PTO Today

There’s been quite a run of PTO and PTA embezzlement stories in the news lately, and it’s scary stuff. Groups worry that it could happen to them and wonder how they’d get through it.

Well, Karlyn McConico knows.

The PTO president at Avondale West Elementary in Topeka, Kan., McConico recalls the day in late March when the group’s secretary told her a rumor was floating around that the group was out of cash and wouldn’t be able to fund its upcoming annual carnival.

“We were like, ‘What?’,’’ McConico says. As far as she knew, the finances were in order. “We had just had a board meeting,’’ she adds.

But McConico decided to investigate and took a solo trip to the bank where she was confronted with the harsh truth: The PTO account was nearly empty. Because the matter is under investigation, McConico was unable to share details of what exactly was missing or who is under investigation. But she did sum up that day by saying, “To have the carpet pulled out from underneath you, it was sickening.’’

McConico, along with the group’s vice president and secretary, decided to tackle the problem head-on. They reached out to the administration and made a quick decision to contact the police. Then they called an emergency meeting for parents to inform them of the lost funds and to let them know the carnival, which was scheduled for April 19, might not take place. The parents immediately began to rally and said the carnival couldn’t be canceled. An emergency carnival meeting was scheduled for the next day.

“We saw a tenfold increase in the number of parents involved,” McConico says. “Parents mobilized to get the word out to their contacts and employers, and social media was flooded with announcements about our predicament.’’

In addition, local media began covering the story. Before long, donations were pouring in, including two gifts of $2,500, one from a local company and the other from a person who had attended Avondale Elementary in the 1960s and wanted to make sure the kids got their carnival.

McConico says the carnival took place on schedule and was one of the best the school had ever seen. Because of the generosity of the community and profits from the actual sales at the carnival, the PTO made between $7,000 and $8,000 and will have more than enough to cover its other end-of-year events.

Now looking back, McConico says she and her team realize that they could have done more to ensure that financial best practices were, well, really practiced. “Routines and traditions get established and they don’t always allow for transparency,’’ she says.

They are now focused on turning that around. “We are restructuring our bylaws and other protocols have already been assigned,” McConico says. “We have two parties on the checks and two doing the resolutions of bank statements.”

One other piece of advice from McConico? If you are worried that your group doesn’t have solid financial best practices in place, say something. “When you want something to change, be willing to be persistent,’’ she says. “Keep bringing it up and push for things that will make your organization smarter and stronger.”

For more help and resources for your group, check out these articles:

5 Smart Financial Controls

What Every Treasurer Should Know

How to Manage Your Budget

Handling Cash: 6 Simple Steps

During Screen-Free Week (April 29-May 5), families are sometimes challenged with what to do once all the devices are turned off. So why not encourage students to charge up their imaginations this week with the NFL Play 60 Invention Contest ?

If they submit a new idea about staying active, they have a chance to win up to $5,000 plus an NFL-sponsored grand prize 3-day trip for the winner and a parent or guardian.

The NFL Play 60 Invention Contest is under way now and runs through July 12. Kids can enter the contest by submitting an idea in a choice of categories. They are prompted through a series of five questions and can submit photos with their entry as well. The contest is open to children ages 6 through 12.

The categories are:

• Active indoor or outdoor games
• Fitness equipment or training devices
• Exercise equipment
• Football-theme games or activities

There are step-by-step guidelines on the NFL Play 60 Invention Contest website that will help kids and parents get details on the contest. Plus, there’s a fun brainstorming tips section to help get the creative juices flowing.

We all know that parent involvement matters and that it is critical for parents and teachers to work as a team to provide the best school experience possible for our kids.

But Knapp Elementary in Lansdale, Penn., and its Home & School Association are taking it to a whole new level.

This Saturday, April 27, the school is hosting its first ParentCamp, a full-day event with more than 20 discussion sessions for parents and teachers. The day is billed as an “unconference’’ by school principal Joe Mazza because the idea is to encourage parents to talk and engage, rather than to provide a series of lectures to them.

Attendees can choose from a variety of sessions that cover such topics as transitioning to middle school, becoming a connected parent, understanding Internet safety, using Twitter and other technologies, and identifying substance abuse. Parents and teachers from Knapp as well as other school districts will run the sessions.

The Home & School Association believes this event will get resources out to parents who want to partner with teachers and staff on behalf of the kids. “Parents want the best for their children and want to help, but don’t always know how, where to begin, or what questions to ask,” said Gwen Pescatore, president of the parent group.

Mazza says his own experience at an educators conference called Edcamp last summer sparked the idea for ParentCamp, and the Knapp parent group “worked hand in hand’’ with him to put the event together. The Edcamp Foundation is a national group that provides a model for Edcamps for  “participant-driven professional development.”

“This is in its infancy,” Mazza says of the upcoming ParentCamp.  “We are hoping other schools can look at this as a way to engage parents and teachers.”

ParentCamp is open to Knapp Elementary parents as well as parents from surrounding districts. The event is free and so far 125 people have registered, leaving open seats for 75 more.

Also, if parent leaders are interested in learning more about the event, Mazza and others will be tweeting throughout Saturday with the hashtag #parentcamp.

Recently, a community member asked how much money a PTO should spend on teacher appreciation. We had tons of feedback on Facebook, and it’s clear that plenty of PTOs and PTAs can handle teacher appreciation celebrations on a tight budget. So we challenged our community to come up with ideas to celebrate teacher appreciation with $100 or less. Many of you can easily pull that off! What’s more, you pointed out that the actual money spent isn’t what counts. It’s the sincerity of the thank-you.

Here are some tips for thrifty teacher appreciation celebrations from our community:

• One dish at a time: Ask parents to send in a favorite dish for a luncheon buffet. Many parents want to help but don’t have time to do much. Sending in one dish is manageable for most parents, and it costs very little.

• Group effort: Instead of asking each parent for a donation, ask each class to send in a main dish, side dish, and dessert. The room parent can help coordinate this.

• It doesn’t have to be lobster: There are many inexpensive food options for teacher luncheons. Try a baked potato bar with a range of toppings, like sour cream, bacon bits, and chili.

• Local businesses can kick in: Ask local businesses to donate to your celebration. In addition to monetary donations, some restaurants will donate paper goods and utensils.

• Group gift: For groups with budgets in the $100 range, buy a gift for the teachers lounge, such as a coffeemaker, and supplement the gift with a selection of coffees, teas, and donated baked goods.

• Shop smart: Watch for bargains, such as when grocery stores offer deals like “buy one, get one free.” Better yet, don’t be afraid to ask the store manager for a special discount on (or outright donation of) baked goods, breads, and other items.

• Handmade items can be best: Reach out to students to make creative gifts. For example, your group can send small slips of paper home to each student. Ask them to write a note of thanks to the teacher and return them to school. (Room parents could easily coordinate this.) Collect notes and deliver them to the teachers throughout Teacher Appreciation Week.

• Free services: Reach out to parents who run businesses and provide services in the community to see what they can donate. Offer gifts of free massages, haircuts, and other services for teachers. If you have just a few services, give them away as special prizes (youngest teacher, teacher with the most grandchildren, etc.).

• This could go a long way: Give each teacher a $1 lottery ticket or scratch ticket.

• Digital memories: Collect digital photos of teachers, school events, and students. Burn them onto CDs for the teachers.

• One small gift a day: Ask the children to do one simple thing each day of Teacher Appreciation Week, such as bringing a cut flower to her teacher, bringing a piece of candy, or giving the teacher a homemade thank-you card.

Does your group have an audit or financial double check planned for the end of the year?

You definitely should, and it doesn’t have to be a ridiculous amount of work — and it shouldn’t be testy at all. Your treasurer should be the first person insisting on this as part of just good sound financial management. An audit is not at all an implication that you don’t trust someone.

Here are some resources to get you started:

• Annual Audit: How and Why
• PTO Today Audit Guidelines
• More Tools for Treasurers

And finally, this whole process would be even easier, way easier, if your group used ourFinance Manager online software program for tracking your funds. You should check it out.

We are happy to announce the Virginia Shuman Young Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is the winner of our Back2School 2012 $1,000 Vacation Giveaway!

The school plans to use their $1,000 travel gift certificate at an upcoming auction as part of a gift basket. As part of last year’s Back2School program, we held a photo contest and awarded a participating school with a $1,000 travel gift certificate. We invited all participants to send in photos of their back-to-school event and we chose the best photo.

Winning Photo! Virginia Shuman Young parents loved the Back2School Parent Packs!

The school told us that our annual Back2School program made a big difference in their back-to-school event. They described it as turning a “normally dull routine volunteer meeting into something fun and interesting for all!” The group also said that when they handed out the gift packs “it came as quite a happy surprise to the parents to be given something fun, useful, and free.’’

And guess what? We plan to offer a $1,000 prize as part of the 2013 Back2School program! We’d love to hear your suggestions for what would be a good giveaway. It should be valued at $1,000 and something a parent group could use or offer to its families. Thoughts?

You can sign up for this year’s Back2School program here.

Designed to help parent groups do a great job kicking off the school year, the Back2School program provides groups with a variety of tools to help them make a great first impression on parents at back-to-school time, including:

• Copies of our 2013 issue of Jump In! magazine for parents, featuring articles and tips as well as high value coupons (check out a few articles from last year’s issue here);
• Helpful back to school tools, such as social media tips for back to school, back-to-school involvement tips, an annual PTO planning calendar;
• A colorful parent involvement poster to hang at school;
• The chance to receive parent gift packs full of samples and offers from family-friendly brands.

Program participation is free, but space is limited. Learn more and sign up now by here.

Principal Eric Sheninger gets around. When he’s not at New Milford (N.J.) High School, he might be at an educational conference or on Twitter (@NMHS_Principal) speaking about the value of technology and social media in schools. A winner of the 2012 Digital Principal Award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals, Sheninger says what’s most important about classroom technology is how it’s used to help students learn. He sees PTOs and PTAs as having a key role as partners with teachers in making sensible technology choices. We asked him some questions about top technology trends recently and here’s what Sheninger shared:

How can PTOs gain an under-standing of how a technology purchase would benefit students?
When teachers ask the parent group to make a technology purchase, teachers should be able to demonstrate how they will use it effectively. They can do a demonstration lesson and put the parents in the role of students.

Is technology always a wise investment?No. If the student just carries it around and uses it to watch videos and read text, it’s not useful. It’s just an electronic textbook. If students are developing skills such as problem-solving, it is a wise investment. Students should be using the technology to create. They should be diagramming, drawing, and assessing.

What technology pitfalls can parent groups avoid?
Don’t get caught up in the bells and whistles, and don’t overbuy. It isn’t such a big deal whether it’s an iPad for every student or a rolling laptop computer lab or a Smart Board. It’s about how the technology is used. At our school, we don’t need a Smart Board in every classroom. Instead, I have an iPad, an Apple TV, and an LCD projector. This becomes a mobile interactive whiteboard. I keep it in my office, and teachers sign it out for the day.

Is your group looking for a spring fundraising option or perhaps already thinking about next fall?

If so, I hope you’ll forward two of our resources to the right people in your group.

• 1. Our Fundraising Yellow Pages on ptotoday.com have hundreds of listings to peruse with summaries and links to tons of various fundraising options. The Yellow Pages are great place to start your research.
• 2. And for a more personal shopping, reviewing, and sampling experience, our 10 2013 PTO Expos are the best opportunities to take a close, in-person look at dozens of companies and products all in one room in one day. If you’re within a couple of hours of an Expo, it’s well worth the drive.

Finding a fundraising option that’s a great fit for your group and your school community is a key to fundraising success. Good luck!

Next week is No Name-Calling Week, a great time to help kids find constructive ways to communicate to each other. The No Name-Calling Week Coalition provides resources on its website, NoNameCallingWeek.org. Here are some ideas to reinforce the message all year long:

Promote Positive Talk: Help facilitate old-fashioned rap sessions in a classroom or as part of an after-school activity. Students at Silver Lakes Middle School in North Lauderdale, Fla., held group discussions revolving around no name-calling themes, and during the morning announcements, peer counselors reinforced a “Stomp Out Name-Calling” message.

Mail a Compliment: In place of candy grams, try a “compliments gram” day to underscore the power of kind words. Get a group of students together to run this program. Invest a few dollars in high-quality stock paper and have students write upbeat messages to friends. Messengers can deliver the notes to the recipients. If necessary, parent volunteers can help younger children with wording.

Artful Expression: Team up with the art teacher or an artistic parent to organize an after-school art event. Encourage kids to release their feelings through a drawing, painting, or another artistic work as an alternative to name calling or other negative expression. Kids who have been called names (as well as the name callers) will feel empowered by expressing feelings in more constructive ways.

Happy New Year! We hope everyone enjoyed the winter break. For many, this holiday season has been all the more meaningful as thoughts often went to the Sandy Hook community. We sent prayers and good wishes to them and hugged our own kids and loved ones more closely.

Tomorrow, the Sandy Hook students will return to school at a new location, a repurposed middle school in the neighboring town of Monroe, Conn. For those of you looking for ways to support this community as it starts on its new venture, consider checking in with the organizations that are directly supporting them, such as the Newtown Parent Connection, Inc. and the Connecticut PTSA, to find out what is and isn’t needed at this time.

For example, the snowflakes project launched by the PTSA has closed. The Connecticut PTSA had started this program, which called for school children to create and send paper snowflakes to the Sandy Hook community, immediately following the tragedy. Apparently, it received so many snowflakes that it is now asking that schools do snowflake projects at their own schools and send photos of their work to Sandy Hook as a show of support.

Some other ideas:

Community service to honor Sandy Hook: The PTSA also recommends that schools set up a community service project this year in memory of the students. Sandy Hook’s principal, Dawn Hochsprung, who perished in the Dec. 14 tragedy, started a community service program she called Project Eagle to encourage elementary school kids to help others. Schools could run their own Project Eagle effort as a tribute to the Sandy Hook principal.

Sign a national condolence card on behalf of your school: Be one of the more than 2.5 million who have signed what’s been dubbed a Global Sympathy Card for Sandy Hook.

Hold a remembrance day at your school: The T.C. Miller Elementary School for Innovation in Lynchburg, Va., held a Sandy Hook day at its own school. Many staff wore green and white, the colors of Sandy Hook, and then they created a large banner for all the students to sign. The plan was to gather all the students for a school photo and to send it, along with the banner, to Sandy Hook.

Reach out to others in need: Consider holding a collection for other children in need in memory of the Sandy Hook children. An act of kindness in their names will help keep their memories alive.

Also, you can find additional resources for reaching out to the Newtown families listed in our December blog.