As a first time President this year of our PTO, I always appreciate new ideas before my meetings so that I can put them on the Agenda and discuss them at the meeting. Even if your President is new, she should have a least some sort of book or form that tells her what has happened in the past. If you form your idea with the openess of it being changed, you shouldn't have a problem. Sometimes, there are reasons why stuff is done a certain way. But if you can come up with the basic format and write it down (or type) and at the PTO meeting if the Pres. has had a chance to put it on the Agenda, then when called you can discuss your idea. Just one note, make it shorter than your posting! LOL! I learned that the hard way, I can be lenghty too!
Sounds like you have a really great 'new' group! I too think communication is important...and having FUN! I'm very excited about this year and
have met some wonderful parents that want to be
involved in their child's success! Good luck to all!
Amy :cool: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
I'm a second term president, last year we started with a whole new group of volutneers including myself, we didnt have a lot of direction at first but we took some chances and went with new fundraisers and a different outlook than the previous group. This year at open house we had the first ever membership drive,we gave a way cookies and kicked off the box tops for education program, we had a great response and the teachers love us.
Having a person with new idea's and willing to follow through excites me, i'd call and chat with your president and get a feel for where they are going. I've made great friends in our group and its all about communication and expressing yourself. Good Luck and have fun with it.
If you don't know what's happening...how can you help? At our first meeting I went over each and every committee. If there was already a chairperson for that committee I then turned it over to them otherwise I described what it was, what they did, what they needed, etc... Maybe you should talk to the president and see if she'll do this as there are others also new to the group. As far as suggesting new ideas, that's more of a mixed bag. Why don't you take a couple that you're really excited about and fully develop them to present to the PTO. If you have taken the time to do this, not only will you see if it's workable, but you'll have a better foot to stand on with the group. I have people tell me ideas all the time and most are great ideas, yet they don't want to do more than present an idea (meaning someone else can do the work) or the ideas won't work. I'm sure the PTO will enjoy having such an eager and willing parent in the group like you! Good luck!
:cool:
Hello. I'm a new mom to a PTO with a new president. The president was pretty much a "volunteer" at the last minute because apparently no one else wanted to do it. At our first meeting, and my first since I'm a mom to a pre-schooler!, there was present the new President, who appeared to have very limited PTO experience, and the treasure who acted like she'd been around the PTO for awhile. There was the principle and 3 teachers who were fairly quiet. And then myself included in a group of about 6 "first-timers" mostly moms of preschoolers or K's.
Anywhoo, my question is what would you consider an appropriate way to voice ideas/changes to the group. I have the pres's phone number and thought about calling her personally and asking. I've been thinking of lots of ideas and I'm not sure if they already may do some of the things but I just don't know about them.
I'd like the pres and treasure, since they're really the only people who have been the PTO for more than 1 meeting, to go over with the group, how things are run, what the goals of the PTO are, possibly let us now what things are in the works and what needs to be worked on.
We basically at out meeting we went over last years ending business and what needed to be done before the next meeting. I'm a long term goal thinker and am feeling lost as far as the direction of the PTO.
On the other hand, I don't want to take up meeting time, it's limited to 1 1/2 hours, for them to just explain things to me; although I wasn't the only newbie. Plus I don't want to feel pushy going in and blurting out all kinds of new ideas and suggestions, since I pretty much have NO idea how PTO's run or what the goals/budget/participation for our particular PTO is.
So I was hoping some of you might be able to offer some advice on inching my way into the PTO without showing everyone too quickly that I am very take-charge/planner/involver/goal oriented. I attended the first meeting (good step, right?) and offered to co-chair a very simple project. But I have a lot of ideas that I'd like to throw at the group, and I'm not sure whether I should approach the pres in confidence or just ask to speak at the next meeting.
Oh goodness, now I've written a book. Hopefully, you made it this far and can offer some advice. I promise to try to make future posts much shorter. LOL I'm very long winder, oh I should just be quiet already. Okay thanks!
