Technology Fundraising committee meeting 12-4-08 notes

Here are the highlights of our meeting yesterday (guys, correct me if I miss anything, or got anything wrong):

Status update
Due to budget constraints, the technology "plan" has been scaled back to 1 cart (10 laptops) per grade. Possibly there may be money for purchase/lease of 1 desktop machine per classroom additionally. The severe budget shortage in the State makes Joan nervous about committing to this program for this year without knowing that there will be money to sustain it for next year. The feeling is that she would be reassured if she saw efforts being made to do fundraising for additional money to keep this program going in the future. No pressure on the technology fundraising committee ;-) .

Adopt-a-laptop program
Peter mentioned that at Marquez and various other places there are "adopt a laptop" programs where parents buy (at a very reduced rate -- probably less than $1000 ) a fully loaded laptop that is theirs with the provision that it must stay at school every day (possibly going home on the weekends). At the end of the year the lap top belongs to that family and they take it home. There were a number of questions about this program:

• is it fair if some classes happen to have 10 of these "extra" laptop while others have none
• what happens the following year?
• who's responsible for repairs?

We all felt that it was a great idea worth looking into, Laura volunteered to talk with Anne from Apple to get more info and report back.

Grant Writing
There are a lot of grants available for using techology in elementary education. The questions are:

• which ones are a good fit for Pali?
• what sorts of "projects" will we be using the grants for (teachers, any thoughts?)
• how to frame the application in a way that sets us apart from other schools (eg Marquez)
• which grants don't mind funding a school in an affluent area (although we do bus in students)

I volunteered to look at the calendar of grants and get a general sense as to what grantors are looking for, and make a blog posting with my findings.

Fundraising Party
Liat is the go-to person for the party planning. She will be speaking with Perry Ferrell - formerly of Janes Addiction, currently father of Hezron in Mrs. Rodgers 1st grade class -- what his availability is to play at the event (this will determine the date of the event --hopefully late Jan. early Feb.). Peter generously offered up his house (which can accomodate aprox. 200-300 people with a stage) and his band's services as back up band . The number being floated around for admission was $100 per person. On the menu: cocktails and hot appetizers (to look into -> sponsored alcohol from some new brand looking for promotion)

Blog
It seems redundant to mention that we spoke of starting a blog, but just to be thorough, here goes. I brought up that it would be an efficient means of communication between various people and groups if we set up a blog about all things technology related at Pali. That way, we would not have to have the hassle of arranging a time and place that works for all to physically meet while still deriving the benefit of getting feedback and sharing information. This blog would cover any tech related topic, not just fundraising. Setting up a blog is relatively easy, the hard part of blogs is motivating people to submit content. So, jump right in! Encourage others to as well.

Next meeting
This blog is not intended to take the place of meeting in person :-) . There still is value in having a "live" conversation, so we will meet again Thursday Jan. 15 at Liat's house, mark your calendars (but in the meantime keep us posted with your findings on this blog)