The Holiday Season

I don't know about everyone else but I have a real tendency to overcommit during the holidays.  Every year I plan all the things I want to do with the family and then I promise to do a million unrelated things and we never have time to enjoy the holidays.  Every new year, I promise to do better.  I think I have finally figured out that if it weren't for all the little things that I do, I wouldn't enjoy those rare down times quite as much.  I know most of you feel the same way.  Those of you who work full time jobs, while being a full time parent, chauffeur and volunteer, I don't know how you do it.  Those of you who have more than 2 children, WOW!  My hat is off to all of you.  Last night after the 2 basketball games, 2 Barnes and Noble performances, a birthday party,a greeter shift and dinner with friends, we decided to drive by and look at lights.  It was great!  We just sat in front of one home and enjoyed the light show and I thought about how lucky I was that I can do all those crazy things and still have time to be with my family at the end of the day looking at lights.  My wish for each of you this holiday season is that you have 10 minutes to just sit in front of the prettiest house and enjoy the lights.

One of the crazy things I do during the holidays is offer to host a few parties and decorate my house, like a crazy person.  For those of you who know me well, you will know I am both cheap and crafty.  If I see something I like in a store, I am more likely to go home and figure out how to make it myself than to go buy it (except for my shoes).  At the prompting of a few friends, I am posting some pics from my house and the last party in case there is someone out there who needs to steal a few ideas himself or herself.  So, welcome to my home.

Have a wonderful holiday.  May the New Year bring you nothing but peace and happiness.
Lisa

DCE Day at Barnes and Noble

When we were first approached by Barnes and Noble last year for a DCE day, I had no idea how much fun we were going to have. I knew that it was a great fund-raising opportunity but I truly had no idea how much fun it was going to be. Roya and I worked the event the whole day as greeters or wrappers. I enjoyed both positions. It was fun to see everyone come in and shop (and shop they did). We asked each grade level teacher group to decide last year if they wanted to have the kids perform Holiday songs or if they wanted to do something different. Some grades chose to perform, while others came and read or worked as shopper assistants or did crafts. The grades that performed did a fabulous job and everyone seemed to really enjoy that. So this year, we decided rather than add to our teachers already burdened holiday season, we would offer every grade the opportunity to sing and we would put parents in charge. A few grades (1, 3 and 5) will be performing numbers they have been working on in music for the Holiday program and Linda Harrell generously offered to be in charge of these groups. The other grades will be singing common Christmas carols. Bear in mind, they will be just up there having fun singing carols with little or no preparation. We just wanted to give everyone the same opportunity to perform and I have yet to see a group of kids not look cute singing Rudolph, just don't expect a Linda Harrell production from these other grades. We are just having fun. It makes for a great opportunity to get some fun video or pictures of your kiddo. I hope you will be able to join us.

Regarding the fundraising opportunity, it was HUGE and is even better this year. We did so great last year and B&N thought our parents, teachers and students were so nice that they signed us up this year for their busiest weekend of the holiday season. Quite and honor to be chosen. They have also extended our sales opportunities. This year, we can get up to 20% of sales the week before and the week after our weekend online if we use the voucher code. ANYONE can use this code around the country, so if you have family in another state who likes to buy books, pass the code onto them for them to use online and DCE will get a percentage of sales.

We are still looking for a few volunteers to wrap gifts. It is nothing fancy. B&N provides the supplies and you just wrap and people give donations to the school. Easy-peasy. If you can help please click here, VOLUNTEER LINK.

Thank you for your continued support of our school.
Lisa

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday with those who you love. I was lucky to be able to visit my inlaws in Ada, Oklahoma where they own some land. They kindly invited my mom and sister as well, so we had a full house. In a brilliant move, we chose to wait until the temperature dropped below freezing to have our annual campout. We camp in tents on their land every Friday after Thanksgiving. I was VERY THANKFUL for my new extra warm sleeping bag, which was shared by my little dude, Colton. I will be VERY THANKFUL next year, when Colton will get his own extra warm sleeping bag....

Don't forget to turn in your participation forms for the Barnes and Noble Day on the 11th. It is so much fun that I almost forget we are also raising a ton of money for our school!

Lastly, I am thankful to each of you who bothers to read this blog every once in a while. I hope that occasionally I am able to help someone with an answer (not this week, sorry) or make someone smile (hope so). Talk to you soon....

What amazing parents and staff we have at DCE!!!

We have yet to get back the totals on our Spring Creek Night, but what a wonderful success. Roya Tompkins, our Fundraising Chair for the PTO, did a fabulous job scheduling the night for DCE and getting the information out to the parents and staff. The line was out the door for over an hour and a half. Thank you to every parent who took their children to Spring Creek to either eat there or pick up their food. A HUGE thank you to every teacher or administrator that worked all day and then went and worked up at Spring Creek for our school. It is going to pay off in a BIG BIG way. Spring Creek is the only restaurant that the PTO partners with for school nights. They are incredibly generous in their gifting. Most restaurants give 15% of only the school's receipts. Spring Creek gives 25% of the entire night's receipts regardless of whether that ticket came from a DCE parent. Last year, we received a check from Spring Creek for $1400. I suspect the check this year will be even larger. For one night's work, that is FABULOUS!!! Last year, we had 89 students. This year we had 177. That is twice as many students who participate, which goes to show what an amazing group of parents we have at DCE this year.

Thank you for all you do to support our school. I know we ask a lot of you and you never let us down,
Lisa

Donation Requests: My point of view....

As we move into the holiday season and it seems like we are asked for donations every time we turn around, I thought this was a good time to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who has ever donated to our school in the form of their time, their food, their skills or their money. All of those donations are equally important. As one moves higher in the PTO offices, you really see just how important raising funds are for our school. Every year, the district expects more and more from our school but has less and less of their own dollars to give to support it. I am amazed at how much the PTO actually gives toward the day to day running of the school and contributes toward its budget. Because of this, sometimes the officers can get a bit wrapped up in our desire to meet our financial goals. We know how important it is to our kids. When we get "wrapped up" this way, we can sometimes come across as pushy and insensitive and we may inadvertently hurt someone's feelings. This is NEVER our intent. I hope everyone realizes that the PTO is made up of volunteers. None of us makes a dime for all the sweat and time we pour into helping the school. We are not trained. We have no formal education on how to raise money or run a business (and that is what we do). We are just given the job and told to go for it. If we didn't succeed, we would let a LOT of teachers, administrators and our own kids down. That is unacceptable to me. That being said if there are some hurt feelings along the way because we were too pushy, I hope that those parents can forgive us. It truly was not our intent. We can always grow and learn from our mistakes and do better next time, but we hope everyone remembers that we are just trying our best and are doing it without any guidance, pay or much support.

So when you see us begging for you to go to Spring Creek or Barnes and Noble Weekend or asking for yet another batch of cookies, please remember we wish we didn't have to mention it either. We just are doing the best we can to support the school the best way we know how.

Thank you again for listening, helping and supporting Denton Creek and your PTO.
Lisa

Halloween Events

Well, Friday was a HUGE day at Denton Creek. First of all, the PTO provided the teachers and staff with a little treat to start their days out on the right foot. We REALLY appreciate our DCE teachers and staff and hope they enjoyed their treat. A huge thank you to Tiffany Ching for making the precious pretzels.

After the teachers receieved their treats, we had the annual Storybook Character Parade. It was really cute. The teachers dressed up as characters in Alice in Wonderland. The kids looked darling and seemed to have a great time parading through the halls. For the first time, my 5th grader chose to watch instead of parade. Made me a bit sad.... Luckily, my little fighter, Colton paraded. Thanks to D'Amico for giving up his seat for me so I could take this video and these pictures for those of you who couldn't attend. Hope you enjoy.





Another big event of the day was pumpkin math. The 5th graders brought pumpkins to school and buddied up with the second graders for a bit of pumpkin math. The 2nd graders were weighed while holding the pumpkins and then again without the pumpkins. The kids subtracted to determine the weight of the pumpkins. They then worked together to scoop out all the gross insides and count the seeds and use their senses to check out their pumpkin. After the hands were all washed the kiddos got to enjoy a snack with their second grade buddies. I think everyone had a blast. Here are some pics that I took. Thanks to all the 5th grade parents who came and helped cut pumpkin tops and work the event. Thanks to the second grade parents who sent in snacks.

The Firemen of Coppell ROCK!

As several of us were tying red ribbons around anything that stands still in front of DCE last Friday, we kept noticing more and more fire department vehicles pulling into the Racz Red Raider Loop.  When we were finished tying, we couldn't resist going to have a peek.  I am so glad that we did.  I now know what I want to be when I grow up, a firefighter in Coppell.  They were fabulous!

A group of firefighters came to the school as a group of clowns to put on a show for our K-2nd graders on fire safety.  They were hysterical.  In a completely non-threatening way, they were able to address fire safety, gun safety, internet safety, Halloween safety and several other topics that I am sure I missed by walking in late to the presentation.  They told jokes, did short plays, sang songs and even included a few teachers (thanks to Ms. Francis and Mr. Rivas for being such great sports).

I have attached a video that I shot with my cell phone.  Sorry, for the poor quality, I haven't yet upgraded to the I4.... (honey, are you reading this? Just kidding.  I am completely happy with my current cell phone).

To think that not only do these men save lives, they also promote safety in a completely safe environment and look like they have a blast doing it.

Thank you for taking such good care of our kids.

Lisa

Gifts to DCE

Last week at our October monthly meeting, the PTO donated $18,000 in various gifts to Denton Creek.  With matching funds from the education foundation, we will be able to provide around $30,000 to Denton Creek.  WOW!!!!  This is all due to the wonderful contributions of so many of our parents.  Thank you all for making this happen.  Our children are so blessed to be a part of a school where so many parents and teachers care so much about their future.

Our Gifts to DCE team had a hard job prioritizing the gift requests for this quarter.  Thank you to each of them for their hard work and contribution to the cause.  A special thanks to Michelle Bauer for heading up the team and keeping everyone organized.

Tim D'Amico wins my personal award for the Most Valuable Team Player for the month.  Tim, for that award you get .... nothing, but our undying gratitude and thanks for your hard work.  For those of you who don't know Tim.  He is a kindergarten teacher and sits on the technology committee at DCE.  Tim spent countless hours putting together a technology proposal and gift request for DCE.  He sent a massive amount of data to support his ideas and thoughts.  WAY TO GO, TIM!!!!  I hope you are happy with all we were able to provide.

Here are the items purchased this quarter for DCE:
1) 3 projectors
2) 3 smartboards
3) kiln for art
4) 1 set of Math Manipulatives for 2nd grade
5) 60 pumpkins for prek
6) Recess Equipment
7) 60 Itouches
8) 3 Ipads
9) 3 Parasync carts for the Itouches

WHOOOHOOOOOO!!!! Doesn't get much better than this!

Lisa

Sky Ranch

For those of you who do not have a 5th grader at Denton Creek, let me tell you a bit about Sky Ranch.  Every year the whole 5th grade class embarks on a 3 day field trip to a camp called Sky Ranch.  Did that scare you?  It was great.  I was lucky enough to have been chosen as a chaperone this year and was able to attend the camp with my daughter, Macy.  We had 5 lovely moms chaperoning my cabin of 18 girls.  What a great group of girls.  Other than the constant signing and chatter after lights out, we had not one problem. I was anticipating a ton of drama, what with having 18 5th grade girls crammed together for 3 days, but no.  NONE.  I heard the other cabin was just as good.  Now, the boys....... just kidding, I heard they were great, too.  Although, the dad to boy ratio was not nearly as good.  They only had 2 dads for each of the boy cabins.  I am betting they wished more dads would have signed up.

During the day, the kids were broken up into class groups and attended classes all day.  Some of the classes were; Ranch Life (got to learn about farm animals and ride horses), Native Americans (travelled back through time to see how the Native Americans lived many years ago), Limnology (the study of water...see, I learned something, too).  My group seemed to enjoy the Ranch Life the best.  Macy, my kiddo, is sort of obsessed with pigs and they had the cutest little pig to pet at the ranch.  It was great.  The kids in my class group paid close attention and asked really good questions.

It was exhausting but I think all the kids had a great time.  They learned a lot, they had a blast and most of all they bonded as a class, which will only help them as they transition into middle school.  Our children are blessed to have such wonderful teachers who take time away from their families to allow our kids to have an opportunity such as this. Mr Mac even drove in one day to spend the day with us and it was great to see him having fun (ask me how many snowcones he had in a one hour span......).

If you are ever given the chance to sign up to chaperone the Sky Ranch trip, I urge you to do it.  It will be an experience you never forget, at a time in your child's life where they still want you around.

Check out my pics.

Lisa

What a Success!!!

First let me start by saying that I leave tomorrow morning for 3 days with the 5th graders at Sky Ranch.  Hmmm...  I haven't packed, still have laundry to do, haven't slept much this weekend and need to shower.  This may be my shortest post, yet (I know some of you are saying that is a good thing).

Wow!  Grandparent/Special Friend Tea was such a success this year.  Jeannie Tierney and Tiffany Ching, as well as their fabulous committees, did a GREAT job of decorating and organizing the event.  A special thanks to Dena Buford who went way out of the box helping out.  The cafeteria looked wonderful and I think this was the most organized of all the teas in the past.  I was up filling those cookie trays all day and want to thank all of the volunteers who sent in items.  I do believe they were really enjoyed by all of the students and their special friends.  I would also like to thank all of the moms and dads who came and worked as greeters or servers.  It was a lot of hard work, but I know the effort was appreciated.   I think the kids really enjoyed showing their special friends around the school.

Thank you to the teachers who really worked hard this year to create a memorable event.  Many of them used their Smart Boards during the classroom time and many of the grandparents made a special effort to find me to thank the PTO for purchasing those for their grandchildren.  I think they thought they were as cool as the kids think they are.

I am going to go and start packing now.  Wish me luck.  I am sure next week's blog will be about this amazing (and probably exhausting) 5th grade field trip.

Lisa Johnson

Write a Check Fundraiser

Today, I wanted to take a minute to explain our Write a Check fundraiser.  First let's talk about Robin Hood.  Many of you may know about the Robin Hood act.  Several of you (perhaps most) understand it better than I do.  For our purposes, Robin Hood is BAD!  Robin Hood takes a huge portion of our property taxes and sends it out of Coppell schools to other schools in the DFW area which are not as affluent as Coppell.  Millions of our tax dollars are being sent to DISD and other school districts around the area.  Coppell has to make up this shortage somehow.  One of the ways that Denton Creek is able to continue to be an exemplary school is with the financial support of the PTO.  Each year the PTO gives more than $50k to Denton Creek.  Those funds are used to purchase technology items (Smartboards, laptops, projectors, dvd players, etc), music equipment, tables, recess equipment, educational speakers, books, computer programs, classroom setup, etc.  Anytime there is a need at the school, the teacher or administrator will fill out a gift request which is then reviewed by the Gifts to DCE panel and is prioritized and voted on at the PTO meeting.  Without the PTO, DCE would not have many of the things it uses to function on a daily basis.  Without the HUGE support of Denton Creek parents, the PTO would have no money to help.

As a PTO, we choose not to ask our kids to go door to door selling products.  We don't ask our parents to sell products.  We have 2 huge fundraisers a year.  One is write a check in the fall.  The other is our auction  in the spring.  During the year, we have many passive fundraisers such as; gift cards, box tops, capri sun, recycling projects, socials, spiritwear, etc.  But the way we make the majority of money for our annual budget and gifts is from write a check and the auction.

This year, we have not come close to making our write a check goal.  I find this baffling.  First, we have MANY more students at DCE than we did last year.  Second, we have the most supportive 5th grade parents, we have ever had (thanks guys).  Typically, our 5th grade parents contribute less than any other grade at write a check time.  That is NOT the case this year.  As a PTO, we have worked much harder at communicating and giving people a lot of information about what PTO is doing and how the money is being spent and why these fundraisers are so important.  Knowing all of these things, I would have expected to see a much bigger contribution this year.  Instead we have had a significantly smaller contribution.

Why?  Did you just forget to send in your contribution?  Did it get lost in the mass of paper that comes home everyday?  Were you waiting for payday?  Do you feel like your small contribution of only $20 doesn't count or isn't good enough?  Do you not know how much to contribute?  No problem.  It is not too late.

EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS AND IS APPRECIATED.  Do you care about your child's education?  If the answer is yes, we ask that you help.  It is easy.  It takes less than 2 minutes to write a check (or send cash), stick it in the envelope and send it in your child's folder.  Are you not helping because you don't like where PTO is spending the money?  THEN GET INVOLVED IN PTO.  We need you.  We want you.  We value your input.

Please take a moment today to write your check.  Thank you for all you do to support our school.  Without you, our school would not be the exemplary school that it is.  If we do not meet our write a check goal of $17k (we made over $20k last year with a significantly less number of students), we will not be able to meet the needs of our students and the requests of our teachers this calendar year.  Please help.

Thank you.

Back to School Social - WOW!!!!

Ok, how much fun was Friday night at Denton Creek?  We had 360 people eat food from Fat Daddy's.  There were probably several more families who brought their own food.  We definitely had over 400 people at the school.  WHAT A SUCCESS!  Thank you to Roya Tompkins and Katie Hubbard, as well as the dozen volunteers who checked in people or served those very messy cookies (thank goodness for the gloves).  Our great spirit wear ladies, Bonnie Perkins and Nancy Sullivan, along with our spirit wear provider worked hard selling some great DCE duds (I sure loved mine).  A special thank you to Lizzie Hartman and Sheri Shelton for manning the minibouncers.  At some point, we realized that the "Parents please supervise your children in the bounce houses" sign was not working.  Why, you ask?  Well, we will save that for another blog after you get to know me better......  Just kidding.  Our mistake and going forward, we will ask for volunteers to man the bounce houses, too.  You live and learn, right?

What wonderful teachers and administrators we have at Denton Creek.  I saw so many teachers at the event.  I know many parents mentioned how nice it was to visit with the teachers in a more relaxed setting. I hope the teachers enjoyed it as much as the parents did.  Maybe they can spread the word and we will see even more teachers and their families at our next event.  Since I was manning the big kid's bouncer most of the evening, I didn't get to chat personally with many teachers, but I sincerely appreciate you being there to support our PTO event.

The kids seemed to have a blast.  I saw kids of all ages laughing and playing alongside their families.  This is the kind of spirit that I think makes Denton Creek Elementary different from all the other schools in Coppell.  We are one big HAPPY family.

If you weren't able to attend due to the craziness of life, no fear, we will be having more great events, that will be just as fun.  If volunteering at this event looked like something you could handle, please click the volunteer link in your newsletter and select socials/fundraising.

If I didn't get a chance to say hi on Friday, because I was screaming at the bouncing crazies, I apologize.  I hope you all had a great time and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Sincerely,
Lisa Johnson

Let's talk about the Grandparent/Special Friend Tea

Well, it is about that time.  Some of you have seen the invitations in your child's folders for the Grandparent/Special Friend Tea (if you haven't, you will soon).  The tea is scheduled for Friday, October 1st.  This is the day that the students invite their grandparent(s) to the school to spend lunch and another half an hour of party time with them.  If your child's grandparent(s) live too far away to travel, please think of someone to invite for your child.  This could be a neighbor, close friend, Aunt or Uncle.  I have been at the school and the children who do not have a "special friend" in attendance really feel left out.  If you can't come up with anyone for your child to invite, please make plans to attend yourself.  Having someone there will make a huge difference to your child.

Here are a few helpful hints for this day:
1.  If you are your child's special friend, because you couldn't think of anyone else and your parents live too far to travel, DO NOT BRING YOUNGER SIBLINGS.  We don't have the space on this day.  This is strictly for adults and students of DCE.
2.  If your child is lucky enough to have a grandparent(s)/special friend who can attend, then you are off the hook.  PLEASE DO NOT COME.  I cannot stress enough how crowded this day is and we cannot hold extra parents.  Each class room parent will ask for a few volunteers to work as greeters or waitstaff.  If you sign up for one of those jobs, you are welcome and appreciated.  If you do not sign up for one of those jobs and are not on our official volunteer list, please stay home and let your kids enjoy their grandparent(s)/special friends on their own.
3.  Parking.... Wow, it is horrible.  Here is my personal suggestion.  You will find out from your class room parent what time your grandparent(s)/special friend needs to arrive at the school and what time they are free to leave.  If you could act as a chauffeur on this day and drop them off and then schedule to pick them up at the car loop (don't leave your car, just have them meet you out front), you will both be MUCH HAPPIER. I promise.  They will write tickets this day and it is not pleasant to see 70 year olds hiking 2 miles to the school because there is no parking.
4.  Book Fair.  The book fair will be going on during grandparent/special friend day.  We, in the PTO, are not stupid and there is no one more willing to buy books for kids than their grandparents.  You might warn your parents of this little shopping excursion and remind them to bring their wallet.  Checks, cash and credit cards are all accepted.  Proceeds benefit the DCE library.
5.  Dress.  Most everyone looks pretty nice on this day.  The kids seem to make a special effort to dress up a bit.  The grandparent(s)/special friends always look very nice.  I would call it business casual for the most part.  ANYTHING IS FINE!  I am just letting you know how the average group dresses on this day.

A sample schedule for the day might be:

For 1st Grade:
     10:30     Grandparent(s)/Special Friends arrive at school (I would drop them off 5 minutes early giving them ample time to get in the door and be directed to the right classroom).
     10:30-11:00     Party in the classroom
     11:00-11:30     Go to lunch with child (you will pack your child's lunch as well as the lunch for your grandparent(s)/special friend).
     11:30-12:00     Your child may either take their grandparent to the book fair or the grandparent may leave and the child may to go recess with his/her class.


Ok, I think that about covers it.  You will be receiving all the pertinent info from your child's room parent soon.  If you have any specific questions, I advise you to contact them.  They will be happy to help you with anything.  If your child's grandparent(s) live far away and cannot attend, many choose to send in a letter to their grandchild.  These will be posted and the kids love reading them.

This will be the last year for Macy's grandparents to come for Grandparent Tea with her.  They don't do this in middle school.  They have come every year since she was in kindergarten.  It will be a very bittersweet moment.

Hope you have a fabulous week and that I get to see you at the PTO meeting on Tuesday.

All my best,
Lisa Johnson

Curriculum Night Notes

Are you new to Denton Creek?  If so, you might be wondering about Curriculum Night.  Let me tell you a bit about it from a parent's perspective, so you know what to expect.  First I must remind you that these are only MY THOUGHTS and impressions,  so take them or leave them as you will....


Curriculum Night is for parents only.  Assuming you only have one child in k-2 and perhaps another in 3-5, then you have it easy.  You can leave the little guys at home with the other parent (your choice here on which parent gets stuck at home) and you get to go to school.  If you have more than one kiddo in either of the 2 grade sections, then you might want to find a sitter and each of you take a classroom.  If you can't get a sitter, I advise you to spend half the time in one classroom and the rest in the other.  Ok, logistics are over.


You will go to your child's homeroom classroom unless you have been told otherwise.  First grade is meeting in the library.  You will sit at their seat and you will receive a packet from the teacher.  The teacher will most likely show you a video and will speak to you about what you can expect from your child's education experience this year.  The meeting will last about an hour and you are then free to go (GO VOTE in the gym!).


I always find this evening fun.  It is a great chance to get to see what life is like sitting in those little chairs.  You also get to meet the parents of the kiddos who will be influencing your child's behavior and choices for the next year.  WOW!  It is my experience that kids are usually a lot like their parents, so I find this extra interesting (by the way, if my children are bad, assume they learned it from their father).  I also love listening to the teachers and hearing what fun things your kids have to look forward to during the year.


Sometimes at the end of the night, the teacher might let you know of a few items they need in their classroom.  These are usually ziplock bags, glue sticks, paper sacks, popsicle sticks and other small similarly related items.  You do not have to sign up to bring in any of those, but my kids usually like showing up with a "gift" for the teacher.


I think that about sums it up.  I hope to see and meet many of you tomorrow night. 

Don't forget only 7 more days until the first PTO meeting!  Tuesday, September 14th at 9am

Here goes nothing....

Principal McLain kindly invited me to attend a continuing education seminar the week before school started.  I was able to listen to a speaker, Dr. Tim Tyson.  He spoke about the importance of technology in our schools.  He challenged us to create a blog.  So, here you go, Dr. Tyson.......


When Macy began kindergarten at Denton Creek 5 years ago, I was desperate for information.  The school handbook tells you a few rules.  The teachers tell you when school starts/ends and what your kids do during the day, but NOBODY told me what I was supposed to do now that she was in school.  I have now been doing this mom/room parent/chauffeur/social chair/unpaid full time volunteer/pto too many jobs to name/etc for a few years now.  I think I can share some of the information that I wished someone would have shared with me back then.

Today's Topic is going to be PTO Meetings: Shall I stay or shall I go?????
I remember the first PTO meeting that I went to 5 years ago this month.  My first thought, "Holy cow, I know NO ONE here and EVERYONE KNOWS EVERYONE ELSE."  My second thought, "Who are these older (but lovely) women?"  My third and final thought, "I must leave immediately before they ask me to volunteer for everything.  Don't they know I have a 6 month old son?  They can see him sitting here beside me.  I am totally unqualified to help with any of this stuff."  Ok, that is the truth.  I thought every one of those things. Let me address each of them now.

1.  Not everyone knows everyone else, but it does seem that way to new people.  We have made a real effort the last 2 years to be very welcoming.  I personally would like to work even harder on that.  PLEASE join us.  We want to get to know you as well.  Honestly, it doesn't take very long to feel very included.
2.  I am now one of those "older women."  How did it happen?  How in the world do I have a 5th grade daughter and when did that 6 month old get old enough to be in first grade.  Life happens when you aren't looking and when you are running around chasing those kiddos and trying to keep up.  Trust me, young moms, you will be here MUCH quicker than you want to be.
3.  Wrong.  The PTO does ask for volunteers and if you are willing, they will let you do practically anything you want, but they do not expect one person to do everything (although some of us have a hard time choosing what not to do) and EVERYONE has skills they had no idea they possessed that can help out greatly.

If you are reading this blog, it is because you take an active interest in our school, otherwise, you would have just trashed the newsletter at the start.  If you have read this far, it means you REALLY care, so PTO is a great place for you.  The truth is, I cannot wait to meet you at our first meeting on Tuesday, September 14 at 9:15 am in the science lab.

See you then,
Lisa