So let's be honest. When someone mention's the word "PTA" the first thing that comes to everyone's mind is "The Pesky ladies that always ask me to help out." or "They need something ..again" and how can we forget the ever so non-flattering movie "Bad Mom's" that poked fun of being a member and made society believe that all we do is sit around and bring each other down,while enforcing rules that fit our want's instead of needs. So in a nutshell the reputation that society has given to us is no where near what is realistic or even close to what we actually do. So which leads me to believe that it's our job to educate society on the "Day in the Life of a PTA member".
We all lead busy lives and in between school,sports, piano lessons and doctors appointment's we all try to ens-til in our children that "It is important to help other's and be there for those in need." We have all signed up to volunteer at a food bank, homeless shelter and even churches. So then why not help at the very school that your son or daughter attends? Why? ...because we are no different than any other charity. We are also a 501c (non profit organization) and because of the image that society has embedded in your head which makes you believe that we are more of a nuisance rather than there to help the children that reside in our community.
71.4% of the Resident's that live in Addison live below poverty level in our town, which means that Resident's within our community look for resource that can assist them with the basic necessities need to survive daily.
*Data is obtained from www.city-data.com That's where many of the event's that the PTA will run or "Fundraisers" that go home are the key in providing the student's things that they need in their classrooms or things that they receive so that they can feel as though they are a part of something without their family that is struggling has to pay for.
So imagine that your community is already struggling and to ask a family to pay $8 for a t-shirt that they can wear for spirit day on Friday's might be tough. Add 4 kids that need t-shirt's for spirit day then you're asking that family for $32 that can go towards dinner for the family and maybe left overs or shirts they wear once a week. To a parent the choice is hard and yet you feel that you're doing your best. As a child you see your friends all around you with the new shirt's all talking about "what are you wearing this Friday with your spirit shirt". You feel left out and at times you make excuses why you don't have the newest things or why you can't buy a shirt. How do I know this.... because I was that child. My Mom was a widow raising my brother and I alone working 2 jobs to make ends meet. I know she was doing her best and couldn't afford things like spirit wear or field trips,but when you're a kid you don't understand. Kids would poke fun of me as well as talk about me because I was "poor" they would say. After that life experience it always sat in the back of my head and then as adult's I realized why your she had to say no.
So you know all those "Family Eat out Night's" or "Fundraisers ...again" that the PTA takes the time to organize our PTA will actually be able to fund "Spirit Wear" t-shirt's to ALL of the student's and staff that are members of the PTA a FREE shirt that everyone can now wear on Friday's!! Which means that we have supplied almost 600 shirts almost every year just by having those "Pesky Family Eat out Night's EVERY MONTH" or "ANOTHER Fundraiser". Now no one feels left out and they ALL feel as though they are a part of something !
"Times they are a changing" It's amazing to live in a City that so small yet changes and grows all the time. Living in the community since 2004 we have seen so many changes in not only the community but also the education that is provided for our children. So as things change we all do as well and we adapt to our surrounding by providing our children and the community with resources and individuals that can guide them. For instance, last year the Fullerton School PTA added a Bi-Lingual Liaison to the Board. Mrs Trejoh is mother of 4 children that attend schools within our district. Being fluent in Spanish our PTA felt the need that we needed to provide our parent's with the ability to communicate and participate at our event's with out having to deal with a language barrier. We are fortunate enough to also have other Board members that are fluent in German and Polish as well. This has helped our PTA grow and it has also opened up more lines of communication between parent's and members.
Adapting and understanding your members is one of the key essentials that we believe has made our PTA strong. Just this year we added a SEPTA position to our board. SEPTA stands for "Special Education Parent Teacher Association" . Mrs Wagner is a mother of 3 that understand the 504 and IEP process because she has a child that requires help and assistance for his learning disability. Being new to the school year in 2016 Mrs Wagner was lucky enough to have a great support system at our school to guide her through the process. As a PTA we felt that adding this position to our board will allow parent's to feel that they have a support system when they are going through the process. Mrs Wagner is happy to be there for support and guidance to parent's that would like to get a "parental perspective " of the process from someone that has gone through it.
"Another Meeting" *rolls eyes* so most people think that we're going to be giving out list's of items that are not allowed at the next "bake sale " like we have seen in the movies. As easy as that actually is it's no where near the topics that we actually cover. Do you know that once a month PTA members that represent each of the Addison Schools K-8th attend a meeting at our district office to discuss important topics that effect our children in their daily lives at school? Did you know that we discuss potential changes through out the year? We find out about new programs and we meet with members of the school board, park district and even Illinois PTA to discuss topics that effect our community. After those meetings take place the representative will go back to their schools and report back to everyone at their schools monthly meetings and update them with any news,changes or event's in our community. We come together to discuss things that we can improve on and things that we can offer to our members. You're thinking "Well you're a stay at home mom what else are you going to do?" Not quite- the individuals that have attended these meetings are Business Owners, Nurses, Pharmacy Tech, Travel Business and in other line of work that requires for us to change around our schedule so we can be the advocate for our school and report back to our parent's.
"Every Child, One Voice" - National PTA members all across the country have helped put together laws that protect our children , and get the word out about our government trying to cut funding to our classrooms. The PTA is known as the longest running advocate for children and education.Wow!
https://www.pta.org/advocacy/
"Who Knew"- So many things that society has not educated the public about, but they are first to poke fun at our on going efforts to raise money and awareness. Currently right now PTA's all across the country have been coming together and helping the victim's of Hurricane Harvey in Texas by setting up donations and getting the word out.
http://www.txpta.org/back-the-future It's amazing how such a large group of individuals become a family when tragedy strikes. This along with many other things I would have never known if I did not join and I did not attend the meetings.
"Why did I join?"- My reason for joining ? Well, my son was 9 new to the school and being a very colorful, outspoken funny kid you would think everyone would want to be his friend, well it wasn't the case. He would come home upset because he felt isolated and bullied. I spoke to the teachers,staff and Principal and they did everything they could. I really felt that if I did not step up as a parent then I'm not doing my job. I joined so that I can set my presence at the school and so that maybe if my son seen me through out the day helping out, or his peers would see me at an event helping them that it may change their mind set. It did!! He started to feel comfortable, I was greeted with "hello !" from not only my son but classmates and staff. It really helped in the transition and I am glad that I did that.
"I'm too busy, sorry I can't help" - PTA members have heard every story in the book why a parent cannot help out. It's ok because at the end of the day the job always gets done and we do it for the kids. When I first started and we were separating 600 t shirts by size, then by class, followed by distributing them and oh yes don't forget to get a picture of every class wearing their shirt for the year book. We had minimal man power and we vented to each other because we did not understand why parent's don't see the big picture. It always is hectic when we distribute the FREE t-shirts but then we take a step back and think that we are doing this for the kids so that they can ALL feel like they are a part of something an they don't feel left out because of the financial situation at home. Yes I would love to see my kids teachers on "meet your teacher" or "curriculum night" Instead we are there to answer parent's questions about the PTA, the school and sometimes even to translate. The plus side we still communicate with the staff because with us being there all the time we address issues and concerns in passing when we see them. So we never are left out of the loop and we will always be there for the parent's so that we can assist them in any way we can.
"Why $15.00 to join" PTA requires a fee of $4.50 for every member that joins your local PTA. Every school is required to purchase a commercial insurance policy to run their PTA. Our district has a fee that requires all of the schools with a PTA to pay a yearly fee as well. The PTA is required to have a yearly audit and to file taxes. Reflections "art and music" program budget are just of the few items that as a PTA by law you are required to have in order to run.
There are also benefits to everyone that becomes a member, not only through the PTA at our school, but also on a National Level!
National PTA teams up with businesses committed to supporting PTA’s mission of serving all children by offering our members special discounts, fundraising opportunities and other unique deals. https://www.pta.org/benefits
I have to say that we are very lucky to have such a great group of PTA board members as well as teachers, staff, Principle and parent's that have supported us throughout the years. Our PTA has provided funding to so many event's throughout the school year so that the children that come from a lower income can also experience and have the same things as everyone else. So next time you see a fundraiser, go ahead get that chocolate bar. When you see a "Family eat out Night" skip cooking dinner and know that such small effort's allows us to purchase equipment for the school, buy items for Grandparents Day, and we even pay for field trips as well as donate "Stress Balls" for all the kids taking the PARCC test which really turned out to help the student's with reliving their tension during testing.
Did you know that the "National PTA" offers scholarships and Grant's throughout the year ?
(Wow .. that's a whole lot of bake sales to be able to front that! * insert sarcasm* )
"Throughout the year, National PTA offers awards or grants to honor or support PTAs as they: engage families, support student success, improve the health and safety of students and families, increase access to arts education or celebrate advocacy and diversity." https://www.pta.org/awards
There are so many things that we do on a daily basis and our lives are busy as well. Yet when you come as a community and you're teaching your children the important values in life, like helping others also includes helping those at the school that your child attends because being a PTA member goes "Beyond a Bake Sale" !
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FullertonSchoolPTA@gmail.com
Contributor - Joanne Davis DeAngelo
Fullerton School PTA President
