Hello, Committee Chairs!
As we are quickly approaching the end of the school year, we still have a few loose ends to take care of. We need all committees to complete the online plan of work and end of year reports. Simply click on the links attached below and take a few moments to answer the questions for us. This will help us to better plan how to help committees plan for their events in terms of budgets and other needs for the 2017-2018 school year. If no one has volunteered to take over your committee for next year, please still fill out a Plan of Work, indicate this in the comments and let us know if you see a need for a budget adjustment. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with former committee members or us. Find the forms on PTA DOCUMENTS
Thanks so much for all of your hard work this year. We cannot thank you enough for all of your time and energy you have put forth this school year!
Please take a few moments to learn about our current PTA Committees. Typically Committee Members make a two-year commitment to their PTA committee(s). This ensures continuity while enabling members to move on to serve on different committees or retire as their children leave Ivy Hill.
If you are interested in serving on a PTA committee, please contact one of our PTA
Co-Presidents: Luanne Eisenhardt at lbeisenhardt@yahoo.com, at Suzanne Krause svkrause@hotmail.com
New Committees??? – Do you have a profession or hobby that you are passionate about? Have you noticed a need the PTA should address? The Executive Committee encourages you to suggest a new event or committee that you are interested in promoting and managing.
6 Hour Reading Club – Obtain Read to Succeed promotional materials from Six Flags. Manage and promote 6 Hour Reading Program at Ivy Hill in February each year. Distribute earned Six Flags tickets to students.
ABC25 – This committee acts as a liaison to the ABC25 Foundation, the fundraising partner of District 25. Promotes ABC25 membership at Ivy Hill, attends ABC25 meetings and keeps Ivy Hill community informed of news or fundraising opportunities.
Birthday Books – Members order, organize and distribute a book to each Ivy Hill student on his/her birthday.
Blog Editor – Updates the PTA website blog with news, upcoming events, and recent PTA event recaps and photos.
Book Fair is a one-day event to celebrate the love of reading. Committee members coordinate the logistics of the sale with Scholastic Books, organize volunteers, and staff the sale. Volunteer help is needed to set up books, handle sales
Box Tops Committee – Collect and process BoxTops and Labels for Education product labels to earn dollars or prizes for Ivy Hill. Publicize label collecting through ongoing communication and incentives for students.during the fair, and take down displays afterward.
Calendar – Gather and verify all school and PTA event dates and times to create and distribute the annual PTA Calendar when school begins in August. Update the PTA website calendar in the event of date changes or cancellations.
Chess Club is held once a week during lunch recess for 8 weeks during December and January. Committee members organize volunteer schedules, coordinate classroom space with Ivy Hill staff and supervise weekly chess club meetings.
Community and Family Involvement – Volunteers organize and manage service events so that our students can give back to the community. Past events have included a coat and mitten drive, gathering donations for WINGS shelter, and a canned food drive. Time commitment varies depending upon the service projects chosen by the committee.
Cultural Arts – Coordinates cultural arts assembly(ies) with principal and performer(s) to provide Ivy Hill students with experiences in literature, visual arts, music and other forms of creative expression.
Directory – Volunteer(s) compiles classroom student lists and family contact information into a directory that is distributed to PTA members (the Directory is included with your PTA membership fee). This is a ‘one and done’ committee which completes its duties at the beginning of the school year.
Education Fair – Volunteers plan, promote and set-up this evening event for students who have chosen to create and present their theme-based project to the school community. Great for working parents!
Environmental Awareness – Committee members organize and manage school-wide activities that promote environmental awareness including Earth Week and Walk to School events to coordinate with national movements. Past events have included No Waste lunch days and recycling of old holiday lights.
Everybody Counts program is intended to teach children about various disabilities and how some of their peers may cope with these challenges. This is a great opportunity to interact with students in their classrooms! Every effort is made to schedule volunteers in their own child’s classroom. The time commitment is one hour during Everybody Counts Week. The sessions are conducted with a group of volunteers and a detailed curriculum is provided.
Field Day is an action-packed day held on the last Friday of the school year. Volunteers work either the morning or afternoon session and duties include race starter, finish line judge, referee, distributing snacks, etc. One of Ivy Hill’s favorite volunteer opportunities!
Fun Fair – This February tradition is a themed evening (Friday night) of games, food, music, and fun. Teaching staff and families staff this great event for the students of Ivy Hill. The success of the event relies on the many volunteers who work the games, sell tickets, donate pop/snacks/baked goods, or help with setup/clean up. Great for working parents!
Garden Committee -Establish a plan for on-going maintenance and summer care for the Ivy Hill Garden. Create a fun tasting opportunity for students to enjoy the fruits of their labor during the year.
Holiday Gift Shop – The sale is open on the first Saturday morning in December. Committee coordinates with gift vendors, organizes volunteers, secures private vendors from the community and plans refreshments.
Hospitality – Cook, bake, or supply food/drink for staff events including Teachers’ Breakfast and Dinners/Desserts for Teacher Conference days, etc. Provide and set-up snacks for PTA meetings or events.
Juvenile Protection – Promotes health and safety awareness to Ivy Hill students and parents through Fire Prevention Week, Red Ribbon Week, and the Weather Simulator (April) programs. Members coordinate simulator dates with the AHFD via phone and email and are at school for the two simulator days.
Lunchtime Readers (LTR) – This parent-lead book discussion club is held once each week during lunch recess for a six week period in January and February. Committee members select appropriate, high-quality literature and organize reading groups and parent leaders.
Membership – Holds a membership campaign at the start of the school year. Track online registrations and maintain membership data while providing membership information to Illinois PTA and PTA Executive Committee.
Movie Night – The committee selects possible movies and offers a vote to students. They organize parent volunteers, plan snacks, and promote the event. Movie night for grades K-2 is held in March.
Reflections – Members attend all meetings related to the Reflections program and promote program to the Ivy Hill students and staff. Display entries at school, prepare entries for judging and coordinate first level of judging before entries reach Reflections Council judging level. Reward all participating students and any winning students with special recognition prize and/or event.
Room Reps – Assigns room representative volunteers to each classroom. Gathers and shares room rep contact information for phone trees, emergencies, etc. Coordinates Teacher Appreciate Week activities and gift(s) for staff.
Running Club – Committee members organize and promote dates and times for Spring sessions. They help check-in and supervise students or may lead a group of runners during the club’s after school sessions. It is not necessary for volunteers to be runners.
Scholarship – Coordinate contribution of money from PTA Treasurer to Arlington Heights Council of PTAs. Participate in the Council’s Scholarship Selection Committee on alternating years. Publicize scholarship winner at Ivy Hill.
School Board Rep – Acts as liaison between Ivy Hill community and the District 25 board of education.
School Supplies – Help assemble school supply boxes one day for 3-4 hours the week before school starts in August.
Sign – Members update Ivy Hill’s outdoor sign with upcoming school or PTA events.
Spirit Wear – Reviews and selects vendor for annual spirit wear sales. Coordinate orders with students and families and distribute items as they are delivered.
Thomas Middle School Liaison – Attend Thomas and Ivy Hill PTA meetings to share Thomas information with Ivy families. Submit articles/updates to the PTA Happenings or Newsletter to educate families about Thomas news and events.
Webmaster – Update the PTA Facebook page with upcoming events, reminders and important information on a daily or weekly basis. Populate the PTA website with current information for PTA members and committees (meeting minutes, forms, reports). Update website as needed to keep it up to date and interesting/attractive/helpful to users.
Welcoming – Help at the Welcome Night in late August to welcome New Families and incoming Kindergarten families. Be a resource for all families new to Ivy Hill.
Yearbook – Members negotiate the Yearbook contract and work closely with vendor. Attend school and PTA functions to take photos of students and staff and upload photos to the Yearbook website. Members manage yearbook orders and proceeds. In spring, the committee creates the yearbook via vendor’s website, proofreads and submits yearbook to be printed before helping to distribute it to students.