Due in part to the fact that many parents thought the officers were unapproachable.
I sure am hoping to have somethings I am working on turn our reputation around!! [/QB][/QUOTE]
I am the new PTO Pres this year and I feel the same way. I think alot of families, mothers especially feel that the officers are unapproachable. I think that is partly due to the fact that a few yesrs back it seemed very hush hush and all of the PTO meetings were for officers only. This year the first thing I am changing is making at least 3 meetings general meetings and by having the majority at night instead of alternating day and evening meetings. We all want the best PTO we can have and making all families feel welcomed is the key...GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
Thanks for sharing! I am glad your success went well!!!
I am going into a new year with a similar situation - the past few years there has been a lack of participation. Due in part to the fact that many parents thought the officers were unapproachable.
I sure am hoping to have somethings I am working on turn our reputation around!!
Whew Hew . ..I"m pooped. Today was our back to school beach blanket block party to kick of the new school year that begins on Monday.
All in all it was a total success and I feel we've got a lot of NEW parents excited. When I say NEW, I don't mean just new parents to the school, but parents that may have been intimidated to volunteer for fear of being rejected as in the past.
We are a small school of 250+ students, maybe 150 families and we only had maybe 30+ families attend but once the relay races started, I noticed many families mingling with eachother that hadn't before.
We had families bring their own beach blankets, lawn furniture. We supplied the music (beach boys and island reggae along with some top 40 and of course the cha cha slide LOL), we supplied hot dogs, soda and chips and a local radio station donated logo merchandise that we used as relay race prizes. Total cost wasn't even $200.00????
On the races, the families HAD to have at least one parent on their team (to encourage parent envolvement) and it was just so much fun!!!
My hubby was doing the music so any chance I had to rest, I sat over by him and just watched reactions and all was positive.
As I walked around the playground where people were sitting, I overheard parents talking to eachother saying "this has really been fun, I'm glad we came". That's worth all the hard work alone LOL. Many families even stayed to help clean up. About 10 minutes before it was over, I made an announcement thanking everyone who came and hoping they all had fun, and I got an applause???? That was soooo cool LOL!!!! Then of course I tossed in that our first PTO meeting will be Aug 30th LOL.
So, sure am hoping that the "reputation" our schools PTO had in the past is fading quickly!!!!
