MERAMEC PTO MEETING
OCTOBER 5, 2011
By Ann Marie Kerr
Attendance: Susan Kronemer, President; Lawanda Hall, Annie Sloane, Angela Strum, Tanya Vedantham,
Susie Rubin, Stefanie Litteken, June Kay, Cari McDougal, Karen Brodski, Kate Leary, Eleanor Wilson,
Tammy Feltner, Danijela Boric, Cheryl Redohl, Jay Epstein, Maria Howard Samples, Latonyah Baker,
Manu Pauecburi.
PTO UPDATE by Susan Kronemer
PTO accomplishments this month:
PTO Room Parents Meeting
Innisbrook Wrapping Paper
Family Movie Night
Helping Hands Coat Drive
PTO October Events:
Coat Drive
Meramec Market
Book Fair
Poetry in Pajamas
Dinners for staff members during parent-teachers conference
Halloween Parties
Meramec Elementary School PTO on Facebook: Notify Angela Pompian if you want to Post events on
the Meramec PTO wall. Like Meramec PTO on Facebook.
Thank You: The PTO received many wonderful thank you notes from Meramec teachers and other staff.
Safety Concerns at Events: The movie night event prompted issues regarding child safety. This is a
family event, and, as such, the parents are expected to monitor their children. Although the majority of
children were well behaved, there were a small percentage of the children who were running in the
upper parking lot, on South Central Avenue, on Meramec Avenue, climbing fences, stuffing paper towels
into school toilets, etc.
Several ideas to address these issues were discussed, including a child safety check, character council
role models, classroom discussions before such events, and reminders to parents.
TREASURER’S REPORT by Eleanor Wilson:
The Library Garden has been budgeted.
PTO had a successful response with the Care Fund. Thank you to the Meramec families.
Meramec Movie Night expenses came in around where anticipated.
The Open House is under budget to date.
MERAMEC 101: Parent’s Guide by Cheryl Redohl: Cheryl is spearheading the development of a
pamphlet that will inform new Meramec parents the unwritten tips about the school year. Parents will
be solicited for suggested tips.
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT by Cari McDougal:
There were 46 tardies in August involving 33 students.
There were 97 tardies in September involving 46 students.
Each 20 minutes absent equates to one (1) hour tardy. The attendance /tardy statistics affect
Meramec’s rankings.
The teachers are emphasizing “Reduce, Recycle, Re-Use.”
In addition to the safety concerns arising from the Meramec Market Event, parents need to be aware of
a current student craze. The students are peeling off Fitz Root Beer labels and drinking out of these
bottles with or without a brown paper bag covering it. This act infers the image of being “cool.” Ms.
Isselhard and the teachers recommend no soda nor glass bottles/containers in school lunches.
ON-LINE GIVING TREE DONATIONS by Susan Kronemer
After discussion concerning the best method for the giving tree this year, it was decided to publish the
wish lists on the Meramec PTO website and allow a procedure wherein the parents can check off when
an item is purchased.
LOBBY FURNITURE PROJECT by Angela Strum: Angela presented a suggestion for personalizing the
lobby/seating area and hallway. Improvement to the lobby area would primarily cost sweet equity.
There was a suggestion of purchasing a display case for $1,300.00 for the hallway leading into the office.
The PTO voted unanimously to improve the lobby/seating area and to delay purchasing of the case.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Helping Hands/Coat Drive by Angela Strum: 73 coats and 188 other items were collected.
November 4 is Lunches for Love. The brown bags should be filled with a healthy lunch. The
children are encouraged to color or decorate the brown bags.
November 17 – Empty Bowls
Meramec Market by Tanya Vedantham: 17 tables were sold! The clothes brought to Meramec
Market are donated to Helping Hands. The families have a wonderful time and the event
benefits others.
Book Fair by Susie Rubin and Lauri Koster: The Poetry Night is on the first night of the Book
Fair. The children will read a poem in their pajamas. The other two nights of the fair are
parent-teacher conference nights. There will be a used book sale. Books can also be purchased
online.
Wrapping Paper by Susan Kronemer: The wrapping paper sale generated close to $13,000. It
was budgeted to generate a gross of $16,000 to $17,000. 123 families ordered. October 31,
2011 is the deadline to order online to generate money for Meramec PTO.
The PTO will be discussing alternative fund raising efforts at the November 9, 2011 meeting.
Please email Susan Kronemer or come to the November meeting to convey your suggestions.
Movie Night by Danijela Boric: Movie Night generated $585.00 at the concessions and had
$160 in expenses. Great job with Movie Night!
Welcome Committee by Kate Leavy: The Welcome Committee has planned three parent only
parties to help facilitate parent connections within Meramec. The First and Second grade party
is on October 21 at Kate’s house. The Second and Third grade party is at Steven and Erin
Schuver’s house on November 4. The Fourth and Fifth grade party is on November 12 at
Michael and Angela Pompian’s house. All parties are from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The guests are
asked to bring an appetizer or dessert. PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE PARENT ONLY EVENTS.
NEW BUSINESS/ANNOUNCEMENTS: BLACK HISTORY MONTH by Lawanda Hall: An event celebrating
Black History is planned for February 23, Thursday, at 6:30 p.m. in the Meramec gym. The Committee
had researched and considered various ideas for the evening. The two recommendations to the PTO
were Alsop’s Fables or Nothing But the Blues. After discussion, the PTO voted to support the Alsop’s
Fables presentation and to budget an additional $575 to cover the costs. The Committee also
suggested the art and music classes gear the instruction that month to parallel Black History Month.
There is also a meeting planned on October 10 to discuss lessening the gap in the MAP testing.
Meeting Adjourned.