Question: student attandence prizes

We offer an attendance prize for the class with the most parents in attendance at our meetings. We usually give them drinks (Capri Sun) and snacks - both snacks in turn help out our competition between the classes for collecting the most pouches and wrappers, in turn give money back to our school. BUT....the same class keeps winning....we need an incintive for the other class parental participation.....ANY IDEAS?

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Community Advice

ConcernedTreasurer writes:
I do not like or encourage rewards of food & drink for anything! First of all, too many children have dietary concerns like food allergies, dye intolerances, and diabetes. Second, we have an epidemic of obesity in our country--and the kids are not exempt from this. We do not need to reward them with more food! That being said, I don't know that there's a good way to get more parents to participate other than having meeting times that are convenient (our PTO used to meet right after school to accomodate teachers, but with so many working parents, it wasn't the best time), keeping your families informed about what the PTO is doing (making it fun & exciting & making them want to be involved), and reaching out through the teachers--maybe an email or newsletter home from the teacher would catch the parents' eyes.