8:00 A.M.
The Oak Room
Parents Attending:
Lynne McAlevey, Molly McGrath, Betsy Martindale, Kim Rummelsburg, Nancy Saipe,
Neena Singh, Monica McNally, Hannah Young, Tracey Cirillo, Marcie Lapido, Fiona
Mittag, Eleanor Meredith Monroe, Cathleen Morgan, Bettina Robertson, Gary Miyashiro,
Anne Ross, Susan Doelp, Bonnie Hirschfeld, Minoo Saghri, Wendy Nixon, Mary Jo
Romano, Alison Lew, Anita Mattoo, Isaac Sunsino, Betty Cyzinski, Corinne Collins,
Monica McKnight, Sally Holzinger, Jin Liu, Liz Moley, Brooke McIlvaine, Debra
Carson, Dean Moberg, Lisa Lawrence, Lisa Rintoul
Molly McGrath welcomed all attending and began by introducing Steven Stout, Director
of the Theatre Program.
Steven Stout:
Steven came to the meeting to describe the Upper School performances for
the year. They decided to have the musical in the fall, so that there could be a
performance of Shakespeare on the lawn in the spring. In addition, with a musical in the
fall, athletes who play spring sports can participate in the musical. In the future, Steven
plans to alternate between a spring and a fall musical, so that all students who wish to be
in a musical will have at least one chance before they graduate.
Steven described “Urinetown”, which is a parody of a 3-Penny Opera. The play depicts a
segment of poor people being kept down by the wealthy during a town’s water shortage.
There is a feeling of anxiety, reported student Julia Lennon, as the stakes are high for the
rebels. Apparently there is a lot of humor, as well as a mystery/ plot twist. Thirty-four
students will perform in the musical, which starts November 13.
Lynne Laukhuf:
Lynne Laukhuf reported that an upcoming presentation for parents will
feature a Youth Officer and a lawyer visiting GFA November 10 at 7:00 to discuss the
legal ramifications of having alcohol in your home. On the related topic, Susan Day
announced that John Morello will give a presentation about the effects of drug use. His
one-man performance was very effective at Staples.
Molly introduced Anita Mattoo, the Vice President of the PA. Anita wanted to tell the
PA a little bit about herself. She is from India, has two daughters, one who has graduated,
and has been at GFA for five years.
Alison Lew, the treasurer, had no news to report.
For Homecoming, Lisa Lawrence and Susan Doelp reported that they were in good
shape for the weekend. They wanted to thank Rose Wolfe, Shawn Swett, Anne Ross,
Lorraine Garland, and Patti Lewis for all their help. There are some new tables at the
Homecoming Fair this year, with the senior class being especially enthusiastic. The big
concern is rain, and they’ve decided that if there is a little rain, the fair will still be
outside. If there is a substantial amount of rain, all the events will be inside, and the
Middle School football game will be postponed or cancelled. We are planning to use the
new sidewalk for tables, like a street fair.The Back to School Barbecue chairs, Lorraine
Garland and Patti Lewis, will be running the dunk tank and giving out hot chocolate with
toppings!! The bakesale still needs items. The new t-shirts look great.
For the Diversity Committee, Neena Singh announced that the heritage Dinner will be
November 4th, from 6:00 to 8:00. As well as dishes from different cultures, there will be
artifacts, performances, and a fashion show.
For the Dragon Shop, Wendy Nixon reported that all is going well. The shop will be
open after all PA meetings, with a 20% discount off of any one item. They have closed
down the webshop, as it is a lot of work for the school to manage. If a student urgently
needs an item, he or she can come in the day before and purchase it instead of paying
double for shipping and ordering off the web.
Marcie Lapido, co-chair for the Bookfair, also spoke. She announced that the Bookfair
is December 4th and 5th. There will be teachers’ wishlists, as well a list for Horizons.
Shoppers need to tell people at the registers that they are from GFA, as many regular
customers didn’t like being asked whether they were with GFA. Also, if GFA shoppers
wish to give a greater percentage of their purchase to the school, they can choose not to
use their Barnes & Noble membership. Lastly, the Beachsiders and the Harbor Blues will
perform during the Bookfair.
Molly McGrath announced that The Coyle Scholar is Robert McDuffy, a premier
violinist. We are very fortunate to have him here, and he will be performing Monday
night, the 16th. He will discuss the challenges facing an artist in the 21st Century, the
need to be an entrepreneur as well as a musician.
There are still spots open for Family Photos if anyone is interested.
Some of the complimentary directories have not been picked up; they were available in
the back of the Oak Room.
Ben Gott, Middle School English Teacher and Eighth Grade Dean, came to speak
about social networking in a digital world. His main focus was the fact that this
generation is being socialized through online activity. As Ben discussed at a PA meeting
last spring, kids now have “friends” and are “friends” through sites like Facebook. They
can create their own realities on the computer. While the computer is a tremendous
learning tool and social facilitator, students and parents need to understand that they are
responsible for anything they text, email, Instant Message, etc..
Ben opened the meeting up to questions from parents. Kim Rummelsburg pointed out
that there is a lot on Facebook that parents don’t know about, and asked how much the
school discusses with students. Ben replied that they often talk to students about the
consequences of dangerous or inappropriate comments on the net. They have warned kids
that colleges and even employers review a person’s appearances on the internet.
However, many kids don’t take the warnings seriously as the part of the brain which
alerts us to risks is not fully developed until as late as age twenty-five. Even when caught
and punished once, some students feel fearless/foolish enough to use the net irresponsibly
again.
Alison Lew asked how we can track what our kids have done on the computer. Ben
stated that there are filters, but students can and do bypass these measures. It’s possible,
for instance, to use a proxy server to access a program that has been blocked on one’s
own computer. Another trick students have used is having two different Facebook
accounts, one for the parents’ eyes, and one only the students knows about.
Lisa Lawrence stated that she believes we as parents should call each other to ask kids to
take certain remarks or pictures off their Facebook pages. The other student’s parents
may want to know what their kids are posting, and we have the right to protest when
something is posted without our consent. Another suggestion was that parents keep their
children’s chargers in their rooms, so that parents can control, to a certain extent,
computer use. Another idea is to remove all cell phones at sleepovers to avoid problems
with continued conversations/melodramas into the sleepover. Ben emphasized the fact
that we as parents can and should take our kids’ computers or phones away if we feel
they are not using the technology responsibly. One other thought was whether we could
fill students’ time with positive activities and plans, rather than always stressing the
things they shouldn’t be doing.
Lastly, Molly McGrath thanked Tara Backe, Alicia Babcock, and Jin Liu for their hard
work on the Hospitality Committee.
Respectfully submitted,
Brooke McIlvaine