Second, you and whatever existing officers you have should meet with the principal.
Put everything on hold until you can list and prioritize your projects.
Start with a manageable schedule. If all you can do is one fundraiser and two or three projects/events, then do that.
Communicate honestly with the parents and staff. Explain that the PTO is going through a trasformation to meet the current and future needs of the school. As you and your team evaluate those needs, some older projects may end and new ones started.
If people see a fresh start and an opportunity to provide input you may see all kinds of new faces showing up to help.
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same."
"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the true perfection of one's character."
I can't sleep!!!! Everytime I try to something else pops in my head that I need to check on. I'm so overwhelmed, I really don't know where to start!!! To be completely honest I don't know what our goals are, ughh. We have things going on left and right and I don't know why. I have all the papers from previous years but they don't seem organized properly. I would like to just start from scratch but not sure how to and how to go about organizing, any more suggestions. I talked about becoming a member of ptotoday.com last year and noone went for it, its to expensive for us. Thank you all for your help!
Im sooo glad I have this board to turn too for help cuz I think Im gonna need it. Im in the same boat as some of you being the new prez. Its like being the new kid on the block! Im abosolutely terrified. I dont know how these people will react to new ideas that Ive gotten from these boards.
Im so happy that so many of you are willing to help out us newbies!
kelgf - Congratulations for facing your commitment and sticking to it. You are an excellent role model for the other parents at your school. It's unfortunate that your secretary didn't see it that way but things are what they are.
I'd take your situation at face value and let folks know exactly what's going on. Without a tremendous increase in parental involvement there will be no more parent group.
What do you see as the top three problems your group faces? What can you do to fix them?
What about the top three benefits of having your group in place? How can you communicate that to the parents?
I've found that if you sincerely ask for help, and take the help that's offered, people will respond. It may be slow at first but keep plugging away, make it look like you're having the time of your lives and your membership will grow.
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same."
"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the true perfection of one's character."
Ughh! I'm in the same boat. I was voted VP and all of a sudden our Pres. quit and will no longer be at the school as well as the sec. quitting because of only being on the board to support the pres. Our school sounds like the same place, very low respect for Parents Teacher staff ect. Noone wants to volunteer for anything! Could use whatever help you have to offer. Looking for fresh new ideas, I'm sick of there same old same old, but I don't want to jump in sounding like a drill sgt. either.
