I have been doing this for a couple of years now. What I try to get across is the family aspect, and how much they are truly needed. I always try to put a "fun" twist to it so they dont fall asleep or read the papers in thier hand. One year i had gotten all of these articles on involvement and threw them up in the air and made a little speech about no matter how many things that i read, or how many studies that i look at none if that means anything if I can't get you involved. they were all laughing so bad. Last year I wore this silly chicken hat and based my theme on dont be chicken to be involved! Yeah I looked silly...Have fun with it...they will pay attention a little bit more! Show them that pto is FUN!
I completely agree with you - focus on the sense of community that exists at your school. Invite them to be a part of the school family. If you make people feel a part of something, if often inspires them to work toward the greater good. Good luck!!!
We (the board) has been offered 5 minutes with the parents at Kindergarten orientation this Friday. We basically can introduce the PTO to the new parents (most of them are new to the school) and talk about what ever we want.
I have no agenda (it's only 5 minutes) but wondering if you could get one thing across to your new parents, what would it be? I was thinking involvement and sense of community with touching on fundraising (it's a reality and don't want to hide it). We do a bunch of family events (at least one a month) so I think the involvement and community is the way to go.
