I am the new PTO Chairperson for Ben's school. He's in 5th grade, so this is the last year I'll be able to volunteer in this capacity. I really don't mind volunteering at school. At our charter school in Monroe, I was the Library Volunteer Coordinator as well as Book Fair Chair. I have volunteered for the past two years shelving books for our part-time librarian. What can I say? I love books.
So back to this PTO gig. As happy as I am to be involved, I really hope that I am able to take it as seriously as I should. But, how did I get here? I mean, this is the same person who threw a Tupperware Party that no one came to. And when Allison was a baby, I resorted to taking out an ad in the local paper to find a playgroup. And the only Mom who answered the ad turned out to be a bit high strung. Jay thought she was psychotic. We moved.
I have come to the realization that there isn't much "O"rganization in the PTO. "O" stands for "Oh my goodness" the room just emptied when I asked for some help. "Oh, you schools are looking for another handout from local businesses". "Oh crap, where did I put that memo?"
A few individuals do most of the work. I am in charge of pulling off the year's big fundraiser in a few weeks, and I'm feeling a little pressure here. I already have prehypertension, and I'm not sure this is good for my health.
You may have noticed that I have a hard enough time organizing and motivating myself, much less trying to rally a parent base that may or may not have the time nor the inclination to get involved. It's a shame because I just heard some study that shows that a child's success in school has a direct correlation to the parents' involvement.
So my plan is to enlist a parent in each grade to put together a parent/grandparent contact list for a directory (if the Principal approves) and have said parent contact other parents and assign tasks. We have only one class per grade so this is not a lot of parents, so not a lot of phone calls.
I always tell my kids that many hands make light work. Do you think the parents will swallow that line? My kids don't.
I was the room parent for Wesley's class up until 4th grade. After the first two years of me being the only one that remembered to bring cups, plates, food, drink, etc. I started calling up the parent and saying I have you down to bring the chips, ok? I find that you just have to tell people what to do, you can't wait for them to figure it out for themselves! God love you, I've been there!!! Your kids will respect your efforts one of these days, Wes sure does. And now I see her stepping up to do things, like right now she is editor of the yearbook and running for school president of student council. Guess I set a good example (or maybe not, she is taking on way too much in my opinion!) Good luck xoxo
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