When you start a new group it's good to take a survey of what the teachers and administrators would like you to do. It's good if you can also give them suggestions. For instance you could list committees that you can think of/have heard about.
At our elementary school there are two seperate volunteer areas - Committees and classroom volunteers. Most people help out with both but there are some that just want to help in their childs classroom. In the beginning of the school year each parent gets a committee list that they can sign up for and a classroom list that they can volunteer for.
As for the picking up trash job, that is something that we did on Earth day. For a school that is lined with woods and soybean fields it was suprising how many little pieces of trash there were. I actually like the idea of kids picking up trash unless it's in an area where they are likely to pick up something disgusting like needles or condoms and everyone wears gloves. Nothing like cleaning up after people to make kids realize how awful litter is.
LakerMom: I hear 'ya, sister! We were informally approached about picking up trash around the school yard!!! What really has helped us is having well defined goals that determine what is and what is not within the scope of our PTA. Ours are: To nourish the connection between the classroom and the home; and to enrich our children's experience at our school. Picking up McDonald's wrappers didn't fit within either of those! The better defined your goals are, the easier it is to narrow your activities and those requested of you. AFter a while, people start asking themselves, "is this within what the PTA does" before they ask you because they KNOW they're going to hear your goals when they approach you. This weeds out quite a few requests, and legitmately so--you only have so many willing hands and no doubt there's plenty of work for them as it is. Those you requests you can honor have some rhyme and reason to them.
Another thing to try is to see if the school has or can pull together a list of people who want to volunteer outside of the PTA. Maybe then you wouldn't be the only source they have when they have a need.
Hope this helps! You just have to feel your way for awhile until things start to gel. But coming here for advice is a great place to start!
I have been active in the Pto for 2 years now. Our building what are called homeroom moms that help the individual teacher. As the PTO we send out a form at the beginning of the year for parents to sign up if they would like to chair an activity
Do you mean that you need some kind of a form for teachers to fill out detailing their volunteer needs or is it requests beyond that? A few more details might help me figure out if I have something I could send you to help you out.
This is our first year with a PTO, or any parent organization for that matter, and we have lots of questions. I have spent several hours trying to find information on how to control the requests from the school on the need for volunteers, and I have not been satisfied with what I have found. Does anyone have any ideas or forms on how to best control the requests coming in?
