Our children’s schools would not be the same without the PTO, which is primarily moms (though I totally appreciate the many dads that help as well).  These parents devote time and do so much to make sure our kids have more activities or supplies or trips than the school budget alone would afford them.  I guess in the expression “It takes a village to raise a child”, the PTO would be a village.  Not every parent can participate or give the same but all the kids benefit equally from the efforts of this village.

It is often not a simple task to organize the fund-raisers or fun activities for the kids or teachers.  I admire the moms who put in so much work.  It takes communication, collaboration, public speaking, project management and more to pull off one of these large events.  The moms doing this work are generally stay-at-home moms (SAHM) since they have more time flexibility to devote to the schools.  Of course there are plenty of working moms on the PTO as well but many times they can’t or won’t take the leadership/organizational roles because of their time constraints.  So these SAHMs put together these elaborate plans, think of creative ideas, try to recruit dozens of parents whose roles they will have to oversee, create project plans, make sure things are timely and within budget, and any other grunt work required.  These are intelligent and efficient women.  Many draw from the skills of their former careers pre-children.  Others learn as they go and become excellent coordinators and communicators.  I have gotten emails from PTO moms that came with full bullet point presentations and floor plans of our events.  They were detailed with charts of responsibilities and a complete timeline of the evening.

All this effort is purely for the education and enjoyment of our children and the betterment of our schools.  No bosses are going to judge these project plans.  No one is going to get fired for not doing a great job and there are no financial rewards for extra effort.  The reward is our children’s happy faces when the enjoy the PTO sponsored events.  It is the appreciation of the teachers who can use new supplies to improve our kids’ education.  I think these PTO Moms are super-moms for all their efforts.  Many parents who are not involved really don’t realize the hard work that goes into the PTO events that their kids enjoy.  Some even think it is just something for parents who have nothing else to do.  Well, every parent has plenty to do and this is a worthwhile cause.  So appreciate these Moms that make things happen for our schools and give a little of your own time if possible.  It does take a village after all!