PTO Today

“This event not only created a sense of community for our school, but was a great promotion of literacy. Plus, everyone had fun. We plan to do this event twice per school year.”

~Joanie Triestman, Board Member

Canyon Vista Elementary – Aliso Viejo, CA

Now for a limited time, when you order a Family Reading Night kit you have a chance to receive a free copy of the new Shel Silverstein book, Every Thing On It (coming September 20th), to give away at Family Reading Night! Books are limited to the first 2,000 schools*, so be sure to order your kit now. (Details on how to request your free copy can be found on the Shel Silverstein-themed activity sheet in this year’s Family Reading Night kit.)

This year’s Family Reading Night kit also includes an activity sheet that provides fun Shel Silverstein-themed activities your event’s activities — Rhyme Race, Draw Me a Poem, and Create a Creature, to name a few!  The kids will be reading, rhyming, and writing in imaginative ways!

Shel Silverstein books are always a hit for all ages, so don’t put off ordering your Family Reading Night kit. And don’t forget to take photos of your fabulous event and share them on our Facebook page.   We’ll send a “My Parent Group Rocks” t-shirt to everyone who uploads photos of their Family Reading Night by the end of 2011.  Have fun!

*If you were chosen to receive or have already received an advance copy of this book from PTO Today, your school is ineligible.

Every Thing On It cover and artwork © 2011 Evil Eye, LLC.

It’s a beautiful day here in Massachusetts but the affects of Irene live on! Our PTO Today office is closed and our phones are down due to a power outage. If you need to be in touch today, the best way to reach us is info@ptotoday.com. What would we do without smart phones and iPads?! Stay tuned on our Facebook page for the status our our power outage.

Thanks to everyone who checked in on our Facebook page yesterday during the storm. We hope everyone who lost power has it restored soon and that your families are safe and sound! Those affected with floods, downed branches and storm damage are in our thoughts. Hang in there!

Thanks to all who have taken part in our Fun Fact Giveaway Quiz so far! We hope that you had fun and that you learned a lot. A hearty congrats to the winners of the $50 Target gift cards to date:

February Winners
Paula Rygh
Lisa Haddock
Terri Bishop
Allison May

March Winners
Anita Kelly
Donna Alqassar
Kristin Gaudry
Sara Nichols

April Winners
Beatrice Mattaway
Julie Anne Divis
Misty Cook
Monique Bryant

May Winners
TBD. This could be you. Take the quiz now!

May is not over yet and we still have 4 gift cards to give away! Remember, you can take the quiz as many times as you want, until you get all the answers correct.  Just think what you could do with this gift card… silent auction prize… door prize for your back-to-school event … reimburse yourself for the stuff you bought for that end of year party… hmmm, so many possibilities! Get cracking because there are only 9 days left in the month of May! Good Luck.

Word on the street is that many groups are working on their fall PTO or PTA planning right now.  Wouldn’t it be great if you could start your school community off on a spirited note next fall? It’s such a hectic time of year for families … they (and you!) need some fun.

That’s why we are so excited to partner with the NFL and their Back to Football Friday program (for the second year in a row!). The NFL would like to invite YOUR school to participate in Back to Football Friday this fall! This fun, FAN-tastic event is a great way to drum up some excitement at back-to-school by rallying that school (and team!) spirit.

Here’s how it works:

• Register your school at www.NFLRUSH.com/backtofootball
• Plan a Back to Football Friday Celebration anytime during the first 2 weeks of the 2011 NFL regular season this fall – invite everyone at your school to celebrate by wearing their NFL team gear to school.
• 34 winning schools will be named NFL PLAY 60 Super Schools and receive an NFL team celebration and a $10,000 NFL PLAY 60 health and wellness grant*!

Registration is open. Once registered, be sure to upload photos of your event (learn more at  www.NFLRUSH.com/backtofootball).

Look for a  complimentary Back to Football Friday poster in the August issue of PTO Today Magazine!

*Grant awarded in form of a check made payable to winning school.

No Purchase Necessary to Enter or Win in the Back to Football Friday Contest (hereafter, “Contest”). Registration starts 12:00:00 p.m. ET on 3/15/11 and ends two (2) weeks following the conclusion of the first 2011 NFL regular season game (“Registration Period”). Entry Period starts 9:00:00 a.m. ET on the day after the first 2011 NFL regular season game and ends two (2) weeks following the conclusion of the first 2011 NFL regular season game. Open only to those who are, as of registration date: (i) legal residents of the 50 U.S. or District of Columbia; (ii) 18+ years; and (iii) either a school Administrator, Teacher, PTA leader or PTO leader representing a public, state-accredited private school or vocational school with grades between Kindergarten and 8th. For the purposes of this Contest, a school Administrator is defined as a Principal, Vice-Principal, Dean, Superintendent or Health and Wellness Administrator. Void where prohibited. Subject to Official Rules available at www.nflrush.com/backtofootball during Registration Period or by sending a SASE for receipt by 11/4/11 to: Back to Football Friday RULES, P.O. Box 17009, Bridgeport, CT, 06673-7009. Sponsor: National Football League.
“NFL Team Celebration” prize consists of a visit to the school associated with the Grand Prize winning Entry for a portion of a school day by one or more cheerleader(s), mascot or NFL player(s).
© 2011 NFL Properties LLC. All NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League.

I don’t normally do this, but I just have to share this email we received here at PTO Today this morning. Couldn’t have been nicer and made this dreary, rainy Tuesday morning so much sunnier. James Adams, a PTO president from Topeka, Kansas, shared:

“Just wanted to send a thank you note for your wonderful publication and companion Web site.  I have relied heavily on the wealth of information that you have on your Web site over the last 2 years and anxiously awaited each and every magazine that was published for more great articles and ideas that always seemed to “speak to me.”

“I have 2 girls, a 2nd grader and  pre-k’er and I was what I commonly refer to as a ‘sideline dad.’  I was involved as I had to be but nothing more.  I always wanted to do more with the school but was never really sure I would be any good at it and was deathly afraid of the responsibility. My wife was super involved and helped out the teachers as they needed and it was her efforts with the school that made me want to contribute as well.  Two years ago, I was called by a parent in charge of our nominating committee and asked if I would be interested in being a PTO officer. I said I’d think about it and after a phone call to the existing President to ask ‘just how bad is it?’ and some conversations with my wife, I finally said, ‘why not!’ I learned early on with my children that I don’t necessarily have to be the best Dad but I do have to show up.  I carried that over into my Presidency of the PTO – I found that the easiest part of the job was to simply care. I genuinely cared about the success of our children, teachers and school and was always present at activities and meetings and tried to make the group something I could be proud of and ultimately something that my daughter’s could be proud of as well. My oldest always joked that she thought I was ‘boss of the school.’  I corrected her but I enjoyed hearing that!

“Long story short, I couldn’t have done any of this without you and your publications. I’ve followed you on Twitter, Facebook, read each magazine cover-to-cover, downloaded countless docs on the file exchange and recommended your information to our PTO board numerous times.

“Your advice and articles turned a scary endeavor into a thoroughly rewarding and enjoyable one. I became so involved in our PTO efforts at my daughter’s school that I decided in December 2010 to take my efforts to the next level and run for the School Board. I’m proud and excited to say that I won my election in early April and will begin my four year term in July of this year.

“Can’t thank you enough and please pass along my thanks to your wonderful team for all that they do!”

Basically, he captured everything we’ve ever tried to do.  So great.  This whole volunteering thing can be both scary and difficult at times.  If we can make it a bit easier, a bit les scary and maybe even sometimes fun – that’s what we’re all about.  Thanks to James for sharing his experience (and good luck in the new gig!).  And thanks to all of you for the work you do everyday to make our schools so special.

We are gearing up for another chat on our Facebook page this Thursday, March 3rd at 1pm EST. Consider this your invitation for  a virtual cup of coffee and chat. This is your chance to chat with other parent leaders who share the same  issues and joys.  Drop in for a little bit or stay the whole hour.

If you are new to our chats here’s how to participate:

• post your questions prior to Thursday on the Facebook event wall.
• email me questions ahead of time at me at lgundlach@ptotoday.com (if you’d feel more comfortable keeing your question(s) anonymous.)
• or post questions on our wall during the live chat… go with the flow.
• Just a note about participation: During the chat keep hitting your refresh button to stay on top  of the conversation stream.  It’s a good idea to have our Facebook page up in several tabs, just in case one gets hung up in a refresh loop.

We hope you’ll join us on our Facebook page on Thursday between 1 and 2 pm EST.  Even if you don’t have a question, I bet you’ll learn from the conversation.  If you have any questions about this event, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Can quizzes be fun and entertaining? We think so. In this video, Tim gives you the scoop on our newly launched PTOtoday.com Fun Fact Giveaway quiz.  This is your chance to learn more about the resources on our site and be entered to win a $50 Target gift card. Pretty cool, huh?

Here’s the link to the quiz. http://www.ptotoday.com/ptotoday-fun-fact-giveaway Go!