June 2nd, 2022 In Person PSFA Meeting
1.) Call to Order/Pledge of Allegiance & Welcome: Current PFSA officers in attendance:
Dania Bruneau (2022), Kristen Cichon (2023) Colleen Stemetzski (2025), Debbie Rau (2023), Janice Karp (2023), Mary Ann Doyle (2023).
2.) Principal Gleason’s Report: Mr. Gleason- Good evening everyone, thanks for coming out tonight. It is a busy time of the year with last night being senior recognition night. It was a nice night here celebrating the students and a nice day today with the seniors being able to go on their picnic and have some fun and a bit of closure on the school year. I saw a really nice email that went out from Isabella to the senior class. It was asking the senior class to help the underclassmen as they really don’t know about Color Wars and what happens at the school; to celebrate tomorrow and let them know that it really is an ongoing tradition and help them to celebrate as well. Two weeks of school left and a lot going on. The prom was fantastic. Last night’s senior recognition was fantastic. The picnic went well and hopefully tomorrow will go well, and it will be one more thing to end the year on a high note and a good send off. I think everyone knows this, we are looking for a Spanish teacher as Mrs. Campbell is retiring. Not a lot of people are applying, I do have a couple of applicants on Monday but as far as I know a few other schools are also looking for Spanish teachers in the MCVSD. Our history teacher Mr. Ross is retiring at the end of the school year and we need to replace him as well. And we’re looking for a replacement teacher for Ms. Soto for next year. Thank you Dania for your years of service. She has been on the board for quite a while and has seen a lot during her time at CHS. And over the past couple of years there probably has not been anyone quite so frustrated with the limitations of Covid and wanting to do more and calling me to see when we could get activities started and get back to normal. So thank you so much. It’s been a really long time and a pleasure to work with you. Color wars will be a lot of fun- there will be field events such as soccer, basketball, kickball and team events as well as indoor events- pictionary, art challenge, computer challenges. The SGA works really hard to divide the school up into groups and the kids have fun competing with one another. Thank you for all of your support and thank you to the PSFA for all of your support to help the kids throughout the school year. If you have questions, feel free to reach out at any time.
3.) Student Government- Isabella Ji,SGA President-Charlie Raynor- Vice President. Hi everyone! For those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Isabella Ji, the SGA President this year. And I’m Charlie Raynor, the SGA Vice President for the upcoming school year. As the 2021-2022 school year comes to an end, I just wanted to say how grateful the rest of the SGA and I are for all the help we’ve received from the PSFA. It was tough coming from two years without fundraising to continue running all the events that we normally do during a school year, but with the support of you guys, we were able to accomplish all that we wanted to. From myself personally, thank you all for working with me, it’s truly been a pleasure. I am wrapping up my term on SGA and passing it down to our newly elected council consisting of: President Lucy Battista, Vice President Charlie Raynor, and Council members Marina Berger, Sabrina Liding, and Justin Longo. Here’s a brief of what’s happened this past month and this month so far. First there was the junior and senior prom, which thank you guys for supporting us in funding the photo booth; it was definitely a favorite amongst the guests. Later on in May, we hosted the SGA elections and proceeded to finalize everything for Color Wars, which is tomorrow. We anticipate lots of excitement during the day of friendly competition and fun tomorrow. All teams are geared up and our faculty members will show up tomorrow as team advisors, referees, and/or judges. So, parents, we hope that you all can make it to see the enthusiasm CHS students hold, not just for this event, but for spending time with their peers as a whole. Thank you to the PSFA for generously hosting a barbeque for us once again during Color Wars. As always, feel free to reach out to the SGA if you guys need help in setting up. Also, the SGA and I can not express how appreciative we are for you guys funding our t-shirts this year, this event would literally not be possible without you guys. So, thank you. Other than SGA news, most clubs have already elected their new councils for the upcoming school year and class council elections are currently in the works. Now onto Inkblot, Issue 6 will be distributed shortly as layout and editing are currently in the works. Also, on behalf of The Inkblot, I’d like to thank those of you who sent in donations as part of our donor drive and advertisement inserts. It is because of you all that we can successfully produce our 6 issues every year! For the senior class, graduation is sneaking up super quickly and we are trying to make the most of our time. The Class of 2022 had our senior showcase last night, which thank you to the PSFA for your scholarships and for the adorable gift card and CHS tumbler gifts. Today, we had our senior picnic and our senior trip at Thompson Park. Needless to say, we all enjoyed the event and are all grateful for another bonding moment with the rest of our class. Another shoutout to the PSFA for contributing so much to making our senior trip and picnic so special. Side note, the senior class would also like to say another thank you for the college doughnuts we received this morning. Okay, so that’s pretty much it and I’d say the best way to sum everything up is: thank you PSFA for everything. Now, for the last time, if there are any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions on anything that I’ve mentioned tonight, my email inbox is always open at isji@ctemc.org. Charlie can be reached at Chraynor@ctemc.org. Thank you all so so much for your endless support!
- ) Co-President’s Report: Dania Bruneau (2022) Kristen Cichon (2023) (Dania)Hello and thank you for coming out. We had senior awards last night in the cafeteria and everyone brought two guests. It was a very nice evening. Isabella Ji was a big winner as well as Maggie Schnieder and many other students. It was nice to have it back. We handed out ten PSFA scholarships- we did not choose the winners but we underwrote the scholarships and everyone was very grateful to receive them. All students whether they won an award or not received a $50. Gift card from the PSFA- and that is due to the generosity of the families here at CHS and we do thank you for those contributions. Today was senior day picnic and they started the day with ‘decision day donuts’ decorated to represent the colors of the colleges that they will be attending. Then the seniors went to Thompson Park and enjoyed some outdoor activities: canoeing, rock climbing and some of the same instructors that the seniors had on their freshman outing were helping them on their senior trip- going full circle as they started off freshman year with an ice-breaker at Thompson Park as well. Tomorrow is Color Wars- the most fun day of the year. Then we have bagel breakfasts on June 15th and 16th for starting the two days of final exams- also sponsored by the PSFA. I want to thank everyone for their help and enthusiasm throughout the year. We thank everyone who has stepped into the volunteering pool and hope that more people will volunteer- you won’t regret it- we have a good group of people to work with. I want to thank Kristin Lepping, Jacqueline McLoughlin and Ester Nelson-these are the senior moms who have been on the committee chairs for the last few years and they take so much off our plate and we really appreciate the efforts that they made to keep things going with membership and parent chats. I’m now handing this gavel over to Kristen Cichon and to Colleen Stemetzski to take over as co-president. (Kristen)Before Dania goes anywhere we would like to thank her for being a huge and integral part of CHS. She has been here wherever and whenever she is needed-she has been in charge of hospitality and has been here for every event. She has been here leading the way and not skipping a beat. We want to thank you for all that you’ve done with a token of our appreciation: a gift card for your favorite deli, favorite chocolates and wine. A good part of the board is staying on for next year but a good part of us will be leaving after next year so if you do know of anybody who is interested in any positions, whether they chair it or are helping out with a position please just let us know. It really is a fun way to meet people and be involved at the school. Last month’s minutes are posted on the website. Motion to approve minutes Jaqueline McLaughlin, Dania Bruneau seconds.
5.) Corresponding Secretary Janet Schneider (2022)(2025): We have a nice card from the teachers, thanking the PSFA for all of the nice things that the PSFA has done throughout the year, including Teacher Appreciation week.
6.) Committee Reports:
- Fundraising
i.Gift Auction – Debbie Rau(2023) – Successfully completed and working on date for next year.
- Merchandise – Lina Esposito(2023) – We did great at freshman orientation, I need to reorder a bunch of items and do inventory. If anyone has suggestions/ideas of merchandise your students would like to have -please reach out to me. We sold out of pajama pants and some sweatshirts. Request for bucket hats, in a smaller quantity and bigger sizes.
iii. Membership – Kristin Lepping(2022) Teresita Weiss(2023) Thank you to Kristin for showing me the ropes and all the instructions and thank you to Mark for your help on technical issues. I’m seeing a lot of members signing up for class of 2026. We are looking for someone to help with Membership. Thank you to Kristin as she ‘graduates out’.
- Public Relations- CHS Facebook page and Instagram – any news that is noteworthy- please submit and we will post to celebrate events in your student’s life.
- Enrichment Education: i. Driver’s Education – Janice Karp(2023) – Working on a possible fall program and one for spring.
- Parent Chat- Jacqueline McLaughlin(2022)/Ester Nelson(2022)- We do need a chair to head up this committee for next year. We hope to get some Freshman and Sophomore parents involved. There are some repeat topics so the chats can be about anything that would benefit the students and parents. We generally have one about SAT prep, one about requirements for the National Honor Society, Financial aid for college, another where guidance counselors will speak about junior course selections. It’s really about coordinating once a month for the parent chat- setting up the speaker and getting it organized for the night of the monthly PSFA meeting- the chats normally run the 1 hour to ½ hour before the meeting at the school. It generally only requires a phone call and or an email. It does help you to know what is going on at the school, and you are providing a service to the community.
- Hospitality- Dania Bruneau(2022), Lisa Lippincott(2025)- co chairs needed- inquire at president@chs-psfa.org. Two big things are Color Wars for tomorrow and you can see that many people have been dropping off supplies- they are starting to line the hallways. If you have any food items that require refrigeration we ask that you send it in with your student or bring it in tomorrow by 9:00. The other event is the bagel breakfast that is going on June 15th and 16th for the students to have bagels before their final exams. These are some of the events that parents can volunteer for and especially the bagel breakfast is a quick and easy event. You’re here for an hour stuffing bags and out by 7:30 am and can go on with the rest of your day. The kids really appreciate it and it’s nice to see their faces early in the morning. Keep your eye out for Sign up genius’ in the future and we also have senior breakfast coming up.
6.) Treasurer’s Report: MaryAnn Doyle(2023):The P&L is available on the table. We did have money going out this month: the photo booth for the prom; senior gifts; donuts; t-shirts for color wars which we will be including as a budget item for next year; graduation awards; website expenses. Motion to approve, Dania Bruneau-seconded Jacqueline McLoughlin.
7.) New Business: Looking for people to volunteer on: Membership-as co chair; Parent Chat; Spirit Wear; and Hospitality. Welcome to Colleen, our new co-president- we are looking forward to next year.
Motion to adjourn: Dania Bruneau seconded- Janice Karp.
Next PSFA Meeting is September 8th, 2022
Have a Happy and Safe Summer!