Our Five Favorite Tips and News Bits of the Week

by PTO Today Editors

10/27/2021

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rong>Here's a roundup from the news this week. We selected ideas we think you could use and some items you may find just plain interesting:

Community Service Tip: Get It Done in a Day: Parents and teachers guided 200 8th grade students from Holliston, Mass., on a one-day community service effort that had the teens gardening, packing clothing for the needy, and spring cleaning across town, including at the local senior center. School officials hosted a cookout at the end of the day. Parents brought in a rented grill and tents for the celebration. As an added bonus, senior citizens were invited to join the kids for hamburgers and hot dogs. For more help with community service ideas, check out our Clip Art Gallery for downloadable images.

Fundraising Tip: Make Sure You Have Lots of Duct Tape: Tis the time of year when principals are making good on their promises to do some very silly things because students have met fundraising and other goals. So we are seeing our share of principals taped to walls. Check out this item about a very good sport and principal at Sykesville (Md.). This was a very popular post on our Facebook page! And that’s not surprising because it’s a great way for principals to show their support and get kids really motivated during the school year! For more on the antics of principals, read our article, Principals Do the Darndest Things!

End-of-Year Celebration Idea: Balloons for Graduates: Try this clever way to congratulate graduates. The Weston (Conn.) Middle School gives the town’s graduating high school seniors a great send-off with balloons. Relatives and friends of the graduates can purchase a balloon bunch with a personal message attached for $20 through the PTO. The parent group then delivers the balloons to the graduates’ homes and attaches them to mailboxes before the graduation ceremony.

This Will Impress You: Ocean City PTA Bounces Back: Kudos to this district PTA! Even though the Ocean City, N.J., community was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, the PTA was able to hold several family events and raise $65,000! It also helped out families displaced by the hurricane by offering free breakfasts for two weeks after the storm. The PTA held craft nights for kids, a spaghetti supper, and a March Madness basketball event that pitted parents against teachers. It recently hosted a dance for 8^th grade students and plans a “Sun and Fun’’ event for them on the last day of school. To learn more about PTOs rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy, read our article on some very resilient groups from New York and New Jersey.

Want To Help? Oklahoma Communities Hit by Tornados Show Great Spirit: The PTA at Plaza Towers Elementary, one of the schools that was wiped out by the May tornado that hit Moore, Okla., reports its yearbook vendors—Jostens, Lifetouch, and Blunck's—are reprinting yearbooks and plan to donate them to students who attended Plaza Towers and Briarwood Elementary, another school that was leveled. The PTA is planning a family event for July 25, and the vendors will give out the yearbooks then. If you are interested in more information on Plaza Towers or Briarwood, you can contact the Oklahoma PTA. Also, Plaza Towers is very active on its Facebook page.