Our upcoming election of board members for the 2008-2009 School year is just around the corner. The committee has been interviewing its prospective candidates for open positions over the past few weeks. We are looking for interested parents who are involved with their children’s education at Serra High School. Now is the time to become more involved with the success of your Serra High!

Here is a brief overview of the duties of the positions and the attributes which make performing these functions fun and easy and such a wonderful contribution to the School and the Foundation.

We need a president! The president usually has a 2 year term. He or she has been a volunteer in some capacity for the School or the Foundation prior. The president usually has a sophomore or Junior student. This way when their students are seniors they are the sitting past president to mentor the new president initially and serve as a resource for the board. Senior parents are usually busy with Senior boosters that year. The person who thrives in this roll is one who is involved with the school, has time to commit to the planning and executions of the programs we fund and is connected to the community through their children, their local businesses and support of local businesses. This person sees the needs of the students , teachers and administration first hand as an involved parent. Business experience not necessary, but very helpful. Creative nature a great asset. Love of service a must. Current president is Sheri Oleson-Duncan. She will be available by phone and for meetings when she is in town for any questions that the new President may encounter and will orient the new president prior to the end of the 2007-2008 year. Her youngest son will be graduating this year and she will join the ranks of the Foundation alumni.

The Vice president should be a person who holds all the qualities of the president and is able to step in at anytime that the president is unable to attend meetings or be attentive to issues and be interested in taking the position of president in the next available year for continuity. This person is the person that the president delegates direction of programs more suited to that persons skills and interests, leaving every program with an interested and knowledgeable person to direct its activities and report to the president. This position is open for next year since Peter Duncan is taking over the Grant committee chair position.

The Treasurer should be a person with experience in accounting or at least familiar with Quick books. He or she pays the incoming bills for the activities of the standing Committees and vote approved commitments of the Board. He or she coordinates payment of funding with Serra High Financial clerk, Chi Seo. This person transfers money between the Money market account, Checking account, Credit card Merchant account and the Snack bar account. Files the paperwork for the nonprofit corporation status once every 2 years. Delivers files to the accountant for tax filing every year in September. Sits on the Grant committee to coordinate financial availability and its history to members for inclusion in their decision making grant funding. ( Grant committee meets 3 times a year.) Prepares a monthly report for Board meetings. Emails a monthly back up file to the assistant treasurer for off site record safety. Julie Matthews is the current Treasurer . Assistant treasurer for next year is an open position.

Assistant Treasurer is a signer on the accounts, has a copy of the monthly reconciliation of the books emailed to her (Quick books program to view them a plus.). This person would be taking the treasurer’s position when the Treasurer steps down. Attends monthly meeting when possible

The Secretary attends the monthly meetings and prepares minutes of each meeting for approval at the next meeting. He or she is recognized by the State in its corporate paperwork. This person should be articulate and succinct . Lap top ownership a plus. Emailing copy of the prior month’s minutes to the members of the board prior to each meeting.

Assistant Secretary keeps a copy of all the minutes and is able to sit at meetings for the Secretary if that person is unavailable.

Membership committee Chair/co-chairs are the driving forces for one fourth( or More) of the income of every years budget. They are responsible for printing the membership materials (envelopes and flyers) for signing up which are given out at registrations. These materials are ordered and delivered to Serra in early June for placement in next year’s registration packets. They sit at registration and solicit responses for the parents waiting in line with their students in the Fall. ( Two day commitment in the heat) Flyers need to be made for registration day to hand out to parents and a poster . They determine strategies for increasing membership and are available to represent the Foundation at events where the foundation’s presence is needed. The Co-Chairs collect from parent and the school all membership donations, tally and record then and present the to the treasurer for deposit. They maintain a roster of email addresses of the members for uses of the board members to inform of events and for communication of the members. They tally and record designated contributions for disbursement by the grant committee. We are putting together a committee of 6 to facilitate this so the time commitment is easy. The committee needs to get the laminated id cards ready for contributors over $100 before the first football game which is the first Friday night of school year. We have 3 volunteers so far and need 3 more. Alison Kahn will keep the spreadsheet of members, donations etc. again next year. We need a lead co- chair for next year with Alison. The committee co-ordinates the fall event to start off the year. This event is a membership drive/get together for all current and incoming members. Introductions of the new board are made. Fun is had by all. The current members are Alison Kahn, Diana Tracy, and Darla Lopez.

The Grant Committee will be headed by Paul Gotfredson next year and he has invited his committee members already. The Grant Committee is designated to receive and entertain and decide on all the requests for funding that the Board spends in a given year. With the exception of grave emergency expenditures, this committee balances the money spent between Educational needs, Administrative needs and Athletic needs not being met by district funding. There are three grant periods a year. Each having a deadline for which requests can be made by students, parents , school organizations, teachers and administrators. Much consideration is made regarding the merit of the requests , how many students the request affect, etc. They present their recommendations to the board for approval and have a monetary limit to the requests that they are able to entertain. Anything greater must be considered by the whole board and voted upon. Records are kept by the chair of the history of grants so that over the years all aspects remain balanced.

WebMaster is the key person who keeps the website updated, informative and entertaining. This site is used by all who need information about upcoming events and activities of the Foundation. Computer skills are a necessity. This position is responsible for maintaining the links, photos, information and transferring PayPal transations to the checking account. The position is wonderfully filled by Barbara Lefkarites again for next year.

Kim Gotfredson is our public relations person for next year. Public Relations is a position for an involved parent who loves to write. She writes articles for the TierraTimes and keeps the community apprised of the current successes and accomplishment of the teachers and student and staff. The new corner marquee has really increased community awareness but the community also has more time to read about the great things happening at the school. This person can write the articles or coordinate all interested persons in tooting the collective horn of the Foundations accomplishments. The PR person also maintains the foundation case in the Auditorium and the archives of the previous auction pictures.

Auction Chair and committee members are charged with the most important task of the year. They raise the money that the Foundation has to give to the School. These men and women work hard to plan, prepare and host the Annual Foundation Auction. Without them we would not be able to do the things we have accomplished to date. Auction chair must be a visionary , well connected to the business world , be an energetic person and well organized . He or she is charged with gathering a group of like talent who can really work hard when the task is before them. Currently the co-chairs for next year are Ginger Tyson and Bo Lee.

Football/Basketball Snack Bar positions include the Volunteer Coordinator and Shopper. The Foundation supervision and control of these snack bars is in flux at this time and may not be need persons to coordinate. Lisa Parker leaves us after many years of awesome performance. For next year we will need 3 or 4 persons to step forward and organize the snack bars with Don Nacrelli.

Buick golf tickets Co-ordinator is the person who distributes and takes responsibility for the sale of Buick Open Tickets. Since there was no one available to do this challenge in this past year, the administration has taken it over temporarily. If we could find someone to do this at larger businesses in the San Diego Area , we could tap a great source of revenue for the Foundation. All proceeds go to the Foundation, 100% of the ticket price is donated by the Buick to us. We must sell and collect and pay for the tickets and the money is returned to us a few months later. These people should be well connected in the corporate and business arena. We did not participate with this endeavor this year or last due to lack of interested parties to co-ordinate.

Von’s/Escript and Albertsons fundraising position is currently filled by Rom Sarno.

Freshman orientation position is open for next year. This person co-ordinates the snack for Freshmen orientation night. Usually soda and cookies are provided.

Sport/Activity Recognition Chair co-ordinates the program for the Fall Winter and Spring recognition programs. This consists of presenting the academic pins for those athletes with qualifying grade point averages and purchasing and distributing the snacks provided at the programs. This position is held by Carole Labuda.

With the current budget crisis, we need motivated parents to step up and volunteer. We want to do more every year to improve the education and environment of our student’s high school experiences. We need your help to accomplish this!!!!

Respectfully,

Sheri Oleson-Duncan, President