Hi to all! I have been a lurker for some time now and really love the ideas that you all come up. I have been involved with our school PTA this year and went to Summer Seminar in Austin last month. Our school is a Title I school and there is poor parental involvement but I am hoping to change that this year as the new Membership Chairman, Publicity Chair and Volunteer Chair. There are only about 10 of us to service a school of 700 kiddos! So we all wear many different hats.
We are moving into a new school this year (which is still not ready) and I am going with the theme: Startzville PTA - Planting Seeds for the Future. In my membership packets that each member will get will be the PTA general information, volunteer form, important numbers for the school page, information about Box Tops and Campbells, so on and so forth, but I am also going to put a package of seeds in there to tie in the theme. I wnt to pull new members in get them involved in baby steps just as a plant grows slowly. This is where I need help, because I don't want to sound pushy or condesending. So here are my ideas and I welcome any new ones or adaptations of mine!
1. We are going to use the PTA's Three 4 Me volunteer program and ask each parent to sign this pledge and I am going to create a "Garden of Volunteers" on the PTA bulletin board. Their promise cards will be used as the "seeds" and when they complete their three hours, they become a flower.
2. Each class that reaches 100% participation will be able to donate (the PTA will provide through donations) a tree to the school which they will plant and a marker will be placed showing that it was their class donation to the school.
3. I don't quite know how to mark the progress of each class so any ideas would be helpful here.
4. I am going to make a tree out of plywood to place outside the school and each member that joins will have their name placed on an apple that will be added to the thee so there will be public eyes showing who has joined the PTA.
This is what I have come up with so far...any more ideas! I have a fair budget to work and am not scared to ask for hand-outs so throw me your ideas! Thanks!
