motion to help fund a dinner for the November PTO meeting. There was a second
motion made; the motion was voted on and approved by majority vote.
There was a motion to donate up to $150 for ice cream sandwiches to the October 30th PRIDE
celebration. There was a second motion made; the motion was voted on and approved by
majority vote.
Guest Speakers – Clare Persson and Officer Eric Adams with “Stand Up Laconia”
Clare Persson
Clare announced the next Stand Up Laconia meeting will be on October 22nd at the Hewitt
Technical Center in the MVSB Culinary Arts Center from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Child care will
be available. She them gave the history of Stand Up Laconia and explained that “Better
Together” is also still part of the community. Clare stated the Staff Sergeant Rick Frost joined
SUL 2 years ago. The purpose of SUL is substance abuse prevention, intervention, treatment,
and recovery. It started off as a youth focused group and expanded to include all age brackets.
Clare went over the upcoming SUL events which include:
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Pumpkin Fest 10/24
Red Ribbon Week 10/23 – 10/31
County Delegation will hold a public hearing for a bond issue for the Community
Corrections Center @ 7 p.m. at the Belknap County Complex.
When Heroin Takes Life in the Lakes Region w/ Shaun Dutile 11/05
Sticker Shock Campaign week of 11/16
Christmas Parade – shirts will be on sale for $10
Officer Eric Adams
Officer Adams is Laconia’s Prevention Enforcement Treatment Coordinator. He responds to
overdoses and works with individuals and their families. He stated that this year alone there
have been 6 deaths related to heroin and 67 total overdoses.
Officer Adams noted that Laconia is on the upswing when dealing with and handling substance
abuse, largely because of the community involvement. He is teaching the community to not
stigmatize those that are using drugs. Most of those that are using have had sex trauma,
mental trauma, and/or parental abuse trauma.
There are signs that Methamphetamine is wreaking havoc in the community as it has been on
the influx as of late.
Officer Adams recommends that parents start to speak to their children about drugs starting at
the age of 12 to 13 years old. He reiterated that people need to get involved because drugs
have no boundaries. When speaking to kids, it is important to be involved in everything they do
and don’t be afraid to drill them for information about where they have been, who they were
with, and what they were doing. One of the things that addicts state the most during
questioning is, “I wish my parents would have asked more questions.” If parents feel their
child(ren) may be involved with drugs or are struggling with saying “no” to friends, Officer
Adams would be happy to talk with the child(ren) about how to say “no.” He stated that most
addictions start with alcohol consumption.
Laconia is currently working towards setting up a rehab to help those who need/want to
recover. The city is looking to be the model for similar programs throughout the country. He
mentioned that the Laconia Recovery Court cannot receive federal funding because it is not
referred to as a “Drug Court.”
Office Adams encourages people involved in the PTO and SUL to write to the paper about the
good that has come from these programs and awareness. There is so much in the newspapers
about overdoses, deaths, and the drug busts, but there needs to be more about what the
community is doing to prevent drug addiction.
In closing, Officer Adams recommended that people lookup “Alex’s Story.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EowJxTecUaE
Meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Angie Carignan