posted 10-22-2000 08:22 AM
As event ideas have you thought about some "character education" programs? It seems that basic character qualities are missing in our families and maybe we could help? I know that there are programs out there to help children and their families with basic "decision making"/"character building" skills.
There are many entertaining and effective ways to teach "truthfulness", "gratefulness", "sincerety", "attentiveness", "obedience", etc.. and then all the staff has to do is follow up by upholding and enforcing the standards taught. Yes, this should be done in the home, and that is where PTO can be effective, but our emphasis should be on connecting home and school, right?
Peggy Sue,
Yes, there is a great article on this site under A&E by an author with great first hand experience of how to maximize your author visit. We have an Author Day each year. It is a budget item of its own. The Librarian selects the author, and sometimes we share the cost with another school in the area. That way the hotel and travel expenses are shared. She usually picks an author within a certain radius of our city. The students make banners to go with his/her book titles to decorate the library and MP room. There are dicounted books on sale, both harbound and paperback to purchase ahead and have the author sign. The PTA coordinates a luncheon so that all the teachers can eat and have conversation with the author. The author gives two presentations, one for the K-3 and one for the 4-6 grades. These usually consist of showing how a book is made, from beginning stages to final copy, discussing writing methods, and showing the original artwork used for illustrations before it is in the book. It is a great day for all. The whole school looks forward to it each year. Good luck in your quest, I will check to see where our Librarian researches the authors.
Peggy Sue - you might want to check with your local library. They may know if you have an author who once or now does reside in town and would be happy to speak to the kids from the school where they were educated. Sounds like a funny idea but it happened to us. The author only lives a town away and now comes to our school regularly to discuss all sort of topics regarding reading and writing.
It's not as comprehensive as our Fundraising Marketplace, but we're adding more and more performers and presenters every week. By the way, these are the folks who make our site possible, so please thank them and support them and let them know you found them at PTOtoday.com.
We have brought authors into our school to talk to the kids. This is done with money in our performances part of out budget. Our arts people go to a cultural fair to pick out the authors to come in or we get alot of mailings from various people that want to come in. The cost is usually $650 to $900 depending on who it is. One problem that some parents have is they usually arrange for their lates book or books to be available for sale and will sign them but, the books can cost $15-20 which some parents think is to much for the actual worth.
As with everything there is an up side and a down.
