10/17/18

Visual and Performing Arts Boosters

Minutes of the General Membership Meeting

Wednesday, October 17, 6:30pm- 8:00pm @ KHS Library

In attendance:

Jesse Wakeman

Eric Desmarais

Emilie Spas

Jenny Theiller

Katie Mooney

Emma Hauser

Connie Plaisted

Catherine Lindgren

Jeni Kingston

Rose Hines

Leslie Trentalange

Lisa Crimp

Scott Ellis

Laurie Ellis

Mary Ann Pillsbury

Robert Akers

(Secretary Michelle Taggart was unable to attend – notes taken by Catherine Lindgren)

1. All in attendance introduced themselves and described their relation to visual and performing arts at KHS.


2. Clynk Update

  • VPA had a relationship with HB Provisions for a little over one year. Scott, and then Emilie and her husband have shouldered most of the work. It has been a good relationship, but it has been a lot of work. We are at a point where it has run its course. If students would take it over, it would be great, but it is a lot for only a few people to do. Jeni suggested that we would be better off putting our efforts into getting the bags and tags out to people in the school/community. It is often hard for people to get them, so we should make an effort to have them be very accessible (in classrooms and the office, etc.).
  • *Motion by Connie Plaisted to discontinue our formal Clynk relationship with HP, but to find a way to properly thank them – (maybe give them free tickets and acknowledge them in program). Second by Lisa – Motion Passes – unanimous vote.
  • Scott reported that we made $463 from the Clynk program in 3 quarters.
  • Emma will ask if Karen would still like to take the lead with the Clynk program.
  • At performances and concerts, Emma will make bags available near the VPA table.



3. Departmental Updates

a. Band/Chorus – Hit the ground with a bang – great start to the year! Many people made it into Districts and 2 made it into Jazz districts.

i. Exchange program – Pairing with a school from upstate NY. They are coming here on April 27 with their Band, Choir and Orchestra. Eric Desmarais is pulling resources from UNH and many musical directors from the region will be assisting. They will merge the two programs. There will be a performance at night. We are not housing them.


What will be the associated costs? Splitting the band and choir director expenses. They will pay for orchestra director. We will split costs for lunch and dinner. Hopefully, we can do a potluck for lunch. Maybe bring groups of people downtown to explore for dinner.

They are hoping to get some help from VPA and/or the Dionne Trust. Jesse Wakeman said they can try to use some of the $$ they have in their budget already.

Emma explained the funding request form that is on the website. Submit with a description and amount needed.

We have $1,000 allotted for choral master classes from the Dionne and that could cover the choral master classes in this case. We could provide more money for the other needs.


They intend to travel with the KHS band and chorus to the NY school next year.


b. Theater – Class is all about theater. They took a field trip to Emerson College where they saw a play and toured the campus. They got to see behind the scenes. They had a student talk with them about what it is like to be a student there. They were very excited about the play they saw. It went very smoothly.

Mary Ann got approved for an Ed. Foundation grant to go see a play at Portland Stage and then have the playwright come do a class in playwriting. She is hoping to get $$ for seeing performances in the budget.

  1. Upcoming play, Almost Maine – November 16, 17, & 18. - $10 for adult, $5 concession – students, kids, seniors, Sunday might be free for RSU21 students.
  2. -Tentative plans about the musical. They hope to have an open audition so they can assess the talent and then pick the show. They also will consider doing the audition in time to get the rights. They intend to do the musical for 2 weekends.
  3. Program - Emma and Connie met with Caroline Smith about the play. She is hoping to have some help with the program. It will be a smaller program that the school will print up. It will contain a list of VPA donors, bios of the cast, info about the show, etc. Can work with the art department to help with layout, etc.

  5. Lisa Crimp volunteered to help with program production.
  6. Concessions – VPA will do concessions during intermission during the play. Caroline will reach out to parents of kids in the play to ask about ushering.
  7. Ticket Sales – Caroline is considering online ticket sales. She is seeking help from VPA from us on how to set up ticket sales. Will be helpful to have online ticket sales for promotional purposes too – can send emails and social media with buttons to push to buy your tickets.
  8. The faculty has been told that the money from ticket sales will go back into their budget. And they will have what they need for the next shows. (Yay!)

We all agree we want to build the program and to take all obstacles to attendance off the table.

Scott noted that the team should be careful with the budget and to be very conscious of what is in there as they go along – there is $5,000 to start (yay!).

c. Art – VPA donated the money for the revolving door. But the District actually paid for it so there is $3,200 still in the account. The art teachers wanted to ask us about using the money to meet a current need. The art teachers are considering getting tablets to replace the ones that are getting outdated. Currently 12 of them have all the pieces they need. They are currently on sale and they could get a full set for the class for $3,400.

**Motion by Laurie to approve the art department spending the $3200 for the purchase of the tablets. Connie seconds. Motion passes with unanimous vote.

4. Possible trip to Boston this year

VPA considering trip to keep morale up. Discussions will on that possibility will continue with faculty to consider what is doable given all of the planning and requirements involved.

5. Presentation by Robert Akers, photographic opportunities


In the past, Robert Akers put up football banners and got a lot of attention. He got questions about why he never does something like that for theater or performing arts. He didn’t do them for the arts because he wasn’t hired to do them.


Big posters can make them “look larger than life.” He proposed to Ben last year to do them for the band or for theater. Last year they did head shots for all the actors. He proposed that they would do the headshots and character shot. They did that and posted them – they were beautiful! He was not able to recoup any of his costs because the kids took all the photos at the end of the show instead of purchasing them.


Robert brought samples of what he is talking about and what he can do for the students. He is hoping to create something special for the seniors especially.


He described his goal as creating something that “brings the band members up into a cooler level of social environment – like the football players.” Elevate them to say, “I’m cool” and help them feel like they are doing something important.


Robert’s proposal is to create a big banner to put it up in the lobby. He could create a big banner for $800 – if could have 8 people donate $100 each to make it happen.


The VPA will follow-up as an executive board to see if there is interest and, if so, how we might be able to make it work.

6. Treasurer’s Report by Scott

  • 22,000 cash balance now
  • Copies of the report are available for anyone who wants to see it.
  • The boosters have spent $80,000 over the past 10 years to support the arts in the high school.
  • We already have $600 for the next trip.
  • If considering trip next year, we should discuss fundraising ideas.


Amazon smile: can designate VPA for Amazon Smile – Emma will work on getting the word out about that.


7. Annual Appeal

Started first annual appeal last year and made about $11,000.

8. Ben’s Card

Board voted unanimously to give Ben a $150 gift card for Merrill Auditorium and card was passed around for signing.


Meeting Adjourned – 8:10 p.m.