Friends of Cleveland Bands
May 30, 2017
5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Attendees:
Aaron Pearlman, President
Cindi Carrell, Vice President
Jen Means, Treasurer
Heather Randol, Secretary
Gary Riler, ad hoc
Jeanne Berg (Disneyland Trip Coordinator)
Lance Means
Sacha Reich
Craig Lewis
Tammy Lewis
Maria Green
Brianne Williams
Karen Lenore
Susan Duck
Disneyland Trip:
Jeanne Berg was present to discuss various trip options and details.
Reviewed draft scholarship/commitment form:
• Commitment meeting scheduled for June 8th, kids to let Gary know if they can’t attend
• $100 proposed deposit, $50 proposed deposit for those applying for scholarship
• Proposed a deadline of last Monday of the school year for current Cleveland students to turn in form/deposit, with option for Gary to accept latecomers; stated nonrefundable deposit can also be at Gary’s discretion
• Gary has reached out to incoming freshman via their band teachers, group suggests an early fall deadline for their registration
Reviewed approach to awarding scholarships:
• Scholarship need projections based on free and reduced lunch at Cleveland (17%) and assuming band probably has fewer than that
• Estimate scholarship need from $8K – $17K depending based on 125 kids coming; likely less
• Email regarding the meeting will make it clear that scholarships are available
• Upperclassmen will be prioritized if we can’t meet all need
• Some final details about our approach to scholarships will be decided after we have received commitment forms
Reviewed fundraising approaches:
• Buydowns to reduce costs for everyone require a lot of money, e.g., to save $100 per musician for 100 musicians, it takes $10,000 fundraising
• Individuals should be allowed to do some fundraising that benefits them personally
• See what the ask for scholarships is, and then make a decision about how to balance group vs. individual fundraising
• Scholarship kids should not be singled out and asked to do more than other kids
• At the commitment meetings and during other outreach, for now we can let families know there will be fundraising opportunities; and all kids will be required to participate in some fashion
Other trip considerations:
• Chaperones. District requires 1:20 ratio, Gary shoots for 1:12; Gary would like chaperones to pay about half, but we don’t have to announce a specific amount reduction yet.
• Intinerary: Gary and Jeanne will determine exact itinerary, options include Santa Monica Pier performance, recording workshop at Disney, Universal Studios, LA Philharmonic, Medieval Times dinner, Marching and/or other performance at Disneyland
• Hotel will be walking distance from Disneyland
• Use of buses will be minimized to save costs
• Different airlines have different pros/cons; nice to have kids in the same shirts for the airplane trip coming/going
• Lanyards are helpful for kids to carry their tickets, meal cards, school ID, etc…
• Students are housed four to a room, we may need to consider arrangements for transgender housing
Uniforms:
Gary spoke with Leesa at Foundation today. The Foundation is paying the entire amount ahead of time to realize a discount; PTA and PPS will reimburse them. There may be a KOIN follow up story, dependent on Foundation.
Gary is working with Uniform company to ensure all action items are addressed; we should have uniforms by March.
Fundraising/Budget:
Gary has preliminary budget numbers he will provide to Jen Means. Executive Board will meet with Gary to refine numbers further and clarify fundraising needs for next year. Meeting will be held after Disneyland trip commitment forms deadline, so we have a sense of what the scholarship need will be.
Bake Sale at May concert raised $948.
Other News:
Reviewed new band website including Friends page. There is a volunteer sign up page, this has been very useful in other settings for creating a committee of people who can take the lead on various events. Includes a fundraising page – suggest noting the amount raised at the most recent fundraiser on this page.
Cindi updated Square Store – was uniform fundraising, now Disneyland fundraising.
PTA is working on coming up with some money for performing arts, they hope to focus on equity issues.
Upcoming Events:
June 3 – Starlight Parade – students will be marching in the old uniforms
June 8 – Commitment Meeting for Spring 2018 California trip
June 19 – Executive Board meeting 6:30 p.m. at the Pearlman/Reich’s
June 20 – Possible band appearance at Nike campus, $2000 potential fundraiser
June 24 – Garage Sale Fundraiser
June 26 – Friends of Cleveland Band meeting – location TBD
August 22 – 24 – CHS Fall Mini Camp – All Freshman on the 22nd, everyone else the 23rd, third day is a potluck/family-oriented day
March 22-25, 2018 – California Trip
Action Items:
• Gary and Jeanne to refine itinerary for the Disneyland trip
• Jen to finalize commitment/scholarship form
• Gary to provide draft budget numbers to Jen
• Executive Board members to meet, review budget, review scholarship asks, develop proposal for fundraising targets and events to discuss at June 26 meeting
• Heather to prepare agendas for future meetings, will send out a call for agenda items prior to meetings
Our last meeting of the school year will be Monday, June 26. 6:00pm-7:30pm at the private meeting room in Woodstock Library (located at the corner of SE 49th and Woodstock.) We we have a few refreshments. Hope to see you there!