ATTENDANCE: Ed Kugler, Laura Zuckerman, John Scornavacco, Jim Swanson, Michael Worsek, Amy Perlmutter, Beth Shapiro Kopin, Shari Mann, George Fornero, Marjie Sandlow, Patty Pell, Andi Goldfine Zazove, Ellyn Samsky, Ellen Multack, Cindy Clamage, Amy Kaufman, Stephanie Hayes, Weifang Wang, Martha Biede, Debbie Hymen, Harvey Cohen, Dawn Breiter, Debbie Wilneff, Jean Sogin, Kathy Soninthal, Ken Fishbein, Susan Berk

STUDENT REPORT: Michael Worsek from the Student Senate reported on the success of Homecoming and the Tailgate Party. The dance had record attendance selling over 1000 tickets. Varsity Football and Soccer won against Niles West High School. The Focus on the Arts Club had their kick-off with over 300 people attending. Spanish Heritage Month kicked off, Cross-Country participated in Peoria, Girls Tennis has had a great start. Charity Drive applications are on the website. They are currently looking for a potential charity for the drive to benefit. Applications are due October 13^th.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Superintendent, Dr. George Fornero officially started his position with District 113 on July 1^st. He was had a very positive start meeting with Principals, Assistant Principals, and Department Chairs. He is currently meeting with all teachers and hopes to meet with every employee by October. He has attended Alumni Honor evening, Spanish Heritage kick-off, Focus on the Arts kick-off, and two football games. He has been impressed with the spirit of every organization and the level of participation. He has also been impressed with the connection between students and adults and how much knowledge they have about the students. Dr. Fornero gave great compliments to co-principals, Jim Swanson and John Scornavacco. He wants to attend more PTO meetings, lunches with Jim and John held monthly, and is very accessible via emails with any questions, comments or concerns. One of the goals of his position is to provide an Equitable School System. A school that provides an academic experience for all students and teachers. This is attained by asking questions – are we doing the best we can? He spoke of the schedule for the search for our new principal and hopes to be conducting interviews by late December.

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT: Mr. Swanson and Mr. Scornavacco spoke about the start of the school year with Registration, Arena, Book Sale running very smoothly. The Alumni Recognition Assembly was packed – 60 members of the class of ’66 toured the school. The Pep Rally for Homecoming was received most enthusiastically and Bobbie Monroe, our new Athletic Director commented it was the best she’s seen in 27 years of experience. Homecoming was well-attended and kids have displayed great conduct. Our principals are encouraged about kids being more serious about academic and spirit being at an all time high. There is a respect and friendliness of faculty. The Freshman Advisory Program (Links Crew) has great potential. More training is needed. The Freshman Academy has goals of greater participation for all clubs and extracurricular activities. Staff is working on the challenges of diversity and hopes for greater involvement. The LED sign has been approved and we hope to have it up an running by end of October. A special thank you to Terri Olian, Jim Swanson, and Nate Rouse for enduring this long ordeal of city approvals.

VICE PRESIDENT’S COMMITTEE REPORTS: Committee heads spoke about successes and progress on all of the PTO committees. Fundraising "Deck of Cards" is going well. Freshman Lunch served 600 students in 20 minutes. Book Sale – thanks go out to so many volunteers who made these busy days run so efficiently. Hospitality hosting Open House dinner for faculty, Parent Directory – corrections or pick-up should be directed to Jodi Weinberg. Newsletter is available on line. They need help with distribution on 4 more issues. Giant Hugs always looking for information (email Elise Frost). Membership and Registration went very well. A huge thank you to Jean Sogin for making On-Line Registration so easy to handle for the first time. Focus on the Arts needs volunteers for their mailing campaign on Oct. 4 and 5. Contact Amy Perlmutter or Beth Conen. Focus takes place the week of April 16^th. Calendar distribution went well. Shoreline committee meets in October. Parent Education will host a meeting Feb. 28^th at 7:30. The subject will be Helping your Family Cope with Cancer and other illnesses. The Discretionary committee meets in November to consider requests. The School Board liason, Linda Schneider reports that next year’s District 113 school calendar will be the same as District 112. The Caucus is looking for parent volunteers to participate in the process of seeking qualified candidates to run for school board in the April elections. Please check the caucus website. Weekend Update- send information to Sue Resnick for LateNight HP. She places this information in the Thurs. and Fri. announcements.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Motion granted to approve budget. Budget approved.

OLD BUSINESS: A representative from Giant Club made a pitch for supporting the Booster Club by participating in the Golf Scramble on October 9^th at Sunset Golf Course. There will be raffle, auction and dinner.

NEW BUSINESS: The teacher for the new Chinese/Mandarin class asked the PTO for some financial support to help fund Mooncake for an October 6^th festival. The moon unit is a cultural unit on family and the cake is a Chinese tradition. Motion was approved and budget to supplement the expense was also approved by attending PTO members.