Why you should be involved in your child’s PTO, FTO, or similar organization

I have been involved in the PTO at my children’s elementary school now for 8 years and because of the ages of my kids I will continue to be a part of the elementary school for the next 6 years. For the last 4 years I have held a position on the board and I am currently the President of our organization. I am responsible for several major projects at the school due to the lack of volunteers. Some people may call me crazy and maybe I am but, I do it because it’s important to my kids. I do it because I have a degree in Education that I don’t otherwise use (and it sucks to pay student loans for an education I don’t use). I do it because it feels good when walk into the school and all the kids are excited to see me. Without the PTO the kids would miss out on so many fun and educational programs, and more importantly without parent involvement there would be no PTO.

In order to provide quality programs to the students, but there is so much more involved than money. Do you ever wish that you could see your child’s teacher more and get to know them better? Do you ever wish you would find out about important issues involving the school before you hear it from your child or see it in the newspaper? Do you have the desire to help children learn and grow? Do you love seeing the look of joy on a child’s face as they participatehen most people think of a PTO they think of fundraising, and yes the bottom line is the PTO needs to fund in Field Day? Become a part of your schools PTO and you can do all of these things.

Some people say they stay clear of the PTO because of the drama and the cliques and all that jazz, believe me I could tell you some stories! But really, no matter where you go in life you will find drama and isn’t your child’s educational experience worth it? Put it all aside, realize you are there for the kids and remember what is important and it will all be fine, I promise you.

Here is a little taste of what the PTO at our school is responsible for:

Holiday Shop
Book Fairs
Fun Day
Family Day Out
4^th Grade Picnic
Assemblies
Read Across America Week
Red Ribbon Week
Library volunteers
Class parties
Field trip chaperones
Providing breaks and snacks during standardized testing weeks
The yearbook
Homework planners
School newsletter

The list could go on and on and I haven’t even touched on the little day to day activities we help the teachers out with to make their day go smoother. Can you imagine how dreadful school would be without these things to look forward too? We all need a little fun in our lives and school should be no exception. The key to all of this fun is the PTO and the parent volunteers who make it all happen.

So, if your child’s school has a PTO and you have not been involved, I am asking you to give it a try, go to a meeting, see what they are all about and get involved in your child’s education today, don’t wait until tomorrow. If you wait too long, the time will fly by, you will miss your opportunity and you won’t be able to get it back.

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This is a guest post by Kim Janocko, @Craftymamaof4.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 9:14 pm and is filed under Guest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Why you should be involved in your child’s PTO, FTO, or similar organization”

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November 6, 2011 at 10:34 am

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