Dakota Booster GENERAL Membership Meeting

April 18, 2011

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Christie Forbes-Green, President.

Christie Forbes-Green read a thank you note from the family of Henry Chiodini for the funeral arrangement that was sent by the Dakota Booster organization.

Minutes of last General Membership Meeting were read by the general membership and approved by Lori Labudde (1) and Lisa Jo Kuhns (2).

Treasurer’s Report:

Checking Balance-bank: $ 24.90 Savings Balance-bank: $ -0-

Checking Balance-CU: $ 33,100.11 Savings Balance-CU: $ 4,503.33

Outstanding Donation Requests: $ 1,551.04 Special Activities: $ 4,670.18

Earned Credit Dollar Reserve $ 12,264.72

Report was approved by Kathy Impemba (1) and Lisa Jo Kuhns (2)

Administration Report:

No administration report was given as Mr. Heethius and Mrs. Briningstool were attending a QAR visit at a local high school.

Student Report:

• Boys interested in playing Dakota Cougar football in 2011 should attend the player/parent meeting on Tuesday, April 19 at 6:00 p.m. in the auditorium. Following the meeting physicals will be performed in the main gym for a cost of $20.

• If your daughter is interested in joining the Dakota Dance Team, skills clinics will be held every Tuesday beginning April 19 in the west aux gym from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Try outs begin Monday, May 23 at 5:00 p.m.

• Prom tickets are currently being sold.

• April 19, 2011 Physical exams will be performed in the gym. Cost $20.

• Wednesday, April 20, 2011 is an early release day. Students will be released at 1:11 p.m.

• Wednesday, April 20, 2011 is the last day to order your cap and gown.

• Friday, April 22, 2011 there will be no school in session.

• Senior All-Night Party committee meetings: April 27, May 11, May 18 and June 8 in the community room at 7:00 p.m.

Liaison Report: No report.

Donations: Karen Ermanni

• Girls’ basketball has met their credit requirements and we are awaiting the final paperwork.

• Winter Guard is currently working towards earning the 11 credits they need to fulfill their donation request.

• Received the construction trade programs paperwork. They have earned their credit requirement.

Service Report: Kim Zuchora

• NHS students are assisting with many local events this month. Macomb Township Recreation Center’s E. Bunny Eggstravaganza Party on April 9, Cheyenne market Day on April 20, Sequoyah Spring Fair on April 29 and the Little League Pep Rally at Seneca Middle School on April 29.

• The Michigan Social Studies Olympiad team will be competing at the Olympiad on May 7. The students have been working hard all year to put together their presentations, posters, and videos. Approximately 20 students have already competed in the off-site portion of the competition.

• Students Against Destructive Decisions will be welcoming Jim Rockwell for a second time to Dakota and for the first time to Chippewa Valley High School on April 13^th and 14^th. Jim was a very powerful speaker who came to DHS last year to share his story of alcohol abuse in high school and how it almost cost him his life in a very violent car accident. SADD us hoping that Jim’s message will resonate with the students during Prom and graduation season.

• The Science Olympiad’s regionals took place on Saturday, march 26, 2011. Dakota High School placed 7^th overall out of 18 high schools. The team received 12 medals in total.

Web Site Report: Kim Zuchora

• Minutes from the February General Membership meeting and the Fine Arts reports are posted.

• Please visit our web site for up-to-date volunteer information.

Sports Report: Don Hornberger

Don Hornberger addressed the general membership and made the announcement there will be no spring sports’ concessions opened due to the lack of volunteers. Spring sports’ teams’ coaches were contacted and informed that if they can get a parent group to run concessions to contact the booster organization.

Question from the floor: Can students volunteer at concessions? It was explained that due to safety issues and concerns that volunteer concession workers must be 18 years of age.

Question from the floor: How many people are need in total to open the concessions? Don stated that six people for each time slot are needed. Many Soccer games and Track and Field events are held on the same day at different times. Need volunteers to man the concessions for Freshman, Junior Varsity, and Varsity games.

Question from the floor: Is there another way to get the help needed to open concessions? Don explained that we currently have a liaison program in place and it is the responsibility of those liaisons to recruit volunteers. He further stated that we also have all the games and times posted on our web site and emails are sent to the Athletic Director who passes them on to the coaches requesting volunteers for concession work.

Don asked for creative ideas and suggestions from the floor. He also said that we welcome any ideas and they can be submitted to the Booster web site. Several parents and board members mentioned that they have overheard parents at games wondering why concessions are not open to the public.

Coaches were informed by the booster organization that they can use the booster equipment and concession stands, but that the booster organization will not provide any inventory or food items. As of the date of this meeting, we have not received any responses from the coaches.

Question from the floor: Why would teams circumvent the booster way of earning funds from concessions and only come forward to benefit themselves?

A suggestion from the floor was for the booster organization to use Facebook to advertise and get immediate response. It was discussed and the conclusion was that this may be a valuable tool for the booster organization but that it would have to be monitored on a daily basis. It was suggested that if parents had an interactive way to communicate and recruit volunteers. Something that parents could see how many volunteer positions were open and they could sign up immediately. It was also suggested that we create some avenue of communication to push information to more people. This will be open for discussion at future executive board meeting.

• The Varsity Boys Golf team captured 1^st place in the 2011 Spring Classic hold last Friday at the Elks Club in Port Huron. The boys finished with a combined score of 345, 6 strokes ahead of 2^nd place Port Huron Northern on a very cold and windy day. The low man from Dakota was senior Mike Huetteman with a score of 84 and Brandon Savage had a hole in one on hole #13 a 170 yard Par 3.

• The girls’ track and field team placed 3^rd overall out of 15 teams on Saturday at the April Showers Relay.

• The boys’ track and field team was the meets runner up Saturday at Ypsilanti High School.

Fine Arts Report: Doug Sayles

Band:

• Dakota hosted the MSBOA Honors Band on March 19-22, 2011.

• Dakota band spring concert will be on Tuesday, May 17 in the auditorium.

• The band will be taking a trip to Chicago at the end of April which will include instruction and performances with the Chicago Symphony as well as touring local attractions.

• STORM, the Dakota Winter Guard has wrapped up their season with a Sate competition at Saginaw Valley University. They finished sixth place in their class.

• The Dakota drum line wrapped up their season with a State competition at Saginaw Valley University. They finished in 11^th place in their class.

• Up-to-date information can be found at www.dakotabands.com

Choir:

• This past weekend was a successful production of “Anything Goes” featuring many of Dakota’s talented students.

• On Friday, March 18, 2011, 46 members from Dakota’s choir program travelled to Avondale High School in Auburn Hills for MSVMA’s State and Solo & ensemble Festival. This is after the all earned top rationings at District Festival in order to qualify for this prestigious event. The students participated in three large ensembles and three solo events. The Varsity Ensemble received a 2^nd division rating and both the freshman and concert ensembles received a 1^st division rating. All three groups received great compliments from the judges. Two of our soloists also received 1^st division ratings while the third received a 2^nd division rating.

• Concert choir received a Blue/Excellent rating; freshman choir received a Gold/Superior rating, which makes them the first DHS freshman group to ever score at the Superior level. The Varsity Choir received a Gold/Superior rating with perfect scores from all three performance judges. This qualifies all three choirs for the State Choral Festival in May.

• Up-to-date information can be found at www.dakotachoir.com

Sports Report: Don Hornberger

Craft Show Report: Mary Ann Forster

• A new craft show chairperson has been appointed. .

Web Site Report: Kim Zuchora

• Minutes from the February General Membership meeting need to be posted.

• Please visit our web site for up-to-date information.

Old Business:

• Two by-law changes were presented to the executive board by Donna Kirchhoff for section IX and X-Donation proposal.

• The subcommittee has been meeting for the last couple of months looking at ways to improve the way donations are earned and disbursed. The subcommittee has been reporting to the executive board with their findings and recommendations.

• By-law change to Section X would eliminate the current wording of non-mandatory and non-essential. This by-law change would open the door for all teams and groups to earn money for items that are currently governed under the district financial policies. The executive board will discuss and vote on the amendment at the next executive board meeting.

• Cheryl Barden read the proposed by-law change to Section IX. (see attached)

• Cheryle Barden explained that the subcommittee came to the conclusion that the booster fundraising events should be looked at as opportunities for sports’ teams, groups, activities, academic teachers and administration to earn monies with no restrictions and use them for any purpose that group deems necessary as long as they follow the district financial rules and regulations. Qualified teams/clubs/groups are determined by the district per the student handbook. This by-law change will level the playing field for all teams/groups/clubs. Certain all-school functions will still be able to request funds i.e. Be the Change, Challenge Day, MEAP beverages, etc. The booster organization will not police the teams/groups/clubs and will only be a fundraising opportunity for everyone at Dakota High School.

Question from the floor: How will you police the groups who monopolize concession stands? The board will discuss how to make sure that all groups can benefit from raising funds by volunteering at concessions.

Question from the floor: How will the word get out? Daily announcements, school and booster web sites, email blasts, Cougar Day packets and parent-teacher conferences.

Cheryl went on to explain that this will give all groups a lucrative way to fundraise and may eliminate the problem of not getting enough volunteers for concessions during all the sport seasons. All donation requests must follow the Chippewa Valley School District financial rules and regulations for purchases.

Credits earned during the 2010-2011 season by groups will be paid out to each group by June to clear the booster’s books.

Question from the floor: What will the dollar amount for a unit of work be worth in the fall as opposed to a spring concession? The dollar amount will be the same for all fundraising events sponsored by the booster organization. This dollar amount will be based on a three or five year forecast less expenses for food, paper products and repair and maintenance costs. A certain percentage will also be deducted to cover start-up and unforeseen costs. This unit of credit amount will be readjusted in February and may go up or down based on revenue figures.

Equitable distribution of dollar amounts for credits worked will be given whether groups work the fall or spring concessions as well as the craft show. Each team/group/club will receive the same dollar amount per credit earned. We hope this new by-law change will address our lack of volunteers in the spring sports season. Our challenge will be to get the word out to teams/groups/clubs and recruit parent volunteers.

New Business:

• Nominations for the 2011-2012 executive board positions are open. Please fill out a nomination form and submit it to any executive board member. Elections will take place at our May 9 general membership meeting.

• Christie requested that someone from the floor volunteer to be the nominations chair. Jim Burk volunteered and was accepted as the Nomination Chairperson. Jim will collect the nominations and call the nominated candidates to seek their permission to put their name on the ballot. Jim will prepare and count ballots at the May 9, 2011 election.

Motion to adjourn at 8:10 pm by Lisa Jo Kuhns (1) and Kelsey Stienberger (2)

Next Meeting Schedules:

• Executive Board Meeting is Monday, May 2, 2011 7:00 pm in the Community Room

• General Membership Meeting is Monday, May 9, 2011 7:00 pm in the Atrium

Respectfully Submitted:

Donna Kirchhoff (interim DHS Booster Secretary)