November 12th General Meeting Draft Minutes
Vestal General PTA Meeting
October 8, 2024 6:30pm-7:30pm
1 In Attendance
Board members present
Co-Pres. Jake Sepulveda, Co-Pres. David Jones, Treasurer Nicole Hochstrasser, Messaging Emma Koehler, and Secretary Justin Stoller
General public
Sarah N, Galen G, Neil M, Sabrina F, Meg S, Katie R, Kelly S (Member), Jessica E, Renita P, Maureen B-L
2 Welcome
Meeting convened at 6:35 by Pres. Jake Sepulveda.
3 Minutes
The minutes from the last General Meeting, held on October 8th, were accepted without amendment.
4 Principal Announcements
Report cards have moved to ParentVue though guardians can request a hard copy. Email Dollie or Sabrina if you need help.
Conferences are soon, teachers LOVE the potluck, please include the ingredients in the description for those with dietary restrictions.
Students are helping design the bee mascot! Sabrina would love for some parents to help make a more professional design as well.
Short update as we’ve settled into a good rhythm.
5 Treasury update
Busy financial month with lots of money in and out for pie sales in October.
Paid $20 to Oregon in taxes.
Board members owe Nicole 3-5 receipts for small recent transactions.
Question from Kelly: Can we move to a high interest/money market account for savings? Yes! We’ve been busy with taxes this month but the board has discussed this and Nicole will look into it after our tax season has finished.
6 Upcoming Events
November
16th - Community Care Day
May cancel if weather is bad and little interest!
18th - Bottle Drop
Need to help raise awareness of this. Maybe use a sandwich board/A-frame sign during drop off/pick up?
18th - Clothing Center
22nd - Movie Night
David wanted to call out parents have been involved with the “Capitol to our Classrooms” series on how school funding in the state works. There was a final session shortly after the meeting. Folks can view recordings of the sessions here: https://www.oregonpta.org/advocacy/Our-advocacy-work/capitol-to-our-classrooms-series
December
5th - Wreath pickup
9th - Scholastic Book Fair opens
This will be in the library.
16th - Bottle Drop
20th - Movie Night
7 Guest Speaker - Neil Mattson
Neil has been a force in the neighborhood for over a decade. Helping found Montavilla Jazz (MJ) and serve as executive director for the last 11 years. He’s also an active member of METBA (Montavilla-East Tabor Business Association) and the MNA (Montavilla Neighborhood Association).
In a confluence of his roles, Neil also helps organize the Montavilla Street Fair, which last year had an estimated 25,000 attendees.
MJ has partnered with Vestal for the last 7 years, bringing the stage and musical programming for Social Justice Night (SJN). Over those 7 years MJ has brought $70k of grants to the school to help with Vestal’s SJN, music literacy, and culture. Including in 2022 partnering with PSU to produce a visual and series of audio essays on Vestal and SJN as a neighborhood cultural center. See https://montavillajazz.org/vestal-social-justice-night-storytelling-project/.
This year MJ will again sponsor an artist in residence. The residency will work with Vestal and Mr. Williams for 8 weeks starting after Spring Break and culminating with a performance at SJN. As part of this program kids at Vestal will learn about Latin Jazz.
Neil has also been on the negotiating team working on the Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA) between the community and the in-development Safe Rest Village on 82nd and Oak St. It has included meeting nearly every week for around 5 months. The name of the village has changed from the Montavilla Safe Rest Village to the Oak St. Village. As part of the GNA, Neil informed us that there will be a several block “High Priority Zone” that circles the Safe Rest Village. The City will prioritize quick responses to neighborhood calls within this zone to ensure the Safe Rest Village does not attract crime. Neil fought for, and pending final approval, likely won, having Vestal included in that High Priority Zone. The GNA, once signed, will be hosted on the JOHS website and possibly the MNA’s website.
Anyone who has further questions or would like to participate in any of the above should reach out to Neil directly.
Neil just visited us to talk and answer questions about the partnerships Montavilla Jazz, METBA, and the MNA have had with Vestal. The more anyone gets involved with Vestal the more they have seen the positive effects Neil has had. Everyone in attendance wanted to thank Neil for all that he, and the organizations he’s a part of, do for Vestal and the larger community. Thank you, Neil!
8 Closing
Before we adjourned there was a shout out to Arthur L. for submitting our first grant application of the year (to help fun Reading Results at school) and to Meg S. for joining Arthur in preparing for our next grant!
