February 10, 2009, Tuesday,
Music Boosters Board Meeting Minutes

Submitted by Kathy Cranford, Secretary
Next meeting scheduled for March 10, 2009 at 6:30 pm

Attendance:

Michael Cummins, Carolyn Suazo, Jeanne Hoey, John Hempsey, Deb Velez, Julie Nguyen, Joseph Nguyen, Etsuko Imamura, Kathy Cranford

The meeting began at 6:40 pm.

Minutes:

President Carolyn Suazo opened the meeting by asking for a review of the minutes from the last meeting. The minutes were reviewed and passed.

Budget:

Treasurer Jeanne Hoey passed out copies of the latest financial report and budget. There was a discussion about the lack of fair share donations especially from the color guard and orchestra ensembles. Some donations have been coming in since the appeal letter was sent out, and we hope to see more donations coming in soon. We need to form a Fundraising Committee to get parents involved that may not be able to afford the fair share donations. They can contribute to the music program by volunteering to help with fundraising projects. The budget was approved.

PE Credit:

Mr. Cummins commented that there is work being done on a waiver at the State level so that marching band and ROTC students can continue to receive P.E. credit.

Fundraising:

Julie gave an update on her work to request donations and sponsorships from major corporations. She had some forms to give to Mr. Cummins to complete, and she is also doing research to develop a template for request letters. It was suggested to keep the letter short and to the point. Jeanne suggested checking with Educate since they deal with P.O.’s, etc. Corporations that donate will be listed and thanked on our website.

Mr. Cummins presented a new fundraiser; cards that offer 2 for 1 deals at different local businesses. The cards can be re-used until the end of 2009. We agreed that the students should receive a certain number of cards (5 was suggested) to be responsible for and sell. The sale price is $10; the Music Boosters would receive $5 for each card sold. Each student would be responsible for selling their own set of cards. If lost, they would have to pay for them. It was then suggested that each student be given 1 card to start, then take orders for 4 more. Deb Velez volunteered to work on this fundraiser and make sure the businesses listed are still accepting the discount cards.

Carolyn volunteered to look into Art Grants offered from Target. The program starts March 1st. They offer up to $800.

We scheduled a meeting specifically for fundraising on Wednesday, February 18th at 6pm in the band room. We need to focus on fundraising now to make up for the lack of fair share donations. We have lots of ideas and need volunteers to help with fundraising projects. The more people that help, the less work each person has to do. Mr. Cummins kindly offered to bring pizza, salad, and sodas. Kathy offered to bring bottled water.

Carolyn called ZPizza inquiring about a fundraiser, and she is waiting for a response.

eScrip:

Jeanne gave us an update on how e-scrip works. She will contact Ellen Goetze who volunteered last fall to coordinate the e-scrip program. It would be good to get out reminders for parents to sign up, both on the website and by e=mail.

Taste of the Triangle:

Jeanne reminded us that Taste of the Triangle is on April 3rd at the Hilton. Educate has a new item, "Teacher’s Wish List", where teachers can make requests, such as sheet music for our ensembles. There will also be "Fund an Item" at this event.

Uniform Cleaning:

An e-mail was sent out requiring each marching band member to pay $6 for uniform cleaning. Very few payments have been received; we need to send out a reminder.

Gift Cards:

There was an idea to sell gift cards from particular businesses such as Starbucks, Jamba Juice, AMC 10 theaters. It was suggested that good times to sell would be right after testing periods or the first week of school next fall.

Color Guard:

Joseph offered to collect color guard parents’ e-mail addresses so that we can include more parents on our e-mail distribution list. Joseph also suggested having a booth at the multi-cultural fair, and the music students could sell candy or whatever they want for a fundraiser.

Spring Concert:

Thursday, April 16th. One idea was to have door prizes instead of a raffle. The entrance fee will be increased to $5 for adults and $3 for students. They will use their entrance ticket for a chance to win a door prize. It was suggested that each ensemble should put together their own basket for either a door prize or possibly a silent auction to be held during intermission.

Donations:

Since we have 2 expensive donations, a surfboard and a Callaway golf bag and accessories, the idea was suggested to sell them on E-bay or Craig’s list. Joseph offered to look into these 2 possibilities.

Pops Concert:

The Pops Concert is scheduled for Thursday, May 28th.

Awards Banquet:

Carolyn offered to continue her investigation into having the banquet at the Bali Hai. A possible date for the banquet is June 4th assuming we will have enough funds to have this event.

Disneyland:

The Disneyland trip was brought up and Mr. Cummins said the students would have to pay for the buses if they wanted to go.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm.