Now that you’ve settled into your position and have gotten your PTA and its activities off the ground, I challenge you to reach further and do more. I suspect you are groaning and wondering, “Is she crazy?” Maybe, but I don’t think so. I recognize you are a special volunteer and you truly are prepared to do the best for your community’s children and families. So let’s review how you can maximize the impact of your PTA.

Start by sitting down with your board to plan ways to learn about your membership. Do you use surveys other than the usual volunteer one? What information needs to be gathered so that your PTA can be most – not just more – effective? Do you know the demographics, languages or transportation issues present at your school? What variables do you need to understand to present appropriate quality PTA programming? Brainstorm with your board, the school staff and your principal to reveal all the areas of need. Don’t forget to consider who isn’t in your membership. That may be a very significant indicator!

How many creative ways can surveys and information be sent out to your communities? We all know “backpack mail” is only as effective as the child feels that day. Not everyone uses the Internet, and some folks don’t have the time to send something back to school. A variety of outreach methods will be required to be confident your PTA really reaches the most people possible. Don’t ever underestimate the impact of personal contact! Or, that you may need to travel to people to reach them! People often just need to be asked to become part of the action.

While gathering information about your school, seek new avenues to discover your families’ needs and issues. School cultures change often. You may find the population is different each year. Don’t retreat to the tired excuse, “We’ve always done it this way.” Take time to ask your current community what they want and need from your PTA. I suspect you might be surprised by the answers. Finally, don’t miss the chance to ask them to help with the solutions to their needs.

Have you created the opportunity to understand the achievement gap at your school and within your school district? This issue affects each child and every family! Arrange a briefing where your principal and superintendent share the real data on where the gap exists, and why and which children need additional assistance. Armed with that information, your PTA can strategize and target specific needs. This focused attention will help more than a few children. The results will ripple throughout your school to be felt by staff and families. They will recognize and value the additional commitment on PTA’s part for all children, and the gap will close a little.

Do you let everyone know about the good work you do, the lives you touch, the schools you improve? Make sure that you trumpet your efforts before the school board, the district office, the city council, the media and your surrounding schools. Ensure they see the big picture of PTA with the scope of your involvement and commitment to children and families. Use this to build a foundation of understanding and goodwill which you can use to create a groundswell of trusted advocacy when it’s critical.

These are proven ways that you can use to assure your PTA maximizes its positive impact. I’d love to hear what new methods you have tried, and how and why they worked. Please contact me at president@capta.org and look for your story in future articles.

Jo A.S. Loss
California State PTA President

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