PTA PROJECTS
Our PTA conducts five categories of activities. Most of the projects
require volunteer support, though the kind of help needed varies widely.
Some activities are conducted all year long and need volunteers on a consistent
basis, while other activities are conducted during one week or even one
day, so that volunteers are needed only on a short term or one-time basis.
Often, the kind of help we need can be provided during the evening or on
weekends, meaning that there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer -
all help is valuable and appreciated!
| I. Educational Programs | III. Student/Teacher Support |
| II. Standing Committees | IV. Community Action |
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A brief description of our activities follows, if you would like to know more about any of them please call a PTA officer or the designated committee chairperson.
I. Educational Programs
"Read to Succeed!" Our "at home" reading program for K-5 students is very popular with the students. There were over 220 students participating during our Fall '97 program! Thanks to the chair-person, Mrs. M. for all of her work & all of the parent volunteers who counted minutes each week.
Awards are given to the students as they reach each successive reading time level. Volunteers families, and staff. It is designed to help establish a positive attitude toward reading. are needed to tally and record reading times and pass out the awards.
Math ProgramWe
are having our 5th year of the math program this spring, which
is similar to the reading program, but designed to strengthen the students'
math skills. Volunteers are need to help develop and/or correct the problem
sets, setup displays, and tally/bag awards. The program began following
interests in our support of summer math programs.
Science Fair & Assembly. This is an opportunity for all students to explore their scientific interests. Each year, the entire gym and foyer are filled with projects from students from all grades. This project involves advertising the fair to the students and parents, setup the prior evening, judging and awarding ribbons, and teardown/ cleanup at the end of the day. When possible, we like to provide a science program or assembly for the students prior to the science fair to generate interest and provide ideas for projects. This involves identifying a program and coordinating the event with the school. PTA funds the purchase of the Fair ribbons for all of the participants.
Spelling Bee. Depending on the school staff's plans for the year,the school conducts a spelling each year for the 4-5 graders. We would like to expand this activity, possibly to include the younger grades and/or to provide the opportunity to compete with students from other schools.
Reflections & Art Docent Programs. Reflections is a cultural arts competition sponsored by the National PTA. There are four divisions of competition: visual arts, literature, music, and photography. This activity involves promoting the competition to the students, establishing judging criteria and awards for participants, arranging the display and selecting judges. As a means of stimulating interest in Reflections, we are preparing to conduct an "art docent" program for the students, to educate them about the classics of the art world.
II. Standing Committees
Legislation. The responsibility of the legislation committee is to research issues, particularly at the state level, that relate to the concerns of the PTA for children. The committee reports its findings to the Board of Directors, and coordinates actions determined appropriate. These actions can take the form of letters of information to parents, phone and/or letter writing campaigns, and so on. The members of this committee have the opportunity to attend the State PTA Legislative Assembly held annually in Ellensburg. Local & Government Representatives/PTA Legislation Links.
Membership, Welcoming, & Sunshine. These committees organize the year-start membership drive and activities for welcoming families new to the school, and they provide a welcome-back lunch for the school staff on the first day of school. During the year, the committee contacts parents that are new to the school to provide information about the school and our PTA activities, and sends appropriate cards (for birthdays, illness, etc.) to the school staff. The committee is also responsible for committee volunteer sign-up, and for providing the names of volunteers to the committee chairpersons. In addition, the committee assists the school staff with the spring orientation for Kindergarten parents.
Newsletter. This committee provides an informative newsletter on a regular basis throughout the school year that both informs parents and school staff of upcoming PTA events and provides visibility of important issues relating to the school and school district. It is the responsibility of the committee chairpersons to provide timely and relevant input to the newsletter writer(s).
Publishing. The "publishers" work with the staff to produce laminated articles and booklets for the students and the school, such as the comb-bound books some of the teachers produce for the spring open house. The PTA maintains a large supply of publishing materials, and teachers usually request parents as needed.
Recognition. This committee oversees the planning for and recognition of: the Volunteer of the Year, Board Member of the Year, Phoebe Apperson-Hearst nominee (our selection for the national educator award), and the sixth Grade graduation activities. These are all year-end activities.
Red Dot Folders. At the beginning of the year, each student will be given a folder to use for taking home most of the handouts and sometimes homework, at the teachers' discretion. The youngest child in each family will have a Red Dot sticker on his/her folder and will be the only one in the family to receive handouts. This is a successful paper conservation project that was begun in 1994. Each teacher generally needs one Red Dot volunteer to visit the classroom weekly.
Room Parents. Each teacher has his/her own way of utilizing volunteers in the classroom, and will usually be looking for volunteers on Group Conference night in September. You are welcome to contact your children's teachers at any time to let them know that you are available to volunteer.
III. Student/Teacher Support
All School Picnic. At the end of each year, the school sponsors a field day for all of the students. The staff organizes games for the morning, and the PTA provides a barbecue lunch for 550 plus. It's a lot of fun for everybody and the students and staff have a rare opportunity to interact outside the classroom.
Campbell Soup Labels & General Mills Boxtops. Throughout the year, students are asked to collect and bring in the labels from products made by the Campbell's Soup Company. The committee counts and bundles the labels, and they are redeemed for school-related merchandise. In the past, we have been able to buy some software for the computer room, a walkie-talkie for use on the playground, and maps and globes. Boxtops are redeemable to schools at a cash rate of 10-15 cents each. Visit Campbell's Labels for Education 2000 website for more details.
Computer Software, Consulting & Support. The role of this committee has expanded with the development of our computer room. In addition to selecting and obtaining software for the use of the school, the committee provides assistance to the staff for installing and maintaining the programs and equipment. They also help ensure that there are parent volunteers to help the teachers during their assigned time in the computer lab.
Health and Welfare. At the beginning of each school year, the Renton School District performs screening tests for vision and hearing for all of the students. The testing is overseen by the school nurse, who needs about 20 volunteers on testing day so that the tests can be performed in a timely and efficient manner.
Identification Bracelets. Every two years, we sponsor a sale of identification bracelets and tags for our students. Name, address, phone numbers and specialty information can be imprinted on the bracelets. The committee coordinates, and collects the orders from the parents and then distributes the orders to the students when they arrive.
Literature. The committee obtains catalogs from publishing companies for teachers at all class levels to review and order novel sets, and coordinates the order and delivery of the books.
Playground. Volunteers are asked to be present on the playground to organize games and activities for the students. The activities help focus the children's energy and make their playtime safer and more effective. The committee can coordinate with the PE. staff or Principal for the use of equipment.
Readerboard. The readerboard gives us free advertising and high visibility for our PTA and school events. The committee coordinates with the principal to determine what should be put on the readerboard.
Safety Patrol. Each year, fifth graders who volunteer are trained as crosswalk guards so that students can safely cross the streets to and from school. Adults are welcome to help oversee the foot traffic as an added safety measure. The PTA provides the crossing guards with a field trip at the end of the year as a show of appreciation.
School Savings. Washington Mutual Savings Bank sponsors a program to encourage students to learn to save money. An account is opened for each child that signs up for the program, and each week on "banking day" the students make their deposits at school. The money is posted by the PTA volunteer and taken to the bank for deposit that day.
Teacher Support (Discretionary & Directed). As you probably know, most teachers and staff members frequently spend their own money for teaching supplies. Our PTA has been fortunate to be able to reimburse them for some of their expenses. We provide a fixed amount (determined annually by budget requirements) and additional funds on request if and when funds are available.
Book Fairs. Each year we hold two book fairs, one in the fall and one in the spring. The benefit is that the students are able to purchase good quality books at school at a reasonable price, and the book fairs are open to the community. Each class visits the book fair on a scheduled day. Volunteers keep the shelves stocked and help the students make out "wish lists" (lists of what they would like to buy) to take to their parents, so that the parents may send payment to school for purchase the next day. Volunteers usually sign up for a two-hour work session during regular school hours.
Career Day. Business representatives visit during school hours to demonstrate their professions to the students, and hand out pamphlets, samples, and so on. We have had about a dozen exhibitors in each of the past two years. This project is geared toward the upper grade students to begin exposing them to the possibilities in the working world, but is also fun and informative for the younger students. Volunteers use their resources to attract exhibitors from the community that are appropriate and familiar to elementary-age children.
Community Events: Dad's Cookin' Tonight (formerly Dads Care Too), Spring Festival & Ice Cream Social. We sponsor several events during the school year that are intended to bring the families of the school together for a show of school spirit and social interaction. These events are not intended to be fundraisers but generally do show some profit. Volunteers are responsible for the planning and organizing, coordinating the use of school facilities, and scheduling helpers for the events.
Breakfast with Santa & Craft Fair. The craft fair is also a community event that has grown yearly. Crafters are invited to rent tables and sell their creations on scheduled Saturday. Breakfast is available during the craft fair. In addition, we've added Santa's Secret Workshop, where kids can do their own shopping - very successful and well attended!
Community Involvement Projects. We pursue community involvement projects for the purpose of highlighting their importance to the students. In the past we have conducted month-long food drive and delivered the donations to the Renton Food Bank, which happened to be the single largest food donation they had ever received. For several years, we have been donating the contents of the lost & found to charity. The clothes remaining in the lost & found when the school is about to close for the summer are washed, packaged, and donated. We plan to develop other projects which involve the students more directly.
D.A.R.E. Each year, the fifth graders are
given training in drug awareness by the D.A.R.E. (Drug Awareness and Resistance
Education) task force. The PTA funds the purchase of D.A.R.E. t-shirts
or other incentives for the students at the completion of the program.
Disaster Preparedness. In 1994-95, our disaster awareness committee defined a level of preparedness for our school that would provide for personal needs and first aid for the students and staff in the event of a major disaster. Student were asked to purchase their own personal emergency packs, and parents were asked to contribute a wide variety of items with which to assemble equipment kits. There is more to be done to complete the development of our emergency capability. The committee will need to work in coordination with the school to assess our inventory at the beginning of the year, and re-issue requests for the remaining items needed.
Multicultural. This committee is responsible for planning activities that are designed to develop awareness of a variety of cultures, including those within our school community and around the world. The school staff is interested in promoting these types of activities as a method enhancing understanding and cooperation within the school community.
Popcorn. Each Thursday, the PTA makes popcorn as a treat for the students and staff. Students can buy popcorn after lunch for 25 cents. It takes a couple of hours to pop the quantity needed, and the process works best if there are several helpers, or volunteers willing to work on an alternating basis.
Program Actions. Each year the State PTA provides literature to the local PTA units on topics that are of current and vital interest to the entire membership. These topics have included areas such as Education Reform - Defining Our Role, Literacy, Violence Intervention and Prevention, Mathematics, and Parent Involvement. Volunteers are needed to review the information provided, and define the portions that are most relevant to our particular community. Ideas for programs that local units can sponsor are provided in the program action literature and can be pursued if there is sufficient interest.
Recycling. The intent of this committee's work is to develop awareness among the students and community of the need for recycling and of the different ways to recycle. We currently recycle paper in the classrooms as a means of involving the students. Persistent effort is needed to make this project effective and works best with several volunteers sharing the different responsibilities.
Roller Skating. The roller skating committee schedules sessions at TLC (Skate King) in Kent and is responsible for advertising each skate party and selling the tickets at the event. This is always a fun social activity, and a chance to interact outside the school environment.
V. PTA Organizational Functions
State PTA Convention & Workshops. The state and region PTAs' are responsible for educating the leadership of the councils and local units on their responsibilities and providing them with the tools with which to manage their organizations. Generally, workshops are held in the fall, winter, and spring, at the region level, and the convention is held in the spring by the state. These are very educational and often inspirational events, and are our primary opportunity to learn about the activities of other PTAs and to network with those who have useful experience. Many ideas are shared that can be readily used to enhance our own organization. PTA board members and officers are usually the attendees, though the general membership is welcome to attend if they wish.
Founders' Day Dinner. Each spring, the Renton PTA Council sponsors a dinner for the local units. The evening includes a program with a theme that honors the accomplishments of the PTA founders. Awards are given for the council volunteer of the year and the district employee of the year. It is a nice opportunity to celebrate the work of PTAs within our own school district. The dinner is usually attended by the principal and board officers.