PTO Today

Who decides how our PTO money is spent? How do I deal with a controlling principal? Should the principal have the final say on what goes into our newsletter? We get questions like these — and many more — on our site all the time. The basic question is who’s the boss? This week Tim addresses this question in his video tutorial, where he talks about the importance of making the principal your partner.

What steps have you taken to make your principal your pal? Anyone have any stories about how they have successfully worked out differences between parent group and principal? Love to hear them!

I love Twitter! It’s such a great place to stay on top of the latest trends, news, and also to find some talented bloggers. Today I found a link to this blog post about a PTO wannabe.  If the post wasn’t so infuriating it would be funny!

Lindsey Ferrier writes about her desire to be a valued member of her school’s PTO. Sounds like a good and attainable goal. So here’s someone  – as far as I can tell from her blog — who is bright, capable and has a good sense of humor. Sign her up, right? Wrong. This woman volunteered not once, not twice, but three times… without even an email acknowledging her offers!  Ouch. Now that’s what  I call frustrating.

Please don’t let this happen in your group! We are several months into the school year. Make it someone on your board’s charter to go through your forms and emails and match the volunteer offers up to volunteer opportunities.  Lots of good articles on our site on how to attract and keep volunteers -take few minutes to read them. Do you have a system for managing your volunteers? If yes, tell us how you don’t let people like Lyndsey fall through the cracks. If no, perhaps you’d like to check out our PTO Manager/Volunteer Builder software package.

Find a way to let those who volunteers help out. If you can’t use them right away, at least email them back and thank them for their offer and tell them you’ll call them when the next volunteer job comes up. Communication is key. Despite the lack of communication and validation from her PTO, Lindsey hasn’t given up. But most people most certainly will!

Oh, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter – http://twitter.com/ptotoday.

Image: Andy Newson / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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.

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.

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!

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:

• volunteer recruitment
• fundraiser forms & letters
• fun run, walk-a-thon
• spaghetti dinner
• holiday shops
• audits
• community service

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!

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:

1. It’s for a GREAT cause:  Susan G. Komen for the Cure
2. It ties into Breast Cancer Awareness month: October.
3. It teaches middle school kids to think of someone other than themselves.
4. 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!
5. It’s a great idea for PTOs or PTAs who want to do a fundraiser that gives back!

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.

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!

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.