Our PTO is having a Spaghetti dinner for our volunteers. Everyone is included! From who did the most to who may have spent 30 minutes a month or year participating. I understand that the few who do everything should be honored! But those others need to be honored as well. Not knowing everyones situations, 30 minutes a month or year may be alot to a person, where it is only change for those that spend 30 hours a week. I am PTO President and I am having this dinner in hopes that next year we will have an even greater amount of volunteers. If we do or don't, than I can honestly say that I tried to do things that made people feel welcomed and appreciated. That's all one can do.
Our PTO members, the ones that came to our last meeting, all voted on doing this. If anyone wants to complain, they should have been there to vote against it. Members vote on anything that will cost PTO over $150. This way, no one can say that we are not spending the money correctly. Hope everyone gets to do what they want to and get to enjoy it too.
Tim ~
You are SO right, it really is like being a mom!
Whenever the Principal would introduce me as the PTO Pres., I would say I prefer "Resident Mom" and still introduce myself as the Resident Mom. I love it!
And I am in hopes that even the lamest of moms get cards, gifts, etc. on Mother's Day! As should all Volunteers.
Kidsfirst aka Resident Mom
Our teachers do a volunteer tea to thank the folks who helped in the classroom. This tea is for anyone who helped. That idea and this discussion got me thinking. What if you start tracking all volunteer hours(currently we only track classroom hours for the school district)then at the end of the year you have a volunteer appreciation event and display the names and hours contributed by each person? That way you are celebrating everyone's help, but those folks who complain can see for themselves how much time some of these parents and teachers actually put in. I may suggest this for next year. This year I plan to send a thank you note home to all parents and teachers to express how much their time and support means to our school.
I just had to share a "cheer up" story. After reading that survey, and replying here, I got home and had a wonderful thank you note in the mail from a set of parents. They had taken the time to write me personally and thank me for the hours I have put in these last two years. It also contained a gift card--for me! I almost cried. It's been really rough this last couple of weeks but this made me feel great!
It's absolutely true that the leaders ("the few") do way too much work for way too little appreciation. That's one of the prices of leadership. We do it because we know parental involvement is worth it. We do it because we know that even that ungrateful parent who's eating the spaghetti at the spaghetti supper (and complaining that the spaghetti's sticky -- even though she never helps with anything) is having quality time with her family and getting connected to school. That's a good thing.
It's kind of like being a Mom. You put up with all the guff and the early mornings and the broken plates not for the thank yous, but because you love your kids and you know -- in the long run -- it'll be worth it.
I know it's diffcult and frustrating sometimes. But for the long-term success of your group, your leaders need to serve and serve and get their support from each other (camaraderie, friendship, etc.) and from the knowledge that the frustration is all worth it when you've helped create a special school.
On the one hand, spending $200 to thank "the few" seems like a pittance, and it is. But the risk in doing it (wrong impressions, danger of clique reputation, etc.) just aren't worth it.
Good conversation. This was a big topic at our conferences this year.
The only time our executive board has ever actually had a vote that wasn't unanimous was when we voted on an appreciation dinner for the executive board. The newer members all voted against it, and we decided to cook a meal for ourselves.
I understand where you are coming from in wanting to thank your hardest workers but as everyone else has said it would definately reinforce the clique idea. How about a potluck picnic at the same location with PTO providing part of the meal? Invite everyone but ask for rsvp's. For those 10 hard workers a personal thank you note will be much appreciated.
