PTO Today

So refreshing to see that the trend of schools going green is picking up momentum. Recently we learned of a school that took “green” to a whole new level. The Learning Gate Community School in Lutz, Florida, walks the talk when it comes to all things green. Their curriculum is green, they have a “green team” comprised of students, staff and teachers… and now thanks in part to a Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant, several of their buildings are green. Not only green … but they are the first public school to achieve “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” – LEED for Schools Platinum certification.

Here’s what I learned about LEED certification:

“The LEED rating system considers a new building’s air quality, water and energy efficiency, environmentally friendly materials and construction waste. Even the type of landscaping around the building and how it is irrigated is considered.”

What I think are some of  Learning Gate School’s neatest green features are solar-powered classrooms and toilets flushed with rainwater. If you are interested in learning more about the process that the Learning Gate Community School went through to achieve Platinum certification, I highly recommend watching this fun video: Journey into Platinum.

Charles Girard, contractor for the project and President & CEO of Green Modular Solutions gave me a rundown of what he thinks are the most notable aspects of the Learning Gate Community School’s green buildings (with my notes in italics):

• an innovative HVAC system that “washes” the air to make sure that it is clean (Don’t you just wonder sometimes when the same virus goes around the school over and over, if it has to do with the HVAC system?!)
• daylight lighting that mimics natural lighting (Who doesn’t hate fluorescent lights?)
• a building that is synergetic – in other words, all parts of the building work together efficiently thus taxing our environment as minimally as possible. (A building setting a positive example for students – now that’s cool.)

It makes sense that these and more features all add up to a learning environment that has healthy students and staff, and an overall better learning environment. Not to mention that the whole approach is setting an amazing example for the students. I wish my kids went to this school!

So kudos to Learning Gate for taking on this immense project in order to benefit their kids, and to Lowe’s for helping to fund it.
Since 2006, Lowe’s has donated more than $22 million to 4,900 K-12 public schools, benefitting more than 2.5 million school children. Now that’s impressive. The current Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant cycle is open until October 15. What projects is your school thinking about?

Hope everyone had a great week. Thanks to those who replied to my Facebook request and sent along article links!Here’s the top-line of  the most interesting articles of the week:

• PTO organizes a classroom kit project
• Fun teacher appreciation idea
• Nice interview with a dedicated PTO president
• Awesome reading program
• Excellent efforts to get more dads involved (Here’s Tim’s take on dads involvement: http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/718-dads-are-different)
• Parent group making changes in the new school year

And finally a question: Is your group employing smart financial controls? These articles will give you the nudge you need to make it happen!

http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2010/08/25/local_news/1819334.txt

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20100825/NEWS01/8250436/1007/NEWS01/Arraignment-for-accused-ex-PTA-president-postponed-to-Oct.-19

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a weekly round-up. Not a lot of news over the summer about parent groups… which is a good thing because parent group leaders need (and deserve) time to re-charge.

For many of you, you have been back to school for weeks now. For the New England folks, the first day of school is just around the corner. I can feel the back-to-school energy building.  On our message boards and Facebook page, activity is ramping up and excitement is evident!

In the news, it’s apparent that many PTOs  & PTAs are already busy:

• fundraising for new school signs
• advocating for more comfortable learning environments for kids
• educating families on the importance of parent involvement
• creating websites to keep parents in the loop
• kicking off the school year with memorable family events

What is your PTO or PTA busy with this back-to-school season? We’re always interested in hearing about your events and programs!

Of course it does, but have you ever received a shirt that says so?

You may not get the kudos you deserve from your school, but we want to make sure that you get the recognition you deserve on the PTO Today site. That’s why we’re kicking off a “PTO Today Rock Star” program.

We’ve always been impressed with how much sharing and helping goes on in our message boards. We think it’s high time to highlight the really good posts and recognize folks who take the time to share their unique experiences or how they solved a particularly thorny problem.

So how do you get the illustrious PTO Rock Star status on our site? Well it’s very scientific… not. Here’s how it works: as Tim and I are reading the message board posts we will be looking for posts that go above and beyond the usual. Maybe it’s in the details, or maybe it’s in the attitude… if your post resonates with us, we’ll give your post a “This post rocks” sticky. Here’s an example of a “rocking”  post made by community member JHB:  http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/29-top-message-board-requests/150497-requests-from-high-school

From this point forward, if your post gets rocked, you’re officially a PTO Today Rock Star. You’ll then get your name up in lights… well, not really but you will get your name and your awesome post highlighted in a featured “Rock Star blog” post. You’ll also receive a “My Parent Group Rocks” t-shirt. Take a picture of yourself in your new shirt, post it on our Facebook page or email it to us, and make it your avatar in our community and we’ll add in a free one-year subscription to PTO Today magazine.

Cool, right? Our community means a lot to us. This is just our way of saying thanks for all you do.

Over the past year, we’ve enjoyed hearing about how so many of you are helping your school go green. Whether it’s details about your successful Go Green Night, or how you started a green team, these stories and ideas are too good not to share! So, we decided to create a Go Green group. This is your place to exchange tips, ideas, and photos on ways you are making your school and your group more environmentally friendly.

Pop on over to our new Go Green Group and join the conversation. Also, we’d love to see photos of your green initiatives or your Go Green Night event! The first 5 community members to upload an album of at least 5 photographs* of your green school event or program will get a $25 Lowe’s gift card!

Thanks in advance for taking the time to share your experience in our new group. This is such an important topic for parent groups. Not only are you helping the environment but you are sending an important message to our children — and setting a great example.

*Please chose photos that show other leaders how you set up your green event or programs. General photos that don’t relate to green initiatives do not qualify. One gift card per school.

If you have been in the PTO Today community lately you may have noticed that some members have been sporting a new look! That’s because we have new “profile avatars” available. To give your PTO Today community persona a makeover, log in and go to your profile page. The easiest way to get to your profile is by clicking on the ‘profile’ link on the upper right hand side of the page, next to your name. Once you are on your page, click ‘change profile picture’ under the status bar.  From here, choose your new look. Of course, you can still upload your own photo — we love putting a face with a name.

So what are you waiting for?  It takes all of one minute to visit your profile page. Choose a new avatar and let your parent group personality shine through! After all, you are so much more than a mundane, faceless green avatar.

The power of PTO Today rests in sharing resources and leaders helping leaders. You see the cooperative spirit around our community in our message boards, Q & A, and file exchange. In recent months we’ve added new groups to provide a place for leaders to “meet” to get and give ideas about specific events. If you haven’t been there yet be sure to visit:

School Auction Group
Family Reading Night Group
Family Movie Night Group

We’d love to add more of your event photos to these group pages. To that end, we are going to sweeten the pot to encourage photo sharing. The first 5 people to upload their event photos (at least 5 photos per person, please) to one of the group pages mentioned above gets a $25 Target Gift card. Who couldn’t use a little extra, right? And you’ll be helping other leaders by sharing photos of how you set up your fabulous event.

While you are there, be sure to add your input to the tracker section of the group pages: popular auction items, read-loud book hit or misses, or family movie favs or flops.

Any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me at lgundlach@ptotoday.com. Can’t wait to see your photos!

Lots of chatter about school auctions this time of year! Did your school just have an auction? How did it go? Have you done a debrief on your event?

Here’s a question: Did some of your auction items create bidding wars? I bet they did. For tips on how to create bidding wars and other ideas on how to make your next auction a big success, watch Tim’s video blog. Also be sure to visit our new Auction Group page — your spot to access great auction tools and information, collaborate with other leaders,  share your event photos and tell other about your most lucrative and unique auction items!  Hope to see you over there soon.

We’ve been having a lot of fun at our PTO Expos this year. Being able to talk face-to-face with energetic parent group leaders never gets old. Whether it’s hearing about the challenges you face or exchanging ideas about our School Family Nights, the experience of spending time with leaders at our Expos makes everything we do worthwhile. Of course, hearing all the positive feedback about our website, magazine and Expos is pretty darn neat too.

Moving forward, we hope to be sharing videos of conversations with Expo attendees about their school events and their reaction to the Expos. Here is our first video of two PTO leaders from Rhode Island, with their feedback on the Massachusetts Expo.

Hello All –

Would you mind taking 5 minutes to help us help you and other parent group leaders?

There’s a link to a quick survey here: Parent Group Leader Survey

We haven’t done this in a while, but it’s always helpful to get an update on the latest with parent groups and parent group leaders. What you’re doing. How you’re using the web and technology. What we can do for you? All that good stuff.

Really appreciate your taking the time to help us out. Confident that you’ll see the results in the next few months as we plan our next advancements here on the site and beyond.