Committees

Walt Whitman Elementary School PTA COMMITTEE SIGN-UP for 2017-2018 Dear Parents, We are now forming PTA committees for the 2017-2018 school year. This is a great opportunity to make a difference in your children s lives and to be involved in your school and community. We have over 50 committees/chairpersonships for you to choose from. Attached is a short description of each committee. PLEASE GIVE THIS SOME THOUGHT YOU ARE THE FUTURE OF OUR PTA! Each committee chairperson will be responsible to provide a typed committee plan of work. The plan of work is a brief outline of your committee s purpose and event specifics. Each committee chairperson will also have to provide the co-presidents and recording secretary with a written report 10 days prior to any PTA meeting in which a verbal report is needed. Some committees require an actual committee whereas others will require parent participation on the day of the event. A signup sheet, for each event requiring parent s participation, will be presented at the PTA meeting, added to the Walt Whitman PTA web site, and email blasted to members. Please call us if you have any question or comments about the committees or the sign up process. Thank you for all of your help, dedication and commitment! Jackie Cohen Susan Suriel PTA Co-President PTA Co-President (516) 551-4137 (516) 983-7899 jackiecohen2016@gmail.com susansuriel@gmail.com 2017-2018 Committees

Book Fair Box Tops Budget By Laws Clothing Sale / Spirit Wear Coats for Kids Earth Day Elementary Education Fall Fair (Halloween) Family Fun Night Field Day Fifth Grade Picnic Fifth Grade Year Book Fitness & Nutrition Flyer (Monthly) Fun Fair Gifted & Talented Graphic Artist (create PTA flyers) Health & Safety Holiday Boutique Hospitality International Day Know Your Candidate Legislation Lunch Captains Lunch Volunteer Coordinator Membership Newcomer s Social PARP Pie Sale Publicity Press Conference Reflections Scholarship Business Letters Scholarship Theater Journal & Party School Board Reporter School & Community School Directory School Store SEPTA Snack Someone Special Craft Someone Special Dance

Spring Plant Sale Staff Recognition Lunch Sunshine Committee Survey Talent Show Thanksgiving Luncheon Toy Drive Ways & Means Webmaster WALT WHITMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COMMITTEE DESCRIPTIONS 2017-2018 Book Fair The chairpersons plan and supervise the Fall and Spring school book fairs. Chairpersons will send out notices announcing the Book Fair. Committee members work at the book fairs helping students. Need: two to three co-chairpersons, a signup sheet will go out prior to the event for parent participation. Box Tops for Education Manage the Box Tops for Education program, a program in which students/teachers bring box tops from specially marked products to school. The chairperson collects the box tops and mails them in to receive money back for our school. Clothing/Spirit Wear Manage clothing sale throughout the year. Select/design clothing and promote to parents/students. Need: two co-chairpersons Coats for Kids Manage winter coat drive at Walt Whitman to collect coats for charity. Earth Day

Organize activities related to environmental awareness. Need: two chair people and a signup sheet will go out prior to the event for parent participation. Fall Fair (Halloween) Organize and run a costume party to be held the Friday before Halloween. Committee members will help with planning, set up, clean up and running the event. All class parents must work a shift at the Fall Fair. Need: two co-chairpersons, committee and a signup sheet will go out prior to the event for parent participation. Family Fun Night Spring Plan and run one evening activity for parents and children. All people on the committee including the chairperson(s) need to be in attendance of the events. Need: one-two chairperson(s) and committee members Field Day Help the gym teachers organize an outdoor Olympic style event. Purchase t-shirts and water for students. Committee will help serve water during the event. Need: two co-chairpersons Fifth Grade Picnic This committee is made up of FIFTH GRADE PARENTS only. The committee plans, organizes and executes a June school day picnic at Syosset-Woodbury Park for graduating fifth graders. Need: two co-chairpersons (5 th grade parents) and committee members Monthly Flyer Gather and organize school-wide important information and reminders in a monthly flyer sent home via email. Fun Fair Help the VP of Events organize and execute a carnival. All committee members will need to make themselves available to prepare for and attend this function, and all class parents must work a shift at the carnival. Need: 2 co-chair people, committee members and a signup sheet will go out prior to the event for parent participation. Graphic Artist Prepare flyers for PTA events to be back packed and also put up on the Walt Whitman website. Holiday Boutique

Coordinate and manage the annual winter holiday boutique. The chairperson(s) will select merchandise from the designated vendor and set prices. The chairperson(s) and committee will set up and run the sale. Need: two chairpersons, a signup sheet will go out prior to the event for parent participation. International Day Plan a program to promote multicultural awareness and tolerance. All members should be available to attend the event. Need: two chairpersons, committee members and a signup sheet will go out prior to the event for parent participation. Lunch Captains Oversee lunch-servers two days per month (approximately four captains per lunch). Prior to each lunch, the captain will contact each server to confirm their availability. If there is a shortage of servers on a day, the lunch captain will recruit additional servers. The overall lunch program is managed by the VP of Food Fundraising, who serves as the committee chair. Need: 16 captains a week Lunch Volunteer Coordinator Keep the master list of who has volunteered to serve lunch on which days. Provide lunch captains with the names of their servers for each upcoming lunch. Alert lunch captains if they are short servers on an upcoming day and assist lunch captains in recruiting additional servers if needed. The overall lunch program is managed by the VP of Food Fundraising, who serves as the committee chair. Need: one - two coordinators Membership Encourage 100% of parents and teachers to join the PTA at Walt Whitman. Collect dues and submit membership lists to New York State PTA. Distribute membership cards to paid members. Also work closely with the chairperson of the School Directory to ensure paid members have access to Directory Spot. Newcomers Social This committee organizes a social event to welcome Kindergarten parents to Walt Whitman. Parents are given the opportunity to meet other new parents and PTA presidents. This event occurs at the begining of September.

Parents As Reading Partners (PARP) Work with Mr. Snyder and select teachers to come up with a reading incentive program for children and parents. Update the PARP chart in the main hallway to show the children the progress of the different grades. Distribute surprise gifts to PARP participants. Need: one to two chairperson(s) Pie Sale Organize, promote, collect funds and distribute orders. Pies and breads to be provided by White Post Farms. Manage Pick Up after school on the Wednesday before thanksgiving break. Need: one to two chairperson(s) Publicity Attend events provided by the Walt Whitman PTA, take photos and write an article to be submitted into the Syosset papers. All photos will need to be examined by the PTA presidents and school office. All articles will need to be approved. and committee School Board Reporter Representatives from this committee will attend the Syosset School Board Meetings and inform the Walt Whitman PTA about issues discussed at the meeting. Board meeting minutes are available on the district website. Committee members must attend the BOE meeting and the Walt Whitman PTA meetings. Need: one - two co-chairpersons School Directory Collect, enter and maintain the on-line school directory. Give access to all paid PTA members. Help new and existing parents access and maneuver the Directory Spot web site and app. Work closely with the chairperson of the membership committee. School Store Managed by VP of Service Fundraising. VP orders excuse pads, lunch bags, supplies and trinkets to sell to children in our school store. VP and volunteers run the store during lunch on pre-arranged days. VP and committee also manage the school supply packs sold at the end of each year. Need: volunteers to work in school store as their schedule permits (will be assigned Thursday s this year) Sign up will begin in September. SEPTA (Special Education Parent Teacher Association) Attend all SEPTA meetings (district wide) and report back to PTA on upcoming events, meeting dates and speaker topics. Must attend PTA meetings. Need: two chairperson(s) Snack

Coordinate weekly snack program. Manage ordering process, purchase and distribute snacks to the school every Thursday. Need: Two Chairperson(s) and committee members, a volunteer sign up sheet will be available. Special Someone Craft/Gift Plan and run a craft to create a gift for father s/uncles/grandfather s/etc. Takes place at recess in June. Chair people will select the craft and distribute sign up sheets. Committee members will help students during craft time. Need: one to two chairperson(s) and committee members also a signup sheet will go out prior to the event for parent participation. Someone Special Dance Plan, coordinate and publicize the dance. This is an evening event held in the gym that takes place around Valentines Day. Need: 3 to 4 Chairpersons with committee members Spring Plant Sale Organize and conduct the annual plant sale in May. Some responsibilities are select the plants/flowers that are sold at this event, promote the event and manage the sale to students. Need: two chair people and committee members to help set up also a signup sheet will go out prior to the event for parent participation. Staff Recognition Luncheon Coordinate and run the annual buffet luncheon for the staff of our school in May. The luncheon takes place in the library, which usually is decorated according to a theme chosen by the chairpersons and their committee. Lunch is served by the committee to the entire staff (in shifts) as well as the school board members and the unit Presidents. The committee will have several meetings to plan this major event, pick a theme, send out invitations, decorate, organize/order/gather food donations and choose favors to give out, etc. The actual event is all day 9:30-2:30. Need: several chairpersons and several people for committee Survey Committee Responsible for creating beneficial surveys using Google Survey for the PTA to get feedback from the PTA members. Approximately 3-4 surveys per year. Survey content will be approved by the presidents and information and data accumulated from the survey will be viewed by the presidents and committee members. Need: two co-chairpersons and committee

Sunshine Committee Send cards/small gifts from the PTA to people who are celebrating/recovering/mourning/etc. Chair will be provided with budget and monogrammed cards. Report at PTA meetings on cards/gifts sent. Create and update the Birthday Bulletin Board in the cafeteria. Talent Show Plan and run a talent show night at Walt Whitman. The committee will attend meetings as needed, set up/clean up and attend event. Need: chairperson(s) and several people for committee Thanksgiving Luncheon Manage the luncheon at our school for senior citizens. Run recess crafts where students create projects to give to our guests. Send invitations, arrange student and professional entertainment (student entertainment coordinated by Walt Whitman staff), coordinate/prepare menu and serve food. The actual event is all day 9:30-2:30. Need: several chairpersons and several people for committee Toy Drive Collect new and gently used toys from the student body for donation to the Marines Toys for Tots program in December. Webmaster Update the Walt Whitman web site with all relevant PTA information. Work closely with all Officers and Monthly Flyer Chairperson to ensure all forms, announcements, and sign up sheets are posted in a timely manner. Also work with Lunch Volunteer Coordinator to enable on-line sign up. Council Committees Descriptions 2017-2018 Budget (Council committee) Serve as the liaison between Syosset Council and Walt Whitman Elementary School on all efforts to ensure the school budget passes. Requires attending committee meetings (scheduled

as needed), helping out at Kindergarten Registration, and encouraging parents to vote at curriculum night. By Laws (Council committee) Works closely with the presidents to update and file amendments to By Laws. There may be one meeting at the Council level during the year. Must have strong knowledge of how the PTA functions. Elementary Education (Council committee) Attend district meetings twice a year and present situations to the superintendant. Report on council committee activities to WW PTA membership. Gifted and Talented (Council committee) Attend district meetings to communicate information about speakers and projects that help the parents of gifted and talented. Work on Council-wide project. Health & Safety (Council committee) Represent Walt Whitman at Council Committee meetings looking at current health, safety and ecology topics. Bring important information back to WW PTA to inform and educate parents. Know Your Candidate (Council committee) Represent Walt Whitman at Council Committee meetings and assist Council Committee Chair with initiatives to introduce candidates for school board to the community. Meetings will take place on an as-needed basis leading up to the election. Legislation (Council committee) Present information to the Walt Whitman PTA on New York State PTA lobbying initiatives. Information will be provided to WW chair by Council Chair. Hold a vote on proposed NYSPTA initiatives at Walt Whitman s November PTA meeting and report vote results to Council Chair. Press Conference (Council committee) Send out flyers 2 times a year and meet twice with council committee to discuss questions that will be reviewed and answered by the Superintendant and administration.

Reflections (Council committee) Serve as liaison between Walt Whitman students and the district Reflections committee. Manage the submission process for all Walt Whitman entries and attend awards ceremony at the district level. Need: two chairpersons Scholarship Community Mailing (Council committee) Meet twice to stuff envelopes to send to community to raise money for high school scholarships. Council Committee. Scholarship Theatre Journal and Party (Council committee) Send out flyers to school to collect ads for the high school musical which is a fundraiser for Syosset Scholarship fund. Sell tickets and raffles for the show. School and Community (Council committee) Represent Walt Whitman at school and community meetings (district wide). Receive communication from district regarding community activities and events. Attend one town board meeting and host one community event to benefit the district. Ways and Means (Council committee) Go to monthly meetings and represent Walt Whitman. Get volunteers to attend activities and be at events. District wide committee.