HB Woodlawn PAC Meeting Minutes: October 22, 2025

The first PAC meeting of the year was held on October 22, 2025 in the HB Woodlawn school library at 7 p.m. In attendance were school principal Dr. Casey Robinson, English Teacher Jennifer Goen, PAC Co-Chair Courtney Holmes, and approximately 18 parents. PAC Secretary Necia Chambliss took notes. The following is a brief summary of the meeting.

Welcome: Casey welcomed everyone to the first meeting of the year, and explained that this is not a PTA, but rather is a Parent Advisory Committee. We then went around the room and parents introduced themselves, sharing their name, and the grade(s) of their kid(s) at HB (and sometimes at other schools).

Budget/Funding: Casey discussed the No Sweat fundraiser, which generates funds for a variety of expenses throughout the year. She explained that HB’s PAC is run slightly differently from the PTAs at most of the APS schools. Other schools have independent PTAs that are 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations that are run separately from the school. Those PTAs manage their own fundraisers and money. At HB, thePAC is advisory and is not a separate non-profit entity. So, funds are channeled through AP accounts, and are expended in coordination with school leadership.

Approximately $17,000 was donated to HB this fall with the No Sweat fundraiser. There was also about $17,000 left from last year combined with summer donations, resulting in an account balance of approximately $34,000. As happens every fall, teachers were given an opportunity to request funds. A group of parents gathered a week or so ago to review the requests and recommend expenditures. Requests totaled approximately $28,000. The panel of parents recommended approving about $21,000 of those requests. Some of the requests were not recommended for approval at this time because they were for lower priority items, and the panel wanted to save funds for teacher/staff appreciation week and for the traditional second round of grants that occurs in the new year (around January).

Approval of the panel’s recommended expenditures was put to a voice vote. The measure was unanimously approved by those present. Examples of items approved include new mats for use in the gym by the PE teacher, technology items, items for the theater department, a poster printer to be used primarily by kids for science fair displays and similar projects, and money to support new curriculum initiatives by the chemistry teacher resulting from her summer enrichment program at Harvard last summer.

Activities: There are many activities already happening at HB. This Thursday, Friday,and Saturday there is a Black Box theater production. Next week there will be a combined HB/Shriver choir concert on Tuesday evening, an instrumental (band and orchestra) concert on Thursday evening.

Middle School Dance: Wednesday of next week is early release. The middle school kids have an event planned including a dance. It is not for costumes (although kids can wear costumes if they want).

Halloween: Halloween is a big deal at HB. Kids are encouraged to wear costumes. There is a request list for items that teachers need for fun activities they do on Halloween – please donate. The link is in the PAC emails.

Book Discussion: The Disengaged Teenager: After the meeting portion concluded, English Teacher Jennifer lead a discussion about the 4 learning pillars at HB Woodlawn, and a book called The Disengaged Teenager. Parents were welcome to join in the discussion even if they had not read the book (many had not). Attendees broke into small groups for discussion. Jennifer handed out sheets with the book’s key points, which described various phases kids can be in (related to their attitude toward learning) at any time. Phases include the “Passenger” in which kids are quietly disengaged –compliant but uninvested, “Resister” in which the kid is actively disengaged and displays behaviors that signal distress, the “Achiever” in which the kid is highly movitivated and expends tremendous energy to excel but is anxious, and the “Explorer” which is the pinnacle of engagement, where the kid is productive and happy. Groups provided the opportunity to discuss times when they had seen kids in various phases, and how to support kids with various struggles. It was a lively discussion which ended a little after 8p.m. We discussed possibly having another book for discussion at a future PAC meeting.