Parent Council and PES Minutes, September 24, 2008
Connie Wonham introduced herself as the new facilitator of the Parent Council for 2008, replacing Helen Garrett. Connie has a senior student this year and will have a freshman student next year.
Kathy Ruggles is the Volunteer Coordinator and also runs the Career Center. She asked for volunteers to help in a variety of areas. All that is required is an application from the main office and a background check. The Career Center requires a 2 ½ hour commitment / week, other jobs are more flexible: help in library, parent council, field trips, senior projects, tutoring, etc. Parents can work with kids or not—there are lots of jobs that do not involve working directly with your kids, since many kids do not like their parents over their shoulders. Kathy can be reached at 687-3113 or e-mail at ruggles_k@4j.lane.edu.
Principal’s Update, Randy Bernstein
Randy reiterated the need for volunteers. Parents can help in study halls, advisory classes and can be math tutors.
Randy welcomed comments on Open House. Feedback is always welcome. A parent commented that she would like the open house to be a little bit longer, perhaps class times could be 12 minutes instead of 10. Randy said that perhaps it could begin earlier, so that time in the classes did not seem so rushed. A parent asked for maps offered in more places, some parents did not find them. The cookies and coffee were great. A parent commented that he observed 3 different styles from teachers: 1. Focus on rules of how they manage the classroom; 2. Overview of what the class is all about (i.e., approach, philosophy, what’s required); 3. Introduced himself to individual parents. He thought that style #2 was most helpful.
Randy asked parents to read Newsletters carefully. The next newsletter will have information on Essential Skills. ES has 9 different areas, 4 of which will be phased in this year. Students who are freshmen this year will have to demonstrate skills in reading, math and writing in order to graduate from high school. Some areas are still being ironed out, but information on Essential Skills will be the main topic of Freshman Night.
Enrollment – SEHS has 1,575 students. There are about 30-40 kids on the freshman waiting list.
School Improvement Plan Goal – Community Building
We would like to do a better job on welcoming our multi-cultural community with visuals around the school environment with posters, murals and signage. Randy invited parents to participate in exploring ways we could improve the appearance of the school hallways and open areas. The school would provide a modest budget for parents who would like to get involved. He suggested that parents could visit other schools and share ideas.
Cindy Wright – Financial Update
Cindy passed out an Actual Budget for 08-09, as of July 1. 08. The fundraising total for 07-08 was $32,056, with $23,318 coming from scrip. The liabilities section represents how we are planning to spend our money this year. Last year’s survey indicated that we want to continue funding library, music and volunteer coordinator, and we are doing that this year at a $36,094 price tag. We are spending more that we have, leaving nothing to help reduce class size, another priority indicated by the survey. Our focus this year is to increase fundraising through e-scrip. Helen Garrett gave an example of her experience shopping at Safeway: she made a $5.47 purchase of gift wrap and was able to use a number on her receipt to increase the scrip donation to South by $9.86. She said we can work the e-scrip system to make more money if parents are informed on how to do it. Cindy expressed a need for someone to take the lead to make parents and grandparents and anyone in the family who does the shopping aware that they can help the school make more money by using e-scrip.
The Preschool at SEHS is willing to have their families designate SEHS as e-scrip recipient in exchange for funds to pay for snacks for the kids in the preschool. Some high school students work there, and the high school uses it for a child psychology class. No members of the Parent Council objected to this idea.
Stand for Children
Jen Wyld spoke for Stand for Children, a non-partisan group that looks at issues that involve children and education. She encouraged parents to vote YES on Ballot Measure 20-137. It is the last item on the ballot. She mentioned that there are a lot of issues on the ballot this election and to please refer to www.stand.org/or for help on sorting out the issues that take money away from our kids’ educations.
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Parent Education Series – Getting Involved at South: Secrets Revealed
Stephanie Cannon is in charge of clubs at South. She can be reached at 687-3201 or e-mail cannon_s@4jl.lane.edu
A panel of students described life at South after school. Fine arts include drama, band, orchestra, and choir. Student Government meets 2X/week, plans majority of events, dances, clubs, fundraisers, prom, and this year, a talent show. Publications include Yearbook, The Axe, photography and ad sales. Sports include alternative and traditional to keep active. ASAP is a peer education program, Aides and Substance Abuse Prevention, students are trained by counselors to talk with sophomores and do activities to educate about aides and substance abuse. Clubs are a fun way to meet other people. Students can choose their own level of involvement. Academic subjects include chemistry, chess, community service, tango, Harry Potter. The Robotics Team brought the actual robot from last year’s group to the meeting. The goal was to build a robot that plays some game in 6 weeks. The robot was designed to pick up a huge ball and toss it over a 7 foot hurdle. It also gives great hugs. The team went to Portland and came in 21st out of 55, not bad for their first year. It costs $6,000 to go to a competition, so members meet with corporate execs to solicit donations. Mock trial Club was new last year, and it won the regional competition. In Mock Trial, students receive a packet of a pretend case and act it out, complete with prosecution team, witnesses, lawyers, then argue against a different school. There’s Model European Union and Model United Nations where students assume the role of ambassador, represent other countries and discuss world issues.
Stephanie said that during the first 3 weeks of school students can fill out an application to form a club of their own idea. They must have at least 5 members and an advisor from the community, advisor must be 21 yrs old. At Club Day next Wednesday, students gather and sign up, then Student Government decides which ones to fund and how much. Stephanie handed out an Athletic/Activities Flow Chart. Club activities are ranked in Tiers according to the level of school involvement and assumed liability. Tier 1 Activities are those that take place at school, under school supervision and funding. Tier 2 activities, such as rowing, equitation, x-country and skiing are generally under the guise of a national organization, but not funded by the district. Tier 3 and 4 activities are recognized as clubs, but the school does not take responsibility for the club. The club process is student initiated. We want to encourage students to get involved in a variety of ways. Time commitment is up to the student, for example, Frisbee may practice 3 times a week, but the student only goes twice a week.
More clubs are: Young Apollo where action plus education equals change, deals with issues on global warming and the environment, tree planting, beach cleanup, talks by professors, they partner with the Science Factory for Bike Day. Their project this year is educating about compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Parent questions:
Can students register later in the year? They can register, but cannot ask for money from Student Government. Clubs have to present to Student Government. Some funds come from the Alumni Groups. There is no deadline for signing up to clubs.
When do clubs meet? Are there advisors in attendance at all meetings? Meeting times vary, rowing is out every day. Harry Potter may meet once a month during lunch. Tier 4 clubs may not have an advisor present.
Club participation is about managing time. It is important to not let extracurricular activities get ahead of academics. Students have to plan ahead. They are encouraged to be involved in things they really care about.
Helen Garrett said that, as an Admissions Professional, she looks for “breadth and depth”. College application reviewers can see right through “resume loaders” who join 10 clubs, but never go to meetings or truly participate.
Kathy Ruggles is the Volunteer Coordinator and also runs the Career Center. She asked for volunteers to help in a variety of areas. All that is required is an application from the main office and a background check. The Career Center requires a 2 ½ hour commitment / week, other jobs are more flexible: help in library, parent council, field trips, senior projects, tutoring, etc. Parents can work with kids or not—there are lots of jobs that do not involve working directly with your kids, since many kids do not like their parents over their shoulders. Kathy can be reached at 687-3113 or e-mail at ruggles_k@4j.lane.edu.
Principal’s Update, Randy Bernstein
Randy reiterated the need for volunteers. Parents can help in study halls, advisory classes and can be math tutors.
Randy welcomed comments on Open House. Feedback is always welcome. A parent commented that she would like the open house to be a little bit longer, perhaps class times could be 12 minutes instead of 10. Randy said that perhaps it could begin earlier, so that time in the classes did not seem so rushed. A parent asked for maps offered in more places, some parents did not find them. The cookies and coffee were great. A parent commented that he observed 3 different styles from teachers: 1. Focus on rules of how they manage the classroom; 2. Overview of what the class is all about (i.e., approach, philosophy, what’s required); 3. Introduced himself to individual parents. He thought that style #2 was most helpful.
Randy asked parents to read Newsletters carefully. The next newsletter will have information on Essential Skills. ES has 9 different areas, 4 of which will be phased in this year. Students who are freshmen this year will have to demonstrate skills in reading, math and writing in order to graduate from high school. Some areas are still being ironed out, but information on Essential Skills will be the main topic of Freshman Night.
Enrollment – SEHS has 1,575 students. There are about 30-40 kids on the freshman waiting list.
School Improvement Plan Goal – Community Building
We would like to do a better job on welcoming our multi-cultural community with visuals around the school environment with posters, murals and signage. Randy invited parents to participate in exploring ways we could improve the appearance of the school hallways and open areas. The school would provide a modest budget for parents who would like to get involved. He suggested that parents could visit other schools and share ideas.
Cindy Wright – Financial Update
Cindy passed out an Actual Budget for 08-09, as of July 1. 08. The fundraising total for 07-08 was $32,056, with $23,318 coming from scrip. The liabilities section represents how we are planning to spend our money this year. Last year’s survey indicated that we want to continue funding library, music and volunteer coordinator, and we are doing that this year at a $36,094 price tag. We are spending more that we have, leaving nothing to help reduce class size, another priority indicated by the survey. Our focus this year is to increase fundraising through e-scrip. Helen Garrett gave an example of her experience shopping at Safeway: she made a $5.47 purchase of gift wrap and was able to use a number on her receipt to increase the scrip donation to South by $9.86. She said we can work the e-scrip system to make more money if parents are informed on how to do it. Cindy expressed a need for someone to take the lead to make parents and grandparents and anyone in the family who does the shopping aware that they can help the school make more money by using e-scrip.
The Preschool at SEHS is willing to have their families designate SEHS as e-scrip recipient in exchange for funds to pay for snacks for the kids in the preschool. Some high school students work there, and the high school uses it for a child psychology class. No members of the Parent Council objected to this idea.
Stand for Children
Jen Wyld spoke for Stand for Children, a non-partisan group that looks at issues that involve children and education. She encouraged parents to vote YES on Ballot Measure 20-137. It is the last item on the ballot. She mentioned that there are a lot of issues on the ballot this election and to please refer to www.stand.org/or for help on sorting out the issues that take money away from our kids’ educations.
************************************************************************
Parent Education Series – Getting Involved at South: Secrets Revealed
Stephanie Cannon is in charge of clubs at South. She can be reached at 687-3201 or e-mail cannon_s@4jl.lane.edu
A panel of students described life at South after school. Fine arts include drama, band, orchestra, and choir. Student Government meets 2X/week, plans majority of events, dances, clubs, fundraisers, prom, and this year, a talent show. Publications include Yearbook, The Axe, photography and ad sales. Sports include alternative and traditional to keep active. ASAP is a peer education program, Aides and Substance Abuse Prevention, students are trained by counselors to talk with sophomores and do activities to educate about aides and substance abuse. Clubs are a fun way to meet other people. Students can choose their own level of involvement. Academic subjects include chemistry, chess, community service, tango, Harry Potter. The Robotics Team brought the actual robot from last year’s group to the meeting. The goal was to build a robot that plays some game in 6 weeks. The robot was designed to pick up a huge ball and toss it over a 7 foot hurdle. It also gives great hugs. The team went to Portland and came in 21st out of 55, not bad for their first year. It costs $6,000 to go to a competition, so members meet with corporate execs to solicit donations. Mock trial Club was new last year, and it won the regional competition. In Mock Trial, students receive a packet of a pretend case and act it out, complete with prosecution team, witnesses, lawyers, then argue against a different school. There’s Model European Union and Model United Nations where students assume the role of ambassador, represent other countries and discuss world issues.
Stephanie said that during the first 3 weeks of school students can fill out an application to form a club of their own idea. They must have at least 5 members and an advisor from the community, advisor must be 21 yrs old. At Club Day next Wednesday, students gather and sign up, then Student Government decides which ones to fund and how much. Stephanie handed out an Athletic/Activities Flow Chart. Club activities are ranked in Tiers according to the level of school involvement and assumed liability. Tier 1 Activities are those that take place at school, under school supervision and funding. Tier 2 activities, such as rowing, equitation, x-country and skiing are generally under the guise of a national organization, but not funded by the district. Tier 3 and 4 activities are recognized as clubs, but the school does not take responsibility for the club. The club process is student initiated. We want to encourage students to get involved in a variety of ways. Time commitment is up to the student, for example, Frisbee may practice 3 times a week, but the student only goes twice a week.
More clubs are: Young Apollo where action plus education equals change, deals with issues on global warming and the environment, tree planting, beach cleanup, talks by professors, they partner with the Science Factory for Bike Day. Their project this year is educating about compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Parent questions:
Can students register later in the year? They can register, but cannot ask for money from Student Government. Clubs have to present to Student Government. Some funds come from the Alumni Groups. There is no deadline for signing up to clubs.
When do clubs meet? Are there advisors in attendance at all meetings? Meeting times vary, rowing is out every day. Harry Potter may meet once a month during lunch. Tier 4 clubs may not have an advisor present.
Club participation is about managing time. It is important to not let extracurricular activities get ahead of academics. Students have to plan ahead. They are encouraged to be involved in things they really care about.
Helen Garrett said that, as an Admissions Professional, she looks for “breadth and depth”. College application reviewers can see right through “resume loaders” who join 10 clubs, but never go to meetings or truly participate.
posted by Parent Council @ 5:59 PM
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