PTA
What is Three For Me?
Three For Me is a promise, a promise from parent to school and a promise from parent to child. By signing a promise card, parents commit to volunteer three hours of their time to the school. Whether parents make copies for a teacher, have lunch with their child at school, read to children, file in the school office, help at a PTA or any non-profit group event, or bake cookies, every act of service is important. In addition, there are many opportunities for volunteerism, even in the home. If a parent works and has limited availability, the PTA will take the role to find activities those parents can do from home to fulfill their promise.
WAYS TO VOLUNTEER!
ART ROOM
Cut paper on cutting board, cut out dye cuts on Ellison machine, laminate, put up art work dislays, sort and organize.
LIBRARY
Shelving books, check books in and out, cover books, bulletin boards, straighten shelves, make buttons and items for other rewards, Accelerated Reader- make name tags and dislay them, April &May- inventory help.
OFFICE
Answer phones, help with fundraisers, assist as needed.
MUSIC ROOM
Help decorate stage for concerts and shows.
CLASSROOMS
Decorate classroom door, bulletin boards, brown envelopes, hang student work in hallway.
"SECRET GARDEN" and RAIN GARDEN
Water, weed, plant, fill bird feeders.
BAKE SALES
Bake goodies for sale, help set up and run bake sale, run popcorn machine. Bake Sales will take place at different events throughout the year.
4th GRADE COLONIAL DAYS
Decorate 4th grade hallway, assist teachers in getting their "shops" ready, taking a class to tour all of the "shops".
RAFFLES
PTA will raffle off theme baskets at different events throughout the year. We will need assistance in putting together and shrink wrapping each basket. We will also need help selling raffle tickets.
Here are some ways to volunteer with PTA!
GRI PTA Committee Descriptions
BOOK FAIR Organizes, advertises, and sets up the Book Fair. This includes coordinating volunteers for the event. In the past, one has been held in the fall semester and spring semester.
BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION Collects Box Tops for Education from the school drop off point. Submits them to the company for reimbursement. May also collect Tyson food labels and ink cartridges for recycling.
SPIRIT WEAR Coordinates and orders Panther items such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, lanyards, bags, etc. Busiest time of the year is at the beginning of the school year, or just prior, making sure we have the right inventory of supplies, having some available for sale at all of the back-to-school events. Will be needed at other school events throughout the year.
VOLUNTEERS Organizes volunteers from a pool of parents who have expressed a desire to help in a specific capacity. Examples include room parents, distribution of gift wrap, work on various committee, and fund raising events. Emails parents to help. Circulates survey for volunteers in the beginning of the year. Compiles and keeps track of information of volunteers received. Busiest time of year is when school starts, and surrounding school activities when many volunteers are needed.
CULTURAL ARTS /REFLECTIONS Chairperson coordinates the annual Reflections contest that is sponsored by our state PTA organization in the early fall. Rules and requirements are distributed, and all artwork is collected and submitted by the required deadline, usually late October. Coordinates recognition of participants in the school.
ROOM PARENTS Chairperson coordinates all of the GRI Room Parents. There is usually one meeting held in the beginning of the year. Other duties include collecting boxes for the food and toy drives.
ENVIRONMENTAL Coordinates dates for clean up of school grounds and making things presentable. Gets parent volunteers to assist as needed. Also works with groups seeking to add to the landscaping plans of the school grounds, for example classes or scouts wanting to plant annuals, bulbs, etc. August, prior to school opening, and the spring time are the “busy” months.
LEGISLATIVE Our representative monitors and reports legislative issues that effect education in Chesapeake Public Schools. Reports are given at the PTA monthly meetings and we try to keep parents updated. Updates can also be sent via email.
MEMBERSHIP Sets up a membership table at the Back to School nights and the open house in September and takes payment on behalf of the GRI PTA. Maintains a current roster of PTA members.
PUBLICITY Places notices of up coming school activities in the Clipper Newspaper. Takes pictures of school events and solicits pictures and or articles from parents and teachers. It is helpful to give extra photos to the yearbook committee for their use.
NEWSLETTER The newsletter is published monthly and has several steps involved collecting articles, typesetting, layout, and publication. Makes copies for distribution. Articles are submitted from various sources.
HOSPITALITY Coordinates staff appreciation efforts throughout GRI faculty during the year. Examples include the beginning of the year breakfast for teachers, niceties for the teachers, and coordinates Teacher Appreciation Week activities (usually the second week of May) to let teachers know how much our PTA parents appreciate
them.
TEACHER REPRESENTATIVES Two teachers from the GRI faculty attend our monthly PTA meetings and represent issues pertinent to the teaching staff.
ATTENDANCE Taking attendance at all PTA meetings and other school events.
RESTAURANT NIGHT Organizes restaurant nights for GRI with area restaurants like Silver Diner and CiCi’s pizza.
INSPIRATIONAL Finds and reads inspirational poems and such before each meeting.