Reply to PTA can't find new officers

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "PTA can't find new officers"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I would make the commitment and do it except that our PTA the past few years has been very unwelcoming and not interested in having members participate so many of us gave up.  Maybe you need to look at what you are doing as a group if no one is interested.  I volunteered a few times this year at PTA things and felt very unwelcome.  Its generally the working parents who are doing it so employment isn't the issue, the group of people running it and what they are doing is the issue along with the principal who is nasty.[/quote]

I hear that a lot and don't believe people anymore when they say this. I've been yelled at by a fellow PTA officer and I still volunteered for the post I was voted into. People expect the teachers and PTA to fawn over them and grovel if they show up to help, but that can't be the case all the time. YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR THE PLAUDITS. YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR YOUR KID ONLY. These are the two things people must understand.

[/quote]

I agree with this. People also have no idea how much time and energy PTA officers give to the school. It's insane. I cannot speak for any other school, but our PTA isn't unwelcoming-- it's getting shit done and we need help. It's not a social club, it's a second job. If volunteers expect to be celebrated for showing up, then they are not understanding the nature of the PTA or the people who work in it. [/quote]

I expect people to be friendly, say hello if I say hello and say more than two words to me.  And, if I try to help, don't say we have it under control as why ask for volunteers and waste my time  if you don't want it.    I am not there for social hour and have no interest in being friends.[/quote]

DP, I stopped volunteering with our elementary’s school PTA as it was very uncomfortable socially.[b] I volunteered to help at a couple of events and the people running the event would just sit and talk to each other and were not receptive to including me.[/b] It was very cliquey. I volunteered in other ways at the school after that that were not PTA related: such as volunteering in the classroom, recess monitor, etc. Now that my kids are in middle/high school, I’ve gotten involved in the PTA again. [/quote]

My PTA experience as an introvert start off just like this. What I found out after I attend a few events, was that the other moms who were all talking to each other were also introverts and also were not good at striking up conversations with random strangers.  They had one friend who was super outgoing and convinced them to come along and help so they did.

There is this wildly unrealistic expectation that many parents have that all those involved with the PTA will be super outgoing, super chipper, super over welcoming and then when they actually go and meet the moms, they find out that most are just normal moms - many introverts - who yes, say hello but don't go overboard and get anxious when talking to strangers and fret over what to say.

I found that I after attending events for a few months and then volunteering for a small sub committee that as a PP mentioned just met in the evening once or twice at someone's home, I became more comfortable. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics