Pam, as a first year Pres (my first mtg will be in Sept) I am glad to have read your frustrations in regards to PTO mtgs. I will keep your frustrations in mind while I am preparing for my first mtg as well as future ones. I agree that you should voice your frustrations at the next mtg or at the very least one-on-one w/a "board" member. They may not realize that by making a small change, such as, greeting members or rearranging the setup they might encourage more members. Thanks again! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Love all the ideas. I am doing a monthly theme for each month. PIE_parents in Education
We will have and apple pie contest, Nov. Bring your favorite cookie recipe and swap it with others, etc.

Thanks for all the great feedback! [img]smile.gif[/img] I'll reply later to everyone! So much info, that I need time to think about everything.
Keep the ideas coming, I'm looking forward to hearing from all!

I'm glad my post was taken as just mindless critical.

pals- you send out thank yous to attendees every month???? That's WAY above and beyond. Your meetings sound fun! You want to come and run our meetings? Just kidding! Kind of.

I won't ask about the chicken hat, but it's making me smile.

pam I am sorry that you feel that your school's pto meetings are a waste of time, it's funny because at our school we wish we had more time to make decisions.From our hour long monthly meetings we have become friends and the time is truly priceless, our average is around 22 parents. A PTO meeting can be a valuable resource and I can not think what we would get done without them! From your words of advice I thought that i would give my two cents for anyone for what it is worth...ha ha ha.

First of all we don't have a board and I could see how them sitting up front and everyone not would send a harsh message. I guess it is probably a roberts rule thing or something, at our meetings I set up three or four rectangle tables all together in a row or square and EVERYONE sits at them, no matter who you are. If I see someone taking a outside table I joke with them to come on over that we are lonely. I will drag someone if I have to...just kidding=)

As far as a welcome at the door that seems like a nice idea of course we have meetings in an open wing library so there is no door! What I have tried to do for the past three years is to play some kind of game or team activity. Yes people joke and moan but they love doing it , and can't wait to see what they have do. It gets pretty funny and everyone loosens up! if it requires a partner old people are matched with new people.
I could go on forever on what things we do...

We do send our minutes out school wide, and we also communicate through flyers and our school newsletter. truth is most people could care less about reading what the vote was on so and so....blah blah blah. Communicating stuff home can never be enough...no matter how hard people try. trust me!

I send out personal thank yous to everyone who attends a meeting EACH month....no excuses it gets done. It is amazing how many people keep these things and bring them up all of the time. new people are like "WOW" it does say alot. One other thing I do if a parent has suddenly stop coming I make personal contact to make sure things are okay and that there wasn't anything said or done to chase them away. make that personal connection, it is worth it.

I also surprise people at our meetings, i might decorate up a little, some flowers , a snack, balloons...you know make it festive. For April I do a thank you for volunteering (our school does one later), June everyone brings a dish to share (by best our best meeting), February heart candy, etc. I believe that if people have fun and are in a fun atmosphere then it will only benefit your group and school. I am known for my hats, especially my chicken hat...don't ask!

For the record we will be starting our 4th year this September after a no involvement PTA, my first meeting as president had 5 people (that includes staff) now we average around 22 Parents. We have about 250 families,more important than meeting numbers is our school volunteer list has grown to over 110 active volunteers at our school.

Little ideas and having fun can make a difference in all those stuffy meetings, pam take some of these ideas back and share...who knows what will happen. a little new energy can go along ways!Our group is known as fun and exciting, what a great feeling knowing that. How people perceive you should be a #1 priority for any leader or group! Good luck and hang in there!

[ 08-19-2005, 09:31 PM: Message edited by: pals ]

Hi Pam, It is interesting to here your perspective of meetings. I am the president of our PTO and I hear what you're saying. When I step back and look at it from a non-executive board member's point of view, I would probably agree with you. I, too am soft spoken. I remember the first time I attended a meeting. I felt totally out of place and unwelcomed. Also, I felt so "out of the loop" so to speak. I took baby steps to becoming involved. I think welcoming people at the door is a terrific idea. It is something that we currently don't do, but think we should start. Also, posting the agenda is a great idea. My goal if for all the parents to feel valued in our school community. This goes for all the "regular" volunteers as well as newcomers and working parents. I hear from working parents all the time that feel that they will never be able to volunteer as much as they would like, so they sometimes resign themselves to not helping at all. If you have 1 hour or 1 day or whatever, you are a valued member of the PTO.
Hang in there, I hope things get better.