I AM A NEW PRESIDENT TOO. WE HAD OUR FIRST MEETING AND SINCE NO ONE CAME TO OUR RE-ORGANIZATION MEETING IN MAY, I CAME UP WITH FIVE STANDING COMMITTEES ON MY OWN. I USED ALL THE INFORMATION IN THE PTOTODAY MAGAZINE AND I MADE A PROPOSAL. OUR PTO HAS BEEN HORRIBLE FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS AND I TOLD THEM THAT. THEY ALL AGREED WITH ME! I HAD NO PROBLEM GETTING CHAIRPEOPLE, THEY VOLUNTEERD! I WAS SHOCKED. I TOLD THEM WE NEEDED A NEW OUTLOOK, AND WE SHOULD FOCUS ON FAMILY/COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AND NOT SO MUCH ON FUND RAISING. I PROPOSED THAT EACH GRADE LEVEL HAVE THEIR OWN MEETING COMBINED WITH A "FAMILY" ACTIVITY. THEY ARE ALL READY FOR A CHANGE, I THINK THEY WERE JUST LOOKING FOR SOMEBODY TO STAND UP AND SAY IT! NOW THAT I HAVE I DON'T HAVE A CLUE WHAT TO DO!! DO ANY OF YOU HAVE THESE TYPES OF FUNCTIONS? WHAT ARE SOME GOOD FAMILY ACTIVITIES THAT THE TEACHERS WILL PARTICIPATE IN AND THE FAMILY WILL ATTEND??

See what happens when you get involved!!!

We have had a couple of family things. A reading night that was broken into two groups - Arthur for the younger kids (K-3)and Harry Potter for the older grades (4-6).

Our school goes to 8th grade. We got the older grades to read aloud to the Arthur group. We had three stations that were set up in three rooms. Each room was decorated to go along with the book theme (sleeping bags, a tent etc) Each station had 15 minutes then they all met for cake and drinks. We also had a book raffle. Each child got a raffle ticket and we gave away a bunch of books.

The Harry Potter room was decorated like Diagon Alley with four stations where the kids made hats, wands, owls and ate Bertie Botts every flavor beans.

Good luck!

I'm not familiar with breaking up by grade level. We have our meetings and events for the entire school. In the past we've had spaghetti dinner & I guess that started to get old. We have family movie night - that's pretty popular. This year we're trying something new - family game night.

Keep up the great work!

I'm not so sure if I like the each grade level thing or not. Our goal is to bring as many people together as possible, from each grade (K-6). We try to do something at least one night a month. We have a Fall Festival each October which includes a chilli or spaghetti supper, haunted house, costume contest, raffle, games etc. One of the best events during the fall festival is the pumpkin decorating contest. We give each classroom a pumpkin about 1 week prior to the festival to decorate anyway they want. Then at the festival each pumpkin receives votes using canned goods. We also do a Bingo night, usually in February, where everyone gets free popcorn and punch and win prizes, not cash. One event we started last year was family game night....what a HUGH success!!! We were totally amazed by the turnout of children and parents from all grades. We had contests between kids, parents and kids and parents together. We also had board games set up so they could play those as well. It was sooooo much fun. We also do music night, science night, and lots of other fun stuff and always get plenty of positive feedback from parents.

When you have your family game night what games do you play, that k-8 can all participate in? Our Bylaws suggest the meeting for each grade level and we have what is called PPP. I'm not sure what it stands for but an example of a PPP function last year was where each student in the second grade picked an animal and made a habitate to display for the parents. All the parents came to see what their child did and then left! It took all of 15 minutes! I thought that we could have a PTO function included with each grades PPP function. But I just can't seem to come up with any ideas of how to combine the two. Our PTO is hitting rock bottom! We have one member who is money hungry! She thinks that everything we do should be to raise money! I thought that by sponsering a fun event, the PTO would get parents and teachers together and the teachers could give the parents tips on what they are teaching our children in the class room and parents could tell the teachers how Timmy and Tammy are coping at home. We have 15 minute parent teacher conferences at grade card time, hardly enough time to find out how Timmy is really doing in class. I must have been dreaming when I thought I could make a difference! Somebody slap me!!!!!!!!!

2children,
Don't be discouraged! You did have people volunteer, remember? There is no reason you have to make all these decisions yourself! If the decisions pertain to one of the standing committees, have a comm. mtg. The people who volunteered would probably appreciate being in on the decision making. When you have a group together, the ideas can really start flowing! Then, break down the various things that need to be done (publicity, food, bringing games, etc..) and make sure you have at least one person to organize that subcommittee. If you have other members of the comm. who couldn't come to the mtg, be sure to share their names with all the subcomm. chair.

As far as teachers, from what our principal has said, I think if the teachers come to a PTO event, they don't really like to be confronted by parents about a particular child. I think it makes them feel like they've been blindsided. Our teachers try to let the parents know how they can be contacted with any questions & concerns and they are quite accessible.

We have at least one or two teachers at each of our PTO meetings. They give a feel for some of the different projects they do with the kids. The parents really LOVE it! I'm sure our principal strongly encourages them to come to at least one meeting a year.

LauraNTwo,
Would you be able to give more details about your family game night? We're planning our first one for Oct & I'm not really sure whether to just have people bring board games or what. Since you've already done it, I'd love some of your ideas.

Thanks,
Jo

[This message has been edited by MightyJo (edited 10-15-2001).]