Meetings

Lancer Parent Organization Board Meeting

December 11, 2023

Call to Order: 7:10 p.m.

Location: Sara Robeson’s Home

Recording Secretary: Amy Buckley

Attendees: Sara Robeson, Giovanna Lear, Aleta Harris, Amy Buckley, Mark Masterson, Tracy Montgomery, Beth Nelson, Tara Ference, Shalini Arya, Jennifer Adams, Jenna Fleming, Jennifer Zeck, April Ladner, LaDonna Ellis, Michelle McSpadden and Dr. Calcaterra.

 

November 13, 2023 Minutes Approval. Mark Masterson motioned, Aleta Harris seconded. The motion carried.

December 11, 2023 Consent Agenda Approval. Sara Robeson motioned, Jennifer Adams seconded. The motion carried.          

Principal’s Report, Dr. Calcaterra:

• Thank you to all for doing the work to support our school community. Much has been accomplished by this dedicated group of volunteers and Dr. Calcaterra is grateful.
• As a part of Nice November, 900 cards were created by students and distributed to Rockwood staff. This past week 500 cards were created and distributed to Children’s Hospital.
• The RSD Board Awards were held recently to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of Rockwood students and staff. Lafayette was well-represented with a special recognition for teacher Ashley Lewis who performed the life-saving Heimlich maneuver on one of our Lafayette students.
• Plans are underway for the 24-25 school year for the 1^st semester to conclude prior to winter break.
• Monthly Lafayette Principal Advisory Committee meetings continue to be held-it was suggested to look into the workload that students are assigned over Thanksgiving break. They are also analyzing how students and adults are celebrated at Lafayette and how to expand the recognition programs.
• The National School of Character final visit is scheduled for 12/19.
• Dr. Jones will be retiring at the end of the school year and his secretary has just retired—replacements are currently being sought.
• Curriculum Night is scheduled for January 23, 2024.

 

President, Sara Robeson:

·         Thank you to everyone for your hard work this first half of the school year.

·         Curriculum Night is 1/23/24. Volunteers will be needed to sell spiritwear and showcase Lancers Landing and to speak with interested parent volunteers about opportunities to get involved.

·         The LPO payment request form is available online-please use this for LPO purchases.

·         The Class reimbursement forms are different and are to be completed and submitted to respective Class Treasurers. As a reminder, the LPO gives $2,000 annually to support the Class fundraisers.

·         Requests have been made on behalf of classes for donations of items from Lancers Landing.

o   A Motion was made by Giovanna Lear that was seconded by Beth Nelson to approve donations be made to each Class for $75 of the sales prices of spiritwear items. The motion carried.

 

First VP-Community Involvement, Giovanna Lear:

·         Volleyball challenge will be coming up in spring semester on April 12^th, 2024. 

·         Class of 2026 is in need of a new class director to join Shalini. If we could get 2 new directors to make it 3 total, that would be great. 

·         We will also need a volunteer sign up chair come 2024-2025, so if anyone knows someone that would like to take on that role, let us know. Lizanne has done an amazing job, but needs something less time consuming.

·         Starting in January we will begin filling the board slate for the 2024-2025 school year. Please keep your feelers out for parents that would like to get involved. 

·         School store is still struggling with volunteers. We may need to consider alternative options for staffing and store hours. Particular needs are a Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon manager and volunteers for the Tuesday and Wednesday morning shifts.

·         Aim to have the School Store open on Curriculum Night so that parents can learn more about the school store and opportunities to volunteer. Consider creating a flyer with a QR code with volunteer opportunities.

 

Treasurer, Mark Masterson:

·         Monthly Financial Report was distributed.

·         Highlighted the importance of volunteer staffing to keep Lancers Landing open to stay on track for the budget. The Lancers Landing financials are down 20% from last year in connection with staffing challenges (margins are fine).

·         Lancer Legacy campaign contributions are also down this year. Will look to do a final push in May once Class fundraisers are complete. Discussed the importance of utilizing corporate matching programs to increase overall donations.

·         Spiritwear sales have been great and new items will be offered soon. Looking at analysis of in-store vs custom online shop. Essentially, the custom online shop was a wash. Spiritwear chairs will investigate different vendor options going forward. Will ask Grade Level Principals to include link to the online store in their newsletters this week.

Second VP-Communications, Aleta Harris:

·         Please submit newsletter content by 12/13 for distribution on 12/14.

·         January content should be submitted by 1/3/24 for distribution on 1/5/24.

·         Please send December and January content in separate emails labeled in the subject line.

 

 

Class of 2024, Tracy Montgomery/Beth Nelson:

·         The first two Memory Maker events were held Nov 18/19th at Forest Hills. There weren’t a lot of volunteers, but the volunteers that signed up were great. Attendees were thankful for the experience. It was helpful for the 2 events to be able to share the décor with minor alterations for each event. Forest Hills assisted with setup and the food was good. Coincidentally, the dance floor was already setup from another event prior to the Father/Daughter Dance so no additional fee was incurred for the dance floor setup. The minimum required spending amount was waived by Forest Hills. Next year’s class will need to decide if they want to split the events with 2 held in fall/2 held in spring or host them all in one weekend in the spring. 3 hours for the Father/Daughter Dance was enough time. The photos by Interstate were not always of great quality-there was a requirement based on the school yearbook contract that we use them for these events. Importance of reminding parents that the Memory Maker events are alcohol free.

·         Blink of an Eye submissions are at 60 so far.

·         Sales are open for the remaining 2 MM events and Senior Celebration and registrations are coming in. Still do not have overall chair for Senior Celebration, but many volunteers are signed up. A parent meeting will be held in January to go over important dates for the remainder of the year, volunteer needs, grad seats raffle, cap and gowns etc.

·         Arrangements can be made for students to have their cap/gowns for a longer period of time, but diplomas will be held until they are turned in.

·         There are some questions regarding baccalaureate. Tracy/Beth will reach out to the FCA sponsors.

 

Class of 2025, Dawn Werk & Tara Ference:

·         Taste of West County planning meeting will be held 12/12/23 at 7pm in Room 137.

·         Some committees are still in need of chairs. Only 10 parents have signed up to volunteer. The restaurant committee chair has reopened.

·         Can have Key Club and NHS students earn volunteer hours to signup to serve. Culinary students may also volunteer.

Class of 2026, Shalini Arya:

·         We need an additional Class Director or 2.

·         Update about Trivia Night—additional committee chairs are needed. The next planning meeting is scheduled for 12/14/23.

·         Discussed potential options for volunteers.

Class of 2027, Jennifer Adams & Jenna Fleming:

·         A big thank you to Shalini Arya for all of her help and support with guidance for Carnival planning.

·         Class of 2027 will hold our next meeting on 12/12/23 at 7pm in Room 180 for the Carnival. We now have all the committee leads filled.

·         The Amazon wishlist and Event volunteer Sign up Genius are being finalized.

·         Publicity plans are underway for the website, coloring sheet, print shop needs etc.

·         Stuffed animals will be collected for use as prizes.

·         Trivia Night and Taste of West County will be advertised in conjunction with the Carnival event.

Lancer’s Landing, Shalini Arya:

·         Covered in VP-Community Involvement.

LPO Website/Membership Toolkit, Martha Czymmek:

·         Our new LPO District website is missing information such as Board Members, Agendas/Minutes from prior meetings & the October budget reports that were previously uploaded to the former website. 

·         Lancer Parent Organization - Lafayette High (rsdmo.org)

·         My LPO District website login access is not functional yet so updates might be delayed. 

·         Communications Dept. suggested that I email Kate Moore our missing information/updates during the transition period. 

·         Decided to wait before contacting Kate because...I am feeling optimistic that my access to update our LPO website will be restored by the District sometime soon.

·         LPO Membership Toolkit website links were updated for the new District pages. 

 

Staff Appreciation & Hospitality:

·         Additional planning underway for events after winter break.

Meeting Adjourned at 8:50pm

 

Next LPO Meeting: January 8, 2024  7:00pm, LHS, Room 180