Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes May 3, 2021

5/4/2021

Meeting called to order at 6:31pm
Minutes from April 2021 meeting are posted on the COBA website
Financial report: Savings $4757.19; Checking $5448.06 ( $1000.00 cleared, $222.85 to Monarch Trophy for Senior Awards, +$1025.00 cash donations directly to COBA deposited). Future expenses: engraving on UIL Trophies
COBA membership for 2020/2021: 29 members
SnapRaise fundraiser update: Very successful! A check in the amount of $11,747.60 will be sent to COBA at the Churchill HS address in 4-6 weeks. Thank you to Vanessa Gil for spearheading this fundraiser and to all who donated to our orchestra!
Priorities for the fundraiser funds: new Peter & the Wolf wolf and cat costumes, subsidize tickets for orchestra students to go to the Symphony, pay for clinicians to come to WC and give classes to our orchestra students, buy stickers & tshirts to give to 5th grade Strings students and middle school orchestra students to increase interest in joining the WC Orchestra, any travel expenses
Both the Varsity Orchestra and the Non-Varsity Orchestra earned Sweepstakes in UIL competitions. Congratulations!
Orchestra Banquet/Celebration will be this Friday, May 7th at the Orchestra building. It is entirely organized by the Orchestra officers.
Scholarship Committee will meet May 4 6:30pm in the Orchestra room. We have received 5 applications for the scholarship.
Final Concerts of the year will be May 17th for class periods 1,2,3,6 at 7pm and May 18th at 7pm for 4th class period both in the Naeglin Theater. All seating is assigned. COBA board members will provide assistance in ushering family and friends to their assigned seats. A SignUp Genius will be sent out to volunteer as an usher.
Thank you to Jovany & Xochilt Vega who have stepped to fill the role of President of COBA for the 2021/2022 school year.
Ongoing discussion about Silent Auction as a means to fund the Scholarship vs a GoFundMe campaign or a combination of both. Heather Elizondo will work on this.
Meeting adjourned 7:46pm

COBA Meeting April 6, 2021

4/8/2021

Meeting called to order at 6:34pm.
Minutes from last meeting are posted on the website.
Financial Report: Savings- $4756.99, Checking- $5442.85 ( $1000.00 scholarship check still pending) , Charms account yearly renewal was paid ($349.00).
Heather Elizondo is setting up a Go Fund Me account to raise additional funds for the Pamela Elizondo Scholarship Fund.
We have very few students participating in our SnapRaise Fundraiser. However, we have had quite a few donations of $100.00 or more. We are more than half way to our goal of $7000.00! Mr. Thibodeaux will remind students to enter their emails to participate in the fundraiser. The fundraiser ends on 4-29-21. We should receive the money we raised (minus 20%) in about 5-6 weeks.
The tapings of the UIL Contests are due on April 15. Hopefully we will get the results in May.
The deposit for the Banquet Hall at Anne Marie's has been transferred to next year since the District will not allow in person banquets this year. We have Friday, May 20, 2022 reserved at Anne Marie's for our end of year banquet next school year.
The District is allowing end of year award ceremonies. There can be no food, drink, or parents--students only. Rozzi, Jonathan, and Emily are planning this ceremony. COBA will purchase senior trophies and outstanding orchestra student plaques.
The Pamela Sue Sweet Elizondo Scholarship applications will available from Mr. Thibodeaux and Mr. Norton. The due date for the application and essay is April 30, 2021 at 4:15pm. A reminder: for your senior to eligible for the scholarship, a parent must be a paid member of COBA.
The Scholarship Selection Committee will meet on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 via Zoom at 6:30pm. This year the members are: Mr. Thibodeaux, Mr. Norton. Carrie Fuhrmann. Anjali Joshi, Jenny Landry.
T-shirt designs for next year were briefly discussed.
The Pit rehearsals will restart on May 2, 2021. Performances will be May 19-22.
Carrie Fuhrmann will be stepping down as President of COBA as of the end of this school year. COBA has the following Board positions open for the 2021/2022 school year: President and Secretary. If you are interested in serving in either of these positions, please contact Carrie Fuhrmann or Mr. Thibodeaux.
Meeting adjourned at 7:32pm.

COBA Meeting February 2, 2021

2/8/2021

Meeting called to order at 6:37pm.
Minutes from our last meeting are posted on the website.
Financials are unchanged from last month. There is one outstanding scholarship check from the 2019/2020 school year that still has not been cashed. It was discovered that the check was sent to the wrong university (student never turned in acceptance form stating where to send check so there was confusion about where to send the check). The error has been corrected and the $1000.00 check should be cashed within the next couple of weeks. A note was made to amend the scholarship acceptance form to state that no scholarship check will be mailed out until the acceptance form has been returned by the student to COBA.
An online fundraiser will begin on March 15, 2021. More information will be given to the students as we get closer to Spring Break.
NEISD has cancelled all outside of school activities so it is doubtful that we will be able to have the Annual Orchestra Banquet. Anne Marie's will be called as to the status of our deposit from last year's banquet.
NEISD has cancelled all in-person concerts. Future concerts for this school year will be live streamed. The Pre-UIL concert will be live streamed on February 16th at 7pm. The judges for the UIL concert and sight reading contests will be coming to Churchill. This will be live streamed on March 1 & 2. Upgrading the camera used to produce the live streaming has been investigated because there were complaints about the picture quality of the Holiday Concert. However, the cost of the camera and necessary components is cost prohibitive ($5000.00).
The all school musical has been postponed until May 19-22, 2021. It has not yet been determined how the musical will be performed for an audience.
Mr. Thibodeaux would like COBA to pursue obtaining corporate sponsorships for the Orchestra like the band and athletics have. COBA will look into that possibility.
Meeting adjourned at 7:14pm.

COBA Meeting January 12, 2021

1/15/2021

Meeting was called to order at 6:31pm.
Minutes from last meeting are posted here on the website.
Financial report: $4756.41 in savings ( $3000.00 reserved for scholarships) and $5925.68 in checking. Outstanding payments: Payment for cello closet shelving and one scholarship recipient from 2019/2020.
COBA will have a fundraiser in March 2021. It will be with SNAP Fundraising. Each orchestra student will be asked to supply emails from family and friends. SNAP will send out an email asking for donations to the Churchill Orchestra. Funds raised will be used to buy/repair school instruments, update technology, cover transportation costs, pay fees associated with UIL contests.
The orchestra is currently working on music for the UIL contests and the Solo/Ensemble contests. A UIL judge will come to Churchill to judge the Solo/Ensemble contests (each student participating has been assigned a time slot) but the Orchestra UIL contests will be held off campus.
Meeting adjourned at 7:07pm. Next meeting will be on February 2, 2021 @ 6:30pm via Zoom.

COBA Meeting 11/2/2020

11/9/2020

Meeting Called to Order at 6:31pm
Minutes from last meeting are posted on the website
Financial Report: Arami Aquino has had several medical issues in her family and her personal phone was out of order this is why she was out of touch with COBA. Savings Balance: $4756.02, Checking Balance: $6118.59
Student t-shirts and masks were delivered to the orchestra room and students picked them up
Binders purchased and delivered to orchestra room
Vanessa Gil will set up an online fundraiser for COBA. It is a 28 day fundraiser and each student will supply 20 emails. Each email will ask the recipient to donate to the Orchestra. We will receive 80% of what is collected while the company will receive 20%.
Peter and the Wolf concert will be livestreamed on YouTube. The Theater Arts students will play the characters in the Peter and the Wolf production this year. The orchestra will build the tree for the set on November 15. Sign up sheets will be available for students to sign up for a work time slot. The build will begin at 1pm and the paper mache will begin at 3pm. The orchestra is in need of donations of newspaper for the paper mache! Please drop off at orchestra room. A Sign Up Genuis was sent out asking for newspaper as well.
Region Philharmonic auditions are soon--sign up information went out to the students
The Holiday Concert will be on December 7, 2020 at 7pm. It will be at the amphitheater on campus--weather permitting.
Meeting adjourned at 6:58pm

Meeting called to order at 6:30pm.
Minutes from last meeting are posted on the website. Have made several attempts to contact Arami about financials, but no response.
Student orchestra t-shirts have been ordered, expected delivery is October 19. Cost for 2 t-shirts and a mask was $17.41. Only 82 students purchased t-shirts, We were required to purchase a minimum of 150 masks. We will offer those extra masks for sale.
October 5th concert went well.
Heather Elizondo will work on updating Charms.
Vanessa Gil will contact an online fundraising service to assist us in an online fundraiser.
Bess Soutter volunteered to fill the Hospitality position and Freshman parent Dawn Reiss volunteered to be the Freshman Representative.
Mr. Thibodeaux requested black, red, and white 1" binders for the orchestra students.
Mr. Thibodeaux stated that Dr. Maika announced that any student who wants to come back to actual in school learning may do so on October 19th. He referred us to Dr. Maika's letter and announcement for details.
As of right now, the orchestra will be building the tree for the Peter and the Wolf performance. The orchestra will be performing Peter and the Wolf for the elementary schools by streaming the concert.
There will be no Region Clinic or concert. The Fifth Grade Strings Holiday concert is cancelled.
The orchestra will have the Holiday Concert as planned (following social distancing protocols).
Meeting adjourned at 7:05pm.

COBA Meeting September 14, 2020

9/14/2020

Meeting called to order at 6:35pm.
Minutes from the August COBA meeting are posted on the website.
We currently have $1755.82 in the COBA savings account and $8286.89 in the COBA checking account. $3000.00 will be moved from the checking to the savings account for the end-of-year scholarships.
Mr. Thibodeaux and Mr. Norton will announce to the Orchestra classes to order their orchestra t-shirts on the COBA website. Freshmen will select the "New Student Package" and will receive a red t-shirt, a black t-shirt, a mask, and a garment bag for $25.00. Existing students will select "Existing Student Package" and will receive a red t-shirt, a black t-shirt, and a mask for $20.00. The deadline for ordering the T-shirt packages online will be October 2, 2020.
There is a tentative concert scheduled for sometime in November. Details TBA. The concert will not be mandatory.
Optional orchestra rehearsals will begin this Wednesday. Please see Mr. Thibodeaux's website for the rehearsal schedule.
Mr. Thibodeaux will get the necessary information to Heather Elizondo to update Charms.
Mr. Thibodeaux will submit receipts for expenses relating to the cello/bass closet for reimbursement.
Vicky Torres resigned as Hospitality chair due to health reasons. The position is now open.
Discussion about fundraising for scholarships and COBA expenses. Heather will look into crowdsourcing for raising money for the scholarships since we will most likely not have an auction this year. Corporate sponsorships and teacher night at McDonald's was also discussed. COBA's expenses are reduced this year so far since most of the extra activities (pool party, Halloween Party, etc.) have been canceled - we may not need to raise that much money to meet expenses.
Meeting adjourned. Next meeting will be October 13, 2020.

August 06th, 2020

8/6/2020

The first COBA meeting of the 2020/2021 was called to order on 8/3 at 6:37pm.
The minutes from the last meeting in May are posted on the website.
Our treasurer did not attend the meeting, a financial report will be posted on the website soon.
All 8 COBA scholarships for the 2019/2020 school year have been distributed to the recipients' schools.
The new signage for the Dinner Theater and concerts have arrived.
The Orchestra Camp scheduled for August 10-13 has been canceled.
The COBA Weebly website has been renewed for another 2 years. The cost was $77.94--Carrie Fuhrmann paid the renewal fee and will be reimbursed by COBA.
Formal Uniform distribution will possibly occur in November before the Holiday Concert. There will be no Fall Concert.
Orchestra T-shirts will ordered as soon as students are able to place their orders. We are considering ordering Churchill Orchestra face masks as well. Mr. Thibodeaux would like COBA to look into using Lulubells as our t-shirt vendor because the company is owned by former Churchill Orchestra parents.
Orchestra supplies such as binders, pencils, etc. will be purchased when we have firm numbers of returning Orchestra students.
The Freshman Pool Party has been canceled and is possibly to be replaced by a virtual movie night that is to be led by the Orchestra Officers.
Basically all Fall activities have been canceled. Spring activities are still on the calendar with the exception of the Dude Ranch Trip. NEISD has canceled all school trips for the 2020/2021 school year.
We are looking into the possibility of having an online Talent Show and online Auction to replace our annual Dinner Theater/Silent Auction.
Once Mr. Thibodeaux and Mr. Norton have their class rosters, they will encourage parents to complete their information in the CHARMS system. We will then be able to contact parents--especially the freshman parents.
Next meeting is on September 14, 2020 at 6:30pm. Probably via ZOOM.
Meeting adjourned at 7:40pm.

May 2020

5/19/2020

coba_-_may_2020_monthly_treasurers_report_5.12.20.pdf
File Size:	1039 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

  1.Call to Order 6:36pm
2.Minutes from last meeting
a.Will be posted on website
3.Financial Report
  a.Jessica unable to attend Zoom meeting, financials will be posted on website as soon as they are available
4.COBA Officers for 2020/2021
  a.Fundraising – Vanessa Gil has volunteered to help and hopefully get a Freshman parent involved, Arami Aquino will take over as COBA treasurer from Jessica Vacca on 7/1/2020.
5.COBA Signs
  a.Signs arrived, Blanco sign, dinner theatre door sign, Concert etiquette signs for entry doors    Heather Elizondo to make add’l etiquette signs – small ones
6.Orchestra Yearbook
  a.Mr. T sent to final pdf to share with students
      i.Possible next year not to ask for advertising adds, perhaps well wisher adds recommended by Pam Klinger
7.COBA Scholarship Committee Meeting
      i.Student T-shirts 2020/2021 – sent letter to middle school teachers requesting forward to future Charger students. Additional information-joining COBA,, etc.
      ii.Received one 8th grade parent sign up for COBA
8.Orchestra Banquet- Anne Marie’s
      i.Ruben at Anne Marie’s requested they will keep deposit apply to next year’s banquet
      ii.$600 deposit applied to May 22, 2021
9.New Business
  a.Uniform Collections -- All but 11 uniforms returned
  b.Inventory and Repairs -- All senior instruments returned
  c.Face mask fundraising – thoughts? Cost $5 - $7 each, will they be required for school? One to two week turn around, table topic until further information is available
10.Director’s Minute
  a.Scholarship committee Thursday, May 14th zoom meeting
  b.Graduation
      i.June 1 – June 5
      ii.Mr. T will hand out awards, as well as the outstanding senior awards
  c.Next year’s calendar emailed - Pre-UIL concert pushed back one week

Future COBA Meetings:

August 3, 2020

Important Dates:

Aug 4 – 6 - WC Prep days

Aug 10 – 13 Orchestra uniform distribution

April 2020

4/30/2020

1.Call to Order
2.Minutes from last meeting – posted online website
3.Financial Report -
a.Complete report to be posted on website
  b.Summary : $15921.26 balance as of 4/14/2020 checking, $1755.14 savings
4.COBA Officers for 2020/2021--
  a.Fundraising (Vanessa Gil), Communications (A Joshi) –
  b.Suggestions for fundraising next year
      i.Eliminate product delivery to school-Butter Braid & Yankee Candle
      ii.Try SNAP as suggested by Mr. T, cons: 20% fee
5.UIL- volunteers, snacks, and lunch –
  a.Everything went great, everyone got feed
  b.Great UIL results
6.New York Trip-update and rental/shipping cellos & basses
  a.Refund for cancelled events
  b.Mr. T has some funds to return to COBA
7.NEISD Tape Clinic
8.Orchestra Yearbook
  a.Cancel hard copy everyone will get pdf, not enough ads sales
9.New Business
  a.May’s Activities
  b.Silent Auction for next Year (October 17, 2020 possible date)
  c.2019/2020 Scholarships-Selection Committee,
      i.Number of Scholarships funds available for this year
      ii.Concerns for next year’s possible donations decline from vendors with pandemic issues
      iii.Scholarship deadline May 4, 2020
      iv.Committee is set, Mrs. Stevenson, Mrs. Tinkao, Mr. T. Mrs. Furhmann, Mrs. Elizondo, Mr. Norton,
  d.Student T-shirts 2020/2021 –
      i.Fuhrmann to call and get possible pricing, Z Wear---too expensive & Lulu Bell & Big Star Branding,
      ii.Pending design from Orchestra officers
  e.COBA Signs –
      i.New banner for Blanco road fence, new signs for dinner theatre, theatre etiquette
      ii.Committee voted and agreed to purchase (cost of $225.00)
10.Director’s Minute
  a.Orchestra End of Year Banquet at Anne Marie’s
      i.Cancellation policy
      ii.Online video as substitute
Future COBA Meetings:
May 4
Important Dates:

May 4- COBA Meeting 6:30pm
May 18- Finale Concert 1,2,3,6 periods (turn in Formal Uniforms after Concert)
May 19- Finale Concert 4 period ( turn in Formal Uniforms at end of Concert)
May 21- Orchestra End of Year Banquet at Anne
May 26- 2020 Freshman Night
May 30 TSSEC-UT Austin
May 31 WC Graduation
June 1-4: Reorganize Orchestra Library

<<Previous