PTO Today Blog » Lisa Gundlach

Video Tutorial: How to Increase PTO Meeting Attendance

Lisa Gundlach — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:24:44 +0000

Tim answers the Question: how do you increase PTO or PTA meeting attendance? He also provides some tips on parent involvement.

So did it make you feel better to have Tim put parent group meetings in perspective? Hope so.

If you are interested in learning about the basics on running an effective meeting, be sure to check out the Meetings and Robert’s Rules section of our site.

Tim’s Update on the New PTO Today Community

Lisa Gundlach — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:48:50 +0000

Learn how to get the most out of our site, connect with other PTO and PTA leaders, get personalized tips, and receive special product offers for your group… Watch Tim’s latest video blog.

Great Green Ideas

Lisa Gundlach — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:37:47 +0000

How cool is it that this PTA mom, Tricia Elisara, came up with an idea of a “Green Party Kit” to make classroom parties a little more environmentally friendly and ended up winning a “Green Effect” contest? Elisara was one of five winners across the United States in the “Green Effect,” an event cosponsored by SunChips food brands and National Geographic, which asked people to submit ideas to help their neighborhood go green. For winning she received $20,000 and was profiled in National Geographic magazine. Not too shabby!

This Margaret Mead quote comes to mind: ”Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed citizens to change the world. Indeed, it has never been done otherwise.”

If you are looking for a way to get your school on the green team, check out our Go Green Night Kit. It’s a fun way to build community in your school and teach families about ways they can help the environment.

Is your PTO or PTA involved in any green projects? We’d love to hear what you are up to!

rade class to use for parties and food-related events, she said, the last thing she expected was to win $20,000 and be profiled in National Geographic magazine.

Elisara was one of five winners across the United States in the “Green Effect,” an event cosponsored by SunChips food brands and National Geographic, which asked people to submit ideas to help their neighborhood go green.

“It was just a small idea for change that I thought could be a good way to improve things,” she said. “It’s very inspiring that it would be recognized and have some sort of resonance with people.”

File Exchange Reorg Makes Your Life Even Easier

Lisa Gundlach — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:09:20 +0000

Save time!

Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up that we have reorganized the popular File Exchange section of our site. We’ve added new categories, renamed a few, and moved around a bunch of files that were getting lost — so leaders can easily find the forms, flyers, letters, and surveys that they need. Hopefully, the changes will also take the guess work out of where to put something when you upload files to share with others.

Some new categories include:

New file additions of note include a slew of generic parent group logos and a new email opt-in form.

Thank you to all who have uploaded documents to share with fellow parent group leaders. We hear from leaders all the time that the file exchange is such a powerful resource. Happy sharing and swapping!

Fundraising Idea with Heart

Lisa Gundlach — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:18:32 +0000

There is no shortage of stories about how California Schools are dealing with budget cuts. Lots of schools are doing fundraisers to fill the funding gaps. Just came across an article that talks about a school fundraiser, that caught my attention. Amidst the crisis, this CA school did a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen for the cure organization. Very Impressive!

Top 5 things to love about this fundraiser:

It’s for a GREAT cause: Susan G. Komen for the Cure
It ties into Breast Cancer Awareness month: October.
It teaches middle school kids to think of someone other than themselves.
It shows that this school has incredible school spirit & enthusiasm … love the photo of the principal with pink hair! No doubt Middle schoolers would think this was hysterical… and kind of cool!
It’s a great idea for PTOs or PTAs who want to do a fundraiser that gives back!

Why do People Volunteer?

Lisa Gundlach — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:20:23 +0000

Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of why we volunteer for our school’s PTA or PTO. We’ve all been there at one time or another: maybe it’s a committee chair who doesn’t follow through on what they said they’d do… or the fact the only non-board member who shows up regularly for meetings is a nay-sayer who consistently tries your patience. Whatever form the distraction takes, don’t let it steal your focus away from the reasons you volunteer in the first place. Your kids.

A Connecticut mom recently shared her PTA volunteer journey in a blog titled To PTA or not PTA? Her vote was clearly “to PTA.” She supports her choice by listing all the reasons why involvement matters, including the fact that it boosts student achievement. For me, this benefit meant the most:

I have such a great support system in the school. I know my children’s teachers. I see them on a day to day basis.”

You can debate whether your PTA or PTO is clubby or not, til’ you’re blue in the face, but the only way you realize the aforementioned kind of connection with the school is by volunteering. Do you agree?

So if you are feeling momentarily discouraged, be sure to read her post for the full list of benefits of volunteering. It’s a good reminder. And if that’s not enough, read our One Last Dance article to remind you just how fast it all goes. Sniff.

International Walk-to-School Day

Lisa Gundlach — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:48:03 +0000

So did you know that today was International Walk to School Day? I did a quick scan on the net to see if there were any articles or blogs about schools participating. There were tons! Great to see.

Loved reading about what one PTO is doing to celebrate Walk-to-School Day. Not only do they do some fun things to promote this day but they also have a PTO walk-to-school coordinator for the whole school year.

Is your PTO involved in any programs that encourage healthy habits in the students at your school? We’d love to hear what you’re doing!

Celebrating Parent Involvement in Education

Lisa Gundlach — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:53:13 +0000

Neat that some folks in Minnesota think that parent involvement in education is so important, that they set aside an entire month to celebrate it! According to this recent article, October is Minnesota Parent Involvement Month — a time to celebrate the powerful role parents play in their children’s education. Wouldn’t it be nice if every state did this?

But I guess I am preaching to the choir! We know if you are on this site you care a tremendous amount about being involved in your child’s education. Bet you wish there were more parents at your school that shared your passion! If you’re nodding your head, check out our Parent Involvement Toolkit! And remember, it doesn’t hurt to remind parents – again- why involvement matters.

parents will be able to nominate their school in a statewide Family-Friendly School contest, find fun ideas on a family activities calendar, and take part in a variety of school activities highlighting the importance of parents being involved in their child’s education

Healthy School Kids

Lisa Gundlach — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:00:21 +0000

Wanted to call your attention to PTO Today’s newest program, Healthy School Kids. You can find a link to the Healthy School Kids (HSK) sign-up page on ptotoday.com in the main navigation bar, under Helpful Tools.

This is a great program for parent groups who are trying to mix healthy habits into fundraising and school family events.

By signing up to become a HSK group, you’ll get:

1) Priority notice for FREE Healthy School Kids sample offers to share with parents at upcoming school events (you”ll also be one of the first to be emailed of any health and wellness free samples offers that come up throughout the year – i.e. hand sanitizer samples for an upcoming fitness night, healthy snack samples for Family Reading Night, etc.)

2) Immediate access to a special HSK home page web page on ptotoday.com, which features all of our best health and wellness PTO content. We’ll be adding more content to this page each month.

So go check it out and tell us what you think.

Video Post- Tim’s Inside Scoop on Website Changes

Lisa Gundlach — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:19:11 +0000

Some important changes being made to PTOtoday.com the next couple of days. Listen to what Tim has to say about these cool new features and what it all means to busy parent group leaders.