PTO Today

Have you seen the “Shake You Down, The PTA Rap,” a hilarious video that parodies the plight of parent groups? Well, it could be the start of something big.

Creators Mouncey Ferguson and Elise Robertson, a Los Angeles couple with two kids, said they are hoping to make The PTA Rap video into a web series and have even written a television pilot that builds on this funny concept of PTA moms with hearts-of-gold who turn to crime to raise funds for their schools.

Can anyone relate, just a tiny bit? (Not with the crime component, of course!)

That’s the beauty of this story and why we all got a good laugh. We can all connect to those moments of feeling disheartened from all the work that goes into rallying parents and the community for what can sometimes seem like little payback for our kids.

Ferguson and Robertson, who are active PTA members in real life,  posted The PTA Rap on YouTube earlier this month and it already has several thousand hits. The two also created a website, www. jointheassociation.com, to showcase their work.

Making a video was really a no-brainer for these two. Both are in the film industry. Robertson appeared in such popular television shows as Parenthood and Sons of Anarchy. Ferguson is a writer and producer. Plus, they have lots of creative friends, including some from their PTA, who were happy to play parts in the video.

Ferguson says he and a friend were taking about the PTA and thought it would be funny to do a parody of a parent group turning to a life of crime. From there flowed the idea of using the kids—and specifically their, ah, disruptive natures—as a way to leverage local businesses to pay up. “That resonated with me,’’ Ferguson says.

But The PTA Rap video isn’t just a film project. The two say they are serious about calling attention to helping our schools. They are active parents who were involved in a process to create a dual-language program at their kids’ school.

“We are PTA parents who have been struggling to raise money for our kids’ school,’’ Robertson says.

So, be on the lookout early next year for new installments in the fictional saga of these PTA moms as they shake down their community and threaten to unleash their kids on any establishment not willing to get in on their game.

But do us a favor and don’t end up relating too much.

Every so often something comes along that just so cleverly captures the plight of parent group leaders and volunteers that we just love sharing it with you!

Check out this video, Shake You Down, The PTA Rap, by a group named The Association.

It tells the very funny story of a group of parents so worn out from trying to raise funds that they resort to a protections racket.

Gotta love it when parents group leaders (real or fictitious) have swagger!

A recent news report revealed the principal of Farrand Elementary School in Plymouth, Mich., was caught eating a worm.

Don’t panic. This of course was another principal making good on a promise he made to his student body and the PTO at the beginning of the year. The school community bet it could raise $10,000, and if it did, the principal would have to eat a very wiggly lunch.

Some may find stunts like this over the top, but we think these stories are great. For every principal who has landed in a dunk tank, kissed a goat, or been taped to a wall, there are children and parents who have laughed uproariously and felt a common bond. Really, it’s a great way to motivate kids, build community, and boost school spirit, especially at this time of year, when the students have logged in a lot of hours and parents are feeling a little fried as well.

We asked for wackiest principal pay-up stories on our Facebook page and one noteworthy item told of a principal dressing up as a princess while another story was about a principal who spent the night on the school roof (he was delivered to his perch via a fire truck bucket) when his students met their reading goal. Impressive.

So, here’s to all the principals who are good sports and all the PTOs who know that sharing a good laugh is one of the best ways to help people connect.

If you’ve ever clashed with a principal or fretted about passing a motion at a PTO meeting, you’ll be able to relate to some of the challenges faced by Richard Gray, a work-at-home dad who becomes PTO president in Jonathan Grant’s novel, Chain Gang El-ementary.

But Richard has other big problems you probably haven’t faced: backstabbing school politics, a board member having a nervous breakdown, and a treasurer who is just a little too friendly.

The story revolves around Richard’s efforts to make changes at the elementary school and the resistance he meets from the dictator-like principal who seems to care only about standardized test results.

In addition to being an entertaining read, it tackles issues like school violence, racial discrimi-nation, and teaching to the test. This is the first novel by Grant, a former PTA president who describes himself as an elementary school survivor and a recovering high school parent.

Remember how great it was to play in the water and mud when you were a kid? A group of parent volunteers at the Miguel Hidalgo Elementary School certainly does.

About 60 parents at this Brawley, Calif. school were on hand recently to help the students play, splash and slide in water on the playground as a way to celebrate their accomplishments this year and to chill out before standardized testing takes place in early May.

School Principal Celia Santana was quoted as saying the event was intended to help the kids feel special, which is especially meaningful before testing begins.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about parent volunteers helping kids celebrate before or after standardized testing. In fact, one of our Parent Group of the Year winners from a few years ago hosted a pre-test pep rally that included a hot-air balloon demonstration to give the kids a boost.

Standardized testing, and the resulting stress and anxiety it can produce in kids, is getting more attention lately. A New York City school principal recently posted a letter written by a parent who asked how schools could bring unnecessary stress into kids’ lives. In another recent article, a parent expressed concerns about the trend to have kids opt out of testing, suggesting that even though these tests may be far from perfect, not participating can have big consequences.

Standardized testing is such a complex issue that it will not be resolved (to everyone’s liking) anytime soon. So, in the meantime, maybe a school like Miguel Hidalgo is onto something. Parent groups can help kids have some fun to celebrate completing the tests or just help them blow off some steam so they can better cope with the tests.

Let them feel the joy of simply splashing in the mud. You know you loved it!

Any ideas on how to help kids with test stress? Let us know!

No, you can’t grow whole pizza pies, but you can use a pizza garden to make lessons in nutrition and sustainability come alive for students. With help from the PTO, students at Woodman Park Elementary in Dover, N.H., planted tomato, basil, garlic, and oregano on a rolling cart that can be moved around the school. The PTO secured donations from several gardening companies and a cheesemaker for the project. Students sampled donated cheese, picked up pizza recipes, and took home information about gardening. The vegetables will be used in school lunches.

Oh, man, only once every few years does my Tuesday tip fall exactly on Valentine’s Day. As a guy writing to a mostly female audience, the pressure is immense. And I’m not exactly known for my deft gift-giving touch. True story: Last year’s Mother’s Day at Casa Sullivan did include a new set of closet hangers. Ouch.

But maybe it will be easier in words.

I can’t think of a more appropriate day to thank you for all that you do for your schools. Missing meals at home, spending countless hours preparing for family events and stepping in to fill roles that others won’t (all so your school and the kids can thrive!) — if that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

If I could give you a gift today, it would be simply: a well-deserved one-day break so that you can have time for yourself and perhaps your significant other and your family. You’ve earned it. (But what are the odds of you getting that?)

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at PTO Today. Enjoy. We love what you do for your schools and all the kids.

Since we noted a trend in novels centered on the school parent group world in the August 2011 issue of PTO Today magazine, several more novels have crossed our desk.

In I Murdered the PTA, by Wendy Dager, a mom is falsely accused of planting a bomb at a PTA meeting, then becomes a target for the real killer.

The main character is widow Daphne Lee-Lee, a quirky sculptor who plays in a punk band. When she takes a bathroom break during a PTA meeting, she survives an explosion that kills the rest of the parents there. The humorous book blends elements of murder mystery and romance as Daphne discovers there’s a lot she didn’t know about the PTA leaders at her daughter’s school.

Although Dager served as a PTA board member for seven years, she says that all the characters in the book are fictional. “No PTA members were harmed during the writing of this book,” she writes.

Pi Day was started by a children’s museum in the 1980s as a way to get kids interested in math. Since then, teachers and parent groups have found ever more creative ways to make math fun and celebrate the famous number (abbreviated as 3.14) each March 14.

Pi(e) Day
Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Many schools observe the day with activities using pies or pizzas. You might recruit teachers who agree to be “pied,” then invite students to vote for one teacher to take a pie in the face by putting coins in a jar. Or you could help teachers with their Pi Day lessons by supplying pizzas for their classes. Teachers can use the round pizzas to demonstrate lessons before students eat them for lunch.

Family Fun
Hold a family night focused on math. Count off attendees from 1 to 9. Then recite the digits of pi, with a person representing each number moving to the appropriate place in order, until you run out of people. Plan math games and invite students to challenge their parents. End the evening with a helping of pie for everyone.

Pi Contest
Challenge students to write poems about pi or to memorize as many digits as they can. Give winners storybooks that involve pi, such as Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi by Cindy Neuschwander, or gift certificates to a local pizza place.

Parent groups are using new ways to make fathers feel welcome. Want to get more fathers involved at your school? As these groups show, it helps to make an appeal for volunteers aimed directly at dads.

Dads’ Night at the Movies

The Huntsville (Ala.) Council of PTAs, together with some local churches, sponsored a PTA Dads Night at a movie theater in September, allowing fathers to purchase reduced-price tickets. The selected film, Courageous, follows four police officers and focuses on their roles as fathers. Parents from 17 schools attended, along with the superintendent and school board president.

Specific Requests

A San Antonio PTA found success asking fathers to volunteer at school on their child’s birthday, giving them the chance to enjoy lunch with their child. During meet the teacher night at Canyon Ridge Elementary, one father signed up about 60 other men to volunteer.

While researching programs to get more fathers involved at school, Canyon Ridge PTA president Lisa deBonoPaula learned of another area school that keeps a “honey do” list at the front desk. Dads can tackle tasks like moving heavy furniture, helping the PE teacher during gym class, and hammering nails into walls.

Just for Dads

Other schools have had success with dads-only parent groups or programs such as Watch D.O.G.S. and All Pro Dads, or by forming father’s committees that are a part of the parent group. The Mountainview Elementary PTA in Saugus, Calif., has an active Dads Committee. The group meets monthly and hosts a golf tournament and a rummage sale and helps with other PTA events.

Read more: Dad involvement article archive