THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409230279
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
PRINCIPAL JOHN SAMMONS has promised to pucker up and kiss a pig if Oakland Elementary School's PTA enrolls at least 255 members.
His willingness to do this illustrates a renewed effort by Suffolk Parent-Teacher Associations, not just Oakland's, to get parents involved in their children's educations:
Kilby Shores Elementary's PTA members and their families planned to get to know one another this weekend at a line-dancing social hosted by the organization.
At Forest Glen Middle School, the PTA sponsors basketball and baseball games with teams made up of students, teachers and parents.
Parental involvement has repeatedly proven to be a vital role in a child's academic success. And because some of Suffolk's PTAs still have difficulty recruiting and keeping active members, several local PTA officers say, the organizations are using these more creative, aggressive methods to attract members.
Oakland is using the pig stunt as an incentive to get 100 percent participation from the students' parents. The other schools' social activities are designed to encourage communication among teachers, parents and students outside the classroom, said Kathy Cross, president of the Kilby Shores PTA.
The line dance, she said, is meant ``to give our PTA members and their families the opportunity to get to know each other better in an informal setting. I'd like to see our meetings become less formal . . . because I think more parents would get involved.''
Mattie Faulk, president of Forest Glen's PTA, believes school, home, church and community have to be united forces to keep children off the streets.
``Outside forces are claiming our children . . . and glamourizing street life,'' she said. ``The PTA has had to change with society.''
That means more emphasis on problem prevention through involvement; room mothers are still important, for example, but the PTA would like to see all parents and guardians interacting with their children's schools.
``Today's PTA is designed to give parents a vehicle to become actively involved in their children's education,'' Faulk added.
That is probably the biggest change Suffolk's PTA groups have undergone in the last five years, said Frank Tetrick, president of the Suffolk PTA Council.
``I think we have seen the role of PTAs move away from fund raising to more defined roles. Today, the organization is much more focused on ways to meet student needs in the classrooms.''
For example, PTAs in Suffolk have established partnerships between schools and businesses, he said. The organizations also help recruit community volunteers to work in schools and have organized tutoring and mentoring programs. MEMO: Parents interested in membership information on their children's PTA may
contact the school's office.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Kathy Cross, president of the Kilby Shores Elementary PTA, hopes a
line dance will help get parents involved.
by CNB