Chris Anderson, President Meagan Jameson, Vice President Melissa Anderson, Treasurer Melanie Lorber, Secretary Mackenzie Tetmeyer, Hospitality Chair Stacy Olson, Principal Anna Miller (2nd Grade teacher, via MS Teams) Vickie Meerdink (4th Grade teacher) Shera Barbour Emily Gaede Melissa Booth

• Welcome: Quick introductions of the PTO Board and meeting participants.
• Approval of Minutes:  Minutes from 9/12/2022 meeting approved.
• Treasurer’s Report:  Melissa Anderson reviewed PTO’s financial statements for the period ending September 30, 2022.
• Principal’s Report:
  • Mrs. Olson update the PTO that Mr. Ryan Castle visited the school recently to look over the grounds where the PTO would like to install an outdoor classroom.  Mr. Castle provided a couple notes – (1) watch out for drainage on the grounds and (2) the grounds are not very level and may be expensive to level it out.  ACTION:  PTO will let Mr. Castle know when plans are finalized.
  • Mrs. Meerdink surveyed the teaching staff on preferences for PTO-provided dinner during parent-teacher conferences.  Guadalajara is the winner.  Note that one staff member need Gluten Free.  Staff also request a selection of drinks be provided with dinner.  ACTION:  Mrs. Meerdink will check on dinnerware supplies in the teacher’s lounge.  ACTION: PTO Board will contact Guadalajara for catering for 25 people on Tuesday, October 18th.
• President’s Report:
  • Chris Anderson provided details on how PTO has customized their new Quick Books software to help better track what we spend and what we earn.
  • Chris noted that we hope to make roughly $17K from this year’s carnival.  A majority of that comes from raffle ticket sales.  To meet this goal, he estimates that each student will need to sell 40 raffle tickets.  This will be the initial quantity sent home with each student.
  • Spring Fundraiser – Chris passed around a Hy-Vee “coupon card” that he thought would be a good/easy fundraiser for the spring.  School pays $5 per card and sells them for $20 per card.  Participants discussed possibly using an order form/online ordering and then mailing out the cards, possibly with a note from students thanking them for the purchase.  March 2023 was marked for this fundraiser.  Note: Spring Break is March 13-17.
• Carnival – Friday, November 4th, 5:30-8pm:
  • Raffle tickets have been ordered and should be here October 18th.  ACTION: Melissa Anderson will email Kim Sears for a list of student names for the ticket packets.  ACTION: (Assuming tickets arrive in time) PTO Board will meet in the school library between 5-7pm on Tuesday, October 18th to stuff ticket packets.
  • Chris described how the new Mulberry PTO website is set up for posting winning ticket numbers/names so folks can check if they won from anywhere and don’t have to be in the gym during the drawing or wait to be contacted.
  • Melissa reviewed the list of raffle donations received/confirmed to date.  She also noted that about 200 donation request letters also sent out a couple weeks ago.
  • Chris talked to Hy-Vee about providing pizza and sub sandwiches.
  • Local magician David Casas has been booked to walk around performing “street magic” for one hour.
  • Volunteers:
    • A link to Sign-Up Genius has been posted at the top of the Mulberry PTO website.  Volunteer slots are divided into three categories:  Setup Crew, Oversee a Game and Reset Crew.
    • Melissa shared this link with the pastor at First Baptist and will sent to other churches.
    • Goal is to have volunteers from outside the school so parents can enjoy the carnival with their families.
  • Teacher Experience Drawings:
    • ACTION: Mrs. Meerdink will coordinate with teachers.
    • ACTION: Melissa Anderson will email Mrs. Meerdink the list of Teacher Experiences from the 2019 Carnival.
  • Grade Level Raffle Baskets:
    • Themes:
      • Kindergarten – Disney
      • 1st Grade – Arts & Crafts
      • 2nd Grade – Family Game Night
      • 3rd Grade – Iowa Hawkeyes
      • 4th Grade – Tailgate & BBQ
      • 5th Grade – Coffee/Cocoa/Chocolate Lovers
      • 6th Grade – Camping/Outdoors
    • Recommend Room Parents send out flyers and obtain donations no later than October 28th.  This gives them one week to buy any needed “fillers” and wrap for the raffle.
    • Chris encouraged Room Parents to send their full color flyers to Kim Sears and ask her to print/distribute to the respective classes.
    • Grade Art Projects:  ACTION: Mrs. Meerdink will contact Ms. Haas to see if she could have her classes create grade-level art projects for silent auction.
    • [Post-meeting discussion] Fizzy Fridays – Starting October 14th, students can bring in up to two 2 liter bottles of pop each Friday and earn one Teacher Experience raffle ticket per two liter.  Pop donations will be used in the Pop Bottle Ring Toss game.
    • [Post-meeting discussion] ACTION:  Mackenzie and Meagan will contact Wes the Balloon Guy to book him for Carnival.
• Room Parent Updates:
  • Mackenzie Tetmeyer and Meagan Jameson got Room Parents for all classes and emailed information/contact info.
  • Room Parent info will be shared with the teachers.
• Gift Card Drawing Winners:  Shera Barbour and Stacy Olson
• Next Meeting:  Monday, November 14th, 2022, 5:30pm