12/09/2021
Tuesday night's meeting was a lively one! We welcomed Mardi Palan as the new president of the PTO. Yay! Welcome, Mardi. Also, a huge heartfelt thank you to Kaylinn for carrying that large and often cumbersome torch for so long. Even during the darkest days of the pandemic, she kept the PTO running.
Speaking of the pandemic, it's been a long twenty-one months. Teachers have been working harder than ever before, and all around the country they are burning out at alarming rates. We want to support our teachers in whatever way helps them the most. We talked about sending out a survey via email to all the teachers and support staff to ask what they want and need in order to feel supported and comfortable in their jobs. This can be anything from care packages and snacks in the teacher's lounge to chair massages on teacher planning days to parent volunteers in the classrooms to help lighten the workload. The well-being of the staff at Sacramento directly affects how they are able to show up for our students, and we want them at the top of their games for when our kids need them the most.
Since field trips are most likely off the table for this current school year, we have some extra funds with which we can help teachers. Reimbursements for classroom supplies will continue. We will also organize some more projects for the kids and more community building events for the families. Stay tuned for information about upcoming events in January.
If you would like to support Sacramento Elementary and also gift someone a very cool coffee mug with the cougar logo, Pamela has designed exactly that. Here's the link to her shop:
http://Mugsforschools.square.site
You can also click that link to make a donation directly to the Sacramento PTO.
Another potential fundraiser we talked about was t-shirt sales. We would give students the opportunity to submit drawings of cougars with something written about what it means to them to be a Sacramento cougar. Then the PTO would select one (or maybe a couple) of the designs to make into this year's Sacramento Elementary t-shirts/sweatshirts/tote bags/etc. The students whose designs are selected would get free shirts.
Last, but never the least, we are working on getting more of our Sacramento community involved in the PTO. Joining the PTO doesn't have to be a big time commitment. We don't assign you tasks, or call and text you every day to talk about the school. We are just looking for new ideas, feedback on current programs, suggestions on how to spend the money we make from fundraising, and participation in whatever way feels most comfortable to you. Joining the Facebook group is a good way to stay informed. If you know other families, please encourage them to follow this page for updates about events and volunteer opportunities. The monthly PTO meeting happens on the first Tuesday of every month. For now, it is virtual only. Here's the link for the Google Meet:
http://meet.google.com/xbv-divq-ptb
We will update this information as soon as we are able to do an in person meeting, or a hybrid style meeting where parents could attend either in person or via Google Meet.
