4.16.2005

PTA

I'm down to the last week as VP of the kindergarten PTA and only have one more orientation meeting and a formal speech to get through next week. The incoming VP says she appreciates the streamlining I accomplished and plans to continue using my model. What a relief.

While I was conducting the changeover meeting at the kindergarten this morning, the elementary school district safety committee meeting was being held closer to home to choose this year's area leaders. There are 4 areas with 5 subgroups or so per area. As we have a 6th grader, the subgroup leadership fell to me this year. I have to make a telephone tree with the 8 families in our sub group and distribute various documents and safety patrol rosters from the main area leader when this year's documents are ready. I called yesterday to let them know that my kindergarten duties would make me late for the meeting.

When I arrived 45 minutes late, the district leader was just putting papers away and all the other people had gone home. She was pleasant, thanking me and asking me to sign in. She said that she hadn't been informed of the area leader for my neighborhood, but that I would hear from last year's subgroup leader with any news.

I learned on the phone this evening from last year's subleader that the 4 other subgroup leaders had been unable to decide upon a leader and had resorted to putting our 5 names in a lottery. Guess who won! In my absence, the other mothers were relieved to lose the lottery and leave making traffic safety documents and a patrol roster of 60 families up to yours truly. Fortunately last year's subleader will give me a big bag full of last year's documents I can reference in organizing this year's plan.

This supposedly gets me off the hook for other school committees this year, so I won't have to organize the summer pottery painting, the fall sports day, the winter rice cake festival, the PTA election...this year. Also, next time we have a 6th grader (next year), I can be excluded in any lotteries if things get so bad that lotteries are required for selecting leaders. I don't know how many times this exclusion is valid, as most people only have 1 or 2 children.

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