Montgomery Blair High School PTSA

Minutes of PTSA Executive Board Meeting --- January 04, 2005

Next PTSA Meeting: January 18th @ Kennedy (before the MCPS SAT Presentation)

The meeting began at about 7:30 January 4, with 12 members of the executive board:
Deborah Stoll, Kathi Yu, Bonnie Malkin, Betsy Scroggs, Linda Simon, Sonni Mallinoff, Chris Cox, Fran Rothstein, Chris Simpson, Carol Blythe, Mary Abe, and Sara Rosen

An announcement was made that teachers are given half off on copying at the Rockville Kinko's. You can get an id from the front office and they will use that as an id to get the 50% off.

Betsy lead a discussion about how to nurture people who are in various positions. Co-chairs can make any job more palatable and less lonely. With a co-chair there is always someone to pick up the slack if something comes up. Both Betsy and Fran are looking to the future to fill jobs especially in the cases where PTSA members have graduating seniors.

Fran gave a report on the Eligibility Meetings she's been attending. The bottom line is that the policy will not change. The committee is campaigning for each school to have a student support person who will give direct service to struggling students. They would connect students up with resources.

Chris Cox gave a report on the Fine Arts Committee. Chris has been a great identifier of supplies for the Fine Arts department at Blair. She has located much needed binders for organizational purposes. Discovery Communications has come through again with magazines which they have made available.

Kathi Yu, Academic Achievement Vice President, reported that there is no honor roll being published. This is a huge job and Kathi will be working on creating a committee with 3-4 people to prioritize the issues. Please contact her if you are interested.

Linda Simon, our new MCCPTA representative, is learning the ropes. She will be talking with Jose Vargas about her role and how she can best represent Blair.

It came to the attention of the board that the Ice Hockey team applied to become a club and was approved by the SGA and then was not allowed to have their picture taken for the year book. Deborah Stoll moved that we support the SGA in their endeavor to recognize the new ice hockey club and support their right to have a photo in the year book. The motion was seconded by Bonnie Malkin and it was passed unanimously. Fran will also speak with Sebastian Johnson, the SGA president, about this and encourage them to continue their support of the new club with the administration.

Deborah Stoll gave a report on the MCCPTA. She asked the board to take a stand on the new sex education curriculum. Kathi Yu moved that we support the new sex education curriculum and authorize our representative to inform MCCPTA of our stand. Chris Cox seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Deborah also reported that an ESOL student was blocked by a teacher and a counselor from taking honors classes. Her parents had to advocate for her in a strong way before they would allow her to take the honors courses. Although this did not happen at Blair, it is a concern. How does a student get pushed to do their best and stretch themselves? The Montgomery Education Forum will be addressing this issue.

Deborah also reported on the Counseling committee. A principal must request more staff and be denied before it can be fought for and the PTSA can bring it up. It is unknow where Blair is in this process. Stacey Gurian-Sherman is heading a campaign to bring Conquesta de Suenos to Blair. It is a program that empowers Spanish speaking parents. It is comprised of 8 presentations and will begin after Spring break. There are 45-100 slots and the first few meetings will be at Longbranch Community Center. After the first few meeting, the group will meet at Blair. This gives parents who might be intimidated to coalesce as a group first. We are excited and happy to have this program at Blair. Bravo, Stacey!

Mary Abe reported on Staff Appreciation. February 18 there will be a luncheon--it is a half day. CAP and the staff appreciation committee is working together to have a Staff Appreciation week. Traditionally CAP has done this for its own staff, but this year the PTSA and CAP parents will be working together. In April there will be soemthing done in the individual staff lounges. There will also be an end of the year breakfast.

Bonnie Malkin reported on the Volunteer committee. We all applauded the incredible job she is doing. Every month she gets an e-mail from a group we are associated with which advertises free items. She will get in touch with the Pupil Personnel Worker who seems to be the right person to know people who might need household items. Fran suggested that we get a Volunteer Coordinator through Americorps next year. She will look into this and let Bonnie know about how to apply.

Sara Rosen reported on the Blair Foundation. It is slow going. We are getting stationary and working through the 501(c)(3) application adn trying to identify people who can be on the board of trustees. Sonni Malinoff passed out a budget.

The meeting ended at approximately 9:30