November 12th 2024

Twin Lakes Mission Statement:  We believe in creating a community where all can learn and succeed. We encourage respect and knowledge of all people and the environment.

Meeting Protocols:

• Begin and end on time.

• Respectful listening - no side conversations.

• Respect other opinions.

• We are here to positively impact Twin Lakes Elementary.

Welcome and Introductions

Old Business:

1. OtterFest update 

2. Fall Festival Parade was on October 31st. Kids dressed up as Book Characters.

3. Veteran’s Day was yesterday, Monday November 11th 

New Business:

1. Turkey Bingo coming up this month 

2. No December Meeting - Painting Help for Kindergarten?

3. Teacher (Christmas) Appreciation Day

4. Zero Gravity fundraiser January 24th 5-8pm. 

Parent Liaison’s Report:

Principal’s Report:

Treasurer’s Report:  

Open Forum- This is time for questions and discussions from parents.

Adjourn*

Update on Tuesday, November 12, 2024 at 9:08PM by Admin

Old Business:

OtterFest update:

• We have lots of volunteers and will be deciding a date for the 2025 carnival next meeting! There is always room for more help if anyone else wants to stop by and learn about activities! 

• Fall Festival Parade was on October 31st. Students and Teachers dressed up and had a blast with all of the fun activities. For the first time in YEARS the office staff won best costumes!

• Veteran’s Day was yesterday, Monday November 11th and it was a great turnout. Lots of family and friends came to show appreciation for the veteran's who got to enjoy donuts, juice, and coffee with the students who invited them to the school. There were lots of handmade decorations around the lunchroom to show our patriotism and the whole school assembled for singing the military songs, giving speeches, and listening to the veteran's give information about when and where they served their country. It was an emotional event for some of the attendees and everyone was so very thankful of such a wonderful community event. 

New Business:

• Turkey Bingo is coming up on the 27th! The students and staff get a chance to win books and prizes by "gobbling" their way to the Principal's office with this school wide event! Books are typically purchased by using the Scholastic Dollars that our bookfair earns and from the new/gently used donations parents bring in!

• No December Meeting

• Teacher Appreciation Day has been set for Thursday the 19th of December. It's a small token of our appreciation to the teacher's for everything they do! We will be stopping by the classrooms with our cart full of goodies to pass out to the teachers. There will be a sign-up sheet coming in the e-mails for donations so parents can help contribute if they would like!

• Zero Gravity fundraiser January 24th 5-8pm. There will be information coming out regarding this new fundraising event! Mounds View Zero Gravity will be hosting a $10 Unlimited Jump Pass and ALL the proceeds will be given to Twin Lakes Elementary! 

Parent Liaison’s Report: MCA snacks are going to be ordered soon and Art to Remember is due on the 15th of November!

 

Principal’s Report: The school raised almost $29,000 dollars during the Principal's First Walk-a-Thon!! About 300 students hit their $50 mark to each shirts which are being ordered and 35 students will be getting to hit a faculty member in the face with a pie! More information will be getting announced in a school e-mail soon. 

 

October 8th 2024

Twin Lakes Mission Statement:  We believe in creating a community where all can learn and succeed. We encourage respect and knowledge of all people and the environment.

Meeting Protocols:

• Begin and end on time.

• Respectful listening - no side conversations.

• Respect other opinions.

• We are here to positively impact Twin Lakes Elementary.

Welcome and Introductions.

Old Business:

1. Homecoming parade was on September 20th and it was a success! 

2. Parent picnic was on September 25th.

3. BookFair made $3036.21 in Sales. Media Center spent $681 in scholastic dollars. Next BookFair will need volunteers during October Conferences.

4. MEA will be October 17th and 18th.

5. Volunteer Opportunities ($10 background check required, lasts for 3 years).

6. Open Board Position: Co-Treasurer Needed

New Business: 

1. OtterFest Committee will need a lot of volunteers to keep going.

2. October 16th was decided to be the Fall Teacher’s Dinner

There is a sign up list for crockpot meals and other food that was e-mailed.

1. Veteran’s Day: Monday November 11th
   (PTO provides refreshments, photo opportunities, volunteers needed) 

2. Turkey Bingo: Book Donations are always appreciated

3. Hover and SquareSpace annual charges. Does it have to be on personal credit cards?

4. Papa Murphy’s Pizza Night is postponed until management change is finished. 

Are there any other places we can ask to host “donate to the school” nights? Culver’s hosts for Rogers Boys Soccer.

Parent Liaison’s Report: N/A

Principal’s Report: Walk-a-thon

Treasurer’s Report:  

1. 2023 PTO Budget Review

2. 2024 PTO Budget Going Forward

Update on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 8:52PM by Admin

October 8th PTO Meeting Recap:

• The Homecoming Parade was a great success! There were bubbles this year to make it look like all of the little Otters were swimming down the road! Candy was given to children to throw out to the crowds in stages, so it lasted longer for the families that were near the end of the parade route. There was talk of how Twin Lakes Otters have the best float because it has the most candy being tossed!

• Parent Picnic sold over 400 school meals! Children without relatives attending were able to participate by having picnics with their teachers, or with their friend's families which was a new this year.

• There are still volunteer slots open for BookFair coming next week during conferences! A new BookFair Chair Person is also needed to take over the fun that is ordering books and volunteering to help sell the books to parents and kids. It's a great way to help earn the school money for new library books and for teachers to get new books for their classrooms! 

• There is a new Co-Treasurer board member! Finally!

• The Fall Teacher's Dinner looks like it is going to be a good one this year! Lots of parents have been so wonderful signing up to donate to our crockpot fest!

• Veteran's Day is coming November 11th. It's a wonderful, special event that the school hosts to celebrate our Veteran's. Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, Parents, Neighbors, Cousins, Siblings, you name it! They are invited to share doughnuts and coffee in the lunchroom with their student and there is a booth set up for student's to get their picture taken with their special person! Following a light breakfast is the presentation in the gym where students will give speeches and all grades will sing their designated military song put on by the schools' music teacher! PTO provides the refreshments for Veteran's day, but we need volunteers to help set out the coffee pots/juice and put doughnut holes into trays that go on the lunch tables. 

• Turkey Bingo will be coming up November 27th. A day for all the students to play bingo being broadcasted by Principal Collins. If students win, they get to gobble on down and get their Turkey Bingo Book! These are purchased using the Scholastic BookFair proceeds and books that are collected from parents! Gently used books are always appreciated as a donation to the school for such events! Send the books in with your child, or drop them off in the office!

• Papa Murphy's night is still postponed until the change of management gets sorted. For now, we are gathering up ideas on how else to raise money for the school through "eat out" nights.

• There is a new event making its way through the school this year! The Principal's Fundraiser is back since it's discontinuation during covid. This year, Principal Collins has thrown together a Walk-a-Thon to help fund money for the school, aiming for teachers to get new mics for their surround system. Twin Lakes Elementary School is about 18 years old now and is starting to need a few upgrades. This Walk-a-Thon will be fun for the kids and good for the teachers! The students will be asking friends and family to help donate money for them to walk around the school with music playing and acitivity tables set up. Top sellers in each class with get to PICK A STAFF MEMBER TO THROW A PIE AT! How fun is that?! The top class to earn money also gets a pizza party!

• The 5th graders "Kindness Retreat" is here. They will spend the day in the gym learning about leadership and how to be kind to others. It's an activity that will be the framework for being a community member going forward to their new middle school life~

• There were only six volunteers who showed up to the Otterfest Committee tonight, but it takes a lot more hands to help run Otterfest. Due to this, there will be one more chance for volunteers to come forth for the November 12th Otterfest meeting before Otterfest Carnival will officially be cancelled. The few remaining committee members are putting together "Job Descriptions" for all the roles that need to be filled and announcements will go out to try to get more awareness to parents that help is needed. Look for an Otterfest Committee booth during Conferences if you have questions!

September 10th 2024 Agenda

Twin Lakes Mission Statement:  We believe in creating a community where all can learn and succeed. We encourage respect and knowledge of all people and the environment.

Meeting Protocols:

• Begin and end on time.

• Respectful listening - no side conversations.

• Respect other opinions.

• We are here to positively impact Twin Lakes Elementary.

Welcome and Introductions

New Business:

1. Open House Recap

Lots of parents stopped by the booth and signed up for volunteer notifications!

 2. BookFair Recap: 

$3036.21 in Sales. Media Center spent $681 in scholastic dollars.

Next fair will be during October Conferences. (volunteers needed)

 3. Picture Day: September 11th

Volunteer slots are filled!

 4. MEA: October 17th &18th.

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities ($10 background check required, lasts for 3 years)

September 20th Homecoming Parade Float

September 25th Parent Picnic

October 15th Fall Teacher’s Dinner

           See PTO “Calendar of Events” for future Volunteer Opportunities!

5. Homecoming Parade Float

Need Candy Donations, Ollie Costume, Float Decorations. (volunteers needed)

 6. Open Board Positions

Parent Liaison’s Report:

Principal’s Report:

Treasurer’s Report:  

1. 2023 PTO Budget Review

2. 2024 PTO Budget Going Forward

Open Forum- This is time for questions and discussions from parents.

Adjourn*

 For Questions, Comments, or Concerns, please contact us at: twinlakespto@gmail.com

Update on Tuesday, September 10, 2024 at 8:31PM by Admin

September 10th PTO Meeting Recap:

• We had lots of parents stop by the PTO booth during Open House to sign up for volunteer notifications! 16 NEW volunteers this year! We will need all of the volunteer help we can get moving forward with the school year, so please reach out to us if you decide it sound fun! You don't have to be a parent. Volunteers can be grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins who pass a background check!
• Book Fair during open house was wonderful! We made a lot in sales and the Media Center earned just under $700 worth of Scholastic Dollars for new books, some of which were requested by the students, to fill the library! Purchases made at the Book Fair can earn the school Scholastic Dollars which are free books that we let teachers pick out for their classrooms, birthday books for Principal Collins to give to students and extra books for fun events during the school year!
• Picture Day is coming up tomorrow! Parents who volunteer get to help make sure kids are "picture perfect" and help lead the classrooms to the designated photo areas. Kindergartners get the first time slot of the day!
• On October 15th, after a long day of teaching, the PTO will be feeding our Teachers a dinner before they have to hop right back into the classrooms for Conferences. The meal will be a thank you to the teachers for working so hard to educate our children! Sign-ups will be coming out soon for donations such as beverages, desserts, sides, etc if parents would like to help feed their teacher!
• September 20th is the HOMECOMING PARADE. Every year, a parent kindly lets the students use their decorated trailer to help support the Elk River High School football team! Ollie the Otter will be walking alongside students and passing out candy in our short parade that extends from Parker Elementary School to Vandenberge Middle School. Anyone who wants to attend can line up by the float at 4:30pm. The parade starts at 5:00pm. Candy donations for children to throw is much appreciated and will be accepted in the school's office!
• Parent Picnic is coming up on September 25th. If you decide you volunteer, you can still eat with your child(ren)! Simply sign up before or after their lunch time slot to help accept food money, pass out food, and wave other parents to the designated seating area.
• We're going to need a LOT of volunteers this year to make the OtterFest Carnival happen. At least 10 Chairpersons and 10 Co-Chairs to help run groups of volunteers assigned to different departments that make the carnival happen! If you would like to learn more about what you can do to help, please join us at our first OtterFest Committee Meeting on October 8th at 6:00pm in the Media Center!
• The next PTO Meeting will be October 8th at 7:00pm in the Media Center!