Monday 15 February 2016

January PTA Update


Maples PTA (Parent Teacher Association)

Regular Meeting of the Committee

January 13, 2016

Maples Academy/Amaranth ON



January 13, 2016, 8:00am EST



Present:

Janet Moore PTA Chair

Carrie Ferguson PTA Treasurer

Susan Chow (Minutes) PTA Secretary



Greg Playford Maples Principal

Pauline Oakley Parent

Kemi Palmer Parent





1. Budget Review



Carrie presented the updated Budget statement for 2015-2016. A copy of the Budget statement is available upon request.



2. Service fundraiser



PTA continued to discuss the ideas of ways to generate revenue to meet our goals to cover our annual expenses. Some of the ideas brought forth were: pumpkin sales during fall festival, PTA resume the full organization of the fall festival, golf/spa tournaments, selling pies in the fall.



We reviewed the 1st Movie night in November which was a great success and discussed that this event will continue for February, April, May and possibly June.



Our goal is to raise the shortfall throughout the academic year through various fundraising events such as Movie nights & Casino Royale and other possible events/functions. A separate meeting will be set for Feb 3rd to discuss further.



Casino Royale date is set for May 13th – safe the date will be sent out shortly

Bake sale - Monday Feb 8th headed by Stephanie Milone. The goal is to encourage the students to bring in baked items that they made themselves or with a bit of help if possible.  

Pauline Oakley is going to arrange to provide “Starbucks” coffee for us to sell for that event.



All proceeds will go to “Choices”









3. Casino Royale Night



Date set for May 13, 2016 from 7pm – 11pm. A separate meeting will be on Feb 3rd to discuss further.



4. Date for BBQ



Tentative date have been set for the annual BBQ for Saturday June 11th.







Next PTA meetings are set for: February 24, 2016

April 6, 2016

May 18, 2016



All meetings are set for 8am. Dates/times may change.



5. New Business



No other business




December 2015 Update


PTA Update

Happy December Maples Families! This is a quick note to outline what the Maples PTA is up to. After a late start this year, I am really excited about the plans we have for the rest of the year!

We started this year by looking at the objectives of our PTA as outlined in the PTA Constitution (who knew such a thing existed). Anyway, I found this useful, so for our new and not so new families, I want to start by outlining these objectives.

PTA Objectives

  1. To enhance and enrich the educational experience of all the students at the Maples Academy.
  2. To help promote the school’s “community” spirit and sense of belonging to the school.
  3. To help provide educational tools for all students.

What’s New!

  1. Movie Night – We had our first ever PTA movie night last Friday evening. It was a great success with 35 kids at the school watching Elf. We are planning for movie nights January 29th, February 26th, April 29th, and May 27th. Thank you Sara Hurson for spearheading this.



  1. Facilitate Outreach with a Local Charity – This year, the PTA will help facilitate support opportunities for Choices Teen Shelter. To get started, the PTA will be serving Hot Apple Cider at the Christmas concert next week. All donations will go to Choices. Stay tuned in the New Year for a child operated bake sale. Also, there are classroom service opportunities that will be available, if teachers would like. Our goal is to help our children learn to respect and show compassion towards the needs of others, which is one of the IB principles. Thank you to Stephanie Milone for being the lead on this.

Update on the Old

  1. PTA is set to serve the students and staff a full turkey dinner on Friday, followed by a pancake lunch on Shrove Tuesday. This is a tradition that our kids look forward to every year. Thanks to Anthea Page, Jackie Demczur and Pauline Oakley for co-ordinating our special lunches this year.



  1. Our PTA BBQ is a great way to end the year and is always a fun afternoon. If this is something you would like to get involved in please let me know.



  1. Our first Casino Royale last year was a great night to socialize for Maples parents and teachers. We have started to plan this years’ event, but are looking for help!



  1. For the last several years, the PTA has been able to fully cover the cost of field trips, including busing. This is a great convenience that we would like to continue to provide for our families. However, you may have noticed that in the last couple of years the PTA has raised little money…in the New Year we will be looking for your ideas about a spring fundraiser so that this support can continue.



Our next general meeting is scheduled for January 13th from 8:00 to 8:45 am – all are welcome! If you are unable to attend, but have something you would like added to the agenda or have an idea that you would like supported by the PTA please e-mail me janetmoore@bell.net



Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!



Janet Moore

PTA Chair








Thursday 19 November 2015

The Maples Link PTA Budget Meeting

Wednesday, November 25 @ 8 to 845am

All parents are welcome. The agenda for this meeting will be posted on this blog by the end of the day Friday, November 20. 
A hard copy of the agenda will also be available in the office. 
If there are any items anyone wishes to be added to the agenda please forward them to Janet Moore at janetmoore@bell.net.
We look forward to seeing you there.
 

Thursday 12 November 2015

PTA Minutes November 4th

Meeting November 4, 2015
Goal of meeting is pinpoint a purpose for the PTA in the hopes that we may involve more parents and in the end create a more active PTA. Carrie and Janet agreed to speak after on this.
The hope is that this may help us flush a few projects for the year. Ideas to date are;
1.       An outreach program that will involve students. Stephanie Milone is interested in becoming involved in this. Janet will follow up with her this week.
2.       Maintain and grow school community for students, possible parents. Greg suggested monthly movie night.
3.       Special projects; butterfly garden
We need to update budget and have budget meeting during November. Date set for November 25th.
We discussed that to create a sustainable PTA the funds need to be generated each year for monies spent.
We ended with financial business. The school is donating monies raised during the fall festival to the PTA, with 50% going back to the school re: an academic fund. We discussed that according the constitution each member of the executive will have a vote going forward.
 
Next steps:
1.       Talk to Carrie and Susan about PTA Objectives
2.       Talk to Greg about movie night…find someone to do it. Sarah Hurson.
3.       Talk to Stephanie Milone about outreach program and butterfly garden.

Wednesday 13 May 2015


You are invited to the Maples Link 1st annual Casino Royale on Friday May 22, at The Maples Academy.

Join us for an Evening of smooth music, fantastic food, and casino fun. This event is not a fundraiser, it is simply a fun night out with parents from the school and friends in the community.
                   Put on your party dress get ready for an evening that is sure to impress.  The evening will kick off with a hot and cold hors d’oeuvres catered by our local Lavender Blue Catering.
·         Potato and Artichoke Latkes with Crème Fraiche
·         "Our own mini Sausage Rolls" with honey mustard on the side
·         Cajun Sweet Potatoes with chipotle mayo
·         Crab stuffed Mushrooms
·         Mini mushroom tartletts
·         Smoked Salmon canapés
·         Chicken skewer with a peanut sauce
·         Asian Beef skewer with a ginger mayo
There will be three gourmet food stations, dessert, magnificent jazz entertainment and a fun casino.
·         Pate and pepper jellies, cheeses, fruits, artisanal salamis, pickles, antipasto and crackers
·         Shrimp Cocktail
·         Chilled Beef Tenderloin with mustards and horseradish
·         Chilled Beef Tenderloin with mustards and horseradish
·         Crusty buns and creamy whipped butter
·         Vegetarian Sushi Platter
·         Fine French and California wine
·         Hockley Valley Beer

Casino Royale Details:

Casino Fun Night - Blackjack, Roulette, and Poker
·         $60 admission gets you: Dinner, live entertainment, $500 in fun money or 5 raffle tickets, an alcoholic beverage, and a chance to win some fabulous prizes.
·         You can purchase more fun money, $10 dollars for $100 in fun money.
·         The event will start at 7pm and go till about 10pm with the raffle drawings following immediately.
·         Every $100 you have in fun money gets turned in at the end of the night and you get a raffle ticket which can be put in the basket of your choice.
·         There will be great prizes: catering packages, fine wine, cosmetic products, home lighting and hotel package for a night in Toronto.
·         We have hired a company to come in with Blackjack tables, Roulette Table, and Poker table and the dealers for a fun night out. If there are any profits from the Casino they will be donated to ‘Logan’s Hope.’
·         So come out and enjoy something new and fun.

 Please phone the school to confirm your attendance or request more tickets by next Tuesday the 19th of May. 519-942-3310. Checks made Payable to The Maples PTA.
There will be a donation box for Logan’s Hope at the Casino Royale.
We encourage you to invite friends!

Wednesday 22 April 2015


Community involvement has always been an integral part of The Maples.  The Maples Link would like to play a role in facilitating the school in reaching out to our community. The Milone Family is initiating a fundraising campaign for a local Orangeville boy and The Maples Link is proud to support this amazing cause.  Information regarding volunteer opportunities, fundraising initiatives, and the dates and times of these events will be posted on our parent participation sidebar on this blog.

Please read the attached letter from Ben Milone to understand more about this fundraising campaign…….

Logan McNab is an 11 year old boy just like me.  I came to know Logan 5 years ago when his mother was a nanny for my baby sister.  His mother talked a lot about Logan with me because we were the same age.   I was really surprised when I met him that he was in a wheelchair.  He has cerebral palsy.  With a lot of work from his family and therapists, we were excited to see him take his first steps when he was 9 years old using a walker.  Unfortunately, some kids with cerebral palsy get really tight muscles and ligaments.  Logan has this problem and so he now is unable to walk anymore.  There is a surgery that can help him with this condition however it is only offered in the United States.  OHIP has agreed to cover a small portion of it.  His family has to pay the remaining $100,000.

I am physically active any chance I can get.  I can't imagine not being able to walk and run and would take any chance I could if someone told me a surgery could get me on my feet again.

I would like to do my part to fundraise money to help Logan's family reach their goal so that he can have this surgery.

These are my ideas which I have discussed with Mr. Playford:

1.  Having our school donate the money collected from one of our casual days towards this cause.

2. Hosting a bake sale – on Friday May 22 at our school.  Please support by bringing a loonie or toonie to buy a delicious baked good.

3.  Host a bottle drive – Please ask your parents, families, neighbours, sports teams to give you their empty wine, beer and liquor bottles.  I will have a box set up in the front hall for you to put them in.  My parents will take them to the Beer Store for me and the refund will be put towards this fundraiser.

 

We can all do our small part to help Logan walk again.  Thank you for helping support this important cause. 

 

Ben Milone, Grade 5

P.S. Here is his website in case you need more information.  http://www.gofundme.com/Logans-Hope