Minutes from the CMA Booster Club meeting held on November 10, 2009 at 7 p.m. are as follows:
- President's Welcome & Update:
- Laptop Cabinet Update — John Kresky approached CMAB regarding building the cabinet as an Eagle Scout project. John and the Scout will meet with Mrs. Martin to identify the requirements and dimensions.
- Software Update — Eighteen pc's were donated to CMA last Spring. Dawn and her husband were trying to get Microsoft to donate the software that is needed for the laptops. CISD then offered to supply it then had to back off. Susan has purchased a lab pro site license for $180, which was approved by CMAB.
- Minutes — The minutes from the prior meeting can be found online. Kim motioned to approve the minutes from the last meeting, and Melissa seconded.
- Treasurer's Report — The balance as of 8/28/09 was $3,630.39. Expenses withdrawn total $2118.41, donations deposited totaled $560 so the ending balance is $2,071.98. The Cruise Account has a balance of $5700. Susan asked if a filing had been done for the IRS. Mrs Martin said that her son can help. Melissa thought that the filing of a 990EZ was due on 10/15.
- Fundraising:
- Great Wolf Lodge (GWL) — Thanks to Gay Burns for coming up with the idea and doing all the research. We discussed having an attorney review the contract. There are some clauses regarding liability and damages that should be reviewed closely. We are able to avoid the cancellation fee if we notify GWL at least 30 days prior to the event. We do need to guarantee GWL a minimum of $3,000, which means that we will need to have at least 200 students attend. GWL will charge us $15/head plus a 6% tax unless we go to the Texas State Comptrollers website to fill out a tax bypass form and bring it to GWL. GWL will provide the lifeguards, but if we want security there, we will need to provide or pay an additional fee. Susan asked Alex to get an estimate of the number of CMA students that are interested in attending. We decided not to offer food/drink. GWL will sell bottled water at their cost. We could set up a PayPal site for ticket. The Booster Club insurance policy should cover liability and damages, but we will need parents to sign a release. We can also put an indemnification clause on the Paypal ticket site. Amy will assist Gay in setting up the ticket site. We plan to limit this event to Freshman through Senior students, and we will need chaperons. Gay said that there will be one entrance to watch, but three exits. Susan will check with the police department to see what an off-duty police officer would cost for security. Cathy Hendrickson will draft a release form. We may need to look into purchasing a special event insurance policy. Amy made a motion to vote on the event. The event passed. Gay will head up this event and put together a committee. Melissa motioned that we charge $25 per ticket. It was suggested that we do an early bird purchase price of $25 and a late price of $28.50. Potential dates for the event are Friday evenings 1/29, 2/5 or 2/12. Gay will complete the fundraising project form and return to Susan.
- Sports — Susan said that Cheryl will give us an update at the next meeting. Mrs. Martin and Susan met with Mr. Rhodes regarding refurbishing the science labs. Mr. Rhodes recently finished a similar project at his previous school, and will be able to provide us with basic information on estimated costs and grants.
- Professionals Breakfast — The Professionals Breakfast is scheduled for February 11, 2010. Thanks to suggestions from the parents, the list of potential attendees has doubled over last year. By doubling the attendees, we will maximize the student to professional ratio. Long will be sending a letter to parents asking for volunteers.
- Mentor/Mentee — Natalie reported that the last meeting was more of a workshop format where the Sophomores answered questions from the Freshman on AP Biology. Gay brought a lot of food, and the students were very appreciative. A concern was raised that students may be going to mentors for help when they should be going to their teachers. This may be resolved by inviting a teacher to the next meeting. Susan suggested that Natalie form a committee to work on these meetings in the future.
- Internships — Natalie will start a committee soon to work on the internships for Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. Unfortunately, Freshman cannot participate because the facilities require that the students be age 16.
- Parent Social — The next parent social will be at Central Market on December 3, 2009 at noon.
- Update from Mrs. Martin — A prior CMA student passed away last week. A sibling of this student currently attends CISD. The sibling will need extra consideration during this difficult time, and our thoughts are with the family.
- Memorial Donations — Susan mentioned that we would like to raise additional funds to be able to provide a donation for memorials.
- Student Update from Alex Holcomb:
- Jingle Bell Walk — Only eight students have signed up, and Alex asked for more volunteers.
- Thanksgiving Baskets — Mrs. Martin said that there are three red baskets where donations can be made. The recipients will be at an apartment complex in Tarrant County, and they are just migrating to this country. She would like to share with them the idea of a traditional American Thanksgiving. Most of the recipients are coming from Asia, Central America or South America. Susan suggested that this might be a good public relations opportunity.
- Picnic — there will be a student picnic during Thanksgiving break.
- CMA Student Constitution — has been drafted, and Alex will have Grace send it to Becky to post on the website.
Upcoming Dates:
- 11/15/09 — Deadline for Seniors to Request Recommendation from Mrs. Martin
- Thanksgiving Break — Student Picnic
- 12/3/09 — Parent Social Lunch at Central Market at 1 p.m.
- 12/5/09 — Jingle Bell Walk
- 1/29/10 (tentative) — Great Wolf Lodge
- 2/11/10 — Professionals Breakfast
- Spring Break 2010 — CMA Cruise
- 5/21/10 — Awards Banquet
