We’re gearing up for another great year at APW Elementary, and would love your input and assistance. Now, now, we know that meetings aren’t everybody’s thing and that we’re ALL busy. Please hear us out. We think there’s a way for you to be part of the action in a way that will work for you.

First off, meetings: our monthly face-to-face meetings will now be on Saturday mornings at 8 a.m. We’ll keep these brief (just one hour!). And we’ll sweeten the deal a little:

• come to a meeting and bring a friend (someone who’s never been to a meeting before), and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a $5 gift card for both you and your friend!
• attend just 4 meetings this year, and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card!
• we’ll also be adding regular open conference calls–details to follow

Secondly, active involvement: our organization depends upon parents and community members (that includes grandparents and other relatives!) pitching in to make wonderful things happen. We are fortunate to have a dedicated core of about 6-8 people who we can count on anytime, but those folks are sometimes spread pretty thin. We don’t want anyone to feel burned out or crazy because of PTSA, and we know that many hands make light work.We need YOU!

Here are some ways that you can help:

Do you have daytime availability? If so, we could really use your help with

• Book Fair (September, March, and May–just one or two days during those weeks would be a huge help to us)
• School Store–this entails committing to a few hours one day a month (approx. 10-1:30, choice of day is up to you), and is a great opportunity to meet a lot of the kids
• Refreshments at various events (i.e. holiday concert, Christmas snack, Fun Days, 6th grade moving up, etc.)–you don’t have to help with everything, but if you could be on our “on call” list, we would be most grateful

Could you help out with an ongoing project on your own schedule, whenever it works for you? If so, we’re looking for

• Labels for Education coordinator–this involves picking up the Labels that are submitted, trimming them, and submitting them to the company. You can do this once or twice a year, every month, whenever the mood strikes and you have some mindless moments to spend.
• Cartridges for Kids coordinator–this involves advertising the program with some signs around the school, picking up the cartridges that are submitted, and packing them for shipping (at our expense, of course!) This would probably entail a few hours of your time every couple of months.
• Bakers–folks who can help furnish refreshments a few times a year (i.e. for our family dances and for our faculty/staff appreciation luncheon). We tell you when we need stuff, and you decide what to make. It’s as easy as pie (or cookies, cupcakes, brownies…..)

Would you like to take responsibility for ONE event, have a deadline, and then be done with it? If so, we’ve got some great activities that we’d love you to tackle. You’re not on your own here–we need a leader, but we provide a lot of input and workers. Maybe you’d love to take on

• PARP (Parents/People as Reading Partners, month of February)
• Celebrate the Snow Day (February 27th)
• Exploration Night (March 24th)
• Spring Fundraiser (February-April timeframe)

Please think it over, and consider how you might be able to contribute to PTSA. There are many more ways besides just what we’ve named here–if you have a skill or passion that you’d like to share with our school community, or if you have questions about anything you’ve read here, please let us know! You can email us at apwcentralptsa@gmail.com or contact us via Facebook (APW Elementary PTSA).

Be sure to look for us, too, at the upcoming pre-K and Kindergarten Orientations, at Open House, and at our first big event of the year, Rebel Day (Saturday, September 26th). We’d love to hear from you!