September 22, 2004
Present
Valsey Frietas, Yvonne Turro, Robert Maeshiro, Julie Aoyagi, Wayne Iseri, Anne Marie Duca, Lois Upton, Steve Jenkins, James Garrett, Jack Lincks, and Marielle Bravo-Saltzman.
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m.
Approval of Minutes
Valsey moved and Wayne seconded that the minutes of July 20, 2004 and August 17, 2004 be approved. Motion was carried unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report
None
President’s Report
Valsey mentioned that we missed "Make a Difference" week this year. She asked that Ohana consider if this is something they would like to do next year.
She thanked members for the great response to her request for duty and responsibility description of elected members and committee heads. She is compiling data for future use by incoming Ohana members.
The next project will be for committee members to submit responsibilities and duties of the various Ohana committees. She mentioned that there are parents expressing their willingness to help, but we need something in place to provide for them an avenue for involvement. Currently when people asked where they could be of service, Ohana is not ready to respond specifically.
Valsey mentioned another fundraising opportunity for Macy customers. If you register and designate Ahuimanu Elementary School as a recipient, a portion of your purchases will be paid to Ahuimanu Elementary School. Anne Marie suggested that Ahuimanu spearhead this fund raising effort, not Ohana.
Anne Marie suggested that Ohana put together a "passive list of opportunities" for May. This list would comprise such opportunities as the Macy's card program. These are programs that take little or no effort to
raise money for Ahuimanu. Such a list shouldn't be construed to be "fund raising" in the formal way, but as community partnerships that support education through donations based on sales.
Valsey provided Ohana meeting dates for the remainder of the school year:
November 17, 2004
Vice President’s Report
December 2004 - none
January 19, 2005 (With SCBM meeting)
February 16, 2005
March 16, 2005
April 20, 2005
May 18, 2005
Yvonne provided an update on the upcoming Nike Run that is scheduled for Sunday, October 3, 2004. The proceeds from applicant entrance fees designated for Ahuimanu Elementary School will go towards the purchase of sports equipment. She said there were approximately 15 people signed up for the run. It is difficult to get a more accurate count because applications are sent directly to the company. She welcomed runners to get together for a "brunch" after the run.
Committee Reports:
a. Shirts
Valsey said final report on shirt sales will be made during our next meeting. Payments for shirts are still coming in.
b. SCBM
Anne Marie is asking Ohana to brainstorm on how to get parent support for math - such as doing quick math problems in the car. It was recommended that a workshop be done for parents on the new math.
Valsey announced that a Math Workshop is currently in the makings and will take place sometime in November. The workshop will be learning coupled with fun games. Mr. Jenkins suggested that Ohana use 6th graders to help in conducting the workshop. Among some fun related math activities is casino night. Ahuimanu students have won "millions" in fun money in make believe Vegas gambling tournaments.
Two Ohana volunteers for school inspections are needed. It is a ½ day of training, which is expected to take place in November. Yvonne and Lois both volunteered.
The topic of the next SCBM meeting will be its new role and responsibilities as the School Community Council (SCC). The council will be entrusted with performing a review of Act 51 and its implication on the SCBM. A plan will also need to be formulated to determine how the transition from SCBM to SCC will take place.
Anne Marie shared that a parent/school informative meeting is being planned to discuss election of members to the SCC. With the creation of the SCC, a lot of changes in the overall scheme of academic planning are coming. She discussed the possibility of phone voting to create more flexibility for parents as well as members to participate in SCC affairs.
c. Workshop
A "Parenting & Drug Prevention" workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, October 27, 2004. It will be geared similarly to workshops held in the past.
The "Math Night" workshop is being planned for November. Lois mentioned that while she is able to help her 3rd grader with the new math, she is not sure if she is approaching the process in the proper way. Ohana needs to set the parameters in order to make workshop useful to parents. Valsey wants to mix fun with learning math so the experience can be enjoyable.
Steve noted that a lot of assumptions have been made in the new math books. He mentioned some difficulty logging on to the math book web site. Sometimes it takes the password and sometimes it doesn't.
Valsey shared that another possible workshop could be "Legislative Process Night." This would help parents to understand and get involved with issues that affect our school. Anne Marie suggested that the workshop be held in January - right before the opening of the legislature. The workshop should also be offered to other schools in the Windward Complex. Other principals have expressed their excitement that Ahuimanu is taking the lead on this.
d. Membership
Lee was unable to attend tonight's meeting. Valsey shared that he did mention that the membership sheets are in. Wayne mentioned that the class with 80% or more responses to the membership survey would get an ice cream party. Winning class yet to be determined.
e. Student Council
Lois announced that the Student Council was in charge of Flag Pole Assemble this week. They attended a retreat at Camp Erdman and had a wonderful time. They are also very proud of the money they raised from the book fair.
f. PCNC
Anne Marie: Kailani mentioned that anyone doing stories for Kani Kolea needs to submit their articles by Monday. She also announced the "2004 Run & Read for Literacy"-1 mile fun run would be held on Sunday, November 7, 2004 at Windward Community College at 8:30 a.m.
g. Fun Fair
Wayne reported that planning was proceeding well. Angie is doing a great job for a first year chairperson and is learning as she goes along. He mentioned that doing a write up of duties and responsibilities such as how Valsey had requested for board members would be a good exercise for Angie. This would help the next person who takes over the fun fair to be more informed as to how to proceed in carrying on a successful fundraiser.
The vendors scheduled to participate this year is up by 30%.
He also touched upon the reason for the rise in price from $10 to $18 for the wristbands. In attending a Hawaii Okinawan Center fundaiser, he noted that one helicopter ride cost $3.50. So $18.00 was not really a bad deal for an all day all you can ride wristband. He felt that a comparison of wristband cost to paying by script per ride could be beneficial to parents. They could then determine with better information whether to purchase the wristbands.
This year we expected to have at least 8 rides. Wayne shared that it wouldn't have been cost-effective for Ahuimanu to have tried to contract for rides on our own. We would have lost money if we didn't go with Extreme Rentals. Another benefit of the wristbands was that Ahuimanu was getting a percentage from the sale of wristbands. Fortunately, sales were still going well even though the price increased.
He mentioned that help for security was needed to watch over the tents Friday night before the fair. The Boys Scouts were not available to provide security this year. Valsey volunteered to stay over night with her family in the cafeteria.
Anne Marie said that scrip counters would be needed after the fair is done. James to put the word out to all Ohana members. Lois and Yvonne volunteered to help count scrips.
Valsey suggested that for next year a sleep over/ story telling /video movie watching event should be scheduled to encourage people to stay at the cafeteria. This would help to provide security for the fun fair.
h. Fall Fundraiser
None.
i. Spring Fund Raiser
None
j. Playground
Wayne announced that the Kahaluu Lions Club would be building benches outside of the library. They will be providing the labor. We will be reimbursing them for supplies and materials used. Sharon Young (Head Custodian) will be supervising the operation.
k. Faculty
Steve mentioned that the faculty is very grateful for the shirts and stipends that they received. Teachers are off and running with the new math books. Anne Marie shared that it isn't really new math, but new math in the "conceptual" sense. The concepts presented are what's new. The math itself hasn't changed.
Lois said that the student council member liked the fact that the math books had pages that referenced where these items or concepts are covered in other parts of the books.
l. Administration
Anne Marie announced that Cara Randolph (1st grade teacher) is leaving Ahuimanu to relocate to the mainland. Her husband will not be returning to Hawaii after his deployment and she doesn't want to break up the family. She will be missed.
The new teacher, Mrs. Torres will be replacing her after the October break. She will be participating in the Parent/Teacher Conferences coming up.
Anne Marie announced that we have a new Hawaiian Studies teacher - Ms. Alexis McElroy known as "Kumu Kapua."
The October Parent/Teacher conference will be conducted with the new report card format - Learner Outcome Report Card. Eventually we'll have new report cards, but not this year. This year we have only the "NEW Learner Outcome" report card.
She also touched upon the "All Schools mandated Focused plan for Academics." As part of the recently enacted Act 51, all schools need to submit a "Focused Standards Based Plan for Academic Improvement: FSIAP" to the state DOE. This is a very focused look at our SID, or Standards Implementation Design plan.
Discussion took place on the open house that we just had. Yvonne would like to see teachers explain to parents what the students do throughout the day. The present format of each parent trying to speak to the teacher doesn't seem to have worked. In open houses at other schools, the teachers would explain to the parents what their children did throughout the school day. Jack also had similar experiences at open houses at other schools.
Anne Marie shared that open houses were once conducted that way, but problems would occur when parents came late. The teacher would need to start all over again. But she did think that maybe we should go back to that method again. Teachers could put together a short video of an average student day for parents. She did note that attendance was exceptionally high. But we need to make the parents' experience of our school meaningful. In the present setup, the teacher is usually "snagged" by some parents and the other parents have to wait a long time before getting to speak to the teachers themselves.
m. Communications
James is in charge of refreshments at the October meeting. Chicken wings and potato salad will be the menu courtesy of Ohana Karaoke II of Koolau Shopping Center. He said he would be taking pictures again at this year's Fun Fair. Daughter - Maile has been enlisted and will be helping dad out.
James passed out a chart depicting the activity at our Ohana Web Site from October 2003 through Sept 2004. The Usage Statistics graph showed the monthly visits to our web site. To date there are 80 official email addresses on record.
Request for Funds
Steve reported that King Intermediate School is requesting $60.00 to be used to cover expenses for a cross-country meet to be held on Friday, October 15, 2004. $40.00 - entry fee, $20.00 snacks.
Patty Marshall asking for an additional $4,450.00 for an automated management system for the library. Discussion followed on how we could support our library. Anne Marie requested that we table this request until a more comprehensive list of needs could be formulated.
New Business/Parental Concerns
Jack Lincks shared the progress made on the issue of overcrowding of classes for 3rd thru 6th grades. He presented some sample letters that could be used to lobby elected officials. He suggested that a booth be set up at the fun fair so parents could sign a petition to address class reductions.
James suggested posting the sample letters on Ahuimanu Elementary's web site for easy access to parents. Fields could be set up for entry of personal information and a button devised so the letter so it could be automatically sent to email addresses of elected officials. Discussion also centered on other ways to get the message out to our legislators.
Anne Marie stated that timing is important. These letters should not go out too early. We should wait until after the general election. But she also shared that now might be the time to lobby the legislature on this issue because the economy looks good for possible funding for more 3rd thru 6th grade teachers.
Valsey suggested that coordination be set up so that this effort is not conducted haphazardly. She stated that we need to develop a community around this issue. A time frame needs to be established of activities that need to take place. Anne Marie suggested that Valsey, Jack and herself should meet to establish a plan of action on how to approach this issue effectively.
Adjournment/Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 20, 2004. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Robert Maeshiro, Recording Secretary
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