Fwd: PTA follow-up (Grade Level Reps and Raise Craze)

[Xuhui "Sunny" Zhao]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Amy McCarthy <amypell...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 8, 2018 at 1:07 PM
Subject: PTA follow-up (Grade Level Reps and Raise Craze)
To: o2bsl...@msn.com, Leslie Brodsky <leslie....@gmail.com>, Ami Whelan <amihw...@gmail.com>, Kathleen Adams <kadam...@yahoo.com>, kelley...@yahoo.com, kriste...@verizon.net, kdla...@gmail.com, "Annie Golnoski (Emma, Nick, Ryan, Jay)" <agolno...@gmail.com>, buncho...@gmail.com, Danna Stanyard <dannas...@gmail.com>, kfran...@comcast.net, "Michelle Johnson (Brad - Rachel, Gregory)" <MLJ...@gmail.com>, Nikki Wilcox <nikkim...@hotmail.com>, Ginny Zimmerman <ginny.d....@gmail.com>, Carol Scott <ca...@lishgroup.com>, "Carrie (Caren) Jenkins" <caren_...@hcpss.org>, Marissa Carothers <mpc...@aol.com>, mike h <macul...@yahoo.com>, Ashlei Pinkham <ash...@gmail.com>, Amy Oaks LoPresti <amyoaks...@yahoo.com>, Erica Zoren <ericar...@gmail.com>, "Sunny (Xuhui) Zhao - PTA" <zhao...@gmail.com>, Ilchester PTA <ilches...@gmail.com>, Patrick McCarthy <pmccar...@gmail.com>, gregory...@gmail.com
Cc: "amypell...@gmail.com" <amypell...@gmail.com>

Hello All!

You are receiving this email because, at the February 13 IES PTA meeting, you expressed an interest in a Grade Level Representative Program and/or the Raise Craze Fundraiser. Truth be told, there are also a few of you on this email who were not at that meeting, but I just KNOW that if you were, you would have shown an interest! And then there are those of you who were there but did not sign the "I'm Interested" sheet, though I'm sure you really meant to... ha! Now, if I am mistaken as to your interest, please feel free to reply by telling me to never bug you about these programs again, read no further, and delete this message. No offense taken. Really! 

For those of you who are only interested in one of the programs mentioned, scroll down to your section and ignore the rest. Otherwise, read on in full! There was a huge crossover between the two Interest Sheets so, for the sake of efficiency and ensuring that no one is missed, I thought it best to just draft one massive brain-busting initial email. Fun!

These two programs have never been done at IES, so they are in the super super new stages. In fact, since the February 13 meeting, I've been communicating with the PTA's Teacher Reps and with IES Administration, and researching the viability of each program before getting to this stage of rounding up troops. I'm happy to say that both programs are well-supported and carry much promise... but they will absolutely need your help!

GRADE LEVEL REPRESENTATIVE PROGRAM

This program was suggested in the past but never really got its legs. How awesome that it received so much backing from the parents at the February meeting! 

The program would incorporate the current Kindergarten Liaison Program (which I believe Karen Frankovic has done a fantastic job further developing after taking over for Anne Mager as last year's Liaison). The intention would be to have one parent for each grade level serve as the liaison between Staff, parents, and the PTA. One consistent, reliable connection, if you will. As discussed at the meeting, this differs from the valuable role of Room Parents, who serve as the go between for a specific teacher and the set of parents for that one class, and who typically focus on party planning and gift coordination. Grade Level Reps would serve on a larger scale - interacting, or being available to interact, with all Staff AND ALL PARENTS of a specific grade level. This should neither conflict with Room Parents, nor diminish current communications between teachers and the parents of their students. The position is intended to relate to matters on a grade-wide basis. For example, if volunteers are needed for a PTA event, the grade level reps could reach out via email to the parents within that grade. If a parent has an event question, suggestion, or concern, he or she should contact the grade level rep. Of course the Chair for that specific event is also available to the parent, but the thought would be that the grade level rep would bring more familiarity and comfort to that parent, should he or she not know the Chair. Staff may choose to utilize the grade level rep at their discretion. I know that the First Grade Team was always amazing at disseminating info and updates to first grade parents, but others may choose a different approach.  There are details to iron out, and we will likely encounter some kinks in the chain, but that's to be expected with any new program, and the hope is that this one will serve not only as a helpful resource, but also as an effective means of outreach. IES has many, many parents that are available and willing to help. Let's make it easier for them to do so!

As discussed at the meeting, the ideal structure of the program would involve a revolving line-up. Meaning, if in year one parent A is the 2nd Grade Rep and parent B is the 3rd Grade Rep, year two would have parent A serving as the 3rd Grade Rep and parent B serving as the 4th Grade Rep, and so on. The benefits to this are many, not the least of which include 1) we as a PTA would only need to fill one position each year (the kindergarten rep), and 2) the longer a parent remains a rep, the stronger the connection/the better the outreach to the parents as the rep and the parents would travel through the grades together.

Some closing thoughts that are swirling for me... 

- while we are only 3 months from the end of this school year (what?!), I do think there is value to introducing the program this year.

- I'll gladly serve as Chair for this year to help get it off of the ground, but since I won't be serving as a grade rep I don't think I would be the best choice for Chair moving forward. My inclination is to have the 4th Grade Rep serve as Chair in the long-term. The 4th Grade Rep would be the rep with the most experience who will also still be in the school the following year to serve as a reference.

- Perhaps the PTA Teacher Reps would be willing to serve as a point of contact for the Grade Level Reps? Something to think about.

- I do not know if there is a need to include RECC in this. I truly do not know. In my almost 3 years with the PTA, RECC has remained largely uninvolved and I'm not sure if that's intentional or not. Something to look into.

- I don't know if there is any value to having some portion of the program standardized or not. Meaning, would all reps send out a monthly "what's up" style email, or rather structure their grades as they wish?

Based on the sign ups that I received, my suggested reps are as follows:

Kindergarten: Karen Frankovic (son Matthew)

1st: Amy Keen (? help me out! :) )

2nd: Leslie Brodsky (son Jacob)

3rd:

4th:

5th: Danna Stanyard (son Jackson)

If any of the people I have listed would rather not serve, please say so. Remember that, ideally, you would serve in this position for multiple years (except Danna. ha!) And please feel free to make suggestions for the vacant positions! I believe Karen already has someone lined up to take over for Kindergarten next year? I would rather not have more than one parent rep per grade. I'm pretty sure this is not a "the more the merrier" kid of job :)

Next step: let's confirm the reps, fill the vacancies, and then GET A GROUP EMAIL STARTED. From there I think firming up the details and answering questions would be in order. Once all ducks are in a row, I would think a little presentation at the following PTA meeting would be a good idea, as would a letter to Staff, a letter to go home in Friday folders, and a blurb for the PTA newsletter. From then I think it would be time to implement and tweak!

RAISE CRAZE

So... this has the potential to be a big deal :) And I mean that in a good way, provided we get the support within the PTA. I look at it this way - the more PTA support we have, the more manageable the work will be for all of us doing the work. So let's dig in!

A tiny bit of background - Raise Craze is based in South Carolina and was developed by a few dads who were tired of the typical school fundraiser structure. RC does not involve any selling of any kind. It allows for every single student to participate. It has an extremely high rate of return. It can be as basic or as big as the school designs. It involves no classroom time, unless teachers choose otherwise. No RC rep steps foot in the school. And on and on and on... Essentially, kids that sign up to take part in RC ask friends and family to donate to their school - and in return the children promise to "pay it forward" by completing acts of kindness and acts of service. How great is that? 

Thus far, only one other Howard County school has done a fundraiser through RC. I spoke at length with that PTA President about her experience. I shared a little of what she had to say at the February 13 meeting, but some of what I shared bears repeating here: 65 students (out of 500) at her Title I school participated in the donation portion of RC. Those students raised $4,400, $4,100 of which was retained by the school. If 65 students can raise $4,400, imagine what our school can do! And, AND... that was done with extreme time constraints and on the heels of a change in school administration and PTA leadership. 

Financially, I think RC could do great things for IES. I echo a former PTA-President who said, "Wouldn't it be nice to just do one big fundraiser each year and be done with it?" I couldn't agree more. And I think RC carries this potential. The potential to have a "one-and-done" that could be repeated, and possibly built-upon, each year. This would lead to reliable, consistent budgets and more time to develop family and community events. RC does not bring with it any of the aspects of Boosterthon that the IES community did not care for, but it does share some of the positive aspects of Boosterthon which, financially, proved to be very valuable to our school.

Enough about the money. Who doesn't want our kids to "Choose Kindness"? This is a fundraiser that, substantively, everyone can get behind. But it will take a dedicated team to get it done, and I'm hoping that you readers want to be on that team.

Some bullet points about RC in case you need help deciding whether or not you want to get involved: 

- RC has already been approved by HCPSS as a vendor

- Other schools in Howard County are signing up to use RC next year

- The RC reps are extremely helpful. They do the coaching and guiding, but we do all of the work. That's how our profit margin stays so high, and that's also how we get better connected to the school!

- On average, kids sign up to complete 3-5 acts

- We determine the acts that the kids get to choose from, and yes - we can customize them!

- We determine the budgets. If we want to spend a little on one aspect of the program but more on something else, we can. We are the ones in control (subject to the approval of IES Administrators, of course!)

- We determine whether or not to award prizes and incentives. And, if so, what. And when. And how.

My swirling RC thoughts...

- I think that Fall 2018 is the best time for this fundraiser. It will help to set our budget for the year, it may be able to coincide with World Kindness Day (Saturday, November 3), it lends to a great "Kick off the Year with Kindness" theme (thanks Fran Keenan!), it gives us automatic audiences at Open House and Back to School Nights, and - most importantly - it gives us time to plan. That was the #1 complaint that the PTA President who ran RC this past Fall had - that she rushed it too much. As I said at the February 13 meeting, that may mean some work during the summer months for some of us, but I'm guessing that will also mean less work later (i.e., during the back-to-school insanity).

Even at a somewhat basic level, there will be a lot to do for this (remember - the more work WE do, the higher OUR return). There will be a master website to establish, maintain, and (undoubtedly) troubleshoot. Prizes and incentives, if we choose to include, will need to be determined, purchased, and distributed appropriately. If we choose to have an Assembly/Pep Rally, it is solely in our hands to conduct (anyone know where we can get a Cheetah mascot?!) Presentations may need to be made to Staff and at Back to School Nights. We will need graphics, graphics, graphics for the school! The suggestion of a Service Night seemed to be loved by all, but that will mean securing donations, organizing stations, getting volunteers to man stations, etc. There is A LOT. But... most of this can be done from home, and on our own time. We have a lot of lead time. And the RC reps are beyond amazing.

I'm willing to serve as Chair for RC for year one. I think RC will involve sub-committees, possibly each requiring their own sub-Chair. I've already received a commitment from a fabulous IES parent to handle all graphics associated with RC, so we are on our way! Many aspects of RC lend to family involvement, but also to the inclusion of scout troops, neighborhoods, extended families, etc. I hoping we won't have difficulty finding people who want to be involved :)

Below I'm pasting a link to the RC website. I also encourage you to "like" RC on facebook (facebook does have SOME value!), as their page contains a lot of feedback from other schools that have used the program. I'm attaching the RC Jumpstart Package that I received, and I'm also pasting a link to an article written by RC's President, which I think sheds some very useful light on fundraising in general. 

https://raisecraze.com/

http://www.seenmagazine.us/Articles/Article-Detail/ArticleId/6504/It-39-s-Time-We-Rethink-School-Fundraising

Next step: let's GET A GROUP EMAIL STARTED. Knowing who and how many we have involved will be helpful when it comes time to start creating and signing up for tasks. I will continue to "information gather." Perhaps a meeting of the committee as a whole would be in order, allowing us to get a rough game plan assembled. At that point I believe things should be run by Drs. Smith and Carr.  A presentation at a following PTA meeting, confirmation of the players, roles, and expectations, etc. would follow. 

I apologize for taking up half of your day with this book. It will NOT be the norm, and I promise to drink WAY less coffee before drafting future emails :) I look forward to hearing from you all (even just to hear you say "remove my name from the list!"), and I encourage you to forward this email to anyone who you think may be interested in getting involved with either program.

Thanks so much!

Amy McCarthy