PTA involves parents in schools
Two years ago, the Whitefish Education Foundation decided to publish a directory for our students and make it available to parents. This had been done on a small scale at Muldown Elementary School about nine years ago by some involved parents, and the foundation thought it would be a good idea to publish it district wide. After completing that task, the foundation decided to focus their efforts elsewhere, as it was a labor-intensive endeavor.
Two years later, the Whitefish PTA decided to take it on as a project, since we saw the value in the directory as a tool for parents and students and felt that we could offer it as a perk for our members when they pay their $15 for PTA membership.
Advertising alone does not cover the costs of the directory, and the PTA membership dues have not been earmarked to cover the cost to publish the directory but, rather, to provide direct benefits to your children. I also would like to clarify that the endless hours involved in compiling information, data entry, advertising sales, page layout, etc. are all done by board members of the PTA.
The decision to offer the directory to members was in an attempt to offer this as a membership benefit as well as to, hopefully, increase our membership base so that we, as an organization, can do more for the schools than we have done in the past.
What have we done in the past? The PTA funds an average of $30,000 back to the schools each year. Most recently, we funded online pilot programs in our middle school and high school that offer high-quality tools and resources to improve writing skills for our students through the use of artificial intelligence, natural language understanding, and Web-based learning. Teachers in the schools are raving about this program and we have not yet begun to see what it is going to do for our kids.
The PTA has funded books for reader programs, classroom supplies, funded sending kids to conferences and competitions, fulfilled individual club needs, purchased equipment for all schools, vision and hearing screening, scholarship program for graduating seniors, teacher’s appreciation events, PTA Reflections, Arts in April, the list goes on and on
Joining the PTA is something that every parent in the district should do if they are able. Research shows that the more parents are involved, the better students perform in school. They receive higher grades and test scores, have better attendance, are more likely to graduate from high school and attend post-secondary education. Children with involved parents also exhibit increased motivation and better self-esteem, less drug and alcohol use and few instances of violent behavior. Those great benefits come from parent involvement, a major focus of PTA.
Join the PTA. Now is your chance. You can win a cool Felt cruiser with your membership purchase and get a Bulldog Buzz directory. The only way you will get a directory is with your paid membership, so act now. It’s only $15 for the first one and $5 for each additional copy.
Contact information is available online at http://www.wfps.k12.mt.us/pta or you can contact me at 249-5804.
Miriam Lewis lives in Whitefish.