Room Parent Meeting

The Volunteer Coordinators, Deb, Kathy, and Lourdes hosted a Room Parent Meeting for all room parent volunteers this week. They greeted the dedicated volunteers and began by setting up some general guidelines. They went over the importance of maintaining strict student confidentiality, and the guidelines for correspondence with parents. All letters being sent by parents need to be pre-approved by the principal, Mrs. Phillips, and letters to parents cannot request specific dollar amounts. However, requests for “donations” are permitted. Room parents should keep a log of all money received for classroom/school events, and retain receipts for items purchased with classroom money.

Next, the Volunteer Coordinators discussed upcoming events and the responsibilities of the Room Parents. They encouraged the parents to discuss these events with their child's teacher and make a plan to assist the classroom in any way possible.

LITERARY PUMPKIN FESTIVAL:(WEEK OF OCTOBER 19-23)
Each class decorates a pumpkin (or pumpkins) to represent a literary character, scene, etc... The pumpkins may be painted, items may be glued on, or the pumpkin may be part of a larger display, however pumpkins must not be carved. The pumpkins along with the children's book need to be delivered to the front lobby by 10:00 AM on Monday. They are displayed in the lobby throughout the week.

FALL CARNIVAL: (OCTOBER 23, 2009 from 6:00-9:00PM)
Each class signs up to run a booth or activity the night of Carnival. It is the room parent’s responsibility to contact volunteers to run the booth/activity in half-hour or one-hour increments of time so that the booth is covered the entire evening. PTA will send information describing the booth, its duties, how many volunteers are needed, etc. approximately two weeks before the event. The room parent is also responsible for coordinating the setting up and tearing down of the booth. Classes are encouraged to decorate their booth in conjunction with the school’s theme which, this year, is a musical theme “Orchestrating a Symphony of Student Success.” The booths will be judged by several of the PTA and Staff members, and the winning booth will receive a $25.00 gift certificate for the teacher to use toward a party. Candy donations will be requested for Trick-or-Treating in the downstairs hallway of the school between 6:00-7:00 PM.

KINDERGARTEN POW WOW: (November 20, 2009)
Each Kindergarten class studies a specific Native American culture. Room parents are asked to help with making costumes, decorating classrooms, coordinating donations of supplies, etc. The room parent assists in scheduling parent volunteers to help on the POW-WOW day at various craft and activity stations, etc.

HOLIDAY AUCTION: (TBA)
Each class creates a holiday item (wreath, basket, cards, tablecloth, tree skirt, craft, etc.) to be auctioned in a silent auction over a two-week period. Auction items should be chosen such that the students can actively participate in its creation. We encourage the room parent to choose an item that will be appealing to anyone in the school and not just to the classroom (this increases the bidding pool). The auction item may be a holiday theme, the school’s theme, etc. The money received from the item goes directly to the classroom that created it.

ARTS EXTRAVAGANZA: April
This is an event offered in the spring where the room parent assists the classes in creating a themed basket for auction. More info to come on additional events after the New Year.

Thank you, Lourdes, Kathy, and Deb for giving an overview of upcoming events. We look forward to the support these wonderful volunteers will bring to classroom teachers.