February 2022 Meeting

FOM 2021 - 2022 Board Meeting
Wednesday, February 9th, 2022
6:30 - 8:00 pm

Attendance:
JULIE SCHULHOF - President
ROONA SHAH - VP, Communications
JACKI VAN HOUT - Secretary/Welcome Committee
ROWENA DUMES - VP, Social/Website
NELL KOPLIN - VP, Social
SARAH POLACHEK - VP, Community/Outreach
JEN JONES - Director, Walkathon
AL HABER - Treasurer
NICKI MCNAIR - Director, Sponsorship/Spirit Wear
STACEY KAPLAN - Director, Benefit/Auction
DANIELLE DRAYTON – Principal
SANDY BACCAM - Assistant Treasurer/Teacher Appreciation

Not in Attendance:
MILLIE FRANK - Room Parent Communication
ROHIT CHANDRA – LSC President

Introduction – Julie Schulhof
Welcome Nell to the Board as the VP Social Chair.
Pledge Drive Email/Wishlist – Funds of the pledge drive will be allocated to this year’s wishlist.
- Communication via Bulldog Blast should include achieves for the pledge drive and what will be fulfilled from the wishlist.

January Minutes Approved – Jacki Van Hout

Budget – Al Haber
January costs were put towards Technology, Credit Card Fees and Pledge Drive support
Pledge Drive Funds: $338K vs goal of $350k, 59% participation

- $48k of donations were from corporate matches

Community Outreach – Sarah Polachek
Cares for Friends - “Camp Out”  February 18 th , Ambassadors for Change are leading the initiative with FOM supporting in communication
Cradles to Crayons – Location is moving where they are looking for support in hosting an event.
Ambassadors for Change are planning an event but are looking for support with promoting and participating. Targeted Month is May.
Esther’s Friends Drive – Organization that brings supplies (like art supplies) to children’s hospitals.
Targeting Month is March.

Social – Rowena Dumas/Nell Koplin
Principal Drayton, Julie, Al and Sandy were looking for ideas to including families regardless of costs.
- Using indicators for financial assistance and/or extra donations can be used to increase family participation.
- Benefit needs to be handled separately from other social events.
- OPEN POINT: How could this be implemented and what types of events should be included with this process?
- OPEN POINT: Can a portion of the budget be allocated to support this initiative?
- OPEN POINT: Relief fund to used to support people attending the Benefit or any event.
- IDEA: Buddy matching to be used to increase family inclusion.

Ice Skating Event– March 5th
- McFetridge Sports Center as an indoor event as a rented space.
- 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm with families signing up for an hour blocker.
- Families can get tickets and rent skates.
- Potentially treats, hot chocolate and spirit wear to potentially be available at the near by park.
- Rowena working with sponsors see if snacks can be donated.
- Need volunteers to support the coordination.
- OPEN POINT: Should the skates be paid for?

 Kids/Parents Night Combo Event
- Lakeshore fitness. - Targeting an outdoor space.
- Band Level Family Movie Night in the gym
- EC movie night in the classroom
- Gym movie night in the gym
-Potential sign-ups related to auction

 Mom’s Night Event
- Still working on a date that fits in the calendar but hoping to do it before the Benefit to “Stock the Bar”.

Sponsorship/Fundraising – Nicki McNair
Restaurants
- Lou Malnati’s – February 9th
- McDonalds – March 9th
Book Fair gift card was for $1500 where Nicki is connecting with teachers/library to give each room their requested books.

Benefit – Stacey Kaplan
Event Date: May 20th at the Carter (https://thecarterchicago.com/)
- Has indoor/outdoor space.
Communication is still being finalized, potentially starting after the ice-skating event.
- Focus should be on why we’re doing it and what the funding is used for.

Miscellaneous
SEED Participation – Different parents meeting in a cohort to dialogue about challenging topics (participation is in the 3 rd round). Podcasts are discussed with Mayer parents.

Safety Committee Update – Discussions happening about social/emotional well beings of students. Different teams are being created to support students with their mental health needs.

OPEN POINT: How can we support the communication of this to families? Some groups are student sign-ups/volunteered and others are supported by surveys.

OPEN POINT: Incorporate it into the welcome fair.

Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.

Next FOM Meetings: March 9 th , April 6 th

Rowena Dumes