Everyday Experiences

Today is Tuesday, September 21, 2010. The sun is shining and the grass is green and beautiful.
Yesterday we got an e-mail from one of our sons about school expenses when all our chidren were in school. As we reflected on our activities with them over the years, I was thankful that I had always stayed involved in PTA. PTA is a national parent - teacher association which has been around for more than 100 years. As I was involved with PTA at Pioneer School, I had good experiences. I graduated from college with a degree in elementary education because I wanted to teach school. Over the years I did teach some but most of my contact with schools was as a parent. Each local PTA unit gets involved in helping with certain finances at the school level. We had activities which earned money to help the local school program. My favorite fund raiser was the Annual School Carnival. How many years was I the chairman of that event? I also liked the Book Fairs we sponsored and the Santa's Secret Shop. These were services for the school children and the teachers as well as earning money to provide a few extra books for the library or special assembly programs for the school clientele.
When I first got involved, nearly every school had a PTA, a part of the national organization. Then bit by bit, local principals encouraged their parent groups to disassociate with the National PTA and form PTC's or PTO's or some other name. The rationale was that PTA required the local group to send a certain amount of dues off to Council, District, State, and National. If you were just a parent group, you could keep all the money at your own school. That sounded pretty good to me, too, at first. Thank goodness, I worked with school principals who understood the broader expanse and encouraged me to stick with PTA. PTA offered a wide range of individuals who knew much about school governance and how parents could help make better schools, not just by earning money but in other ways as well. I will ever be grateful for Mr. Handley, Mr. Thoman, Mr. Pruitt, and Mr. Jacobus for their advice and counsel.
No questions, every school could use more money. Couldn't everyone? Parents can absolutely work themselves to death with fund raisers to provide serious school needs. And they always want to do what the Principal and teachers ask them to do. Do we really want our children always involved in selling stuff for the school? I certainly didn't. And, certain school areas could never raise as much money as other school areas. It's the dynamics of neighborhoods that one school is in a more affluent area than another school. Therefore, if you stick with PTA, the whole group can encourage the school district to look out for the children in each school in the District.
Oh, I've heard the idea that after all, you need to watch out for your own children. That is true but boy howdy, I think we are taught to watch out for each other, too. If you are involved in a parent group, seriously think about it. It gets quite easy to become a yes man to those who influence your children. It is helpful and more productive in the long run to listen to the counsel and advice of those who have been over the road before you. I enjoyed working in PTA in the unit, at district level and on the state level. I've learned a great deal.
Thank you, wonderful principals concerned about all children, for your encouragement to stick with the PTA.
I wish I were more eloquent in writing but I've tried to speak out from my heart.
I guess that's all for today.