My First PTA: A Hot Mess

By:  Davida Grant

Last night I attended my first PTA. The elementary school, a public charter bilingual school, is just getting the PTA off the ground. I expected it to be a little rough, but frankly it was a hot mess, both literally and figuratively. There weren’t enough seats and it was at least 90 degrees in there. Grant (my 4-month-old) was with me and he was giving me the side eye as his forehead started to bead with sweat. When my hair, which I wear natural (no perm) and in a straight style, started to curl at the roots, I almost jumped ship. A half curly and half bone straight look is not hawt. EVER!!!! And to make matters worse, no one really knew what to do. Parents had previously submitted potential PTA committee topics to the school principal (Yes I said Principal since there is no Parent leadership in place), but that was it. It truly was the blind leading the blind. I hate Hate HATE disorganization, but in that moment I had to make a choice. Stay or Go. I stayed, determined to see this thing through.

I’m glad I did. We eventually divided up into groups by committee topic (those submitted by the parents). I had suggested and signed up for the “Read to Succeed” committee, the overall goal being to assist parents in helping their children read at or above grade level in both English and Spanish. Don’t you just love that goal!!! And who’d they select as the team lead? You guessed it. Yours truly. I was hesitant at first, being that this was my very first PTA meeting, and I know didly squat about PTA protocol and “stuff”. But I figured I pushed out 2 kids, planned my 5-star wedding (yes I said 5-star) in 5 months and hell passed the bar the first time around. I could do this! So I decided to bite the bullet and accepted it. Lord only knows where I’ll find the time to fit this in. I return to work October 1st after a 5-month leave of absence to take care of my new bundle of joy. THEY WILL BE COMING FOR ME DAY ONE!!! I’m exhausted just thinking about it. But I’m superwoman and supermom, right? Somehow, it will all get done.

Hopefully, some of you are seasoned PTA moms. Help!!! I’d love any suggestions you might have to implement the committee’s goal. Some we’re considering are:

Providing parents a break down of the literacy standards. The objective is to make sure parents understand them. Parents can’t reinforce learning if they don’t understand the literacy standards applicable to their child’s particular grade.

Providing parents with SPECIFIC, TARGETED reading and other educational activities for their children to use during winter and summer breaks that will re-enforce the literacy standards. The objective is to take the guesswork out of it for parents.

Having a quarterly “Reading Is Fun” night at the school. The objective is to make reading fun for parents and kids alike.

Fundraising activities to obtain the money to implement the foregoing activities.  WE NEED MONEY!!!

So, that’s where we are. I’m interested in any feedback you might have on these objectives, how to raise money, how to keep parents engaged, and any other PTA-related advice you can share.