PTO Leaders Share What They Love About Their Parent Groups

Have you ever had one of those moments when you feel a little defeated and wonder why you give so much time and energy (and maybe even a few tears) to your PTO?

Then you need some inspiration—and we have it for you here. 

We asked our Facebook community to share their best PTO moments from this school year, and we received dozens of stories that serve as reminders of why the work you do is definitely worth it. Here is a summary of some of the stories shared. To read the complete collection of stories, head over to the Facebook discussion. 

Book fair hug: I worked at our book fair yesterday, first time ever on a cash register. At the end of my "shift" a 2nd grade boy I had never seen before came over, thanked me, and gave me huge hug. What's better than that? – Kerstie H. 

A pumpkin for every kid: Every year our PTO pays for our students to take a field trip to a local farm to pick pumpkins. Last year we had a horrible rain storm and had to cancel the trip. The farm agreed to let our PTO collect the pumpkins for the students. So we rented a U-Haul and managed to get together over 30 volunteers to help us. In less than three hours we picked over 600 pumpkins, enough for every student and staff! We unloaded them at the school that same day. The look on the faces of the students and staff as they walked in on Monday morning was amazing! – Kristen R. 

Inspiring a new reader: We just finished our readathon and we gave a book to every child. We happened to see one of our more troubled kids, a 2nd grade student, as he was getting out of a car at morning drop-off and he was struggling to keep his book opened as he was reading! – Cassandra M. 

Fancy that: Our students had Fancy Day as part of Spirit Week. They came dressed up to school in their fanciest duds and attended a Fancy Lunch. Parents and staff transformed the cafeteria with tablecloths, plates and plastic wear, flower vases, mini salt and pepper shakers, and their very own mini wine glasses (plastic of course) for their drinks. We had servers (parents) tending to each table. I heard from so many teachers say their kids thought this was the best day ever and to please do it again!  – Olga M. 

Dance the night away: We held a Stand by Me Snowflake Ball recently. Girls attended with the special man in their life, including dads, grandfathers, or uncles. Everyone wore their Sunday best and looked beautiful. One eight-year-old girl attended with her 10-year-old brother. He was so sweet and he danced all night with her. At the end of the evening he approached me and said, “Thank you for a wonderful time, my family will be leaving now.” He stole my heart. – Ilie J. 

Running together: We held our first Fun Run in the fall to help raise some funds for a new playground. It was a huge success not only for the money raised, but how it brought our community together. Teachers and kids alike loved running the course at the school and many are asking if we are doing it again next year. Kids were holding lemonade stands to raise money some they were bringing in their piggy bank change. Everyone was invested in the effort and that made it more fun and exciting. – Liz N. 

Hello, how many pizzas do you need? We are having our fifth annual free pizza and bingo night in about two weeks and posted it in the school newsletter. We then received a call from our favorite local pizza shop and they offered to donate however many pizzas we needed. It is nice to see the whole community seeing what we do and knowing it makes a difference to a whole lot of kids and making sure we won't fail because of lack of pizza! – Katlin P. 

Best night of my life, ever! We are an entirely new board this year, and we are trying to bring back the spark and school spirit. My absolute favorite event this year was our first- ever dance. It was awesome to see the kids and families excited about it. Ticket sales nearly tripled the night of the event (luckily it was an outdoor event), and we saw many smiles! The cherry on top was hearing a little boy yell, “This was the best night of my life, ever!” – Nevarez D. 

My own posse: My best moment with the PTO this year was the success of our spring book fair. I formed a relationship with a group of kids who now wave, give me hugs, and smile at me when they see me in the halls at school. This was my first time chairing this huge event, and we sold $2000 more than all of our past spring fairs. Awesome! I started up a "junior crew" for the first time at our school and the experience was amazing. The children worked so hard making decorations, preparing materials, setting up, helping customers, and so much more. They even gave up their recess time to help! I make PTO a priority in my life—and this is why!  – Jessica H. 

Encouraging young artists: This week we have been working on art projects for our upcoming auction. We work with every student to make a classroom art project. I always make a point to let the students know what we are raising money for, this year telling them we are working towards new computer carts for each grade level, and seeing them get excited made all the hard work worth it! – Kelli K. 

Happy holidays: We are a Title 1 community (most of our students get free or reduced-price lunches) and with community donations we were able to gift 17 students with "$15 Santa bucks" this year for our Santa Shop. They were able to buy gifts for their families, and their smiles made my entire year ! – Renee V. 

Seriously, it’s free: We had our “give back” night a couple of weeks ago that featured Bingo for Books and all you can eat pizza. The parents were very shocked that everything was free! Everyone had a blast and the officers enjoyed planning it! – Holly M. 

We are Santa’s elves: Our PTO had a wrapping party where the parents came together and wrapped the personal Christmas presents the teachers brought in! We helped make Christmas a little less stressful for the teachers and gave them a little more time to do things like decorate cookies with their loved ones. – Kelly T. 

Honoring veterans: Our Veterans Day program and breakfast is our favorite event. It is great to able to give back to those who sacrificed so much for us. Our 3rd grade students perform and then the PTO provides a catered breakfast for the veterans and the students  who invited them. We also provide each veteran with a keepsake photo.  It is a very memorable event for all involved. – Sandra R.