Friday, October 9, 2009

Busy with the PTA

My PTA work has kept me busy this week. The membership cards had to be distributed to the grades yesterday to make it in the Friday folders. It was a lot of work getting 403 cards ready. We are starting our second push for membership today. The second push involved drafting another letter to go out to those who have not joined yet. Luckily, the co-chair is very creative and was able to whip something together. I am now ready for the second batch that should start next week.

This week I also helped host the coffee and conversation that is held every year. It is an opportunity to ask questions to the principal and vp. An interesting topic was discussed. There are about 700 students in our school. Twenty of those students have severe allergies that they require an epi-pen. On the last Friday of every month, the students enjoy a little celebration with a special snack and drink. Awards are handed out to students who are respectful, responsible and ready. Last Friday, a child had an allergic reaction and the school had to react quickly. The child is allergic to milk and ate cheese covered popcorn. The child nor the teacher thought about milk being in the cheese. The child is fine and was able to recover quickly.

The principal asked those who were at the meeting if any of us had children with allergies. This one ladies raises her hand and says that her children are "allergic" to foods that contain red dye. I honestly wanted to drop on the floor. I am not sure how she could compare herself to a mother who has a child with very real severe allergies. She went on to say that red dye makes her children very hyper. My thought is that it is her personal choice not to give her children red dye and that is fine. But honestly I would not put her in the same category as someone who has a child with allergies.

The PTA is proving to be interesting again this year. My neighbor is the president and has had such a hard time with so many individuals. This one guy on the board continues to commit himself to a lot of projects and follow through on none of them. A lady on the board has befriended the guy and I have to tell you that I think they are both crazy. They have already made a name for themselves at school with the staff (not a good thing). Together they displayed the school spirit wear for 4th graders during their lunch time. They asked the kids to take a look and they also gave out tickets (tickets are used as a positive behavior reward which can then be used to purchase an item) to students. They did not get approval to be there and really ticked off a lot of the administration. The other thing that crazy guy did was put letters in kids' folders (in his child's class) regarding a party he was hosting on a weekend. He was getting everyone together at a park and asking for donations to order pizza. One parent did not like this and talked with the principal. This guy has twins and I can tell you every teacher is hoping the kids don't make it to their classroom in the future.

I could go on and on about all the drama in this PTA. It truly is unbelievable in my opinion. I feel like the PTA is so important within the school. They are able to offer so many nice programs and events for the children. It is a great way to be involved and know what is going on. And these are the reasons that I will continue to be a part of the organization. I am trying to pace myself as in another 3 years Tee will be starting Kindergarten. That is a lot of years.

It has been a busy week and I am ready for a little relaxation this weekend. It is supposed to be a nice weekend but then get cold for most of next week. I am not ready to pull out my sweaters just yet.

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