CAP General Meeting Minutes December 1, 2020
1:00 pm – 1:40 pm, via Zoom
EVENT, ACTIVITY, & FUNDRAISER UPDATES
- MOD Pizza Fundraiser – we will receive $375.33 for the fundraiser. Thanks for supporting our fundraiser! Thanks, Deena R., for all your hard work on this!
- Payback Books – Hollie A. had suggested we try to sell books in-person during primary school pick-up. It was a great idea – we quickly sold out. We also sold books on a middle school pick-up day. Mr. Cowl is trying to make sure the permissions play “within the rules” and align with the district. For picture day later this week, he would like parents to stay in their cars, so the seller will need to walk up to the cars. We are trying to make the most of every opportunity to connect with families. Wed, 12-3, then 2-3 on Thursday look the busiest, so that’s when we’ll try to sell. We would love to have a volunteer for some of those hours, so please reach out if you are available.
- Library Day – 3rd and 4th grade had a pick-up day – Melissa W. reported that parts of it went well and parts of it were challenging. If there gets to be a “next time,” we can solve the “attestation station” problems we had, but the question is whether or not we are allowed in the school currently. We will need to ask Mr. Cowl if it’s still feasible with the district rules at this point in time.
- Cluster Photo Sharing – the numbers have slowed down, and the same people are continuing to participate. It’s a fun idea, but it doesn’t seem like it’s bringing a lot of families together at the moment. We are doing one challenge for the whole month of December, and we will reassess if we want to continue in January. If anyone has any ideas for additional engagement or some other thing to do, please email us your suggestions. The November Drawing Winner is Courtney Stephens, from 3rd grade. She will receive a $10 Dutch Bros card.
- Teacher Encouragement – This month, Hollie A. gave our teachers and staff a nice message with Passion tea, thanking them for their passion in teaching our kids. January is covered, but Hollie A. is happy to share the load with this project, or to continue working on it. If you’d like to participate, please email CAP. She suggested cataloguing the ideas we come up with onto our Drive so CAP can use them in the future. Tori D. asked about recognizing life events, like weddings. Hollie A. suggested that class parents do this, rather than CAP.
- Minecraft Server for CAM kids – we opened it and quickly had problems with language, so we shut it down, established controls and identification pieces, and brainstormed ways to solve the issues while still giving the kids this outlet. We have some parents who have volunteered to monitor the site at times. There may still possibly be a potential for problems, but it’s much more secure. We are looking for parental input on this. Tori D. suggested opening it from maybe 3-8 daily, and maybe more on Wed. This way, kids aren’t tempted to be on during school hours. Tori D. has also heard from responsible 8th graders that they would be happy to help monitor. We are inclined to start again, and at least try it – maybe with the elementary kids first, then add the middle school if it goes ok, and maybe add HS in future if possible. Suzanne will be looking at starting it up again.
ONGOING FUNDRAISERS
- Amazon Smile (quarterly – $75.03) & Fred Meyer Rewards (quarterly – $164.18) – Go to CAP website/CAM dailies to find out how to link your account to our school.
- Box Tops – download the app and follow the steps. Scan receipts.
COMMITTEES AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
- 8th Grade Recognition – we’ll probably know more in January.
- High School Grad Night – this is a really difficult year for planning – so far, there has not been much parental involvement (4 parents have expressed interest), and it’s very hard to fundraise this year. We don’t have the commons as a resource. We weren’t able to put together a wreath sale this year. If anyone has any bright ideas for fundraising that still work during this strange time, please email us. We are anticipating a different year, even by grad time, and are keeping in mind the possibility of maybe a small gift rather than a party, or throwing together a party at the last minute. CAP may end up helping to subsidize in different ways than usual. We may try to still do the Sees candy for Valentine’s and the spring plant sale. Parents of seniors, please check in and help out with the senior class fundraising! Greg L. suggested Papa Murphy’s gift cards. The grad committee will plan to meet in January.
- Payback book sales during picture days – we addressed this in more detail this above.
TREASURER’S REPORT
- Budget for this year is posted on the CAP Website. The monthly budget was presented at the meeting. Since we have had such a different year, we are spending differently. For instance, on teacher appreciation, we paid for several retirement gifts, and we are appreciating teachers as a monthly expense, rather than a one-time event. We will probably go over budget in that category, but we will also be under in other categories. We had more income than expenses this month. We paid our PO Box, and we got some donations from families, which we really appreciate! Thank you for your generosity!
NEW BUSINESS
Parents of Alumni Contact List – we will start generating this from year to year, asking families of seniors if they want to continue receiving info from CAM, because the school cannot give us contact info of previously attending families. We will try to start sending them a quarterly newsletter as alumni, so they can know how to support the school from year to year. This should help us get a bigger return on our fundraising efforts, too. If anyone wants to work on this, please email CAP.
Melissa W. asked how parents might best get Christmas cards to teachers this year. Could we send out the school address or something on the facebook pages? Suzanne will check with Cheryl and we’ll try to get some information out.
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT – Mr. Cowl said the staff is trying to maximize every opportunity when students come to the building. During picture day, kids will receive their honor roll certificates from last year. He said trying to keep within the district guidelines as they change is sometimes difficult, but they are doing the best they can. Mr. Cowl communicated his appreciation for CAP and for the parents. He said the parental level of commitment, which really helps with the students’ level of engagement, is remaining consistently high. He also mentioned that the HIV opt-out form is now working again.
Next Meeting: We’ll see you January 5, 2021, at 1 p.m. via Zoom.