Beacon PTA Meeting Minutes – Nov. 2019
General PTA Meeting
November 13, 2019 from 5pm – 8pm
MINUTES
Welcome – Abi Fenelon & Bonnie Scarborough, PTA Co-Presidents
Approval of Minutes – Motion was made to approve June 2019 and October 2019 minutes. Motion was approved.
Approval of MHSPC Designee – The Manhattan High School President’s Council (MHSPC) meets once a month. PTA presidents can attend themselves or assign a designee to attend and vote on behalf of The Beacon School. The Co-Presidents will not be able to attend all MHSPC meetings, and would therefore like Robin Broshi to be designee. Motion was made to approve Robin Broshi as MHSPC designee. Motion was approved.
Approval of SLT Designee – The School Leadership Team (SLT) meets once a month on Thursdays at 4pm. The PTA President is an ex officio member of the SLT. Because neither Co-President is able to attend at that time, they have asked Vice President Windell Williams to attend in their place. Motion was made to approve Windell Williams as SLT designee. Motion was approved.
Treasury Report
Cash Opening Balance – Oct 1, 2019 – $301,506
Cash Closing Balance – Oct 31, 2019 – $338,948
Fundraising is at about 80% of what we had raised at this time last year, so we are making progress. Currently, we are at 35% of our fundraising goal for the year.
Teacher Rebecca Dashka requested $500 to start a new Dungeons & Dragons Club which has 42 students already enrolled. Motion was made to allocate $500. Motion was approved.
Committee Reports
- Diversity – Windell Williams reported that the Diversity Committee has chosen the book “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi for its Book Club. All Diversity Committee meetings are open to all parents at Beacon, and parents of all backgrounds are welcome. Two meetings to discuss the book will be held on January 6 and January 13 from 5-6pm in the Library.
- Merchandise – The first lunchtime merchandise sale was a big success, with total sales of over $4000. Merchandise was also sold at the 9th grade parent potluck. The next sale will be at the Parent-Advisor Conferences on November 21-22. Volunteers are needed to help with the sale. PTA was asked if it was possible to set up Mobile Pay, which we will look into; currently Square is used to accept credit card payments.
- Fundraising – Diana Mahiques announced the first fundraising event of the year. It will be a Winter Wine Tasting to be held on Saturday, December 7 from 7-10pm. The event will be held at freshman parents’ Historic West Village Townhouse and will feature tastings of 6 award-winning wines from OneHope Wines. Beacon will receive 10% of wine sales, plus $45 per person ticket price capped at 50 people for insurance reasons.
- Auction – Bonnie Scarborough and Diana Mahiques announced plans for the 2020 Auction/Gala. Auction items are needed, examples include parent services, restaurant gift certificates, tickets to plays/musicals, unique experiences. A parent who is a fashion/portrait photographer has offered a photo session. The Gala venue will be the Cutting Room, NYC. Volunteers will be needed leading up to the event and the day of. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Diana (dianamahiques@gmail.com) or Bonnie (bonnie.scarborough@gmail.com).
- Hospitality – Elle Malevar reported on the activities of the Hospitality Committee. They will provide lunch for teachers and staff during the parent-advisor conferences on November 21-22. Volunteers are needed to help with set-up and clean up.
- Community – Sari Gabay reported that the 9th grade parent potluck was a huge success with over 100 parents attending! Acknowledgements to the 9th grade class representatives for the hard work they put in. Three neighborhood gatherings are planned for the next week, in Brooklyn and the Lower East Side on November 14 and in the Upper West Side of Manhattan on November 19. If your neighborhood is not represented, please volunteer to lead.
- Communications – Abi Fenelon acknowledges all the hard work and professionalism that Rose Arce and Shirley Brady have put into creating our beautiful new newsletter format (Applaus!). Rose stressed the importance of timely submissions from executive board members and Abi encouraged parents to submit news about the sports teams and clubs that their children participated in. We will start including links in newsletter to articles from the student online newspaper, the Beacon Beat. Photographs of student activities and sports events are requested, if parents have any, please forward. It was suggested that the afterschool Photography Club get involved in taking photos for newsletter.
Presentation on Mood Disorders and Adolescent Mental Health
Windell Williams announced that Dr. Karen Schwartz of Johns Hopkins will be speaking to teachers, staff, and students about mood disorders and mental health in adolescents. Dr. Schwartz will also be available to speak to parents. Her visit was originally scheduled for December 5-6, 2019, but due to health issues, she will have to reschedule for the spring.
Introductions
Abi asked each parent in attendance to introduce themselves and say a little about their child and their interest in getting involved in the PTA. Shamel Flowers, 9th grade parent, stated that she would be interested in the open position of Co-VP for Community Building/Relations. An expedited election will be held at the December PTA meeting to fill this position.
Meeting adjourned at 6pm
6pm – 7:10pm – Screening of the movie “Screenagers”
7:10 – 8pm – Talkback with Rose Arce and Shirley Brady
