HPMP Meeting notes
Monday, May 6, 2013
5:30-6:30 pm
Smith School
Attendees: Co-President Freyja Bell, Co-Secretary Rikki Read, Treasurer Heather Nicholson, Past President Marika Adamek, Broadwater Principal Sue Sweeney, Central Principal Merry Fahrman, Diana Hammer, Colleen Roylance, Vanessa Nasset, Jill Downing, Perri May, Alan Woodmansey, Amy Heuiser, Tiffany Lyden, Anne Woodland, Central Upper Elementary Teacher Charla Kempa,
Co-President Freyja began the meeting at 5:30 pm.
Welcome/Introductions
Freyja opened the meeting with introductions. Co-Secretary Rikki Read circulated the sign-in sheet.
Montessori Teacher Presentation
Central Upper Elementary Teacher Charla Kempa and two of her students, Nicholas Fitzsimmons and Claire Downing gave a presentation on Montana History. Students each researched a famous Montanan by drawing names out of a hat. Each student provided a time capsule related to their historical figures. Martha Raye is Nicholas’s famous Montanan and Charlie Pride is Claire’s. Thank you Charla, Nicholas, and Claire!
Secretary’s Report
Co-Secretary Rikki Read reported last month’s minutes were approved and forwarded to teachers.
Treasurer’s Report
Current balance is $17,272.51.
Principals’ Report
Merry Fahrman reported there is still a strong interest in the Montessori program. This year, there were 64 students in the lottery, which is down 8 from last year. There were 36 spots and 2 Smith families have turned down offers of placement due to the openings being at Broadwater. Merry also introduced Vanessa Nasset, who will be taking over as principal at Central due to Merry’s retirement.
Recap of KidWorks at the Holter
Tiffany Lyden reported this event went well. The following are volunteers who helped make KidWorks a success: Erin McMahon, Alana Listoe, Anne Woodland, Lisa Bullock, Elvira Roncalli, Alan Woodmansey, Amy Heuiser, Anne Bauer, Freyja Bell, Debbie Smith, Christy Heun, Deb Halliday, Julie Heller, Jennifer Scheinz, Shannon McDonald-Garrity, Tiffany Lyden, Rhonda Ronan, Julianne Tenneson, Marie Matthews, Diana Hammer, Mark Roylance, Jay Weiner, Betsy Baur. If you see these folks around town, please thank them!
2013-2014 HPMP Fundraising Recommendations
Freyja explained the fundraising calendar for the next school year. HPMP meetings will be held at Broadwater. The September meeting will consist of a social with something along the lines of cookies offered as opposed ice cream. Upper Elementary students may have various projects on display. Also in September is the Carnival Classic, where HPMP will have a booth offering an activity and we may serve ice cream there. We will be participating in the State Charitable Giving Campaign and will have a table at the employee fair. A fundraising letter will be sent out to former Lobsterfest supporters and parents with an explanation about Lobsterfest in October. There will be a Karaoke event or other fun family-oriented event in November. A spring family fundraiser/concert is in the works and possible bands are being looked into. April is KidWorks at the Holter Museum. The possibility exists to combine KidWorks with Original Works to expand the Original Works fundraiser to a larger audience. This would eliminate Original Works fundraising issues with other school PTOs. Toward the end of the school year, another fundraising letter will be sent to current and former students. Freyja made a motion to approve the ’13-’14 Fundraising Calendar. Marika seconded the motion, and the motion passed.
Status Update on future of Montessori
Diana explained HPMP intends to work with the District to increase the number of schools which offer a Montessori track; ideally, HPMP would like to see a Montessori track in each public school in the District. There was a meeting with Dr. Kultgen in April and a committee was formed to implement/expand Montessori beginning in the ’14-’15 school year. Diana has a draft letter to share with HPMP’s Board and needs to get a letter to the school board reiterating HPMP’s intentions.
2013-2014 HPMP Board Elections
Co-Presidents Erin Turner & Perri May
Treasurer Heather Nicholson
Co-Secretaries Erin Lanigan & Colleen Roylance
Members-At-Large Tiffany Lyden (Smith), Ann Woodland (Broadwater), Amy Heiser (Central)
Future of Montessori, Diana Hammer
Marika made a motion to approve the new Board. Heather seconded and the motion passed.
Open Discussion
Diana offered to draft a newsletter, which will recognize those leaving the Board. In the fall, the newsletter will be updated and sent out as well.
HPMP Meeting notes
Monday, April 8, 2013
5:30-6:30 pm
Smith School
Attendees: Co-President Erin Turner, Co-President Freyja Bell, Co-Secretary Rikki Read, Co-Secretary Alana Listoe, Past President Marika Adamek, Broadwater Principal Sue Sweeney, Central Principal Merry Fahrman, Diana Hammer, Susan Anderson, Tiffany Lyden, Anne Woodland, Christina Crowder, Jason Quijada, Central student teacher Olivia Coen, Central-Linc lower Montesorri teachers Deb Johnson, and Libby Kenney
Co-President Erin began the meeting at 5:30 pm.
Welcome/Introductions
Erin opened the meeting with introductions. Co-Secretary Alana Listoe circulated the sign-in sheet.
Montessori Teacher Presentation
Deb Johnson and Libby Kenney gave a parts of speech/function of words lesson using a farm with labels. The teachers say it is something students can see, touch, and feel. They can see from the label that a word is an adjective, article or noun for example. They learn there is an order to form sentences. Farm animals can help with the lesson. For example the sentence, “A cow jumped over the barn” – they can make the cow do the action and it helps them understand more deeply. Deb says teachers often say that Montessori students know the parts of speech well. This a good work for small group learning. Thanks, Deb and Libby!
Secretary’s Report
Co-Secretary Alana Listoe reported last month’s minutes were approved and forwarded to teachers.
Treasurer’s Report
Current balance is $19,312.42.
Principal’s Report
Charla Kempa is taking a leave of absence from teaching at Central and Rob Freistadt will take her place. He is planning to do his upper and lower Montessori training this summer.
Merry said the two Montessori classroom are combined at Central-Linc which make is tight and busy but it is working and the teachers are doing a great job.
Joslyn Carney is extending her leave of absence for another year. It’s presumed that she is coming back because she is still on leave so HPMP won’t be asking her to reimburse us for training costs while she is still on leave.
Independent and Inspired—Continuing Education and Community
This was a huge success with Mary Ellen Maunz and Janet Nordemann from Age of Montessori held at the library and in the schools. Marika handed out eight packets of HPMP resources and training policies. One teacher indicated they were interested in teaching Montessori middle school. Deb said the event was beneficial for staff. Libby said the time spent with teachers was great because Janet and Mary Ellen went over whatever was requested. Freyja said it was gratifying to hear how great our teachers were from the trainers. The community event was well attended with about 35 people and lots of preschool parents. We are trying to put a video on our web site.
KidWorks at the Holter, April 27
Tiffany Lyden is organizing this fundraising opportunity (netting $600) for us by getting volunteers to work the two hour shifts.
Lottery
Orientation is April 11 and the drawing is set for April 24. Sue is in charge of facilitating and Marika will speak on behalf of HPMP. We will have brochures to hand out. This year the meeting is not required and observations are not encouraged due to the changes at Central/ teacher displacements.
Material Request
Beth Smaka at Broadwater requested a Canada puzzle map used for geography and a millions cube for all teachers to share in the same building. The total is $540.54 and was approved.
Calendar
We are going to stick with the same time of Mondays at 5:30 p.m. and next year meetings are at Broadwater.
Board Openings
There are openings on the board and we vote at next month’s meeting. Heather agreed to continue as treasurer and Erin and co-President. We need representatives from each school, a co-president and co-secretaries. Freyja Bell, Rikki Read, Marika Adamek, Dee Cochrane and Alana Listoe are stepping down from the board. We would also love a web site person – could that be a class project for somebody?
HPMP’s Role in Helena School District’s Educational Planning Process
Diana met with Superintendent Kent Kultgen and he supports program expansion and believes we should quickly move in the direction of the district paying for teacher trainings and materials. He wants to make Montessori more equitable, like maybe have an opt-out option for the lottery. All and all it was a very positive discussion and they meet again this month to set goals and establish a task force with the idea of implementation for the 2014 school year. Diana said there is interest so we want to keep feeding the fire.
Future Fundraising
A fundraising committee was formed of Freyja, Erin, Alana, Susan, Diana and Perri May. They will meet to discuss how to proceed since questions have been voiced about existing fundraising and if they are efficient. The idea is to replace Lobsterfest with an event that is more kid friendly and in the spring. Lobsterfest takes bout 1,000 volunteer hours and only brings in about $3,000. It’s also very draining on incoming parents looking to support HPMP at the beginning of the school year. Karaoke nights, a musical concert, and a kite festival were all suggested options. If Lobsterfest is to continue, we need to find a way to make it less labor intensive like no orders. Just bring in a few hundred lobsters and sell them. This discussion was tabled for next month and the committee will bring recommendations.
HPMP Meeting notes
Monday, March 4, 2013
5:30-6:30 pm
Smith School
Attendees: Co-President Erin Turner, Co-President Freyja Bell, Co-Secretary Rikki Read, Co-Secretary Alana Listoe, Past President Marika Adamek, Smith Principal Jilyn Oliveira, Broadwater Principal Sue Sweeney, Central Principal Merry Fahrman, Smith Lower Elementary Teacher Katy Wright, Diana Hammer, Susan Anderson, Tiffany Lyden, Julie Heller, Erin Lanigan, Dayna Baumeister, Vanessa Nasset
Co-President Erin began the meeting at 5:30 pm.
Welcome/Introductions
Erin opened the meeting with introductions. Co-Secretary Rikki Read circulated the sign-in sheet.
Montessori Teacher Presentation
Katy Wright offered a demonstration of the stamp exercise used in her lower elementary classroom. Students utilize a rug during this exercise to help keep their work areas contained. Although students may only complete a couple of problems daily, this exercise really helps them understand long division. Thanks, Katy!
Secretary’s Report
Co-Secretary Rikki Read reported last month’s minutes were approved and forwarded to teachers.
Treasurer’s Report
From our Lobsterfest fundraiser, funds raised online through our Paypal account have been transferred to our checking account. Current balance is $19,051.30.
Principal’s Report
Merry reported the Montessori teachers are preparing for the Montessori Orientation to be held April 11. The lottery will be held on April 24. Dates need to be finalized for HPMP meetings/events for the 2013-2014 District calendar. Sue thanked the Board for gathering volunteer hours information. Jilyn reported Kindergarten conferences were held last week and hopefully garnered some interest in Montessori.
Independent and Inspired—Continuing Education and Community Event March 27-28
Erin L. reports preparations have been completed for this event. Fliers will be distributed to all Kindergarten classrooms in the district as well as private local Montessori schools. Betsy Baur volunteered to take care of the advertising. Radio interviews are planned prior to the 27th. Current Montessori teachers will attend workshops during the day on 3/27 with Mary Ellen Maunz and Janet Nordemann. The District will provide substitute teachers. After school on 3/28 a teacher Q&A meeting will be held for educators interested in teaching Montessori – attendees will receive learning credit. The community event will take place on the evening of the 27th from 7-8pm in the library’s large meeting room.
KidWorks at the Holter, April 27
Tiffany Lyden will need 24 people to volunteer. She will call for parent volunteers in early April.
HPMP’s Role in Helena School District’s Educational Planning Process
Diana reported there will be a meeting in two weeks to discuss how to move forward with Montessori expansion.
Future Fundraising
The annual fundraising letter will go out in approximately 90 days. Erin T. proposed a motion to table Lobsterfest 2013 in favor of a kids concert perhaps the 1st week in March 2014. After some discussion, this motion was tabled for March. Erin asked for volunteers to form a committee to search for a potential new fundraiser.
HPMP Meeting notes
Monday, Feb.4, 2013
5:30-6:30 pm
Smith School
Attendees: Co-President Erin Turner, Co- President Freyja Bell, Past President Marika Adamek, Co-Secretary Alana Listoe, ,Treasurer Heather Nicholson, Future of Montessori Rep Diana Hammer, Allan Woodmansey, Central Principal Merry Fahrman, Tiffany Lyden, Erin Lanigon, Smith Principal Jilyn Olivera, Julie Benson, Marty Verrill, Dee Cochran, and Lower Elementary Broadwater teacher Annie Tague.
Co-President Erin Turner began the meeting at 5:30 pm.
Welcome/Introductions
Erin opened the meeting with introductions. Co-Secretary Alana Listoe circulated the sign-in sheet.
No Teacher presentation this month
Secretary’s Report
Co-Secretary Rikki Read sent out last month’s minutes and a few thank you notes including a large donation from the Mediterranean Grill for $300! (Thanks so much)
Treasurer’s Report
Heather reported a current balance of $11,320 and still need to collect $7,806.31 from Pay Pal.
Principal’s Report
Merry is officially retiring after 18 years at Central. We will miss her and her foundational knowledge but wish her the best. She is looking to see who will take over the administrator role of overseeing the Montessori program. She said she is also working with the district personnel office for potential openings and will know better in a month if there are any.
Original Works
The fundraiser at Central and Broadwater raised $1212.60; still waiting on numbers from Smith.
Big Community Event
This is scheduled for the March 26 and 27 and being organized by Annie, Marika and Erin.
Two Montessori presenters (Mary Ellen and Janet) will work with lower Montessori teachers in the afternoon and upper Montessori in the morning on the 26. The district is paying for substitutes for the teachers who want to take advantage of this professional development. Annie said teachers would like to know more about Common Core, Great Lessons, Science and Research. On Wednesday the community room at the Lewis and Clark Library is reserved from 6 to 9 p.m. for a community event (time for the event pending) potentially with a focus on how can parents support the program and will likely include a brief overview of what Montessori is. We will look to parents to donate refreshments and handing out brochures. Earlier that day Mary Ellen and Janet will be observing the classrooms and offering feedback. There will also be a question and answer session from 4 to 5 p.m. at Smith for any educator that is interested in Montessori. Representatives from HPMP should be at this and the community event to talk about our role. Betsy Baur offered to organize the advertising. We do have a budget for advertising but are looking to take advantage of everything free that is available. The group approved a budget of $2,140 for meals, hotel, gas, and consulting fees for the presenters.
Materials Request
April 1st is the deadline for the spring materials request.Erin will send a reminder with attached materials policy to teachers/principals.
Website updated
Now we can add people to our mail chimp
Kidworks at the Holter
Scheduled for April 27 and with the help of all the volunteers will provide HPMP with $600. Tiffany Lyden, Smith Parent, agreed to organize the volunteers and will get the lists from previous Kidworks events from former organizer Angie Woodmansey (thanks, Angie!)
Future of Montessori
Educational Planning continues with final recommendations expected from the Superintendent soon. Then, the school board will approve a plan. The next step for HPMP is to schedule a meeting with Supt. Kent Kultgen to say what we will support as next steps, which ultimately is to increase the number of Montessori classrooms. We are in somewhat of a holding pattern as we wait for the district to take the lead but want to be proactive about our goal.
If we hope to expand we will need more teachers and it will be imperative the district partner with us. Diana said we could potentially partner withCarrollCollegeto host teacher trainings and/or have the folks from Kalispell come toHelena.
Fundraising brainstorm
HPMP would love to have more involvement in grant writing (Jodi Delaney is good at it). The direct fundraiser appeal is being prepared by Erin and Frejya and will go out to parents and former donors but that list could expand to businesses and organizations such as St. Pete’s Chamber of Commerce, and/or Downtown Helena.
Erinsays Lobsterfest needs to be better – how do we do that. She heard Red Lobster is coming to town, and maybe they would be a potential partner.
Other ideas include something that more involves children like an art show at the Holter, or an international cuisine event, selling gift cards, gift wrapping station at the holidays, making reusable gift bags, restaurant meal events with places like Buffalo Wild Wings, Ihop, a family-friendly community event like Bill Hurley, open mic night with rotating schools, or a play at Grandstreet.
The next meeting will be Monday, March 4, 2012 at 5:30 pm at Smith School.
HPMP Meeting notes
Monday, December 3, 2012
5:30-6:30 pm
Smith School
Attendees: Co-President Erin Turner, Co-President Freyja Bell, Co-Secretary Rikki Read, Treasurer Heather Nicholson, Past President Marika Adamek, Smith Principal Jilyn Oliveira, Broadwater Principal Sue Sweeney, Smith School Rep Dee Cochrane, Diana Hammer, Melina Hammer, Broadwater Lower Elementary Teacher Annie Tague, Betsy Baur, Brian Hasselbach, Kandice Morse, Susan Anderson, Tiffany Lyden, Julie Heller, Erin Lanigan
Co-President Freyja began the meeting at 5:30 pm.
Welcome/Introductions
Freyja opened the meeting with introductions. Co-Secretary Rikki Read circulated the sign-in sheet.
Montessori Teacher Presentation
Annie Tague demonstrated the Seven Triangles of Reality lesson. She explained the differences in Isosceles, Scalene, and Equilateral triangles. Students use rulers to measure the sides of the triangles to determine the type. The first lesson is discovering what is the kind of triangle. The second lesson is to determine the type of angles in the triangles. Thank you, Annie!
Secretary’s Report
Co-Secretary Rikki Read reported last month’s minutes were approved and forwarded to teachers.
Treasurer’s Report
Heather reported a current balance of $9,691.92. Our Lobsterfest fundraiser brought in $4,944.96. Online orders have not been added to our account yet as Paypal requires a debit card to release the funds. Benny’s owes HPMP for 10 lobsters they bought.
Principal’s Report
Jilyn announced an opening in 3rd grade at Smith.
Lobsterfest 2012 recap
50% more steaks were sold this year than last. Steaks were reported to be delicious. The weather was good on distribution day. Mortality was under 3%. We incurred some expenses this year that we had not had in the past. Discussion ensued regarding keeping Lobsterfest as our main fundraiser or possibly choosing a new main fundraiser for next year. Erin T. proposed that everyone think about fundraising and we can devote our February meeting to discussing fundraisers.
Original Works 2012 recap
This has been tabled until our next meeting.
Community Event in March with guests Mary Ellen Maunz and Randall Klein
This event is currently set for March 6-7. Mary Ellen Maunz and Randall Klein are set to observe Erin Lanigan’s classroom at Children’s World on 3/6. Mary Ellen Maunz & Randall Klein have offered parent/teacher education in Helena. HPMP may offer the red reusable bags for sale. Erin L., Marika, and Annie volunteered to form a subcommittee to organize this event. Sue mentioned that week is CRT testing week. Erin L. will find out if the dates could possibly be changed due to the testing.
HPMP’s Role in Helena School District’s Educational Planning Process
HPMP drafted a letter to the school board. Ultimately, HPMP would like to partner with the school board to expand our program. Erin asked everyone who is able to attend the December 10th town hall meeting (6 pm at HMS). Recommendations from Mosaic to the District have supported continuation and expansion of our Montessori program.
**No Meeting in January**
The next meeting will be Monday, February 4th at 5:30 pm at Smith School.
HPMP Meeting notes
Monday, October 29, 2012
5:30-6:30 pm
Smith School
Attendees: Co-President Erin Turner, Co-President Freyja Bell, Past President Marika Adamek, Co-Secretary Alana Listoe, Co-Secretary Rikki Read,Treasurer Heather Nicholson, Future of Montessori Rep Diana Hammer, Marty Verill, Lower-elementary Broadwater teacher Beth Smaka, Tiffany Lyden, Central Principal Merry Fahrman, Erin Lanigon, Broadwater Principal Sue Sweeney, Sarah McKim, and Colleen Roylance.
Co-President Freyja Bell began the meeting at 5:30 pm.
Welcome/Introductions
Erin opened the meeting with introductions. Co-Secretary Alana Listoe circulated the sign-in sheet.
Montessori Teacher Presentation
Beth Smaka presented one of the five great lessons, which teaches students to start with the universe working inward to ourselves. She brought in the second lesson, which is the coming of life. She used boxes much like nesting dolls that stacked in the following order: era, period, century, decade, year, month, week, day, hour, minute, second, and nano second.
Beth said it takes something abstract and breaks it down in a very visual way for the lesson.
Thanks Beth for your presentation!
Open Discussion about the future of Montessori
The group had an open discussion about the district’s partnership with HPMP, more than 20 years old now. That partnership provides three pods (two lower elementary and one upper elementary) in three (Central, Broadwater, and Smith) schools. HPMP raises $10,000 annually to fun classroom materials and teacher training. In all the organization has provided more than $250,000 toHelenaPublic Schools.
Raising money is important because classroom materials are expensive, it takes about $20,000 to set one up, but Deb Johnson pointed out that materials last a long time. She is still using the first set HPMP purchased for the district.
Sue Sweeney says having funds for teacher is critical, especially if the goal is to grow the program. She said teachers need to be trained so when a new pod opens there are teachers available. Marika Adamek said there might be potential for partnering with CarrollCollege for the required internship portion of the teacher training.
Erin Turner said part of HPMP’s goal is to spread the word about all this and the future of Montessori issues listed below.
Secretary’s Report
Co-Secretary Alana Listoe reported last month’s minutes were approved and forwarded to teachers. Rikki and Alana also sent out about eight thank you notes for donations. Feedback from one donor reminded us we need to include the tax ID on the letter. Marika says it used to so it should be in Google Docs.
Treasurer’s Report
Heather reported a current balance of $11,533
Lobsterfest
Orders are up both for lobsters and steaks from last year at 670 lobsters (633 last year) and 150 steaks (99 last year).
Steaks are arrived at Van’s today and they are holding them for us. We ordered 740 lobsters from Atwood and there is concern about Hurricane Sandy and the potential to delay shipping. Fingers crossed!
The following week will be an option if this happens, but we’ll need to offer folks an option to get some next year already paid for, a rebate or they can donate the money to HPMP.
There is a need for more volunteers for the actual event.
Thank you PSAs will run on Cherry Creek stations, Z101, KBLL, and B104; as well as 1240 am, 105.3 fm and 950 am. Thank you to Katy Wright and Jodi Delaney for doing the radio interviews.
Posters went up at every school. Freyja dropped them all off. Erin took 35 calls on Friday with questions about orders. The big event on Nov. 3.
Community Event
We are planning a Montessori community event in the spring. This is instead of sending any teachers to training this year. We’ll bring in speakers and invite ALL teachers and community members to come and find out more about the Montessori way. We are asking teachers what they’d like to see/get out of the event.
Beth noted a good resources is ageofmontessori.org
Original Works
Smith is just wrapping up this fundraiser. Denise Barber is organizing Broadwater and Smith.
Beth said a little more notice would be appreciated next year.
HPMP’s Role in Helena School District’s Educational Planning Process
Smith hosts the last community meeting on Nov. 11.
Erin spoke with Superintendent Kent Kultgen recently and feels as if he is really supportive of the program and expansion.
We need to send a message/memo to be included in the final presentation to the school board that says HPMP supports expansion as we plan for the future, which could be early childhood programming, another pod, or Montessori in middle school.
No meeting in November. Happy Lobsterfest!
The next meeting will be Monday, December 5, 2012 at 5:30 pm at Smith School.
HPMP MEETING NOTES
Monday, October 1, 2012
5:30-6:30 pm
Smith School
Attendees: Co-President Erin Turner, Past President Marika Adamek, Co-Secretary Alana Listoe, Co-Secretary Rikki Read,Treasurer Heather Nicholson, Future of Montessori Rep Diana Hammer, Angie Woodmansey, Perri May, Central Principal Merry Fahrman, Shannon McDonald, Julie Heller, Julie Barnwell, Anne Woodland, Jami Hansing, Kirsten Bowers, Christina Crowder, Tiffany Lyden, Kandice Morse, Erin Lanigan, Broadwater Principal Sue Sweeney, Sarah McKim, Kati Seliskar, Randy Riley, Colleen Roylance, Dee Cochrane, Lower-elementary Broadwater teacher Annie Tague, Lower-elementary Central teacher Deb Johnson, Amy Heuiser, Superintendent Kent Kultgen, Upper Montesorri teacher Jodi Delaney, Betsy Baur and Courtney McAdams.
Co-President Erin Turner began the meeting at 5:30 pm.
Welcome/Introductions
Erin opened the meeting with introductions. Co-Secretary Alana Listoe circulated the sign-in sheet. Thanks to the large number of parents and educators that joined us. We need everyone’s input.
Montessori Teacher Presentation
Jodi Delaney (in costume from earlier work in her classroom) gave a brief history of Montessori. Back in the late 1800s Maria Montessori became the first woman doctor in Italy.
“She was REALLY good at it,” Delaney said.
While working with children with disabilities she created the early childhood program to help poverty-stricken children that were said to be destroying buildings. She discovered her methods through observations, which are now backed by research. Those methods are about meeting the child where they are.
“It is the child who builds the man,” Delaney said.
Later Montessori created a school in India based around her methods and it’s spread world-wide. Helena Public Schools is fortunate to have the program.
Open Discussion
The group had an open discussion about the district’s partnership with HPMP, more than 20 years old now. That partnership provides three pods (two lower elementary and one upper elementary) in three (Central, Broadwater, and Smith) schools. HPMP raises $10,000 annually to fun classroom materials and teacher training. In all the organization has provided more than $250,000 to Helena Public Schools.
Raising money is important because classroom materials are expensive, it takes about $20,000 to set one up, but Deb Johnson pointed out that materials last a long time. She is still using the first set HPMP purchased for the district.
Sue Sweeney says having funds for teacher training is critical, especially if the goal is to grow the program. She said teachers need to be trained so when a new pod opens there are teachers available. Marika Adamek said there might be potential for partnering with Carroll College to bring Montessori teacher training to Helena. The internship portion would have to be coordinated with the training facilitator and the District.”
Erin Turner said part of HPMP’s goal is to spread the word about all this and the future of Montessori issues listed below.
Future of Montessori
Diana Hammer has been attending many of the district’s educational planning meetings. She said she’d like to see a Montessori pod in every elementary school. She told the group about the survey HPMP did that indicated a community desire to grow the program to meet the demand (less than half of the students get into the program via the free lottery) and expand it to kindergarten, more elementary schools, and a middle school program.
Early recommendations from a firm hired by the district to help with planning indicate Central and Broadwater as potential sites to “repurpose” potentially for administrative offices. Superintendent Kent Kultgen (Thank you for coming as our special guest) said no answers are definite at this point and he’s gathering input before recommendations will be taken to the school board.
Secretary’s Report
Co-Secretary Rikki Read reported last month’s minutes were approved and forwarded to teachers.
Treasurer’s Report
Heather reported a current balance of $11,483.36.
Materials Request
A $105 plus shipping purchase was approved for sandpaper letters for Annie Tague’s classroom.
Lobsterfest
Printed materials are ready.
Erin Lanigan will serve as Broadwater school rep; Angie Woodmansey for Smith; and Colleen Roylance for Central. Thank you for all you do.
PSAs will run in radio ads, Your Time and the community calendar in the IR, an article will run at no charge and HPMP will spend about $700 for a combination of print and online ads. Tiffany Lyden, Sarah McKim, Annie Tague, and Alana Listoe took the posters to distribute all over town. We are having another meeting this month to gear up for the big event on Nov. 3.
Ice Cream Social
This event was 9/13 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. and about 100 people attended. Ice cream was all donated by Van’s, Safeway, and the Great Northern Carousel. Thank you to all the volunteers who scooped.
Carnival Classic
The annual event was Sunday, September 16 at Memorial Park from 11-4. The weather was probably the best it’s ever been. Information was handed out about the program. We made $167, which was less than last year’s $293. Over the last 4 years we have averaged $200. This year we didn’t sell leftover ice cream social ice cream. We thank the following volunteers for their time and energy: Diane Halferty – cookies, Katy Wright, Erin Turner – canopy, table, Colleen Roylance, Kirsten Bowers – table, Freyja Bell, Heather Nicholson, Kelli Mefill, Rikki Read, Jaime Tolan, Marika Adamek, Marissa Porte, Vanessa Nasset, Kandice Morse/Joe Weber, Perri May, Sarah Mckim, Dee & Mike Cochrane, Diedra Casey, nd Megan Gittings
HPMP’s Role in Helena School District’s Educational Planning Process
Dr. Kultgen is bringing the educational planning process to each school in the district. Parents are strongly encouraged to attend these meetings. Broadwater’s meeting is Tuesday, October 16th from 6:30-8:30 and Smith’s is Monday, November 12th, from 6-8.
C.R. Anderson meeting is Thursday, Oct. 11 from 6-8. Helena Middle School’s meeting is Monday, November 5 from 6-8.
Original Works
There is discussion about doing the Original Works fundraiser this fall. Diana says Denise Barber is willing to coordinate and it’s not too late. Erin was concerned it might be too much to hit parents with another fundraiser so soon after Lobsterfest. Betsy Baur said Smith is doing it school-wide.
HPMP MEETING NOTES
Monday, September 10, 2012
5:30-6:30 pm
Smith School
Attendees: Co-President Erin Turner, Past President Marika Adamek, Co-Secretary Alana Listoe, Co-Secretary Rikki Read, Co-President Freyja Bell, Treasurer Heather Nicholson, Colleen Roylance, Smith Upper Elementary Teacher Debra Beaver, Teresa Danielson, Kirsten Bowers, Smith Principal Jilyn Oliveira, Dee Cochrane, Sarah McKim, Central Principal Merry Fahrman, Broadwater Lower Elementary Teacher Annie Tague, Smith Lower Elementary Teacher Katy Wright, Betsy Baur, John Hilton, Kandice Morse
Co-President Erin Turner began the meeting at 5:30 pm.
Welcome/Introductions
Freyja opened the meeting with introductions. Co-Secretary Rikki Read circulated the sign-in sheet.
Montessori Teacher Presentation
Deb Beaver reported she has attended her second on-site training in New York. She thanked the Board for providing funding for her training. She has 2 more seminars then a year-long self-directed internship to complete. Katy Wright also thanked the Board for providing training funds. She spoke highly of her training and is excited to teach the Montessori method this year.
Secretary’s Report
Co-Secretary Rikki Read reported last month’s minutes were approved and forwarded to teachers.
Treasurer’s Report
Heather reported a current balance of $11,115.18. There was a $25 fee sent to the State Employee Charitable Giving Campaign for HPMP’s booth at the fair.
Principal’s Report
Jilyn extended a welcome to HPMP to Smith school and stated she really enjoys being in an elementary school with Montessori classes. Mary reported there were 3 Montessori openings this fall. A waiting list continues to be maintained.
HPMP Bylaws
A motion was made and passed to add the following language in Section 3)Board of Directors b)Nominations c)“Best efforts will be made to nominate Board members who represent all schools having a Montessori program”.
Proposed Budget
Erin explained HPMP’s budget & goals. A public event is being planned to feature speakers on the Montessori method.
Ice Cream Social
This event is scheduled for 9/13 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Freyja asked for volunteers and circulated a sign-up sheet. Fifteen-minute shifts are available. It’s being planned for outside at Smith school but can be moved into the gym in the case of inclement weather.
Carnival Classic
Marika explained Carnival Classic. This event takes place on Sunday, September 16 at Memorial Park from 11-4. In case of bad weather, it will be moved to the HHS gym. Erin T. has a table we can borrow for the booth. Diane Halferty has volunteered to bake the lobster cookies. There will also be a beanbag toss with licorice sticks as a prize and a lobster activity available.
Lobsterfest
Volunteers are still being set up for this fundraiser. Murry’s is going to be our new restaurant offering to cook lobsters this year. Those wishing to order may do so via order forms or on the website. Lobsterfest details will be finalized at our October 1st meeting.
HPMP’s Role in Helena School District’s Educational Planning Process
Dr. Kultgen is bringing the educational planning process to each school in the district. Parents are strongly encouraged to attend these meetings. Broadwater’s meeting is Tuesday, October 16th from 6:30-8:30. Central’s is Wednesday, September 26th from 6:30-8:30 and Smith’s is Monday, November 12th, from 6-8.
HPMP MEETING NOTES
Monday, July 30, 2012
Attendees: Co-President Erin Turner, Past President Marika Adamek, Co-Secretary Alana Listoe, Co-Secretary Rikki Read, Co-President Freyja Bell, Treasurer Heather Nicholson, Central rep Colleen Roylance
Co-President Erin Turner began the meeting.
Treasurer’s Report
Heather reported a current balance of $10,825.96. There were no expenses since last month.
Combined Federal Campaign/State Charitable Giving
HPMP was accepted into State Charitable Giving. The fair for state employees is scheduled for 9/24 from 10-2. Colleen, Erin, and Alana volunteered to staff the HPMP table. Heather will sign up HPMP for the fair and will be the contact person. It was discussed to offer one of our reusable Lobsterfest bags with a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for lobster as a door prize like we did last year. Reminders will need to be sent home with HPMP’s charitable giving number and federal campaign number to parents.
Old Business
A new Paypal account is needed for our website. Due to needing a social security number and physical address to set one up, Erin has offered to put the account in her name.
New Business
It was discussed and agreed upon that we will keep the Montessori lessons for 2012-13. An email will need to be sent to teachers to have them sign up for a meeting. We will not have a Montessori lesson at our September meeting. We need to ask Katy Wright & Deb Beaver to discuss their summer trainings at one of our meetings soon. At our first meeting, we will need to explain our bylaws and state our goal “Best efforts will be made that all schools will have Montessori classes.” Not to change our bylaws but making our goal more understandable. We will need to break down our goal of raising $10,000 to show how it will be allocated. If expenses stay the same, we should have $18,000 in our account by the middle of next year. We are also considering bringing the teacher training to Helena this year instead of sending teachers out of state. We will also need to remind teachers of the October 1st deadline for materials requests.
Ice Cream Social
This event is scheduled for 9/13 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Smith school will need to be contacted as that school is the host this year. As well, sponsors will need to be asked to donate items. We will pass around a sign-up sheet at our first meeting to get parent volunteers for this event.
Lobsterfest
Betsy Bauer will be the restaurant coordinator. A distribution coordinator is still needed. Freyja will
contact Van’s regarding possibly purchasing steaks. Online orders will be charged a $2 fee per order to help defray the Paypal costs. We need to have the cost of side dishes on the order form per restaurant, as those costs may differ. Murray’s Restaurant may need to be added to the order form (Annie Tague is the contact). We will be consolidating our printing this year. Erin will speak with Merry regarding Central printing or we may go with Helena Copy Center. On our volunteer sign up sheet we send home each year, we need to add an option for volunteering, “Will you help donate funds for printing?”.