SANTA MONICA HIGH SCHOOL PTSA
MINUTES OF ASSOCIATION MEETING FEBRUARY 10, 2004
SAMOHI CAFETERIA
Gus Walsh, ASB Speaker advised that student leadership is planning a blood drive soon for parents, teachers and students. Last Saturday the Hollywood Nights Basketball game was a fundraiser for the senior class to help lower the price of prom and graduation activities. ASB/Student Leadership is working on solutions for student parking. They will be going to the City Council to ask for a student parking area in a small portion of the Civic Center parking lot. On Fri. and Sat. the choirs are presenting Café Samo, which is a fundraiser for the chorus groups. The performances will be at 7PM in the Humanities Center. Simon Hanna announced that students would be given the opportunity to complete the blue survey during the next day's classes. ASB contact information is also on the back of the agenda. Valentine grams are being sold as a fundraiser for the senior expenses such as prom tickets. The Valentine grams can be sent anonymously. Ms. Calahan, the faculty advisor for Delians, (the California Honor Society) and Linda Wexler, the advisor for the National Honor Society are heading the registration drive for these groups for the next three weeks. There will be notices around the campus and on the PA system. All English teachers will be notified which students in their classes are eligible. Students should register in person in B100 with their application and fees. Although students must stand in line (like the old process), they will be given a receipt for the fee payment. It is suggested that students come early. Registration will end Feb. 27. Next week all juniors can apply. Seniors must register at least one semester during their senior year. Seniors must be registered for four of their last six semesters and one semester must be in their senior year to qualify to be decorated during graduation ceremonies. The senior semester can end in June just prior to graduation, but if the senior has been a member for four semesters in May of their senior year, they will be invited to an awards celebration. The students can download the application and bring the completed application with $7 to register. For further information regarding Delians, parents can call the school at ext. 170.
Barry Snell, AAPSSSG President announced that February is Black History Month. On January 25, the group presented a film commemorating the 200th anniversary of the 1804 Haitian Revolution. On
February 20 the group will hold a Talent Show and the next monthly meeting will honor cancer survivors. The Dad's Club Breakfast is held the first Saturday of each month and the next meeting will be March 6 at the Santa Monica IHOP restaurant.
There is no report from SOL/BAC.
Janine Avner reported that Site Governance is in the process of amending their by-laws to have the parent membership represent the school house configuration. There will be one parent representing each house plus one parent representing AAPSSSG and one parent representing SOL/BAC. There will also be position for a community member. The PTSA has nominated Joyce Smith for community member with Trish Soodik as the PTSA alternate representative. The next Site Governance meeting will be held Tuesday, Feb. 17 in E113 and the topic will be the security cameras.
Lucy Acevedo is providing simultaneous Spanish translation.
Debbie Mulvaney, representing the Ed Foundation, announced a district-wide "Celebration for the Arts", which will be held May 14-May 16 on the Santa Monica Pier. There will be visual arts, drama and music. At Stairways to the Stars, the winners of the Gold Raffle Tickets will be selected. Samohi obtains most of the grants that are provided by the funds raised by the raffle tickets.
The minutes of the last meeting were pre-approved by committee.
Chris Thornton asked if there were any questions on the Treasurer's report. The report has been submitted for audit.
Gretchen Goetz, Nominating Committee Chair, announced the following Nominated Officers for the 2004-2005 Executive Board: for Co-President: Cheri Orgel and Karen Dickerson, Executive Vice President: Louise Jaffe, Communications Co-Vice Presidents: Gretchen Goetz and Maria Rodriguez, Education Co-Vice Presidents: Debbie Mulvaney and Lauri Crane, Organization Vice President – Janine Brownstone, Health and Safety Vice President: Cynthia Cottam, Recording Secretary: Leslie Frisher, Corresponding Secretary: Helene Phipps, Treasurer: Chris Thornton, Financial Secretary: Kim Eyler, Auditor: Roshan Nozari, Parliamentarian: Amy Van Pelt. There is an open board position for Historian and several openings for committee chairs. We will vote for these positions at the next association meeting. If any member would like to fill one of the open positions to help improve Samohi, please contact the committee chair by phone or e-mail message.
Rick Gates and Lauri Crane presented information about the Excellent Public Schools Charter Amendment, which is trying to secure stable funding for our schools. Because the state has been underfunding schools, we need help from the local governments. The Santa Monica Malibu Council of PTAs passed a resolution urging PTA members and units to help collect signatures. We need to collect 13,000 signatures in the next three months to be able to place this amendment on the ballot in November. Although only those who are registered voters in Santa Monica can collect these signatures, anyone can help at the phone bank, which will be Feb. 16-19.
Cheri Orgel announced that all families with students in 9th – 11th grades will soon receive a course catalogue produced by the PTSA. Registration for next year's classes will be held Aug 24 –27. The next association meeting scheduled for March will be postponed until March 23 and will be held just prior to Open House.
Dr. Straus thanked all who are attending the meeting. She advised that Pinnacle is up and running which enables parents to check student grades. A "Z" in any subject indicates a missing assignment and she is requesting that the teachers keep the grades up to date. There is tutoring by AP and UCLA students four days each week. We need to get the students who need the help to get to the tutoring sessions. We should tell our children that we expect them to go because there is so much help available. She also thanked the PTSA for providing the additional funds to keep the library open, with a teacher available in the library until 5PM four nights each week. This evening the coaches, the Athletic Director and Catherine Baxter will present an overview of the funding and fundraising and program of athletics at Samohi. Following their presentation, we will break into small groups to discuss issues surrounding athletics at Samohi.
Athletic Director, Mike Griswold, was offered a big thanks for ten years in his position at Samohi and then for one more year to provide a good transition. If the parents think the athletic department does not have good policy or that a policy that is not being followed, tonight's meeting is the time to discuss these issues. Interviews for the new Athletic Director will start immediately following Spring Break. Although parents will help with the selection, Drs. Kelly and Straus will make the final decision.
Catherine Baxter, Dean of Administrative Services and a graduate of Samohi, shared with us that she has learned a lot outside of the classroom. She introduced the Athletic Staff of Michael Griswold, Mike Burnett, Pat Cady, Frank Gatell, Debbie Skaggs and Norm Lacy. Samohi has a long tradition of athletics and champions. Mr. Griswold continued by explaining about CIF, the California Interscholastic Federation, which is the organizing body of Southern California athletics. There is a blue book that covers all regulations and rules. Athletics is an extension of physical education and can be considered "AP Phys Ed". Because it is a higher level, more is expected of the 900 students that are part of it. The students must maintain a 2.0 GPA and grades are checked every six weeks to make sure the students are either eligible or ineligible to participate. Pat Cady, track coach, explained that the coaches want to create an environment for the student athletes to grow at the school, be part of a team and to excel in their sport. The students must be aware of being an individual at the same time they are part of the team. He wants the students to remember they are part of Samohi and represent the school. Our athletes are students and we want them to do well in their class work. We want to teach sportsmanship. Our opponent is our best friend and they bring out the best in us. The coaches should be a role model and show the students how to act and to provide a code of ethics. They must let the students know that making a mistake is OK, which helps them grow. The students learn to respect each other because they have accomplished something.
Coach Griswold explained that for the 2004 through 2006 seasons we are in the Ocean League, which includes Beverly Hills, Culver City, Inglewood, Hawthorne, Morningside and Samohi. These schools are geographically closer than the way the leagues were set up in the past. Debbie Skaggs, Girl's Softball Coach explained that there are three separate seasons of athletics; Fall, Winter and Spring. There are also club teams that are not part of CIF. In addition to the Athletic Director there are forty-four credentialled coaches and twenty-two walk-on coaches. There are a total of 1,050 student athletic positions filled by over 900 students because some students are enrolled in two sports.
Mike Griswold explained that tryouts for the fall teams are held during summer because the school needs to know which students will be part of the particular teams before the first day of school. The sixth period class is their team sport. There are nineteen football practices prior to the first day of school; and the team cannot practice after Aug. 1. Each sport is approximately three months and has one vacation period. There are games and tournaments scheduled during the winter and spring school breaks. The cross-country track practice starts and ends later during the school year. While a particular sport is "in season", there can be a lot of practice hours. The students have conditioning during their class and this is late in the day. They can only use equipment in class. Team tryouts can take from one day to six weeks. The coaches create practice charts to keep track of the amount of time each student spends at practice.
Mike Burnett, football coach, spoke about the scholar athletes. Students must maintain a 2.0 GPA for each grading period to continue their team membership. The goal is for the team members to be student athletes not athletic scholars. The coaches, parents and students should be proactive to keep students successful. Most students involved with athletics maintain a 2.5 GPA and continue to improve and many get A's and B's. Many students perform better academically during their team's season.
Frank Gattel, boy's soccer coach, announced that the Soccer Team is the new league champions. Many student athletes are continuing their education in college. Five to fifteen former students are currently receiving partial college scholarships and between one and five former students are receiving full college scholarships. NCAA is a clearinghouse for college athletics. There are thirteen core classes that are required by NCAA. NCAA forms are available in the Futures Center and must be on file. If the students receive a letter of intent to attend a college the student should bring it to the attention of the coach and the Futures Center. The college representatives can only speak to the students during certain times.
Catherine Baxter spoke about the expenses of athletics, which is almost one-half million dollars per year and covers the costs of the coaches, transportation and dues. Fundraisers have earned over $100,000. There have also been three grants awarded. The largest expense is the coaches' salaries, which range between $500 and $2900 per year. The school does have an athletic trainer, a 3/4 position, that is available from 2:15-6:15 each afternoon. One-third of the salary for this position is covered by a grant from St. John's Hospital, one-third is funded by a "Train to Win" grant and the remaining third of the salary is paid by student contributions (athletic fees). The athletic program could not happen without parent support and it is important for all of us to attend games.
Mr. Griswold has prepared an outline for the principal of his duties. His wish list would include a full time Athletic Director position, two full time trainers, more credentialled coaches, an Athletic Department Office Assistant/Secretary, funding for equipment (currently abysmal) and increased custodial services.
Catherine Baxter explained that the administration wants to hear about the athletic program from the parents by having a survey completed for each child for each sport, because the administration wants to add quality to the program. She asked that the attendees break into groups by the color coded cards that were distributed earlier. One goal is to refine the director's position. We will wait until after the March election to see what funding the district will have. The administration will combine the input received from the group reports and the surveys.
Everyone in attendance broke into small groups for discussion and then came back to report out to the full group:
Greg Runyon reported that his group would like a full time Athletic Director with supervisory reporting and responsibilities. They also want better communication with consistency in the schedules and to form a booster club. They hope to increase student involvement.
Dr. Mark Kelly added his group would also like to see cohesion with a unified voice for athletics.
Dr. Kathleen Martin's group sees money as the biggest issue. They want a full time director and more supplies as well as coaches who know how to coach and are qualified in their sport. They want better communication and public relations and to teach the students to "Win with character and lose with dignity".
Ruth Esseln's group wants a communication voice of parents and players and fairness in choosing team members and gender consistency.
Anuar Shalash's group wants player development between the different levels and a director and coaches who promote both the programs and the individuals.
Steve Cannell (acting "O" House principal) reported his group wants clear expectations and mutual respect. Athletics should be about FUN and the student athletes should have a really good time.
Dr. Ilene Straus introduced her administrative team and promised a summary of this meeting and the follow-up in the Viking Voice. She feels the Athletic Director will have a huge job ahead.
Cheri Orgel thanked all who attended and adjourned the meeting at 8:59.
Respectfully submitted by,
Helene Phipps
Co-recording Secretary