Just call me Veep

Well now...how did *that* happen? I went to the PTO (parent teacher organization) meeting at Kelton's school tonight as just a regular parent trying to get her foot in the door to make the school a great place for my son to be and I walked out.....

*wait for it*

Vice President.

I KNOW! Crazy, right? I think it might be a really good thing though and the president (he arrived late) was so happy to hear the news. He said "Oh that is so good! I was going to talk with you about it tonight! Great!!" Could it be that I sprung into action the other day when he needed be? Maybe my (lengthy) full of suggestions email regarding my experiences with the school last year? Or maybe it was because I saved the PTO from looking unorganized when I noticed that the oh so very important "return by" date was missing off letter we stuffed into the 400-some fund raiser envelopes and then saved the day with a suggestion on how to easily remedy the situation? Yeah - I think it might have been at least one of those things. :)

The turnout tonight was much lower than the first meeting. It was disappointing to say the least but I think we can still pull it out and get some more parents involved. It's hard though because the focus on the PTO is fund raising to help the school do the things that make it a great experience for the students.

For example; the school district has implemented huge cutbacks because a bond failed last year (gee - think the economy is to blame? Yes, yes I do. It's why we voted no on it even though we didn't want to. It's why almost everyone I know who voted no, voted that way.) which means classroom supplies are in short supply and field trips have been cut unless the schools can pay for it all themselves (including buses, drivers, gas, etc). So - fund raising we must do while still having fun. We're going to have a Fall Harvest Spaghetti night, family roller skating nights, a spring dance, a pizza party night. I've volunteered to help with picture day and health day. It's going to be a busy year, that's for sure.

But fund raising brings me to this; we are collecting Box Tops for Education in an effort to raise money. It's a simple thing that you, my amazing readers, can help with without breaking a sweat or sitting through a meeting. All you have to do is watch for symbol on products you probably buy all the time. Clip them out, save them and when you have a few, send them to me. I'm happy to send you my address whenever you need it. Just email me. :) I'm even happy to reimburse you for the stamp. Seriously.

Believe it or not, just by doing this you can help our school raise thousands upon thousands of dollars. A school in our area last year saw a financial windfall of $23,000 just from collecting box tops. That's a lot of special events, fields trips and supplies for the kids!

So if you are willing, I would greatly, greatly appreciate it. You have no idea how much it would help us out.

All in all - it's been a day quite unlike I had been expecting. Vice President. I had no idea that would happen.


FYI: Box Top product listing is found here