We had a very productive meeting on Wednesday 10/25. It was well attended by parents as well as Principal Morga, and teachers Ms. Leavitt and Ms. Merchant. We discussed upcoming fundraisers, how we can support after-school clubs, and finally, we elected our board for the 2016-2017 school year. The minutes of the meeting are below.

Minutes for 10/25/2017 Friends of Jefferson Meeting

• Homebrew Fest Update—Geena Pearson is organizing the event which is scheduled for Saturday 3/10/18. The location is expected to be the same – the lot behind NP Observatory. She will be asking for volunteers to help with organizing. She will contact those who expressed interest in helping with the event.
• Holiday Program Update—Geena is organizing the annual Holiday Program. There is some difficulty in finding a free evening in the first two weeks in December at the NP Observatory, where the event has been held for the last few years. The suggestion was made to try to do it on a weekend afternoon in early December. She will speak to them and get back to the group. Otherwise, she will look at other venues such as the Mason’s Lodge across the street from Jefferson.
• After School Clubs—Emily Merchant, the Spanish teacher, will be the coordinator of the school clubs. This will be the first year that the clubs have had a coordinator. The fall clubs filled up quickly and there were many more children interested than clubs available. The goal is to have enough clubs for most of the children to participate in. The majority of the fall clubs are funded. There is a request to the Foundation to help subsidize the cost of the dance instructor for the dance club. There is also a request that the Foundation help sponsor some of the clubs in the spring. The Foundation asks that the school works on laying out the year-long plan of clubs so that we can get a general idea of the budget involved. The Foundation would like to make sure that it sponsors clubs that can accommodate good numbers of students. We would also like to ensure that students who did not get to be in a club this fall get the first shot at the next round of clubs. The Foundation will most likely budget a lump sum for the school to use towards the clubs. The exact amount will be determined after review of the proposed club structure and budget.
• Jog-a-thon Update—This fundraiser is officially underway. The Pledgestar site has been set up and donations have started to come in. Andy Hinds requests help with getting people signed up online, looking for sponsors, and getting prize donations.
• Elections
  • Nominations for 5 board members (terms are 1 year):
    • President – Andy Hinds
    • Vice President – Geena Pearson
    • Secretary – Amelia Anderson
    • Treasurer – Thao Tran
    • At-large member – Ted Lee