Choir Booster Club Meeting - Dec 2019
At La Mancha
Present
Ms Starkey
Lara Griffith
Mayte Solis
Ashley Pate
Melanie Prosise
Sherri Jones
Jessica Jennings
Jay and Kelli Howard
Events
Winter concert
Monday, Dec 16th
Carpool signup
Dinner plans?
Could do Mod pizza fundraiser last year worked really well, they gave us the pizza for 20% off.
Need flyer on paper or phone for fundraiser
141 kiddos = 47 pizzas ½ cheese ½ pepporoni
Jessica will call them this week
6:30 dinner time - Melanie, Lara, Sherri can pick up at 5:50 pm
Musical
Updates
Parent meeting Dec 10th for 3 strands
Recording session on Saturday 12/7 12-4 pm
Lara working on mattress poster for play
Travel
San Antonio trip - May 16th -scholarship not needed
Committee chairs
Treasurer - Savings $1,127.98
Checking - $3761.63
Other discussion
We got the 10 iPads and cases!
Ms. Starkey can order 10 more
Booster Goal to order 20 more so she has a class set - $8,000
January meeting 1/9/20 will be big with lots of Musical discussion with committee heads
Choir Booster Club Meeting - Nov 2019
Present
Ms Starkey
Melanie Prosise
Sherri Jones
Mayte Solis
Events
Choir concert Monday Dec 16th
San Antonio trip - May 16th -still no scholarship applications
Fundraisers
Fancloth - we made $1,296. November 27th for delivery, shipping was delayed
Once upon a mattress
Ms. Starkey has the stars ready for posters
Carpool email will go out soon
Other discussion
IPads - We may need to work through the bookeeper, ordering through Apple is not working
Choir Booster Club Meeting - Oct 2019
Choir Booster Meeting 10/3/19 6:00 pm
Ms Starkey
Lara Griffith
Mayte Solis
Melanie Prosise
Ashley
Jay Howard
Fundraiser update
Fan cloth - students have sold 71 items so far
$284 profit so far
Top seller will receive $100 amazon
2nd place $50 iTunes gift card
Lara will purchase those
Evening of choir Oct 8th
47 Kids (Scotty Singers and Top Dawgs) going to PAC during school, coming back at 2. Lunch provided
Call time 5:30 pm, concert 6:30 pm, less than an hour concert
Travel – San Antonio
No scholarship requests so far
Once upon a mattress
Parent meeting went well
Choosing crew soon
Payment for Parent booster USA club fee due Oct 14 th
Winter concert in December, need to pay accompanist
iPads – Mayte is getting with Ashley Fox, she had to restart the process
Ashley Pate offered to help write receipts for payments once a month
Choir Booster Club Meeting - May 2019
April 30, 2019, 6:00 p.m.
Choir Room
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Laura D., Ashley F., Josh P., Lara G., Melanie P., Mayte S., Sherrie J., Becky R., Nancy B.
Purple Pups Show
Thursday, May 2, 6:00pm in the Lamar Cafetorium. No accompanist; Laura D. will procure snacks for the kids. Should be a quick show.
Spring Show
Friday, May 10, 6:30 at the AISD PAC.
We’ll need checks for the accompanists ($200 each for Paul Pew, John Justice, Ben Collins) to give them at the show.
Committees:
· Purple Pups Crew – 10 kids, parents have been contacted. We’ll get them pizza on show night.
· Silent Auction – Jessica and Lara have knocked it out of the park! We’ll plan to hold the items after the show, allowing students to pick them up from Megan or parents can get them at the That’s A Wrap party. There is an auction basket assembly day at Lara G’s house on May 4, 1pm. Melanie will have a Square reader at the show for anyone who might need to pick up their item that night (out of towners, etc.). We’re going to convert the $60 in HEB gift cards to a lotto basket. We updated the Auction spreadsheet.
· Mailer – everything is good; we’ve gotten a few responses.
· Volunteer – We’ve got a few intermission slots open; we’ll send a reminder email soon. Things tend to fill up with the last reminder.
We’ll have a Google signup to allow parents to carpool kiddos from Lamar to the PAC.
Laura D. will send an email with instruction for parents to provide their child with a meal for the evening, as Booster Club will not be providing dinner. Josh will send Laura the details regarding ordering from Jason’s Deli.
Eric J and/or Jude will video the show and create DVDs (cost $250?). Due to a “creeper” incident at the Beginner/Intermediate dance show, we will now require folks wanting to buy a recording to write down which performer they are associated with. Failure to do so will result in a no-sale.
Due to the earlier Ludus credit card breach, we expect a lot more folks will be buying walk-up tickets. Megan will have her laptop at the show for tickets, and will print a lot of blanks.
We need to ensure we have $100 in petty cash (lots of $1s, $5s, and some $10s).
No pre-show concession sales, as this will be a smaller audience than the musical.
That’s A Wrap! Party
Thursday, May 23 4-7pm in the Choir area. Only choir students may attend. There are permission slips on the Choir website, and we’ll send an email on May 13 as a reminder. La Mancha, Amy’s ice cream will be served. There will be karaoke, video games and movies. We’ll need some parents to supervise (probably just one shift since it’s shorter this year).
Booster Club Board
2019-2020 officers:
· President – Lara Griffith.
· Vice President/President Elect – Melanie Prosise.
· Secretary – Sherrie Jones
· Treasurer – Mayte Solis
With that, the May meeting of the 2018-2019 Choir Booster Club was adjourned to La Mancha.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - April 2019
April 4, 2019, 6:00 p.m.
Choir Room
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Laura D., Ashley F., Josh P., Lara G., Mayte S., Becky R., Lara W., Jessica J., Melanie P.
UIL Recap – All 1s!!!
Spring Show
Spring Show (Songs of the Silver Screen) is May 10, 2019, 6:30 PM at the AISD PAC. We need to cut a check for the accompanists (Pugh on piano, Justice on bass, and maybe a high-schooler on drums (Laura to ask Will). Eric Jensen will video and prepare DVDs (he also did this for Aladdin Jr.).
Committees:
· Purple Pup Crew – applications to go out soon. Booster club will provide meals for the crew.
· Silent Auction – Jessica and Lara are rocking the silent auction committee! We are not doing themed baskets. Lara will distribute the Google doc for recording donations and strikeouts once Jessica has made her initial run-through.
· Mailer – all is good, mailers and labels are printed and kids will help assemble soon.
· Volunteer – Becky sent out the Signup Genius link a week or so ago and volunteers are signing up.
That’s A Wrap party will be Thursday, May 23, 4-7 PM at Lamar (same day as 8th grade picnic). Only choir students are permitted to attend. We’ll do Amy’s ice cream and P Terry’s burgers. Activities will include karaoke, video games, movies.
Purple Pup Show
The Purple Pup Show (80’s theme) will be April 25, 2019, 6:30 PM in the Lamar Cafetorium. No accompanist for this show. Booster club will provide snacks on the order of cuties, cookies, crackers, etc (Laura will get these) for about 35 kids.
Travel
South Padre Island trip – everything is lined up. Lara W. will have her personal vehicle there in case there is a need.
Booster Club Board
Nominations for 2019-2020 board
President – Lara Griffith
VP/President Elect – Melanie Prosise
Secretary – Sherrie Jones
Treasurer – Mayte Solis
The May Booster meeting will be held Tuesday, April 30 due to several schedule conflicts.
The April 2019 Choir Booster Club meeting was adjourned. Several folks headed to LaMancha to Tex-Mex the stress away.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - March 2019
March 7, 2019, 6:30 p.m.
Choir Room
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Laura D., Ashley F., Josh P., Lara G., Mayte S., Jessica J., Kate P., Becky R., Nancy B.
Aladdin Jr.
Money made
* It looks as though each strand will end up with a couple hundred bucks from concession and ticket sales. Cash sales still need to be divvied up, and Choir is still owed for ad sales.
Lessons Learned
* Handling of sales via multiple platforms is somewhat complicated; we are looking into using the Cheddar Up platform as a one-stop source for those services.
* Feeding kids on rehearsal and performance nights is the highest cost; going forward we will likely ask cast/crew families to provide $20 or so to feed their child over rehearsal and performance evenings. This idea will be pushed at the initial cast/crew parent meeting, and then reinforced via email or subsequent meetings.
* The carpool spreadsheet seems to work well and be appreciated by parents.
* We should consider if every student needs to be at each night of rehearsal, or if we can let some kids have the evening off if they may not contribute that night.
Upcoming Events
Solo/ensemble auditions
* Auditions are Saturday, March 9 in the choir room (assuming roof work is not taking place overhead, in which case we may use the theater room).
* We need a check to pay the judge for this event.
UIL
* Takes place April 1-3 (Top Dawgs, Doggie Dames, Scottie Singers).
* The After-UIL party will take place immediately after school on April 4. We’ll provide a large sheet cake (~100 kids) from HEB. Ashley and Lara will help serve kids. Not many helpers needed, but may show up at 3:15 to help with setup.
Spring Show (Songs of the Silver Screen theme)
General
* May 10, 6:30pm at the AISD PAC.
* We will have it recorded to DVD for sales (service provider TBD).
* Kids will be fed (Thundercloud/Jason’s Deli Game Day ordering); Megan to provide number of mouths to feed.
* Megan will notify the community when tickets are on sale.
Committees
* Purple Pup Parent Crew Committee (Kate Powers) - Purple Pups will be show assistants via an application process with applications due April 26. Assisting Purple Pups will need to be at the PAC from 4:30-9:00 on the
day of the show. Kate Powers will lead this effort, and Megan will setup a Purple Pups Spring Show group in Charms to facilitate communication. Purple Pups will be allowed to watch the show, receive a t-shirt, and be fed. Purple Pups will help in the following areas:
* Load-in/organize concession area
* Concession area cleanup/load-out
* Monitor auction tables
* Silent Auction Committee (Jessica Jennings/Lara Griffith)
* Create letter that parents can use to solicit items (letters should be out by late March to allow donors time to coordinate)
* Set up a spreadsheet to show items solicited/provided
* After event – ensure that winners pay and get their items
* Laura D. will investigate auction v. raffle formats
* Ideas:
* Have choir classes choose from a set of themes and create their own baskets for auction to create some competition to create nice baskets
* Lotto baskets seem to do well at other events
* Handmade goods fetch a premium
* Checkout process idea – several users with tablets checking folks out / hanging folders with item # to facilitate winner info/payment record
* Announce winners between end of show and the beginning of awards presentation
* Mailer/Marketing Committee (Nancy Butlin/Josh Pitts)
* Create marketing flyer
* Update list of area businesses to mail flyers to
* Mailer should be complete the week after Spring Break, with the plan to mail them the week of March 25. The ad deadline is April 26.
* Volunteer Committee (Becky Reedy)
* Handle the Signup Genius for volunteers on the night of the show (Laura D. will provide the template for this)
* Concession donations
* Concession sales volunteers
* Checkout volunteers for auction winners
* Purple Pup assistant parents
South Padre Island Trip
* May 17-19 (informational meeting date TBD)
The May Booster meeting will be held Tuesday, April 30 due to several schedule conflicts.
The March 2019 Choir Booster Club meeting was adjourned. Several folks headed to LaMancha to decompress, with the Secretary growing impatient and departing before the party was seated.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - January 2019
January 10, 2019, 6:30 p.m. Choir Room
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Laura D., Josh P., Lara G., Michelle K., Sherry J., Melanie L., Thelma P., Becky, Nancy B.
Treasurer’s Report / Fundraising
Treasurer Ashley was out this evening, so Laura gave a brief rundown on finances. We have not received the fundraising check from Mod Pizza yet. We will need to issue a check to the winter accompanist and judge for an upcoming event.
Upcoming Events
TMEA Choir auditions/concert – tryouts are on January 26 in Dripping Springs. The concert is on February 9. Megan will send out a reminder that parent supervisors are needed in shifts for the day-long audition process. Parents will hand out and then collect the music as auditions complete, as well as keep the kids in line if necessary. We don’t know until the day of the event what time slot our children will receive.
Solo/Ensemble auditions will be held on March 9. No parental supervision is required on this date.
All 7th and 8th grade Scottie Singers and choir majors must participate in either the TMEA All-Region or Solo/Ensemble auditions. They may (and are encouraged to) participate in both.
Aladdin Jr.
Show dates: January 28-31 (Monday – Thursday). The performance on the 31st coincides with opening night of Mac Theater’s 42nd.
Tech load-in and dress rehearsals will occur on January 23rd, with another dress rehearsal the 24th (the 24th may be extended by one hour). The dress rehearsal planned for the 25th has been cancelled, as the space is needed for another event on that date. Ms. Easter and the tech crew will go the PAC while the cast will stay at Lamar for a run-through with Ms. Starkey and Ms. Luna. Becky is providing snacks for the tech crew on their load-ins. We may provide snacks for the cast for the rehearsal on the 24th, and the kids are welcome to bring their own.
The concession pre-sales (order intermission snacks before the show to avoid the lines) will be rolled out on the first night of the show. If that appears to be successful, we will continue pre-sales for all nights of the show.
Brian with Filmkids will have first right of refusal regarding the recording of the show. Should he decline, Eric Jensen may be able to record. Filmkids has charges $250 per night and $2 per DVD sale. He does plug into the sound board, giving a high-quality recording for dialog and solo pieces, while taking ambient sound for the ensemble pieces, which requires post-mixing.
The Choir Booster Club will provide the meal on Wednesday, the 30th. This will consist of Flyrite chicken as well as fruits and veggies procured elsewhere.
Parents should discuss with their children the schoolwork load during the rehearsal and performance weeks. This should include a conversation about their time management, expected assignments, and any dialogue that may need to take place between the student and their instructors.
Going forward, no children will be allowed behind the concession counter. This will help keep things working efficiently.
The SignUp Genius request has gone out, and volunteer positions and supplies are being filled.
Spring Show
The Spring Show will be held on Friday, May 10. A chairperson for the show will need to be selected after the March Booster meeting.
End-of-year Party
This will be held on Thursday, May 23. Megan is looking for ideas on where to hold, activities, etc.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - December 2018
December 5, 2018, 6:30 p.m. Choir Room
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Laura D., Ashley F., Josh P., Lara G.
Treasurer’s Report / Fundraising
Both FanCloth and Parent Booster USA have been paid (early payment on Parent Booster = discount). Tax information has been submitted.
The Booster Club has a checking balance of around $5,000, and a savings balance of around $5,000. Ashley is looking into the reason for the dual accounts, and if they can or should be consolidated.
Ashley would like to put together a budget of rough costs of things throughout the year, to give those who follow in our footsteps a little guidance. She would also like to get a treasurer lined up for next year, so that she can share her knowledge of the position ahead of time.
All agreed this was a really good idea.
The end-of-year social at Phil’s Icehouse/Amy’s Ice Cream will be here before we know it and is expected to cost around $800, based on last year’s event.
Megan submitted a receipt and will receive reimbursement for dry-cleaning of one of the “Princess” dresses, at about $55. This brought up the issue of dry-cleaning for the remainder of the dresses, which all in attendance agreed was a good idea and that the Booster Club would likely pay for that (we will look into number of dresses and approximate cost).
Megan reminded us that we’ll need a check for the accompanist for the upcoming show (the accompanist will submit an invoice). Cynthia is the accompanist (she did so for the UIL event as well).
Voice Lesson Scholarship
The idea of a scholarship/financial aid for choir students to pursue private voice lessons was discussed. We are narrowing down the scope of this, and at this point we agree it should be somewhat similar in structure to the Choir Trip scholarship. We’d like for the recipient students/parents to have some ownership, and feel that an application process to include grade review and essay should be on the table. Additionally, the student might contribute hours toward the Choir Program’s needs (helping clean the choir room, organize the music library, etc.).
The amount of scholarship might be from 25-50% of the cost of lessons, with an eye toward assisting more than one student at a time. Should only one student make a request, perhaps they could receive the full amount (1 student at 50% versus 2 students at 25% each, or some similar setup).
Winter Concert
The Winter Concert is on Thursday, December 13, 7:00pm at the PAC. Megan set up a reminder email to go out to parents. MOD Pizza is offering to give the Booster Club 20% of sales on that with the presentation of the coupon that Megan has sent out. The Booster Club will provide the kids with MOD Pizza before the show (6:00pm). There are 153 kids and some parent helpers, so we are assuming the feeding of 160 people and therefore ordering 60 or so pizzas, 2/3 of those being cheese and the remainder pepperoni.
Megan will send out a volunteer list for drivers to get the kids from Lamar to the PAC (parents are responsible for getting them home after the performance).
Rosedale School performance
Scottie Singers are caroling at Rosedale Elementary on Wednesday, December 19, from 2:15 to 3:00pm. A sign-up sheet has been sent around to carpool the kids to and from this event, with several parents already volunteering. Megan will give the kids the signup sheet so they can select with whom they want to ride.
Fundraisers
The MOD Pizza 20%-of-proceeds-event on December 13 is the only fundraiser in the near-term. 20% of sales all day long will go to Lamar Choir if the Lamar Choir flyer is shown, either physically or digitally. This fundraiser is not valid for online sales. The pizza the Booster Club orders to feed the kids pre-show is usually discounted 20% in lieu of returning money to the Club. Megan will send another reminder/flyer email out the day before to remind everyone to aid the Choir Program by eating MOD Pizza the day of the event.
Aladdin Jr.
First run-through was today, everything going well.
Feeding the kids on show nights:
Monday – pizza (all strands contributing).
Tuesday – theater providing.
Wednesday – Choir providing FlyRite chicken strips. Cost will be about $400 for the chicken and some fruits/veggies which we’ll pick up and slice. We should send a notice to parents letting them know the what we are providing so they can make alternate meal plans if necessary.
Thursday – dance providing.
Concessions:
The idea was raised that things would run more smoothly behind the concession counter if we had a “Concession Manager” for each night of the event. This person (ideally having experience with the PAC concession situation) would be in charge of processes and the division of labor. We’ve had well-intentioned volunteers in the past, but having one person calling the shots would make for a more efficient (profitable, pleasurable?) concession experience. We should make clear on the SignUp Genius site that there will be a manager directing things, so that everyone goes in with the same expectations.
It was suggested that to battle the long concession lines during intermission, we set up a pre-show ordering system. One could order and pay for whatever they want, and at intermission could find their items labeled for them on a side table or in the multipurpose room. During the first act, volunteers could assemble the items and label them/place them. In order for this to work well, we should remind volunteers to sign up for nights on which their child will not be on stage, so that they don’t miss the show or bail on their volunteer commitment.
We will be able to leave concession supplies at the PAC from load-in through the final show night.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - November 2018
November 1
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Laura D., Ashley F., Josh P., Lara G., Chandra C., Mayte S., Laura W.
Treasurer’s Report / Fundraising
The FanCloth Fundraiser netted about $1,100 ($2,177 in sales minus costs of $1,076), according to Ashley. Megan brought up that in a previous year, we had seen a $1,000 bonus from FanCloth for having the highest sales in a given week. As such, it was suggested that maybe we let the kids know that we’d really like to push sales on one of our weeks, in pursuit of the bonus money. This will be discussed further as the time approaches.
Parent Booster USA fees are due by the end of the year, so Ashley suggested paying that now to get it out of the way (and we may even be given a slight discount for paying early). Parent Booster USA handles the state and federal government paperwork/taxes required of fundraising groups, and we feel that at a $345 renewal rate per year, it is a good value.
Mod Pizza has been approached regarding a fundraising night before the winter show, and that is in the works with more information to follow.
Fundraising performance opportunities were discussed; the possibility of raising the performance fee from a minimum of $150 to a minimum of $300, and may be implemented. Performance event ideas were brought forth: Blue Genie Christmas Bazaar, St. John’s Alternative Market. Megan will be out of town December 14th-18th, so performances will need to be scheduled around those dates.
The idea of creating a scholarship for students desiring private voice lessons was raised; this will be a continuing discussion and will likely require a separate fundraising effort and its own line item/account within the Booster budget, if it is decided it is even sustainable.
Aladdin Jr.
Rather than providing a full meal for the three tech rehearsals, a variety of snacks will be provided.
The choir Booster Club will be responsible for the kids’ dinner on one of the three show nights. Our night is the third night, which is Wednesday, January 30. There are approximately 80 kids to feed on this night. The kids grew tired of pizza last year, so we’d like to introduce some variety this year; working with the dance and theater boosters to achieve that. At the last Booster meeting, Megan stated we would provide a full-page ad for any establishment willing to feed the kids on our night.
Sabrina Wallace will handle the SignUp Genius coordination for volunteers and donations; this will be shared across all three strands.
There may be a group of McCallum students who are willing to record and produce DVDs of the performance, which could be sold as a fundraiser. The Choir Booster Club supports selling photos to parents, with a setup similar as was used for the Wonka Jr. show (staged photos, with groupings of
characters). This will have to be agreed upon with the Dance and Theater clubs. Megan Starkey will do 5x7 headshots, as was done previously. All these items could be made available in digital-only format, but if provided online, a perpetual link/storage would have to be enabled, which may be difficult.
In a similar vein as the Wonka Bars, gold coins will be sold at concessions, with “special” coins planted which grant the purchaser one of 12 (small) treasure chests full of goodies (more chocolate coins!!). The cast photo auction always goes well, and will be done again for Aladdin Jr. It was also suggested that “wishes” could be purchased; more discussion will be had on what that consists of.
Last year each strand earned about $400 from show-related fundraisers. The Wonka bars were very popular, so it was suggested that maybe
The November 2018 Choir Booster Club meeting was adjourned, and several folks headed to La Mancha to decompress.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - September 2018
September 6, 2018
La Mancha
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Laura D., Ashley F., Josh P., Thelma P., Lara G., Austin D., Sherry J., Sarah, Ally, Raman G., Sarah H., Laura W.
Introductions were made and Laura D. explained the purpose and goals of the Club for first-time attendees.
Ashley stated the account balance is roughly $4400, and noted that the Booster Club provided $100 toward the ice cream social.
Megan noted that she is getting new dresses for the Doggie Dames, which will cost in the neighborhood of $3,000. The Booster Club may contribute funds if the total exceeds $3,000.
The Fancloth fundraiser will be held October 1st through 15th. Additional ideas for fundraising were raised:
· Lamar clothing/swag sales table at the Fall Festival on November 2
· Restaurant nights, where a share of restaurants’ sales/profit go to the choir program
The South Padre Island trip (May 17-19, 2019) was discussed, and the availability of trip scholarships was addressed. Scholarships are available only to students who qualify for the free/discounted lunch program. There is an application process and the requesting student must provide a letter stating their interest in the trip and the choir program, and support for why they are a deserving recipient. The Booster Club Board reviews the applications and decides which applicants receive scholarships. Megan noted that historically, very few applications have been received. There is no established limit on the number or total dollar value of trip scholarships provided each year.
Looking toward the spring musical (Aladdin), Megan noted that the Choir, Dance, and Theater programs will convene late October/early November to discuss how to divvy up the various tasks associated with putting the musical together. From there Megan and the Booster Club can work to fulfill the roles that the choir program will fill. The idea of a backstage parent to keep the kids in check was raised, as there were some behavioral issues backstage last year. This year there will be a need to feed the kids for three nights of rehearsals; we should keep in mind restaurants that might be willing to fill this need. Megan will provide a full-page ad for any establishment that agrees to feed the kids for a night. The Booster Club provided funds to feed the kids during last year’s rehearsals; it was noted that the kids grew tired of pizza, and there was quite a bit of wasted food. Megan noted the “That’s a Wrap Party” is scheduled for Thursday, May 23, 2019.
The inaugural meeting of the 2018-2019 Choir Booster Club was adjourned.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - May 2017
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Melissa Light-Whipple, Nikki Griffin, Nancy Butlin, Jessica Son, Susan Thomason, Jessica Jennings, Maya Perez, Margaret Bridgeman, Amy Edwards, and Kim Placker
Introductions were made then Nikki shared budget information and showed how our fundraisers have done this year. We made $3918 on the Fancloth fundraiser, LaMancha-$170.46 and $401.80 from the Amy’s and Phil’s fundraiser. Fundraising monies go to purchase items for the choir room, costumes and supplies for performances, trips, judges for contests, accompanists for shows, etc. Last year, a piano was purchased for the classroom and the year before, risers were purchased for the choir.
We discussed Seussical income. The total was $1057.60. Each group will receive $352.53.
We discussed the spring show. Ms. Starkey provided flash drives with all documents needed for each committee assisting with the show. Ms. Starkey has already gotten student volunteers from Purple Pups to work on the crew. We talked about the need to order pizza for the crew and cast on the evening of the show. Nikki will help with this. May 19th is rehearsal at the PAC until 4:30 pm and parents need to pick students up from the PAC at that time. Tickets go on sale on May 11th at 8 am.
Ms. Starkey shared information about the upcoming choir trip on May 13. An itinerary will be sent home soon.
Scottie Singers will be singing at the 8th grade graduation on May 30. 6th and 7th graders are free to leave after singing.
Nancy Butlin shared 20 tickets and 2 food vouchers from the Alamo Drafthouse. Ms. Starkey also shared a $25 gift card from PTerrys that can also be used for the silent auction. Ms. Starkey will also auction several outings with her. We should continue to ask businesses to donate until the end of next week and send to Nikki. Nikki or Kim will create the bid sheets for each item. We will have students work the silent auction table before the show and during intermission. Ms. Starkey will announce the silent auction at the beginning of the show and Melissa will announce it before intermission.
We talked about officers for next year. Many people in attendance had already left and no one present felt they could serve as president next year. Ms. Starkey suggested we wait until the first meeting in the fall to finalize officers, but Nikki agreed to stay on as treasurer and Jessica decided to serve as secretary next year.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - April 2017
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Melissa Light-Whipple, Nikki Griffin, Nancy Butlin and Kim Placker
We decided that the Booster Club will provide ice cream sandwiches for the U.I.L. celebration on April 21st after school in the choir room. They will have karaoke. No other supplies are needed except wipes. Nancy will check Costco for Ms. Starkey will notify the students and parents.
Ms. Starkey gave an update on the San Antonio trip on May 13th. 85 students and 10 chaperones are attending. The first performance time is 8 am, so students need to be at the school by 6 am. They will then watch the orchestra performance before heading to Six Flags. There will be an awards ceremony that evening. They should be back at the school around 10:30 pm. Once she has an address for the performance, she will send the schedule to parents.
Ms. Starkey brought her receipt from the hotel for TMEA to be reimbursed.
Ms. Starkey talked about Spring Show. There are 3 committees she will need for parents to lead. 1. Crew Committee – Ms. Starkey would like a Purple Pups parent to handle this since they aren’t involved in the show. This person/committee will organize student volunteers from the Purple Pups. This will include training the students to work the concession stand including setting up, taking down and working it except for accepting cash payments (only adults can work with cash). Melissa will try to find a parent to head up this committee. 2. Marketing Committee – To work on the press release and advertising for the show. This includes providing information for businesses to purchase an ad in the program and/or tickets to the show. Nancy and Nikki will chair this committee.3. Volunteer Committee – In charge of contacting choir parents to volunteer for various needs for the show such as donations, ticket sales, will call, concession stand, set-up and clean-up. Kim will work on organizing a Sign-up Genius for all the needs. Melissa and Kim will greet and direct volunteers on the evening of the show.
The 8th grade trip has been scheduled for the same day as the show, so Ms. Starkey moved the show time to begin a little later - 7:30 pm. Students were concerned about their friends not coming because they will be tired from the trip. Nikki suggested we sell tickets at lunch to encourage more students to attend. This might be a challenge with having reserved seats. It was suggested we have a student section. Ms. Starkey will look into the new system to see if she can have only the front section reserved and the rest general admission.
Nancy gave an update on the Alamo Drafthouse fundraiser. They will offer 20 movie tickets and 2 food vouchers. We thought we could use these as silent auction items. Nancy and Nikki will include silent auction items when contacting businesses.
Melissa brought up the end of year celebration. We have 143 choir students. Ms. Starkey offered to have it here, set up a movie in one area, set up Wii in another and food items. It will be on May 31st after school until 10 pm. Melissa suggested we price out food trucks and restaurants such as La Mancha.
Nikki shared the treasurers report. She asked what information we would like to see when she shares this information each month. She said she will show how we’ve done with fundraising this year compared to last year.
Our next meeting is on May 4th. We will elect 2017-18 officers at that meeting.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - March 2017
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Jocelyn Mellberg, Nicky Britton, Nancy Butlin, Margaret Bridgeman, Nikki Griffin, Jessica Son, Dalena Salo,nLydia Ortiz, and Kim Placker
Ms. Starkey asked if the club can pay the fee for the judge for solo and ensemble this Saturday. It was approved unanimously.
New York. Carnegie Hall June 24th is most likely the date we will attend in 2018. Ms. Starkey read the letter she received about the concert production. Rehearsal would occur on day 1 & 2 with the production on day 3. The package Ms. Starkey recommends includes venue, staff, experience, preparation, lodging and transportation which is $1099 and $649 for chaperones. This does not include airfare. Nikki asked about checking into prices in case we might be able to find package deals for air and lodges. She will look into this before the first payment is due in April. Ms. Starkey shared the sample itinerary. As for chaperones, she is hoping for a 6-1 ratio. This opportunity will be offered to Scottie Singers only and not all have to attend. Ms. Starkey asked if McCallum wanted to participate and they agreed, but there are no specifics yet as to how those students will be selected. We also discussed the need to discuss fundraising and what %age of general fundraisers should go toward this event since it is only including one of the 4 choirs.
We discussed the income from Seussical and there is still some confusion as to what was purchased on Stripe...tickets and other items that were sold. For future reference, the stars were good and pictures were great for the kids, but no profit was made and it was a lot of work. It would be great if the kids can be more involved and have them sold at lunch so other students can purchase them for their friends. Concessions also did not make very much so we might want consider having parents donate and be sure to advertise what is available, especially if there are foods that can serve as dinner. We discussed different vendors we might use own the road. The posters, photos and DVDs made a good profit. At this point, it looks like we made about $1000 to be divided between the 3 groups.
For the year, we have brought in more than $6000. The current balance is not accurate because we need to pay for a few items. We discussed upcoming ways to spend our funds. Ms. Starkey will cover the Carnegie trip down payment, but has a list of Spring Show items the Booster Club can fund.
We discussed the Alamo Drafthouse fundraiser. Nancy was finally able to get in touch with someone and there are three options. 1) They can donate tickets and food and beverage tokens for up to 12 people. 2) We ask for a specific movie and time, then need to pay for the rights to the movie. 3) Pick one of their already established movies and times. Beauty and the Beast is an option for a Saturday morning screening and we will get a profit from those who purchase tickets. We all agreed on option 3 and Nancy will finalize the plans.
Ms. Starkey said we had silent auction baskets last year for the Spring Show and it brought in a lot of money. She asked if we want to do this again. There were mixed feelings because it is a lot of work to get the baskets together without having to spend a lot to make them complete. We thought just silent auction items like gift cards would be better.
Our next meeting is on April 13th at 6:30 pm..
Choir Booster Club Meeting - February 2017
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Jessica Son, Melissa Light, Dalena Salo and Kim Placker
Ms. Starkey shared scholarship applications for us to review and we approved unanimously.
We discussed Seussical and the income. We have not received the final counts from theater and dance. There were also some issues with the DVDs and those who paid with credit cards because it was the same price as tickets and the system doesn’t show the item name. Hopefully, everyone who ordered and paid also wrote their name on a paper at that booth. We will also check with Nikki to be sure the money from the stars were deposited. Ms. Starkey said ticket sales went really well with over $7000 online and about $800 each night. Once all receipts are turned in for make-up and the tech people, that number will definitely go down.
We had a nice discussion about the stars, both the cost and concept. We agreed this would be good to continue because it gave all the students a nice keepsake from the show. However, we should continue to be sure each picture has several stars to be sure ALL students receive nice accolades. Maybe the musical theater can be in charge of sales ahead of time next year so they also have the opportunity to purchase them for their friends.
Ms. Starkey is excited about Region on Saturday. They have a clinic all day, then perform at 4 pm. Students should be at the school by 8 am to ride the bus to the PAC. Otherwise, they
We discussed the spring show. The them is Broadway Musical Magic. The dress rehearsal is on May 19 from 12:30-4:30 pm and the show is on May 25th. Solo and Ensemble will be held on Saturday, March 4. We need to start thinking about the tasks to accomplish for the show. At the last meeting, we agreed the Booster Club will pay for the props for the show. Ms. Starkey hasn’t decided on all the music so she doesn’t have a full list yet, but she knows she wants items for a chimney sweep. She also asked about character shoes for the Pop Choir. There are 16 girls. We agreed she should go ahead and order 20 after getting the sizes for each member.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - January 2017
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Jessica Son, Nikki Griffin and Kim Placker
We discussed the items needed to get ready for Seussical next week. Choir is in charge of making the star board for the show. Ms. Starkey is taking head shots of each cast and crew member. Ms. Starkey will purchase the items needed (large paper, double sided tape.) We will need to make about 800 stars for people to purchase, write notes and place around picture of their choice. Nikki, Melissa and Kim will meet at 6 pm at the PAC on Tuesday evening to attach the photos to large heavy paper or cardstock. We need to find out which type of clips are needed to hang the pictures on the boards at the PAC.
We discussed setting up transportation since students need to get to the PAC right after school on Tuesday, then at 5 pm on Wed. and Thurs. Ms. Starkey will set up a Google doc for parents to request and offer transportation.
Jessica will send a message in Charms to be sure parents know about the time changing to noon arrival for practice on Monday.
We still do not have a definite time/date/location for the cast party. Ms. Starkey sent a message in Google Classroom asking who had expressed interest in hosting. Once a host is determined, the date and time will be set, but it will most likely be held the Friday after the show.
Nikki shared copies of the balance sheet and income statement and we discussed items related to the budget:
-Ms. Starkey finally received the FanCloth bill, so we were able to determine we made $2303 on this fundraiser.
-Nikki said we are still missing the check from Amy’s for $98, but received a check from Phil’s for $303. ---Parent Booster USA dues were paid over winter break.
-Ms. Starkey will attend the TMEA conference in Feb. She will pay for her hotel, then provide the receipt for reimbursement.
-Ms. Starkey requested a check for the accompanist to be paid $150.
-We discussed ways to spend our funds. Ms. Starkey suggested we provide more scholarships for the end of year trip and the committee agreed. Nikki suggested we purchase the items needed for performances (such as boas) instead of asking parents to do so. Ms. Starkey has already started a list of needed items for the spring show.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - December 2016
In attendance: Melissa Light, Megan Starkey, Jessica Son, Dalena Salo, Sarah Starnes, Nancy Butlin, Margaret Bridgeman, Nikki Griffin and Kim Placker
Dalena motioned that the Booster club pay for the hotel fees for Ms. Starkey when she attends the TMEA conference in February. It was seconded and the vote was in favor unanimously.
We still need drivers for the holiday concert. We only have 44 seats filled and closer to 164 are needed. Jessica will resend the email tomorrow requesting more drivers. Ms. Starkey will send a private transportation form home with all students. Once we have all the drivers listed, another email will be sent for parents/students to sign up to ride in a particular car.
For the Rosedale event, there are 28 seats of 41 covered. Ms. Starkey can ask Rosedale to send their bus to help with transportation if we don’t get enough drivers.
Nikki reviewed the budget. The report does not include the payment to Fancloth or the $1000 check from them. It also does not include the silent auction items. She will work with Melissa after the meeting to get an update on the silent auction.
The two fundraisers coming up are Phil’s/Amy’s and Alamo Drafthouse. Phil’s/Amy’s is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 5th and has already been advertised. We need to continue to remind people to say they are with the Lamar Choir when they place their order. The Alamo Drafthouse fundraiser is still in the planning stages with no date set yet.
Secret Santa parties are coming up with the A-day party on Tues., Dec. 19th and B-day party on Tues., Dec. 20th during choir class. Parents are invited to attend. In addition, Ms. Starkey will be decorating the choir room tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 2) after school and choir students are welcome to attend.
The spring trip to San Antonio is on May 13. Ms. Starkey is still working on getting an invoice for the transportation. Once she has this, she will send out the permission slip and payment information. The performances start at 8 am. Once they are over, they will head to Six Flags. They will then go to the award ceremony that evening before returning to Austin. This year the Pop Choir will also be included for this trip.
Nikki said our taxes are due and she gathered the contact information needed to submit the paperwork. In addition, we will need to pay for booster club membership after the new year. She will take care of both of these items for us.
We discussed the winter concert. We need to determine the seats and parking spaces that need to be reserved. We need cones to block off the spaces. Sarah and Nancy offered to bring cones. Melissa will call the PAC and ask if they have cones we can use for this purpose. Dalena also volunteered to make RESERVED signs to place on the seats and will be reimbursed for the cost of the materials. We will section off the reserved seats and the rest will be first come, first served.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - November 2016
In attendance: Amy Edwards, Megan Starkey, Jessica Son, Leland Smith, Kim Placker, Melissa Light
Our next fundraiser is on Dec. 5 at Phil’s and Amy’s. A portion of the proceeds from sales the entire day will benefit the Lamar Choir. Karoke will happen from 6-8 pm. Amy will make a flyer for this event and get the word out.
For the winter show on Dec. 15, we need to organize a carpool to get students to the PAC. Booster Club will also purchase pizza for the students for dinner. In the email about the carpool, we will ask parents to let us know about any diet restrictions. We will also purchase water bottles for the students. In addition, signs are needed for the parking spaces and the reserved seats for those silent auction items. Ms. Starkey also recommended we purchase gift cards for the three students who will be playing percussion during the concert.
On the Saturday, Nov. 26, Scottie Singers will ride and sing on a float in the Chuy’s Parade.
On Dec. 5, the Lamar Fine Arts Showcase will be held at the PAC during the school day. Scottie Singers will perform.
Each week, the Fancloth organization selects one group to receive an additional $1000 and we were selected to receive these funds. Ms. Starkey has already received the check.
We discussed the possibility of paying hotel fees for Ms. Starkey to attend the music convention in Feb. Currently, the school pays for the registration fees, but she pays for the hotel out of her own pocket. We will look into policies to see the best way to help her with this and will discuss again at the next meeting.
Melissa is working on getting all the funds collected for the silent auction items from our La Mancha social.
Choir Booster Club Meeting - October 2016
In attendance: Megan Starkey, Melissa B. Light, Kim Placker, Peggy Dieterich, Amy Edwards, Raman Gull, Dalena Salo, Nancy Butlin, Sabrina Wallace, Margaret Bridgeman, Nikki Griffin, and Dvorah Ben-Moshe
Introductions
Melissa shared information about the Booster club and asked for volunteers for Fundraising Chair.
Ms. Starkey shared information about how funds are used. The recent Fancloth fundraiser will bring in around $3000. Short-term goals include providing 10 scholarships for the end of the year trip to San Antonio, which is about $900. A long-term goal would be to get more risers, but for now it hasn’t been a problem because she has been able to access the AISD PAC for performances.
For the musical, the work and funds will be split between all 3 groups: choir, theater and dance. We discussed ideas for items to sell at Seussical which include auctioning signed posters, signed pictures of the cast, selling notes for $1 for people to purchase, sign and post for cast members. We also discussed selling approximately 10 “quick escape” parking spaces.
Amy Edwards and Nancy Butlin volunteered to co-chair Fundraising. We have several fundraisers that worked last year that we will most likely attempt again. Nancy is a musician and suggested we use musician contacts to support our group. Brentwood did something called “Brentwood Rocks” and more ideas were shared. This could be our own ACL. We would need to get permission from the principal to have it on campus and get it on the calendar before moving forward with the idea.
We now have partnerships with the Texas Performing Arts and Zach Scott to call on for tickets/support. Dvorah Ben-Moshe suggested we ask for venues to provide space in support of our arts program and would also like to see a partnership with the deaf community.
Ms. Starkey has arranged for a get to know you social at La Mancha for parents to get more involvement. The date will be determined soon.