PTO Today

Parenting is a tough job. If parents don’t compare notes and support each other, it’s even more difficult. School parent groups have a tremendous opportunity to forge community at their schools by hosting parent education nights. These programs are a great way to facilitate support and conversation. Nice to see an uptick of these events in the news. Take a guess at the two hottest topics. Don’t look ahead…

If you guessed internet safety and bullying, you guessed right. These are such pervasive and important topics. Many schools and parent groups are stepping up to organize workshops or events.

Top-line of school internet safety programs in the news this week:

• Middle school invites police officer to give parents the real scoop on internet safety and cyber-bullying.
• Another middle school acknowledges that kids online is a fact of life, and invites parent to get informed about internet safety.
• If you are interested in hosting a night to educate parents about online safety and cyber bullying use our free kit to organize an internet safety night.

Overview of anti-bullying school programs in the news:

• Bully expert encourages parents to be nosy.
• Nice to read about schools joining together to address bullying.
• Parent group educates parents about the school system’s anti-bullying program.
• An entertaining bully show gives parents something to talk about…

That’s where it all starts, right? Talk. Talk to experts about what’s really going on. Talk to other parents about what they are seeing and hearing. Talk to our kids… keep talking.

What is your PTO or PTA doing for parent education nights? We’ d love to hear more about them.

I don’t often do this, but I loved, loved an email I received yesterday and want to share it.  For 11 years we’ve been trying to do exactly what  Sara Nakai (from the Humphrey Elementary PTO in Chandler, Arizona ) captures here in her note:

Thank you so much, PTO Today, for offering such a helpful resource to PTOs around the country.  Our organization has benefitted so much from the ideas and advice in the pages of your magazine, your e-newsletter, and posts on your Facebook page.  The 2 Hour Power Pledge idea is pure genius and our group has more active members than it’s had in recent years.  During the second half of this year, we’re planning a Family Reading Night, a Family Fitness Morning, and several evening parent education classes to provide parents with strategies for dealing with topics such as bullying and internet safety.  Thank you for these golden ideas!

Man, that made my day!  I hope we can help your group in the months and years ahead in the same way.

For reference, here are some links from Sara’s note:

• Our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/PTOToday
• Our Two Hour Power involvement pledge program:  http://www.ptotoday.com/2hourpower/
• Family Reading Night Kit:  http://www.ptotoday.com/sfn/SFN_reading_leader.php
• Internet Safety Night Kit: http://www.ptotoday.com/pen/

Thank you, Sara, for taking the time to share those kind words.  And good luck to all for a great 2011.

This news round-up can be summed up into two categories; parent groups thinking outside the box and parent groups doing good. Hope you’ll find a nugget of inspiration somewhere.

Parent groups thinking outside the box:

- LA School may seek corporate sponsorships as a way to get money into budget-restricted schools.

- Parent groups get creative in addressing lack of funds and a busier-than-ever volunteer pool. Read carefully:  you’ll find some great words of wisdom in here from PTO Today community member, Gary Parkes.

Parent groups doing good:

- PTA gives school library a makeover.

- School community comes together to spruce up playground.

- PTO kicks off winter break by hosting a winter wonderland breakfast for teachers and staff.

- Kudos to this school for being one of the first to be recognized for making healthy changes.

- Georgia school wins nation-wide coat drive. I end with this link and a line from the article I think you’ll all enjoy:

There is nothing more convincing than a PTO mom on a mission. I’ve seen them in action. They work a little like The Godfather; they’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse!

Here’s to all the PTO & PTA moms & dads making a difference. Wishing you a weekend of holiday happiness with your family and no parent group to-dos!

Long-time readers know that I love PTO family events. Fun and free and welcoming activities are the best ways to build a parent involvement foundation. They’re the key first step in developing new volunteers and connections.

But my tip this week involves a research-backed way to make those family events even more effective for your school: Collaborate with your teachers to connect some key academic goals with your family events. Is your school putting a big emphasis on raising math grades this year? How about holding a Family Math Olympics, then? Can your geography teacher (or music teacher, or both!) be part of an International Night where student presentations are mixed with the foods and dance and music from the many cultures represented in your school?

One key: Make sure you keep the fun — and the free. Family events work great when you take the time to plan nights that attract large numbers of families, not just those families who are already heavily school-inclined. (A good example is this “Out of This World” astronomy family night.)

Have you made any of these connections at your school? Would love to hear your ideas on our message boards discussion.

Family nights are great. Family nights with a curriculum connection can be even better. Good luck!

Does my heart good to read about so many family nights in the news this week! Here are the highlights:

• Lady Gaga songs at a Family Reading Night? You bet (as long as there aren’t Lady Gaga costumes ; -)
• Wow, this school had 600 people attend their well-organized Reading Night! Neat that they included a book swap as part of the night.
• Family Math Night is one of 4 family nights for this school. Interesting that they are trying to persuade parents to come to all four by offering prize. Would love to hear how the incentive affects numbers.
• Family fun nights don’t have to be fancy to work. This school brought families together with board games and the ever-popular apple, toothpick and gumdrop, turkey- making activity.
• I stumbled upon this school’s page about  Science Family Fun Nights. What a jackpot of information and ideas. I think every school should have one of these nights!
• Also came across another school website that lists their family fun nights present and past… great place to pick up some family night themes and ideas.

What family fun nights does your school do? We’d love to hear about them in the comments below, on our message boards (add your ideas to the family night ideas thread) or on Facebook.

If you are new to family nights be sure to check out our School Family Nights page. Hint: our free kits take the hassle out of organizing an event from scratch.

A trend is emerging in schools that is very encouraging: parent groups are advocating for healthier schools. Whether it’s getting kids more active, promoting healthy eating, or sponsoring healthier family events and fundraisers, PTOs and PTAs are making it happen. Our Healthy School Kids program arms parent groups with articles, tools and products to help with these initiatives. In this video Tim talks about our Healthy School Kids program.

Here’s where you can find the articles that Tim references:
http://www.ptotoday.com/healthy-school-kids

Here’s how to sign up for the Healthy School Kids program: http://www.ptotoday.com/healthy-school-kids-samples

Space is limited so be sure to jump on this today.

“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.” ~ Maya Angelou

Wouldn’t it be great if our PTOs, PTAs and school events had equal representation from every ethnic group in our schools? But, it’s harder than you think, isn’t it? Language barriers and cultural differences often prevent many families from connecting to the school community. This week Tim talks about an event that is a great starting point for reaching out to minority groups at your school and forging new connections.

No shortage of inspiration in this week’s news.  Here are my take-aways from this collection of articles:

• Not only is a jog-a-thon a great fundraiser but it’s also a terrific way to encourage families to get moving and make healthy choices.
• Family Fun days are a excellent way to build community while showing parents how to make learning more fun.
• Never, ever give up. This parent group’s turn around story offers hope for groups with low involvement.
• Sometimes some of the most basic things require a parent group’s attention… in this case, a PTO rallied support for a walk-to-school program.
• Parent groups have an opportunity to influence their community in their green living habits. Kudos to this PTO for challenging families to go “garbage free.”
• Think beyond fundraising- think pink! This PTA organized a pink day to highlight breast cancer awareness.
• Always love coming across articles about events that were inspired by our PTO Today Magazine… this giant hay maze sounds like a fun, fall event!

Hope you found something to inspire you. Have a fabulous weekend. Don’t forget to send me a link to any articles about your parent group!

As school districts have tightened their budgets, PTOs have pitched in to landscape school grounds and make improvements to buildings during family workdays. Borrow ideas from these parent groups that put their own spin on events to work for their school communities.

All-Ages Project
The Gullett Elementary PTA in Austin, Texas, renovated the school courtyard to create a butterfly garden and a picnic area. Students and parents joined in on community workdays to move old fencing and prep the area for construction of a stone walkway in the shape of a snake. Kids too young for that work made birdhouses out of recycled milk cartons. After construction, students painted stripes on the snaking path.

Cutting Costs
To save money on a landscaping project, the Andrew Cooke Magnet School PTO called on home gardeners to bring cuttings from perennials to a workday at the Waukegan, Ill., school. More than 200 students and parents turned out to plant gardens and paint hopscotch squares, planters, and picnic benches.

Online Appeal
To find help for a summer workday, the Chelsea (Ala.) Middle School PTO went to where students are: Facebook. The PTO put up a day-before notice with a particular request for high schoolers needing community service hours.

Well, cold and flu season is upon us. In anticipation of the sniffles and coughs we’ve launched a new Healthy School Kids page with lots of practical tips, tools and insight on keeping kids healthy during the school year.

To take the sting out of the season we are running a blog give-away. How would you like to win* a gift certificate good towards a professional house cleaning and a gift pack chock full of Lysol cleaning products? Cool, right?!

Here’s how the blog give-away works:

• Tell us what steps your group is taking to help keep kids at your school healthy this year and you could win* this cool blog give-away! Just post your comment on our PTO Today Facebook page for a chance to win.

• If you’re not sure how to begin, just start with an old fashioned fill in the blank: Our parent group is keeping kids healthy this school year by ____________.

• Get posting, because this is the perfect giveaway package for your group to offer to busy parents at an upcoming auction or health and wellness event!

* The Healthy School Kids blog drawing runs from October 6th through October 20th, at 11pm EST. At the end of that time period all Facebook fans who wrote a healthy kids idea on our wall will be entered into a drawing to win a professional house cleaning gift certificate, and a gift pack full of Lysol cleaning products. One entry per person and one name will be drawn randomly from all the comments.

Disclosure: Lysol is a sponsor of the Healthy School Kids program.

UPDATE: October 21, 2010- The winner of the Healthy School Kids give-away is Jamie Anderson. Congrats Jamie! Thank you to everyone who participated and shared their tips. Be sure to visit our Healthy School Kids page to sign up to get in on FREE healthy school kids samples for you to share with your parents at school events, and to pick up some great tips.