Parsons USD 503 Grade Schools Parent Teacher Organization members are planning a new, fun activity this year to benefit staff at Parsons schools.
At the end of last year, after the grade school PTO did a Sonic gift card giveaway for students, PTO president and USD 503 Board of Education member Julie Legler said she took kind of a survey from teachers, asking what PTO could for them, what needs PTO could meet that they currently were not meeting. “A fourth grade teacher said, it would be really awesome if we could go in on a kind of lottery for a desired school supply item, or resource tool, that's needed for our classrooms,” Legler said.
Legler said she expanded on the idea to have everyone in the buildings participate, like custodians, the Title I aides, and secretaries.”
Everyone employed in the schools has a chance to put their name on the Google sheet the PTO has created and is distributing to personnel to sign up on. “All staff are able to throw their name in the hat,” Legler said. “I will draw for one school supply item at the end of every nine weeks and PTO will purchase the staff member’s item. The item needs to be less than $25.”
This is just one of many activities the PTO will have planned for the year, as Legler said Parsons Grade Schools PTO is very active. While many people may think PTO is only about fundraising, Legler said it is so much more. “It is about supporting our classrooms and teachers and bridging the gaps,” of what is needed to educate students, Legler said.
Annually, teachers buy so many items out of their own pockets for their classrooms every year. To help cushion that, Parsons Grade Schools PTO gives mini grants annually. Historically, it has been $100 for each classroom teacher at the beginning of the year.
“We went up to $200 during Covid because there's so many more hygienic items that were needed, masks and whatnot, water bottles, all the extras,” Legler said. “But yeah, they put so much of their own money into their classroom, and we've tried to help with that this (past) year. PTO also assisted this past spring during Teacher Appreciation Week. “We had each school have a representative or two for teachers and they filled out like a wish list of every school supply item, everything that they could really use for classrooms,” Legler said.
The lists contained everything from mechanical pencils and markers to treasure boxes and more.
“It had everything that they could think of that they needed, that normally they would spend on their own, and then we put it out to the public,” Legler said. “I put it on our PTO page and had people share it, and then parents or supporters of 503 children were able to go on an Amazon wish list and buy things. We had amazing, amazing results.” If anyone is interested in supporting teachers and staff for the drawings through donating items, or monetary donations to help with items, Legler said they can contact her at julielegler@vikingnet.net. If people would like to see everything the grade school PTO is up to, Legler invited them to check out the Parsons Grade Schools PTO Facebook page. The page has all the projects that the Grade School PTO funded, or funded a better part of, in the past few years. During the school year it is usually updated multiple times a week.
People can also help teachers by checking out Donors Choose, which is a secure, non-profit fundraising tool to help teachers purchase needed, or desired items, for their classrooms. There are currently seven Parsons grade schools’ projects teachers are seeking donations for through Donors Choose. “It is a great resource for teachers a lot of the time,” Legler said. “I don’t think people really know the need.”