Kunena Site Syndication http://www.ptotoday.com/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:14:30 -0500 Kunena 1.5.5 http://www.ptotoday.com/components/com_kunena/template/default_ex/images/english/emoticons/rss.gif http://www.ptotoday.com/ Kunena Site Syndication http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/17-fundraising/151264-the-ultimate-donation-list?limit=6&start=18#151533 H&R Block - Gift Certificate for $150 off Tax Prep Contact your local year round office. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:21:23 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/21-day-to-day-pto-management/151532-charity-gaming-checking-account#151532 Not sure if this is the right forum for this... [URL=http://www.in.gov/igc/2482.htm]INDIANA CHARITY GAMING FORMS[/URL] On the application for having a charity game night it says that you need to pay using your "separate and segregated charity gaming checking account." Is anyone familiar with this? Does this mean our PTC has to have two bank accounts? Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:18:09 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/33-family-movie-night/151492-stop-kids-from-running-around-at-movie-night#151531 KoKoNuts- Maybe I am stating the obvious -- but just in case : ) ... Put in as many places (flyers, announcements, signs, newsletters) as possible a line something like: All children must be accompanied by an adult - This is NOT a drop off event. Be sure to stress on all materials that it is a FAMILY event. Tim also brought up another good point: make sure that you choose movie that will hold the kids attention and isn't too long. I also like Jewel's idea of the sheet with behavior expectations - maybe this could be up on your parent group website. Have heard of some schools having someone curbside the night or day of the event to make sure that parents are not dropping and leaving! Anyone else have any ideas? ~Lisa Follow PTO Today on twitter: http://twitter.com/ptotoday Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:39:52 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/25-involvement-ideas-and-challenges/150175-booster-club-and-facebook?limit=6&start=12#151528 I work with a Green Fundraiser company and i have used facebook to keep all of my schools and groups up to date on the new products and or causes that running our fundraiser helps out or promotes. I think using social media COULD NOT be better for anyone trying to get the word out about their groups or organizations!!!! Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:09:20 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/25-involvement-ideas-and-challenges/151303-volunteer-comfort-zone?limit=6&start=18#151526 A big problem we have is with our principal. She is very partial to some committees(ie: those that raise funds), but not very sympathetic to committees like our eco-friendly recycling or even the library committee. Since she controls the means of communication (ie: the school newsletter and all send home flyers have to go through her). She bearly proactive in recruiting volunteers. Every commitee has both a staff member and a parent chairperson. This creates the situation where the staff chairperson is afraid to speak up, I assume for fear of getting fired. This fear then trickles down through the rest of the committee creating a constant state of near p[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]aralysis. I am the only one who stands up to her while the others watch in fear and maybe hope. What can I do?[/SIZE][/FONT] Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:22:25 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/21-day-to-day-pto-management/151519-president-needs-attitude-adjustment#151525 LCK, I really feel for you and we have had this issue at my sons school for several years in the past. We have had presidents that treated parents like dirt except for when they wanted something donated, fundraiser items sold, or needed someone to do the grunt work they felt was beneth them. Bringing this topic up for dicussion can be quite tricky. That is why I suggest you do not point this out in the middle of a PTO meeting. Even if you do not single a person out by name most will still know who the pink elephant is in the room so to speak. You are better off to try speaking to her in private or with a third party who would be non judgement on either side of the issue ( maybe the principal or a teacher would set down with you). Don't point out all that she dose wrong tell her you would really like to help her get more volunteers and that you think or that parents have told you that if they felt more welcome they would. Adviser her that all parents have something to offer the school and that the PTO should be grateful for the help and not overly critical. If she is voicing her opinion about and saying rude or nasty remarkes about parents not helping or being overly critical on the ones that do then that needs to stop asap. She should be told that behavior like that is unacceptable. Any PTO officer should conduct themselves with the highest level of professional conduct at all school functions and meetings. This also sets a bad example for the kids. It sends them a message that it is ok to be rude and ungreatful. Explain that if she has an issue with one volunteer or instructions not being followed, then she needs to speak with that person in private or explain what she wants done and how(in a professsional manner). It is her job to be sure every volunteer understands what is expected. If you are not clear on what and how then you only have yourself to blame. Try to look at some of the issues from her point of view. Matbe she is just nervous about taking on such a big job or she just may not have great people skills . I know that is no excuse for bad behavior but doing so may help you out when you speak with her. Best of luck and let us know what happens. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:43:53 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/25-involvement-ideas-and-challenges/151433-dues-or-no-dues?limit=6&start=36#151521 We do charge dues. Every year the PTO gives each homeroom funds to help pay for the cost of the classroom parties. Every student receives the benefit of this. Our membership dues is allocated directly to the homeroom funds. We usually break even. We let parents know that the membership fee is completely optional. It does not preclude anyone from participating in PTO events. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:37:10 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/17-fundraising/81319-non-food-funraiser?limit=6&start=42#151520 Jaxco fundraiser is good and Wood roses USA Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:22:26 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/29-top-message-board-requests/146754-missing-funds?limit=6&start=42#151517 Mom21- Thanks so much for closing the loop. A lot of people were rooting for you. Sorry to hear that it did not work out the way you had hoped. But as you said, there are many things they cannot take away from you and having no regrets is always a good thing! ~Lisa Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:56:25 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/13-free-for-all--pto/151513-pto-vs-pab-vs-school-council#151514 Each should have its own mission, so you'd want to look at what those are and if there's any overlap. If there is, hopefully work together to define the differences so the groups fill different needs - or perhaps see if two can be merged. Here, our PTO's are primarily responsible for: [LIST] [*]Volunteer Coordination [*]School spirit [*]Family involvement [*]Teacher Appreciation [*]Some fundraising (note, school also does fundraising) [*]Support of school activities[/LIST]Each school also has a Campus Academic Advisory Committee (required by law, I believe) which is a formal committee of staff, parents, and community members that meet about 4 times per year and serve as a representative advisory group to the principal regarding strategic planning and policy decisions for the school. In our case there's no overlap between PTO and CAAC, which may be like your PAB. "School Council" could mean anything. You'd have to let us know how it's defined in your school. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:13:39 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/25-involvement-ideas-and-challenges/151397-what-can-be-discussed-at-pto?limit=6&start=6#151511 I believe that is exactly what PTO is about. The PTO volunteers focus should be on the school/issues not fundraising. Fundraising should be your means to accomplish your goals. Maybe a parent has an issue that is not clear to him/her and just maybe other parents have the same issue. A PTO meeting is just the place to have this as there should be teacher(s) and the principal in attendance at the meeting. Do we tell our students not to ask questions if they have any? NO, the only dumb question is an unasked question. The other part of this is that while one person can create change, an army of people help to see the change through. At our PTA meetings, we have room on each agenda for parents to ask questions, give suggestions, or voice their thoughts. A BRIEF discussion then follows. If the topic is something the principal or teachers can not help us with, the elected school board representative on the PTA board for our school then addresses the issue at the school board meeting. Those parents who are interested will go along to that meeting to help get the point across and answers. The PTA school board representative then brings the answers back to the next meeting as a follow up on the discussion. It is the parents that make the difference in the schools. Remember, we parents are the ones in the schools regularly to see how the policies and procedures are working. Those policies and procedures are not just affecting the other students at the school/district; but, they also affect your child. Is it better for your child if you keep your questions to yourself? YOU ARE YOUR CHILDS ADVOCATE -- SO PLEASE DO SO! Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:34:44 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/12-teachersprincipals/150825-principal-dominating?limit=6&start=12#151507 As to the principal taking over meetings , you have the right to stop her/him. The PTO president runs the meeting and all things must be voted on. She can make decisions about school functions during school time such as the time alloted for school parties or any program the PTO wants to put on during school hours. Yes she can call the shots on some of the other issues. But she can not make any decisions on how PTO money is spent or functions out side of school. The most she can do refuse to sighn off on any fundraisers or field trips you may plan. If that happens call the Board of ed and request a reason from her in wrighting. As for the volunteers our state has guide lines a person must meet to be able to help out at the school on a regular basis. So that maybe a thing that you need to look into and make sure all youe volunteers qualify. I as president pick the people who will help me make coppies, pick up donations, or anything that is outside of the school. Our principal has no controll over that. My best advice is pull out the PTO bylaws and Roberts rull of conduct and make sure these are the things you use to run the meetings. If she starts to take over in a polite way explain that this is how your meeting are to be ran. I suggest opening your meeting by going over them and saying to the whole group that as president this is what you expect at meeting and this is how all meetings under you will be ran. I wish every one the best of luck at dealing with this hard issue. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:58:05 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/17-fundraising/151506-great-fundraising-deals#151506 i just found out that a great fundraiser to do is with avon!!! In Manassas Va i have had alot of help from the avon rep named natalie benitez and you can find many other reps in your area at [URL=http://www.avon.com]www.avon.com[/URL] and then look for a rep that is closest to you.. you make 30% of what you sell!! who doesnt love avon?? the best part is that avon is not so expensive i would def recommend it to everyone to try!!! Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:47:55 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/17-fundraising/80328-donation-addresses?limit=6&start=30#151501 Check out the thread "Ultimate Donation List" it is packed full of positive national companies that are donating and also includes those that are not so you dont waste you time. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:16:35 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/17-fundraising/151481-inkfundscom#151498 The phone collection was quite interesting.....the $ amount value was based on the phone model. We received anywhere from $1 to $100 per phone. They gave us a printout showing the model numbers and values. We were amazed how many families just had their old phones laying around from the past 5 or so years. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:35:14 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/33-family-movie-night/151271-movie-night-logistics?limit=6&start=6#151496 Hello. We went the easy route. We have a very nice movie theatre in town. They pop the popcorn for us, place it in a very large sterile bag (garbage bag size) and we pick it up and place the popcorn in purchased popcorn containers from an online vendor. We use plastic gloves to package the items and then give to the kids. It is great. No mess and no electrical problems!!! Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:56:11 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/17-fundraising/150681-airline-ticket-donation#151489 JetBlue usually donates as well, we have received from them for various ptas. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:51:41 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/21-day-to-day-pto-management/151486-dealing-with-co-pres-and-co-vice-pres-positions#151486 I am new to PTO this year and so far it has been a headache! The co-vice-pres and I (the co-pres) were voted in during May of last year and were supposed to be mentored by the President and Vice-President. Well, that is not working. We are very organized, lists, schedules, calendars...type leaders and they are very fly by the seat of their pants leader. There is no communication unless it is the day before we should have done something and the pres e-mails to let us know. Our meetings our non-productive and long. People text or use their cell phones during meetings and it is so annoying and disrespectful. We do have an agenda but it doesn't help, they are all over the place and sometimes we leave the meeting and still haven't gotten anything accomplished. I am sorry to say that we have even had yelling matches at our meetings because they simply don't listen. They don't hear anything but what is coming out of their mouths and talk over you while you are in mid sentence. We the co's called a meeting with the Principal and the board to discuss the Co's possibly taking over the Pres and Vice President positions and begin running meetings and events with the pres and vice pres stepping down so to speak but becoming more of a source of information if we request it. We are perfectly capable of being in charge. That didn't happen and once again we are forced to just deal with these unorganized rude leaders. We do not get along in a leadership perspective and I fear never will. Has anyone ever dealt with Co positions in their PTO's and if so, what were the job duties, how did it work, how long did it last? I really don't know what to do and I don't want to quit but I fear that may be my only option. I have no sanity and PTO has taken over my life because it is so unorganized... We were told by the principal that this will last the whole school year and then we will find new co's at the end of the year and we will move up to Pres and Vice Pres. The next school year we will mentor the new co's... I personally do not see a need for co positions as long as you leave good notes on the projects you did, who to contact, by-laws, treasurer handbook... I have yet to receive a copy of the by-laws or any type of job description from anyone. I went on our school computer and found the by-laws myself and printed them out, but they are from the 2007-2008 school year and have not even been updated to show the new co positions they created. In reading the by-laws they really don't go by them, just sort of do their own thing. Help, I really don't know what to do next. Our next move will be a "Come to Jesus" meeting with only the principal and my co-vice pres where I will lay it on the line in a very blunt fashion so he gets what we have been going through... Is that a good idea? I am lost and stressed! I need advice from someone who has been dealing with PTO longer than I have.... Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:53:30 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/26-school-family-events/151484-christmas-ornaments#151484 Our Mothers Circle hand makes Christmas Ornaments every year for the kids to shop and purchase as gifts for the family, etc. We also name the ornaments and send home in advance a flyer describing each ornament with a cute little jingle. I could use some creative help on naming 2 of our ornaments. We have a school house with a sign that says "Beaufort Elementary" that needs a name and a shot gun shell decorated as a snow man that also needs a name. Any clever ideas to help???? MUCH APPRECIATED!!! Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:45:05 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/21-day-to-day-pto-management/151398-executive-vs-general-meetings?limit=6&start=6#151476 Something else you wouldn't want discussed in front of a large group would be bounced check issues. You wouldn't want to cause undue embarrasment to the person who wrote it, but if you need to discuss what action needs to be taken, I would think that would be an Executive Meeting issue. Also, our PTO holds a Back to School Night a couple of days before school starts and the planning for this is done in an Executive meetings, since we are the ones planning and working it. On back to school night we do pre-orders for directories, calendars, spirit day and T-shirts. Hope this helps, Jessica Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:07:05 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/13-free-for-all--pto/136506-silent-lunch-hour-in-elementary?limit=6&start=18#151469 I was just informed about the no talking during lunch.I am opting my kids out of this practice unless they are directly involved in some type of infraction. Kids sitting for 45 minuts looking at each other is insane. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:35:49 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/25-involvement-ideas-and-challenges/151127-parent--teacher-survey?limit=6&start=6#151452 SmittyPTSO - No problem. There are so many great tools available to help groups get things done. Technology certainly makes things easier. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:33:03 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/21-day-to-day-pto-management/151435-how-to-confront-the-absent-chairperson#151451 Hi Jewel- Just wanted to let you know that you need to be registered and logged in, in order to edit a post. Beyond the ability to edit posts, it's a good thing to do because when you are registered, you get notified about special offers and giveaways for schools, and you can also keep tabs on topics that matter to you in your My PTO Today Page. Hope this helps, ~Lisa Follow PTO Today on twitter: http://twitter.com/ptotoday Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:00:37 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/26-school-family-events/151444-need-ideas-for-a-christmas-dance#151449 How about adding a service component since it a Christmas dance... like have a cookie decorating station and then donate the cookies to a homeless shelter? Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:49:08 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/33-family-movie-night/148467-movie-nights-themes#151448 This winter we decided to depart from our winter wonderland theme (where last year we showed Happy Feet) and our theme is going to be "Follow Your Dreams." It fits into our school's mission statement. We are going to show Racing Stripes. We are showing it the weekend before Martin Luther King day -- teachers thought that would be a nice tie in. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:41:31 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/21-day-to-day-pto-management/151436-parent-express-email#151438 Hi, As Mum24kids mentioned, you can use the two together. You can find out exactly how to link Manager and PEX in the 2009 Summer Enhancement Guide located here [URL]http://www.ptotoday.com/manager/manual.html[/URL]. When you decide to use PEX for your email client, you can still use the VB email system. All general emails are sent out through PEX (emails that are generated by going to VOLUNTEER BUILDER _ FIND VOLUNTEERS or SETUP _FIND USERS. If you have an event specific email, the email can be sent through the event section using VB. The same is true if your run a report such as the student report and then select "email this list". The email will be sent via VB and not PEX. Hope this helps - feel free to call us at 800-557-2670 if you need additional help. - Mike Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:11:38 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/25-involvement-ideas-and-challenges/151420-thanking-volunteers#151431 Hey PTO Mom - I know your question was about the newsletter but I believe that making an effort to thank people face to face during morning drop offs, afternoon pick ups and at the general membership meetings is a really good thing too. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:29:31 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/13-free-for-all--pto/68708-kindergarten-christmas-party-games?limit=6&start=6#151430 Hot Potatoe is always a good game, use Christmas stuffed animal as potatoe and use some Christmas music!!!!!!!! Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:54:26 -0500 http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/17-fundraising/149685-book-fair-barnes-and-noble#151425 I was curious about this as well. We just did ours yesterday and it was a lot of work. We offered door prizes and put the entry form on the book fair slip. That way if anyone who wanted to win the door prizes, (an i-pod, an American Girl and one of those big Lego sets) we would get credit for the sales. We were allowed to put a board up displaying the prizes with the entries right there the day of the fair. We put entries out all over town before the event too. Short of going door to door, I don't know how we could have done more. The surprising thing is that of the $27,000 in sales the store had yesterday, we only accounted for $5,400 of those. When I looked at the numbers, it is exactly 20% of the total. While the company says that we can earn money on 100% of the sales as long as people either say the name of the school or hand in the sheet, I wonder if there is a cap in the system that only allows schools to earn money on 20% of the total sales. How have other people done with this fundraiser? Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:52:05 -0500