FOGS March 2026 Meeting Minutes

Friends of Goethe School (FOGS)

Monthly Meeting Minutes

March 3, 2025

6:30-8:30pm

Location: Goethe Library

Attendees:

• Jen Morales-Crye, President

• Ashlee Cuza Villanti, First Vice President

• Elizabeth Leong, Second Vice President

• Genevra Knight, Treasurer

• Sara McCradden, Secretary

• Mari Fair, Board Member

• Stephanie Galioto, Board Member

• Vanessa Gonzales, Board Member - Not present

• Kim Kappelman, Board Member

• Mandalyn Renicker,  Board Member

Discussion:

1. Welcome

2. Month in Review

   1. Ms Duarte received flex seating (classroom and teacher support)

   2. Ms Lopez received headphones (classroom and teacher support)

3. Executive Updates

   1. Dine and Donate

      1. Lou Malnati's raised $169

      2. Jersey Mikes is set for March 18-20, also has teacher discount

      3. Pending LSC approval:

         1. Old Plank (with mother's day craft) on May 8

         2. Jeni's Ice Cream social on June 11th

         3. Potentially Skokie Water Park over the summer. Mari is reaching out to water park

4. Treasurer's Report

   1. Donation Letters & Tax Documents

      1. Sent as required (thank you, Mari!)

      2. Sara to follow up with recurring donations to have them convert from Wix

      3. Remaining Funds

         1. STEAM: About 1K remaining in bucket + $952 we are holding from last year. Genevra and Jen to work together to to determine exact amount. Remaining will be given to STEAM group for them to self-manage

         2. Overall remaining in budget is about 14.5K to be spent. Final funding items to be discussed at next meeting.

      4. In general, FOGS should not hold money for other groups. To be discussed with LSC.

5. Report-Outs

   1. Communications

      1. Via email, we will decide whether to extend Wix for another year, move to school-based website. Ashlee will discuss with Elmasri.

      2. Newsletters will move back to monthly, too much information for quarterly

   2. Bucket Filling

      1. Last Tuesday = Teacher breakfast. Well received. Dark Matter donated coffee.

      2. Counseling staff received hot choc and marshmallows last month.

      3. SECAs will be celebrated in April

      4. Admin Day in April

      5. Teacher Appreciation Day in May

   3. Recruitment

      1. 2x pre-K open houses upcoming, both have waitlists

      2. K welcome party on April 14th

6. Fundraising Report-Outs

   1. La Noche Loteria

      1. Agora Market, Julie O Herrera, Dr. Brian Rosett, Perennial Counseling, Fuzzy Urban Tails, Will Guzzarti as newly confirmed sponsors. About 16K in sponsorships secured.

      2. 50% of tickets have been sold, 75 tickets remaining. FOGS members to check GiveSmart for current ticket holders.

   2. Fun Run

      1. All kids have been entered into database and reconciled

      2. Shortly finalizing prizes

      3. Hope to roll out to students before Spring Break

7. Volunteer Opportunities:

   1. Coordinate Dine and Donates

   2. Committees for Fun Run and Goethe Fest

8. Upcoming Calendar of Events

   1. 3/14 La Noche Loteria at Pilot Project

   2. 3/18-20 Jersey Mike's Dine and Donate

   3. 4/25 Fun Run

   4. 5/8 Tentative Old Plank Dine and Donate

   5. 6/13 Tentative Jeni's Ice Cream Dine and Donate

   6. Fall 2025 Goethe Fest (pending LSC approval)

9. Meeting Dates

   1. April 7th

   2. May 5th

   3. June 2nd