The involvement events, teacher/staff support, and student enrichment activities that your parent group makes happen are all vital to your school community. But sometimes — bet we could even say often — PTOs and PTAs are asked to help with larger projects to enhance learning at the school.
So as your group looks ahead to the 2010-11 school year, do you have an upcoming school improvement project — like a library or science lab upgrade or an outdoor classroom — that could use a $5,000 jump-start? If the answer is yes, think about applying for a Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant. The Toolbox for Education program donates funds to lots of groups just like yours every year.
The fall 2010 grant cycle is open now; deadline is Oct. 15. To learn more, just go to www.toolboxforeducation.com. Good luck, and let us know how your project goes.
PTOs and PTAs build school community in many important ways. And research shows that this alone can help students and teachers succeed. But do you do anything that directly impacts student achievement?
There are lots of ways to do it. You might organize a monthlong reading challenge, create a series of math enrichment programs, or set up a tutoring program. There are other possibilities, too, and that’s my tip for this week: When you’re planning your calendar for the new year, think about ways you can directly affect student achievement. Here are some links to get you started:
Share your ideas with the principal, and ask him for the subjects or topics where he thinks you can make the most difference. A project like this can be exciting for your group and the school alike, and you’re likely to find that it builds parent involvement, as well.
Starting to think about back to school and getting parents involved? One of the best approaches I know of for increasing involvement is our 2 Hour Power pledge program.
Basically, you ask parents to pledge two hours of volunteering, any kind of volunteering, per semester or per year. And you make it clear that you’ll celebrate those two hours and not ask/badger/guilt them about doing more. For many parents, the reason they don’t volunteer is because they feel that volunteering once will send them down this super-volunteer path that they can’t escape from.
You want to make volunteering less scary for parents. And 2 Hour Power can help you do that. Plus you’ll get lots of two-hour time donations, which really add up. Even better, many of those folks will find that the volunteering wasn’t half bad and — even without you badgering — will sign up for more. Nice, right? I highly recommend you give the concept a try.
Our 2 Hour Power materials have lots of tools and know-how for executing a program like this. If you’re looking for more ideas for connecting with volunteers at back-to-school time, check out this article on welcoming new families.
Starting to think about getting more volunteers next year? One important first step is how you ask parents to express their interest. A well-done “volunteer interest form” (here’s a sample) is an important part of that process.
The best form combines practicality with a bit of cheerleading and is very careful not to intimidate. Remember, parents are a bit afraid of volunteering (like if they volunteer once, they’ll be sucked in to a major commitment), so you need to make it clear that flexible opportunities are available and limited help is still very much appreciated.
While including specific opportunities is great, I also highly recommend including at least one check box that says something like: “I’d love to find some way to help this year, but my schedule is crazy and I’m not sure what can work.” You can then reach out to those who check that box and see whether there’s something you can work out together.
Fairly soon, your group will be welcoming a whole new crop of parents to your school. Some small percentage of those parents will be excited to get involved with your group. How will you react to those parents?
Will you make it clear that their questions are tiresome? Will you hastily dismiss their “new” ideas (that you’ve had in the past) and discourage them?
I hope not, but that’s what a lot of us PTO and PTA old-timers tend to do (often unknowingly) when we first deal with these new parents. It’s a great way to turn off the fresh, enthusiastic volunteers you most need.
I tried to capture this dynamic — and also some of the mistakes that new parents make in jumping in too aggressively — in a column I wrote last year called “A Tale of Two Volunteers“. I think this is a great time of year to bring it back out. I hope you’ll share it with your fellow leaders as a reminder of the mistakes we should try to avoid this summer and next fall.
Are you the designated historian of your PTO or PTA? Or maybe, you are simply the person who happens to have a knack for photography and brings your camera to all the events. Either way, you are left with the task of organizing all those photos. And often (not always!) if you were blessed with the creative gene, you didn’t get the organization gene. If you fit into that category, sorting through and organizing those digital photos can be down right daunting. Can you tell that I speak from experience? So, I recently did a little research on best ways to organize photos and thought I’d share what I learned.
The first step in organizing your photos is to choose where to store them. Storing photos on your computer’s hard drive can be a bit risky. Crashes do happen. External sites like Picassa or Flickr provide free storage and offer other great organizational benefits. I happen to love Picassa because they make things so simple. Check out this video on the basics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rskC6c_5L1M
Once you choose a storage method, there are a few photo organizing basics to keep in mind. The biggest tip, moving forward, is only download your photos when you have time to organize them. First, delete the photos that you don’t want as you go. Next, move your photos into the appropriate folders. If you don’t take these steps when you download, chances are it will never get done. Once you finish downloading, remove the photos from your camera to avoid downloading twice and duplicate photos.Ugh!
The next tip is pretty obvious but I’ll mention it — just in case. When you create folders, include a real, recognizable name (I’m guessing I am not the only one who has given a folder a name that was meaningful at the time, but is cryptic a year or two later.) And always include a month and year in the name. Or if you prefer, you can just create a folder for each year and then have files within that with your event names.
Here a few other sites that provide some good information on photo organizing:
Take lots of photos. You can fool yourself into thinking … I am busy and there is always the next time. But trust me, you will not remember how you set up your event, what the center pieces looked like, etc. and you will certainly forget the stills of smiling faces. These events and years go by very quickly!
After you have happily downloaded and organized your photos, share them with your community in your newsletter or website. Photos are a great way to build community and remind people of the good your group does.
Yes, there is humor in the fact that we’re crazy enough to get angry when we see a box top in someone’s trash can. The horror!
What better time of year to look back and remind ourselves that it’s OK to laugh at the sometimes absurd parts of this job? So here are just a few of our best light-hearted looks at PTO and PTA life:
For me, I always laugh when I meet a new PTO leader and ask her, “OK, which room in your house have you completely forfeited to your school work?” Usually it’s the dining room table. I’m still waiting for the first child of a parent group leader to be lost in a tragic PTO paperwork avalanche. Egad!
No one likes to talk about embezzlement from PTOs or PTAs, but the reality is that no group is immune to theft. The good news is, it is easily preventable. Watch Tim’s video blog this week to learn how to protect your group.
