WHY IS VOLUNTEERING IMPORTANT:

PTA activities and programs are entirely volunteer driven!

As we continue to provide and support engaging programs in our school, it is important to organize sufficient volunteer support. We are able to raise funds to support the programs but without your time and engagement we cannot keep these programs in place.

As the PTA Board, we start facing critical decisions:

• Should we cut down on programs?

• If we cut programs, which ones should go first, those serving fewer students or those requiring highest volunteer support?

• Programs which serve fewer students are usually the more critically in demand and include Math Olympiads, Math Counts, National Junior Honor Society, National Geo Bee, FBLA, Arts & Craft Club. We support the financial structure to keep these programs in place and seek the help of educators and parents to keep them running.

• Programs which require higher number of volunteers are the ones which constitute critical support services to the classrooms, or create the social fabric of the school environment, or challenge the mind to greater levels of experience and learning.

• Copy services run by the PTA is a critical support service without which teachers would be spending more time in copy rooms preparing materials every single day rather than with our children in the classrooms. As a parent, would you be happy about that?

• What generates the most success in a school environment is a supportive social fabric. Down time events for our children and families, whether it is Student Socials, Family Game nights, International Fairs, Parent Brunches and Coffees, Teacher Appreciation events, Volunteer Appreciation events. Do we want to cut down on these events because we cannot find sufficient volunteers and let the school environment propel itself towards disengagement and disconnect?

• We are continuously scouting for programs that can bring enrichment in learning to our students whether it is Author Visits, Science Camp or Technology. Some may be self-sufficient whereas others are actively assisted by volunteers. Should we become even more selective in bringing these resources to our school? We already face budget constraints and we are adding one more to this. Eventually we will cease to find programs which can meet all our requirements.

To help us decide, we need your firm commitment to be there and provide the support as a volunteer to keep these programs in place. The only satisfaction you may get in our making cuts is a lower donation cost, but it will be a short-term gain compared to a loss of learning experience which will stay for a lifetime with our children.

We provide these structured resources for hundreds of kids and unless every volunteer and lead is in place with a firm commitment to carry out their responsibility, we cannot ensure we can carry forward these opportunities. We work closely with the school administration to ensure your children get the best experience from these activities, but without your support, we cannot do that.

!!Help, Support & Volunteer!!

You can reach our volunteer coordinator at general@samlawsonpta.org