1. PTA General Meeting January 15 th, 2014 9:30am - UPDATED

2. Financial Report as of January 1st O Beginning Balance: O $46,577.17 O Total Income: O $42.00 O Total Expenses: O ($4729.80) O Ending Balance: O $41,889.37

3. Art Funding O -yarn (weaving projects) O -colored permanent markers (tin art projects) O sticky foam tabs and rolls, tape (to adhere art work display for the art show) O colored paper (various projects) O various paints (various projects) O twine (mix-media projects) O specialty glues (various projects) O specialty beads (usually to embellish yarn weavings and mask projects) O canvases (acrylic painting projects) O large quantity of elastic for each child in the entire 3rd grade (for paper mache masks) O Total amount requested: $750.00 - APPROVED

4. Technology Deployment

6. Technology O Approved: $11,354.30 for 30 Chrome Books and a Chrome book cart

7. SRE Outdoor Classroom

8. Background O 38% of children (3 rd -12 th grade) in Austin are overweight or obese 1 O 60% of children (1-18 y) do not meet fruit intake guidelines 2 O 93% do no meet vegetable intake guidelines 2 O 1 Tx Dept of State Health Services; 2 National Cancer Institute. Usual dietary intakes: food intakes, US population, 2007–10.

9. Health Benefits of School Gardening Programs O Increases a child’s willingness to taste vegetables 1 O Increases preferences 2 O Dietary knowledge 3 O Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables 4, 5 O Decrease obesity rates and blood pressure 5 O Promotes activity O 1 Morris California Agriculture 2001; 2 Morris and Zidenberg-Cherr JADA 2002; 3 McAleese JADA 2007; O 4 Parmer et al J Nutr Edu Beh 2009; 5 Davis et al JADA 2012

10. Academic Benefits of School Gardens O Promotes “Hand’s On” experiential learning O Gardening programs linked to improved science achievement scores 1 O Much of elementary curriculum can be taught in the garden: O life cycle, ecosystem, scientific investigation, environmental safety O Many garden based curriculums are currently mapped on TEKS standards O LA Sprouts and Junior Master Gardeners O 1 Klemmmer HorTech 2005

11. Other Benefits of School Gardens O Anesthetic improvements to campus O Provides a community space for activities/events O Increased family participation/involvement O Community outreach opportunities – Master Gardeners across Austin, UT Austin students O Big push from LISD – pioneer school

13. Desired Features of Outdoor Classroom O Walking trail from sidewalk O Native beds forming a barrier between parking lot and rest of garden O 6 teaching garden beds – 1 per grade level O Butterfly garden – for younger grade levels O Teaching area with seating and tables O Storage unit for supplies O Reading benches

14. Costs: O Design Costs - $650 for Bonnie Martin to design garden O SRE Outdoor Classroom Committee, Susan Fambrough, and interested teachers will give input O Plumbing Costs –$2,500 to get potable water lines to vegetable beds O Garden Supplies - $1,000 for building supplies (will try to get some donations) O Total requested = $4,150 - APPROVED

15. TIMELINE O Fall 2014: O Applied for FIR – pending O Applied for Whole Kids Foundation O Formed SRE Outdoor Classroom Committee – NEED more participation O Spring 2015: O Jan – vote on PTA spending O March – Parent build days O March/April – Kick off event O Summer – let vegetables go dormant O Summer – teacher training to use curriculum O School year 15/16: O Plant Day O Teachers use garden to teach in

16. Sustainability Plan O Provide curriculum and training for teachers to teach in outdoor classroom O Apply for other grant funding (Whole Kids Foundation, Home Depot, Hill Country Education) O Adopt a Family Plan O SRE Outdoor Committee Participation

17. Future Spending Ideas O Bucket of balls, jump ropes for each class O Leader in Me summer training O Math support O Technology O Technology Training – programming; bring in an outside vendor O Tether Ball O Funnel Ball or Triple Shot Hoop

18. Pay it Forward O Top Charities are: O Simply Safety O Leukemia and Lymphoma Society O Water is Life O Feeding America O February 18 th : PIF Ballots go home in Wednesday folders – all ballots due January 9 th O February 26 th – March 7 th : Pay it Forward School Wide Campaign (winning charity video will be played in classrooms)

19. New spirit wear O T-shirt design contest O All submissions due by February 5 th O Voting on February 13 th at school – location TBD O Please help students make clear designs O Place your name and grade on the back O All designs must include: O Picture of a Stallion O SRE or Steiner Ranch Elementary

20. FundRun O Fundrun started yesterday O Pledges will be taken through O Actual run is on Friday, January 23 rd O All fundraising dollars will be collected over next 2weeks O THIS FUNDRAISER REPLACES THE SOIREE!!! We will not be doing another fundraiser this spring other than Book Fair.

21. Crayola Color Cycle O Collect all markers O Bins located in front office O Teaching kids to recycle

22. Volunteers O Looking for 3 people to be on the Nominating Committee O Looking for 2 people to be on the Budget Committee O Contact Contessa Weinheimer if you would like to be on either committee.

23. Meeting Adjourned Thank you for coming this morning!