Motion to approve previous minutes made by Sarah Russell, seconded by Oriana Barnett and passed with no objections.

Ms. Tabaka and Ms. Bell spoke about Spellingcity.com which works to help students in 3^rd-5^th grades retain vocabulary. Then Premium addition offers personalized work and data tracking at a cost of $2.25 per license/child per calendar year. This year would be $540.00 and next year is expected to be more expensive with the larger 2^nd grade class. Some parents shared concerns about increased screentime and wanted to make sure it would be monitored. The license fee for Spelling City would have to be renewed by the PTO each year and would be considered a Special Request Grant item. We currently have $1000.00 budgeted for Special Requests.

Motion to purchase Spelling City Licenses made by Brandy Merritt and seconded by Roshayne Jaimon. Motion passed with one objection.

A representative, Cassandra, from the Ice Cube came to say how much they enjoy working with the Thurston Community. The event is December 21^st from 10-2:00, the cost is still $6.00 per student, and there will be a craft room for non-skaters. Safety is important, so make sure children bring a bicycle helmet. If they are not comfortable on the ice, they can go to Open Skate sessions before the event to practice. This year we are able to procure extra skates from Buhr Park at a cost of $93.00 total, so we should have enough for everyone. Parents will be collecting and transporting personal skates for those students who have them.

Teachers thank the PTO for the Teacher Conference lunches and the water cooler.

Budget: $57,720.43 is the current checking balance.

Fall Carnival will officially move to winter semester 2019 and be called Winter Carnival. The raffle did very well this year. The Carnival plans to ask for an increased budget next year and are looking to donate their extra candy from this year. The community service club said they would accept the candy and may put any proceeds toward helping rebuild the Nature Center Bridge.  

The Holiday Wish List was sent out. Please look at the requests and help support Thurston families if you are able.

Talent Show information will be coming out soon and Ms. York expects to have the same audition process and performance schedule as past years.

Science Olympiad will take place in May, and they will be having an informational meeting soon. They can always use parent support.

Ski Club is a new group started by Thurston Parents that would join with other schools to travel to ski locations.   Ten percent of membership fees would go to Thurston PTO. It is a bit expensive and unfortunately they don’t offer scholarships. There need to be 30 participants in order to get the bus, and there will be a parent information session soon, so look for the flyer. Depending on Skill-level, there is a $275.00 or $350.00 registration fee plus a $75.00 fee paid when you board the bus for each trip.

The PTO closet is very messy. People would like a cleanup day advertised in the newsletter for all groups to organize their items or throw them out. Ms. Callahan mentioned that there was additional space in the basement for storage, just no food allowed.

Little Caesar’s Pizza Night has been very successful this year and the next one is on December 12^th.