Meetings

Lancer Parent Organization

General Meeting Minutes

Monday, May 5, 2025 7:00pm

Lafayette High School Room 180

Attendees: Jen Adams, Amy Buckley, Karen Calcaterra, Jenny Champlin, Tara Ference, Danielle Fricke, Dawn Hagen, April Ladner, Giovanna Lear, Stacy Nagel, Suzanna Ney, Elizabeth Nolan, Sara Robeson, Rhonda Shrum, Monika Sud, Nicole Vandesteeg, Deanna Vardeman, Chelsea Watson, Dawn Werk.

Welcome/Call to Order, Giovanna Lear

The meeting was called to order at 7:04 pm.

Secretary, Amy Buckley

- Jenny Champlin motioned to approve 4/7/25 meeting minutes. Elizabeth Nolan seconded the motion. The motion carried.  

Principal, Karen Calcaterra

- Recent events, including Volleyball Challenge, Special Olympics and Senior Awards have been great. 

- Teacher Appreciation Week is underway. 

- Mr. Beck has been hired as the new Assistant Principal. He will be working with the Freshman Class and Kelly Kirtley has been hired as his assistant. Dr. Lewis will be the Assistant Principal for the Senior Class during the upcoming school year. 

- A grant was recently received to cover the cost of attending prom for 5 students. 

- 10 students need financial assistance in order to attend Senior Celebration. This will be covered out of funds that Dr. Calcaterra has. 

- The parking lot work is scheduled to begin on May 27th. Those coming to Lafayette during this timeframe will need enter via the access off Highway 109 and go behind the building and park in the lower lot. Many summer camps and activities have been moved from Lafayette to other district locations. 

President, Giovanna Lear 

- Presidents’ Forum meeting is scheduled for Wednesday May 7th at 6:30pm at Dogwood Social. This will be a networking event. The Leadership Conference will take place in the fall. 

- Please return your binders and supplies back to the school before the last day of school. All binders go in the school store and supplies in the LPO closet.

- VP’s, Class Directors and Committee Chairs – clean up your Class and Fundraising Event Google Drives. Make sure all important committee chair information and important event information is loaded/shared with the President’s Google Drive.

- Class Directors and Committee Chairs - complete an exit survey and save a copy on the event folder for next year’s class and share with the board. Giovanna will send out the survey form. 

- Class fundraising event dates - potential date changes may be needed. It was discussed to consider looking into moving Taste of West County to April, as that would spread the events further apart and seems to work better for the restaurant partners. Giovanna will work with administration to look at potential alternate dates.

- Saturday, January 24, 2026 10:00 am - 2:00 pm LHS Winter Carnival (Freshman Class Fundraiser)

- Monday, February 23, 2026 5:30pm-7:30pm Taste of West County (Junior Class Fundraiser)

- Saturday, February 28, 2026 7:00pm LHS Trivia Night (Sophomore Class Fundraiser)

- Will complete Standing Rules to present at June meeting

- Will work on School Store Operations manual over the summer

- Recognition of resigning Board Members/Class Directors Amy Buckley, Tara Ference and Dawn Werk who will all be “graduating” out of Lafayette.

Treasurer, Deanna Vardeman 

- Financial Reports were distributed and reviewed. Much of budgeted income/expenses are on target. April has been an active month. 

- Scholarships were awarded for LancerCare Fund, Lancer Award, Teacher of the Year and will be paid out in May. Grants are in the process of being paid out. 

- Podiums have not yet been ordered with the Class of 2024 surplus, as the district purchased podiums that will be available for use. 

- Discussed option of transferring some of the remaining staff appreciation funds to staff hospitality if needed.

- It is estimated that the FY will end with a surplus in the range of $16,000-$17,000. Discussed process for soliciting recommendations for needed items. Discussed needs that may need to be purchased in support of Class fundraising events such as new signs to replace those that are missing.  

VP Communications, Aleta Harris (presented by Giovanna Lear)

- Newsletter-

- Last newsletter for 24/25 will go out May 26th

- Please include details about what is coming next year in the last few newsletters.

- Anything needing posted during the summer will go out as needed

- Social Media, Giovanna Lear

- Jess Brown will be taking on the role of Social Media for 25/26

- Considering changing TOWC Social Media pages to “Lancer Community Events”. Will use this page to promote all class fundraising events, not just TOWC.

- Class pages will continue to be used to promote events and get volunteers, meeting reminders, etc.

- Website Manager-MTK/LHS, Jennifer Zeck - Will be updating the LPO page on the Lafayette site this summer

VP School Community, April Ladner 

- Volunteer Coordinator

- 25-26 Board Members Needed: Co-Treasurer

- 25-26 Community Chairs Needed: Class of 2029 Co-Directors, Class of 2029 Treasurer, Spirit wear, School Store Operations Manager, Shift Managers.

- Share any interest with April. 

- Volunteer Appreciation Week April 21-25; Thank You, Volunteers!

- Community Events

- Special Olympics-Friday April 25, 2025. Recap-we had a great group of volunteers. A full report is available along with recommendations for next year including a request for some hot dogs without buns and for t-shirts for the adult volunteers. 

- Staff Appreciation : Special Recognition, Nicole Vandesteeg

- Recent events include-Administrative Professionals Day - April 23rd, Bus Driver Appreciation Day - April 23^rd and  Cafeteria Workers Day - May 2nd

- Current/Upcoming Events include -Teacher Appreciation Week - will be doing a big treat day.

- Principal’s Day-provided box lunches from The Art of Entertaining.

- Nurse’s Day is May 6th. 

- Staff Appreciation : Staff Dinners, Colleen Poling - End-of-Year Luncheon: May 23, 2025 10:30am. Reevaluating decision on caterer. Volunteers are needed and have been advertised for. Dr. Calcaterra’s assistant with help. Danielle Fricke has signed up to help. 

VP School Support, Monika Sud 

- Lancer Direct Donation Campaign - Continuing to advertise.  

- Lancer’s Landing - Inventory, Chelsea Watson

- Pretzel Days: Upcoming date is 5/7

- Upcoming Fun Food Friday is 5/9

- Dave Sandberg and Sri Basappa have been dedicated volunteers this year assuming consistent responsibility for the Tuesday and Thursday Inventory pickups and deliveries.  

- Lancer’s Landing Operations, (Open Position), presented by Monika Sud

- Tuesday and Thursday Shift Manager coverage has been worked out for the remainder of the year

- A new terminal was purchased this month and is in use and working well. Recently the iPad has had connectivity and update issues.

- Morning Shift Managers are needed for all morning shifts for the 25-26 school year

- Shift Managers, and Volunteers needed for 25-26 school year for Thursday inventory unloading and stocking

- Spring sign-ups need two volunteers for lunch shifts in order to open through the end of the year. These look to be covered now. 

- School store will be closed the last week of school, the last day open will be Friday May 16th. We can consider adding extra days if needed to liquidate the inventory.

- We are collecting all school store keys before the end of the school year. If you have a set please let us know. Drop off in the school office by May 23rd.

- We continue to monitor and evaluate pricing on products.

- It was noted that the students have been very respectful and helpful towards volunteers this year. 

- School Grants, Dawn Hagen 

- Grants were awarded on 4/17/25

- All grants that had previously chosen items from Amazon have been ordered and delivered.  A few items were purchased through the LPO Sam's account instead to save money or maximize amounts for the same $ amount. 

- Mr. Livesay's electric violin, bow, and case has been delivered.

- Approximately ½ to ⅔ of the purchases have been made. 

- Still working on remaining grants awarded for various reasons, such as:

- determining payment process

- hoping for a sale price to return

- waiting to hear back from grant recipient

- LPO is considering a clorox wipe and tissue donation drive at the beginning of the school year

- Spirit Wear

- Inventory has been updated and will be on sale through the remainder of the year.

- Working on new designs with West County Tees for the upcoming school year. 

Class Updates

Class of 2025 Director’s Report, Tara Ference/Dawn Werk

- Baccalaureate will be held at 7pm on May 8th at Pathfinder Church. Mr. Matt Waeckerle has been managing RSVP’s and event information.

- Monday, May 12, 2025 - Senior Celebration at Amped Up from 11pm-5am. Doors will open at 10:30pm. A walkthrough was completed last week. Approximately 200 tickets have been sold and a last push for ticket sales is taking place. Seniors registered for AP exams the next day need a signed permission to be picked up early by a parent. 

Class of 2026 Director’s Report, Elizabeth Nolan/Rhonda Shrum

- Monday, April 14, 2025 Taste of West County 

- 26 restaurants participated. The event sold out and capping ticket sales at a max of 400 seemed to work well. 

Class of 2027 Director’s Report, Jen Adams/Jenny Archambeault

- Jenny Archambeault will be stepping down as Class Director at the end of the 24-25 school year. Jen Olds (who has previously led the silent auctions for the Class of 2027) has agreed to serve in the open Class Director role. 

Class of 2028 Director’s Report, Jenny Champlin/Stacy Nagel/Sara Robeson

- Nothing to report

Next Meeting

- Monday, June 16th or 17th 6:30pm Location TBA 

Adjournment by President Giovanna Lear at 8:29pm