PSG December Update

Good evening, BECC families!

Happy holidays to everyone!  With the semester winding down and no PSG meeting this month, I thought I would send out a short update on how the PSG is doing.

It's been quite a process but our paperwork to make the PSG a full not for profit organization has been received by the IRS.  Tami, our Treasurer, and I agree this means our tax exempt status is now pending.  Yeah!!

Our Relay for Life team wrapped up their Butter Braid fundraiser today.  If you still have orders that you have not turned in, please contact Marcie Cates right away.

In speaking with Melissa Smith, the BECC Clinic nurse, she is in need of children's underwear sizes 3T-5/6 boys and girls, new or old.  She also needs gently used coats and pants.  If your child has outgrown some clothing that fits this description, please consider donating them to the clinic.

We will start planning our Pup Strut soon.  This will be our get-up-and-go fundraiser in the spring.  If any families have experience with this type of fundraiser at the elementary level, we would appreciate any and all input.  Please feel free to contact me by email at janet.a.moser@gmail.com.

Our Box Tops for Education program is on temporary hold.  Our school has been denied the privilege of this program because we do not have any students attending Kindergarten through 8th grade in the building.  We are working on partnering with Cardinal Elementary to come up with a plan to submit our box tops through their program.  Thank you Cardinal for your assistance!

The library program is steadily moving forward.  The teachers have had their orientation on how the Brownsburg Public Library's mobile library program is going to work while we work on a more permanent solution for the preschool.  We are still waiting on the promised donated book trucks from the school corporation and will follow up on this.  Once we have carts, we can organize a book donation program.  Details of the book donation plan will be sent home in the near future.  Finally, Amy has spoken with Scholastics regarding a book fair, which we would like to have in the spring semester near the time of our Snacks with Students.  Thanks for all of your hard work, Amy!!

If I've missed anything, any topic or there is something you would like to see the PSG do, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you all so very much for your participation.  You are who make the PSG successful.

Regards,

Janet Moser

Read a Thon Fundraiser

Read a Thon is going on this week. If you need to print any of the forms here is the link.

Meeting Minutes from November 7, 2013

November 7, 2013

Meeting called to order 6:35

Minutes from previous meeting read and approved
All board members present

Executive Board Reports:

President - Janet:

l  Seed money received from several BCSC PSG's and thank you notes signed by everyone present.

l  Will schedule a follow up meeting with the lawyer to review 501c(3) application.

l  Attended Presidents meeting at district office.  Their next meeting is March 17 2014.

Vice President - DeVanna:

l  Harvest party: still need a few volunteers for afternoon parties, note will be published in Preschool Post.

Treasurer - Tami: 

l  Seed money received from four elementary schools.

Secretary - Sonja:

l  Nothing to report at this time

Teacher Representative - Sarah:

l  Teachers are appreciative of PSG's work.

Preschool Coordinator – Jennifer:

l  Nothing to report at this time

Committee Reports:

Fundraising:

l  Read-A-Thon: Mary Jo has drafted letter.  Sending home forms the week of Thanksgiving.  Possibly order extra books from Scholastic for prizes for winners, contact Karen Krepps regarding bonus points for purchasing books.  Jennifer is following up on this.

l  Dine to Donate:  Must have 501c(3) before we start. Planning for spring with possible celebrity attending (Andretti family). Some companies may work with us while 501C is pending.  Considering Orange leaf or Wyliepalooza Ice Cream Emporium for first dine to donate.

Workroom:

l  Devanna will be using Signupgenius for parents to volunteer.  The preschool will allow volunteers to bring any younger siblings into the workroom with them, however the staff of the preschool is not responsible these children.

Library Development:

l  Carts need to be brought out of storage.  These are surplus supplies from the main office and the preschool is getting them for free.

l  Partnering with Brownsburg Public Library to create a mobile library while the PSG builds a library for the preschool. Teachers can pick out books to borrow for three weeks.  This program is also free and Amy Huang is going to shuttle books.

l  Karen Krepps may have duplicate books to donate to BECC Library. Possibly ask other teachers to donate their duplicate books.

l  Follow up with John Voight regarding book carts.

Box Tops:

l  Still waiting for email from BTFE to see if we qualify.

l  If we don't qualify, will use ID from Cardinal.

l  Planning another box top collection for spring.

l  Life skills from the high school can help with bagging and counting.

l  Need to bag box tops in groups of 50.

Relay for Life:

l  Set for May 17, 2014 on the town lawn in Brownsburg.

l  Team Captain meeting at Library Saturday, November 9^th.

l  Team representative from each school as this is a corporate wide participation.

l  Each team has one hour to be highlighted at the event.

Snacks with Students:

l  Michelle will contact Cafeteria Manager, Jill to find out how parents will pay for snacks.  This event most likely will occur in the spring and is similar to donuts with dads and muffins with moms.

New Business:

l  Possible Staff Appreciation day in May

l  June 2, 2014 Teacher work day, possible breakfast provided by PSG

Next meeting set for January 15, 2014 at 6:30

l  Flyer to be sent home with students that week for reminder

Meeting adjourned at 7:25pm.

Meeting Thursday!

We are very excited to announce that our first public PSG meeting will be held this Thursday November 7th at 6:30 in the gym at the BECC. We hope to see many of the preschool parents there.

Brownsburg Early Childhood Center PSG Meeting Minutes

October 2, 2013, 1:30pm

Meeting called to order

Present:  Janet Moser, Sonja Davies, Tami Carnes, Sarah Reaves, Jennifer Newingham (via speaker phone). 

New Business:

We all agreed to send out seed money letter to BCSC elementary schools with only the president’s signature in order to expedite mailing.

Committee Reports:
Fundraising:
Tami Carnes will be investigating possible fundraiser nights (Dine to Donate) at local restaurants including:
·         Dairy Queen, Orange Leaf, So Italian, Apple Bee’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Hurricane Grill and Dawson’s.
Book Bash:  Pledge to read Fundraiser set for the week of December 2, 2013
·         Letter will be drafted and sent home to parents by Sarah
·         Fundraiser will include books read in class and at home
·         Money pledged per book read

Pup Strut Fundraiser

·         Date set for May 1 and 2
·         There will be 2 runs each day to include all classes
·         Need volunteers with background checks
·         Post in Preschool Post
·         Send home envelopes for donations and information
Library Development:
Library will be in empty classroom at BECC
·         Need carts for mobile library
·         Details are still being worked out
Relay for Life:
·         Melissa Smith, BECC School Nurse, is contact person
·         Marcie Cates is committee chair and she will be introduced to Melissa to start working together
Box Tops:
·         Need to use ID for BECC
·         Jennifer is working on this
Field Day
·         Waiting for teachers/staff to decide on this matter
Snacks with Parents
·         Fundraiser like muffins with mom/donuts for dad
·         Snack time 9:00-9:30 and 2:30-3:00
·         All parents need ID and completed background check
·         Dates to be determined
Scholastic Book Fair
·         Family night
·         Waiting for dates from Staff

 Next PSG meeting set for November 7, 2013 in the Gross Motor Room at BECC

·         Jennifer will post in Preschool Post
·         Need sign ups for parents
·         Jennifer will add PSG news/updates in her weekly Preschool Post.
2:50pm Meeting adjourned

November 7, 2013 @ 6:30

We will be having our first public meeting November 7th at 6:30.

Room Parents and Volunteers

 

 

Hi. I hope everyone's week is going well. For all of the room parents, please send me the days your children attend school. Since the teachers have different children on different days, we will need to accommodate so that all the children have an opportunity to enjoy the festivities. Considering this, there will be parties on two days for each teacher and I will likely need some more volunteers. If I know what days your children attend it will help me see where we are going to need the extra help. If you are willing to help with more than your child's class room, please let me know that as well. Also, if you are ready to start planning with your child's teacher feel free to do so directly with the teacher.

I also still do not have any volunteers for October 1 and 2 in the PM to help with the Lions Club vision screenings. If anyone is interested please let me know. The workroom could use some volunteers especially in the months of November and December.

I would also like to remind everyone that each volunteer will need to have a background check submitted to central office. Just fill out the questionnaire and take it to the central office with a photo ID. Turn around is very quick but all volunteers must have one.

I would like to thank everyone who is pitching in and helping in anyway. I know everyone's lives are busy and your efforts are much appreciated.

Best Regards,
DeVanna

Class Parties

Hi everyone.  This is just an update so everyone is informed of some of the things going on.  I know many of us are ready to start planning for parties, but I wanted everyone to know that we will be restricted to what we can do as directed in the student handbook and elementary rules.  After talking to the school staff, we’ve learned that there will be two class parties.  One is a “Fall Party” and one is a “Spring Party.”   We will NOT be bringing food in for parties (with the licensing of the preschool all snacks are provided by the kitchen, we are not able to have outside snacks and we have lots of restricted diets and allergy rooms, so the kitchen knows how to prepare for each room), and there is a 30 minute “time limit” for each party.  So as you can see, we’ll have to make each of those 30 minutes count. J 

The dates for the parties have been set by the school.  The Fall Harvest Party will be Thursday November 21 and Friday November 22 (so that T/TH and MWF kiddos get a chance).  Morning class party time is 10:45-11:15; Afternoon class party time is 2:45-3:15.

The End of the Year Celebration (Spring party) will be Thursday, May 22 and Friday May 23.  Same times for AM and PM as the Fall Harvest Party. 

There are still teachers without room parents.  If you are interested and not listed below, please let me know.   

AM Classes
Ms. Krepps - Tanya Webb
Ms. Ravech - Alison Moyars
Ms. R. Hoffman -Sarah Reaves
Ms. Feller -
Ms. Sarles -

PM Classes
Ms. Krepps - Aubrielle Pluim
Ms. Ravech - Holly Barszcz
Ms. R. Hoffman -
Ms. Feller - Mary Jo Andretti
Ms. Sarles -Marcie Cates

AM Daycare
Ms. D. Hoffman -

PM Daycare
Ms. D. Hoffman -

Work Room
Allison Moyars
Sonja Davies
DeVanna Lawrence

I also have Michelle Artemeier and Natalie Reid who are willing to help out.

Staff Appreciation Committee

My deepest apologies to Carolyn Small and Kelly Genova.  I neglected to include our Staff Appreciation Committee...one of our most important!

Thank you to both of you for understanding my oversight and please accept my apology.

Volunteers

Hi everyone.  I hope you have had a great week.  I still need some help in the workroom if anyone is interested.  We are in the workroom on Fridays.  If you want to help out, it doesn't have to be a weekly commitment.  If you want to volunteer for a specific Friday, just send me the date :).   I was there with one other mom today and there was plenty of work to be done.  

Also, our school needs a couple of volunteers to come to the school to be extra hands on October 1 and 2 during the PM class times. The Brownsburg Lions Club is coming to do visual screenings.  

If you have not already, please go to the following link and print a volunteer background check form.   http://www.brownsburg.k12.in.us/documents/general/volunteercriminalhistory6-12.pdf.  After it is filled out, take it to Central Office with a photo ID.  It is a pretty quick turn around but we will all need one on file.

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend and thanks for your willingness to help.

Best Regards,

DeVanna

Members, Field Trips, and Pup Strut Updates

Good afternoon!!!

I hope this message finds everyone doing well.  Since I've been quiet for awhile, I thought I should update you as to what's been going on.

First off, I thought I would start with some introductions.  Our executive board...

DeVanna Lawrence - Vice President

Tami Carnes - Treasurer

Sonja Davies - Secretary

Special thanks to these amazing parents for accepting these positions.  I look very forward to working with you all as we make our PSG a reality.

Our committee chairs...

Blog Spot - Amy Huang

Box Tops for Education - Alison Moyars

Facebook - Sonja Davies

Fundraising - Tami Carnes and Mary Jo Dial

Library Development - Amy Huang

Pup Strut - Tanya Webb and Brandi Johnson

Relay for Life - Marcie Cates

Snacks with Students - Michelle Artmeier

Workroom/Room Parent Administration - DeVanna Lawrence

Thank you to these parents as well.  You are an asset to the success of the organization.

The preschool informed me that we won't be able to have Field Trips because transportation costs have gone up too much.  Even the elementary schools are cutting back.  Instead, the PSG plans to assist in covering costs of the preschool bringing visitors and convocations to the students.  We are bringing the field trip to them!

Pup Strut is what I hope to be our main "get up and get moving" fundraiser.  Since most of the schools have this type of fundraiser about the time school gets started, we are going to have ours in the spring.  My hope is this will give families with older siblings a better opportunity to participate instead of aligning school fundraisers back to back.  Additionally, since this will be our first, we hope to have time to plan and learn from the process to build a stronger event for next year.;-)

The teachers are working on dates for us to have a fall and spring party.  Yeah!  I also wanted to start getting some other things on the calendar.  In talking with other PSGs, they typically make their calendars the May before the school year starts.  The calendar is then submitted to the school for approval.  Since we didn't exist until just this school year, we are probably not going to have a full calendar this 2013-2014 school year. 

Stay informed about what's going on in the PSG by subscribing to the blog spot and our Facebook page.  Those addresses are http://brownsburgearlychildhoodcenterpsg.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/ECCparentsupportgroup?ref=hl

Thank you so very much for everything you do as volunteers and parents.

Regards,

Janet Moser

BECC PSG President

Treasurer

Efforts to making our new PSG a reality are moving along! I'm looking for a responsible parent willing to be Treasurer. Please contact me if you are curious or interested! janet.a.moser@gmail.com

Room Parents Needed

Hello,

My name is DeVanna Lawrence and I'm the "Vice-President" of the Brownsburg Early Childhood Center PSG. I've been asked to reach out to you and identify volunteers to serve as "room parents" for each of the AM and PM classes at our children's school. The room parents will primarily help with parties, field trips, and other occasional school functions. We'd like to get a parent for each class and start working toward planning some activities. We're already moving into our second month of school and as we all know, the holidays are right around the corner. We're also looking for volunteers to help out in the work room, which essentially consists of making copies and laminating. The work room will be a weekly need for a couple of hours each week, but does not have to be the same person every week. If you have time, are interested, and would like to get involved, send me an email with your name and contact information. Thanks for considering this opportunity. I'm sure together we'll have lots of fun and most importantly the kids will have fun.

Best Regards,
DeVanna Lawrence
devannab@hotmail.com
(270) 217-0055

The Start of BECC PSG

Good afternoon, everyone!

Wow!  What a journey we have started.  Over the past couple of weeks, I've been in touch with nearly everyone indicating interest in helping out with PSG as a leader of some sort or a volunteer.  Frankly, I'm just in awe of the support.  Those preschoolers have amazing parents.

I've also learned a few things.  After making calls and being referred to one person after another, I found a binder at Brownsburg East Middle school detailing their journey to becoming an up and running PSG.  What this means for us is we will have to be patient while I find an attorney to help us get a Certificate of Incorporation, Employer Identification Number, Indiana Not For Profit Sales Tax Exemption and a 501(c)(3).  So, if any of you have attorney friends who can help us, please do not hesitate to contact me.

For those of you who have been appointed to an office or committee chairs, I would like you to start working on ideas and documenting everything.  I too would like to build a binder to pass onto the next generation of the BECC PSG.  This information will also help me to complete the writing of our by laws.  And, when we get everything in place, we will be ready to hit the ground running and having some fun!

Thank you all so very much for your participation.  I look forward to working with you all!

Janet Moser

BECC PSG President

janet.a.moser@gmail.com

Welcome!

My name is Janet Moser and the staff at the Brownsburg Early Childhood Center have asked me to be President of the PSG!

Since there is no PSG, the first thing I'm going to do is build one.  Currently, I have identified some amazing parents who are willing to hold executive offices.  Next, I'll be inviting individuals to become committee chairs for a few projects I have in mind for the preschool. Those projects are...

Workroom Administration

Box Tops for Education

Library Development

Fundraising

Teacher Appreciation

Relay for Life

Please let me know if you are interesting in chairing any of these committees, volunteering to work on any of these committee or if you would like me to contact you as help is needed.

Thank you so very much for expressing interest in our PSG.  I want to make it an amazing year for our kids and appreciate your involvement.

Regards,

Janet Moser

janet.a.moser@gmail.com