The school year is half over, we have already enjoyed so many wonderful PTA programs, and there is still more to come! Thus far, we have distributed class t-shirts, PTA membership cards and our school directory. We established a new environmental club, hosted the first Art Gala, beautified our campus, held a coat drive and coordinated a “Holiday Angle Tree” for Olmos Elementary. We had a successful and informative Red Ribbon Week last October. Our year-long programs like, Watch D.O.G.S., Read Kids Read, Faculty Appreciation luncheons, weekly newsletters and PTA website updates are still in full swing. Upcoming events to look forward to are Bicycle Rodeo, Used Book Sale, Fifth Grade Party and the Spring Walk-A-Thon for the Walkway.
All of these PTA activities share two main goals. First, each activity or program must benefit the students or families of Encino Park Elementary School. Even the events that don’t seem to directly benefit our school but less fortunate schools, still benefit our students by providing an opportunity for community service and moral responsibility. The second common trait is that every PTA event, activity, program big or small comes with a cost. The cost may be dollars, someone’s time and most often both time and money. To ensure the best use of our resources, we continually evaluate whether the cost is worth the benefit. After thoughtful assessment of our student recognition and reward efforts, we felt it most cost effective to recognize achievements with class prizes in lieu of individual trinkets. This has helped our budget and our landfills. An unexpected benefit to this change was the increased classroom unity and healthy competition between classes.
In the past, EP has relied on catalog sales for fall fundraisers. Although they have yielded ample dollars for programs plus an annual “gift to school,” it left many parents feeling burdened to solicit for these sales. In response to numerous concerns and complaints about the catalogue sales, the PTA introduced the Greenback Fundraiser as a replacement. Unfortunately, the $5,000 raised on Greenback Night was significantly less than $15,000 projected contribution. As a result, a spring Walk-A-Thon fundraiser was voted upon and approved at the regular December PTA meeting.
With the spring Walk-a-Thon event, we hope to supplement the Greenback fundraiser and meet the needed contributions to pay for the year’s remaining planned events. Additional money raised will go to improve our campus with a much needed expanded “walkway” to navigate the hill between our school and Caliza Road.
The walkway, which PTA gifted to the school last year, located by the steps in the front has alleviated many foot traffic issues and has greatly improved the look and function our campus. With your support of our spring Walk-A-Thon, we will be able to enhance our students’ spring semester experience with the planned programs and hopefully add the new walkway to make pick-up and drop-off safer and easier for families. With the majority of participation, the Walk-A-Thon will be a fun and successful event. The Walk-a-thon will be held during school hours. Prizes will be awarded for participation and money raised. Look for more information to come, as we finalize this exciting event. Right now, we are looking for families that own or work for a company that would be willing to contribute some special rewards for incentives. If you know a generous person that would be willing to support this event by donating gifts or money for gifts, please contact Heather Hansen. Her email is heatherh@satx.rr.com. We hope that all parents encourage their child’s participation in this school-wide event with pledges from friends and family.
Many thanks for your continued support. The EP PTA looks forward to a wonderful spring semester. Thank you also to the many volunteers who make it all happen for our students.
