August has arrived! It’s almost time for the kids to head back to school, so your students and the PTO need your help!
The PTO (parent-teacher-organization) is comprised of parent volunteers who give their time to help support the students and teachers at Hillside in numerous ways throughout the school year. In recent years, the PTO has struggled to gather enough parents who are willing to volunteer time. As a result, we are at a risk of not being able to provide the same level of cultural arts programming and support to the school as we have in years past.
What does the PTO do?
All cultural arts assemblies and programming are planned and paid for by the PTO. (Do you remember the awesome bee program, Chinese papercutting demonstrations, or interactive African drumming program that your child told you about? What about the author visits?) The PTO plans and executes teacher appreciation luncheons throughout the year, purchases various requests for the school (basketballs, books for classrooms, and beautification project supplies, to name a few), helps to coordinate and financially support some field trips, plans and runs the book fair, and holds social events open to the entire school (spring fair, winter social, trunk or treat, and others), among many, many other undertakings. Without enough volunteers, we are at a risk of not being able to provide the same amount and quality of support to the students and teachers!
How can I get involved?
Don’t be shy! No one bites! We love welcoming new faces to PTO meetings and events. Everyone is welcome. Always. Start by filling out the volunteer interest form or homeroom parent interest form on our website. Someone will reach out to you to discuss open volunteer opportunities so you can get involved where you’re most comfortable. You can also sign up for individual events on an as needed basis.
Volunteering through the PTO is a great way to get into the school to see your child in action, as well as getting to know their teachers, some of their friends and their friends’ parents. That said, being a PTO volunteer does not exclusively mean in person commitments during school hours. Many of the open positions have historically been held by full time or part time working parents who help out an hour or two per week (usually via email) when they’re available. There are no performance reviews here – we’re all parent volunteers simply doing our best. Any commitment that you can make is a huge help!
Which volunteer needs are the most urgent?
As we approach the start of the 2023-24 school year, we have yet to find volunteers who are willing to take on several key PTO board positions and other critical roles. While many of these positions sound like big undertakings, they’re all quite manageable for working or stay at home parents. They only become unmanageable when a small handful of people try to tackle them all!
- VP of Fundraising – This person is responsible for all fundraising efforts, primarily through the fall fundraiser and occasional spirit wear sales. The time commitment is greatest through the late summer and early fall, and lesser as the year goes on.
- Vice President – The VP shadows and assists the president in coordinating all tasks and events throughout the school year, while preparing to take the president role for the 2025-26 school year.
- Assistant Treasurer – This person shadows and assists the treasurer in handling all bank deposits, preparing the budget, and tracking expenses for the entire PTO, while preparing to take on the treasurer role for 2024-25.
- Yearbook – The yearbook coordinator organizes pictures taken throughout the year into a yearbook using the Barksdale photography platform, which is available for all students to purchase in the spring. This position is busiest through the late winter and spring.
- Homeroom parents – Every classroom has one homeroom parent and each grade level has a lead homeroom parent. All homeroom parents within a grade coordinate with one another to plan and execute the three class parties, and coordinate parent volunteers. Homeroom parents are often offered additional volunteer opportunities throughout the school year to help with grade level programming and events.
- Social event chairpersons– The PTO sponsors numerous social events throughout the school year, each requiring one (or more) chairperson(people) to coordinate the planning efforts.
- Trunk or Treat – A co-chair is needed to coordinate this event at Conestoga High School.
- Winter Social – One or more chairpersons are needed to plan and organize a social event in the winter. This could be a pizza bingo night, a dance, activity or game night, among others.
- Spring Fair – This is the largest social event of the year. A committee is formed to support the chairpersons in planning and executing this annual event held on the school fields and playground.
- Fourth Grade Party – Fourth grade parents are needed to form the committee to plan a party for the fourth graders shortly before school ends in June. This party is held during school hours at the school in order to include all students.
Additional questions? Contact Lauren Jones (president@hillsidepto.org) or Kathy Freyhof (volunteers@hillsidepto.org). We’re always happy to chat!