Parents and Advocates for Gifted Education
Minutes of the Board Meeting
December 3, 2009

President Pam Slemp called the meeting to order at 9:06 a.m.

Members present:  Pam Slemp, Judy Atchley, Sue Peters, Katherine Ting, James Brake, Lenae Lazzelle, April Wages, Jacque Harris, Gary Norcross, and Tracy DeMier

Previous Minutes November 5, 2009 minutes approved as printed.

Gifted Coordinator’s Report:  NAGC came in $1,000 under budget. Thank you to PAGE for helping with the cost. Faculty Panels are scheduled for January 21, February 23^rd and April 1^st from 6:30-8pm. The staff are putting together Power Point presentations of what they learned at NAGC. All of the Power Points will be combined to be shared on the website and with the school district PD. Some of the staff used their own funds to attend a day early and were excited to learn what other districts are doing. The November Faculty Panel and 2^nd Cup of Coffee went well. The next 2^nd Cup of Coffee will be December 16^th.

Decoding da Vinci class’s art work will be on display December 4^th at the Coffee Ethic as part of Decemeber's Art Walk.

Hickory Hills will be moving over Winter Break and Phelps will be receiving their science equipment. Phelps is paying for the moving and set-up of the equipment. Once everything is set-up, PAGE will be receiving a funding request for equipment that will be needed to complete the middle school science lab.

The Outdoor Classroom committee will be meeting to plan the pavillion. Plans will have to be coordinated with Dave Bishop at the school district.

Lenae has been working with Drury to increase awareness of gifted education among students majoring in education. Undergraduate students now have more opportunities to learn about gifted students. Lenae shared a new Drury brochure that Phelps staff helped design. It highlights courses on gifted education and features Phelps.

Treasurer’s Report:  Magazine profits are down $1,500. Membership revenue is up $650 over budget. Cookie Dough is up by $1,300. Overall we are in good shape so far. Some of the bad checks have been recovered and we are working on the others. Tax Returns are done and we were able to get the same cost as the previous CPA was going to charge.

Parent’s Advisory Council: Judy attended November's meeting. The Bond Election was discussed and the district was happy with the results and appreciated the support of parents. The 2010-2011 Budget will be coming up for discussion at the February 22^nd meeting. A $2M increase is expected in the state funding formula, but there are concerns about funding being pulled from the categoricals. The district will have a better idea of revenue and discuss budget options with parents at the February meeting.

Ryan Van Bibber, Media Specialist in the Office of Communications, encouraged everyone to go to the SPS webpage and sign up to receive the SPS E-newsletter. Mr. Van Bibber also mentioned that SPS is on Twitter and Facebook.

2nd Cup of Coffee:  Approximately 10 people attended the November Panel/Coffee. We hope to get a better response with future panels since there will be more time to promote it.

NAGC Thank Yous: Pam shared the many emails and Thank You notes that PAGE has received from the teachers who attended NAGC.

Cookie Dough: Delivery is tomorrow. Since we can no longer use the fundraising company with David's Cookies, it will take more work by our volunteers to coordinate delivery. This will be Kim Hamburg's last year as chairperson. She has done an awesome job. Please let Pam Slemp know if anyone is interested in chairing this important fundraiser next year.

PAGE Newsletter:  Judy has received a couple of articles from gifted teachers for the newsletter. She will send out a reminder that the deadline to turn in articles is Friday, December 11^th. She hopes to have the newsletter mailed out sometime the following week.

NAGC Online Sessions: As discussed last meeting, PAGE signed up for access to the online NAGC sessions. Information on how to access the sessions will be shared as soon as it becomes available.

MYSP Map Incentives: Testing will run from March 29 through April 16^th. Tracy offered to coordinate getting the incentives.

PAGE Help: Judy offered to update the PAGE posters that hang in the Phelps hallways. She will also email the files to Ron Hampton in order to get them posted on the website. Pam will look into updating the PAGE link on the website. Some of the information is outdated. Also, in the past, PAGE has listed names of donors who have given at least $500 to PAGE on a plaque. Pam would like to continue this tradition.

Bridges PTA: Weller's PTA is small and Pam would like to help support their teacher appreciation since it includes Bridges' teachers, yet the majority of students attending Bridges don't attend Weller. It was decided to contribute $50 to Weller PTA from Community Relations.

Respectfully Submitted,  

Judy Atchley,
Secretary