Author: Ian Fay

Three takeaways

1. A new board was elected on 10 June. Tomehka Ettinoffe as President, Margaret Megan as Vice-President, Mirieth Valenciano as Secretary, Sarah Reza as Treasurer.
2. ¡Sí Se Puede! grossed $11,097.72 and netted $9,354.22 against a $15,000 goal. The silent auction alone was 40% of gross — the argument for giving it its own online window rather than running it inside one busy afternoon.
3. “Fix the QR code and online payment flows for next year.” Recorded almost verbatim. Friction in paying was costing more than any individual campaign.

What needed a volunteer

• A Communications chair — Ian Fay took it on as acting chair
• Volunteers to wear the Wildcat mascot costume
• A photographer for events, social and a possible yearbook
• Separating the silent auction from the festival day

What came next

This website, and the decision to make paying a single tap rather than a form. The silent auction moving online is also a direct result.

Recaps are written from the meeting notes. Names of families, household circumstances and individual donor amounts are never included. Recording and transcript are posted when available.

An electrical fire in a classroom on a Sunday left smoke damage, ash on Chromebooks and burned headphones. Students reported feeling unwell from the odours the following week.

Three takeaways

1. Six parents testified to the county’s Operations, Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee on 22 April — on building conditions, air quality and the pace of repairs.
2. The county numbers are the argument. PGCPS runs roughly two hundred facilities, about half more than forty-five years old — the third-oldest inventory in Maryland. The capital plan called for around $570M a year; the district has averaged closer to $160M.
3. Purple shirts work. Wearing them to county meetings makes it obvious how many families are in the room, which is the entire point of showing up.

What needed a volunteer

• Families willing to attend and testify at county meetings
• The Wildcat Way workday on 12 April
• Help with the idle-free zone campaign at pickup and dropoff

What came next

Advocacy now carries building conditions, air quality and traffic safety, and posts action alerts with the specific thing to do rather than general appeals.

Recaps are written from the meeting notes. Names of families, household circumstances and individual donor amounts are never included. Recording and transcript are posted when available.

Three takeaways

1. Two groups were separately planning food support. The duplication created work rather than reducing need. It was agreed to route it through one committee, with confidentiality as the first rule.
2. The master calendar should belong to the admin account, not a volunteer. Anything owned by an individual disappears when that person rotates off.
3. Teacher holiday gift cards went out — fifty of them, funded by the PTO.

What needed a volunteer

• Student Holiday Shop
• Hot chocolate bar
• Starting the ¡Sí Se Puede! sponsor emails — the earlier these go out, the better the festival does

What came next

The ownership rule now applies to the website, the calendar and the email aliases: they belong to the PTO’s admin account so the next person inherits them working.

Recaps are written from the meeting notes. Names of families, household circumstances and individual donor amounts are never included. Recording and transcript are posted when available.

Three takeaways

1. Ask fatigue is the real constraint, not fundraising capacity. Several committees had been running their own campaigns against the same parent base. The board agreed to coordinate everything through one calendar.
2. The Back to School Mixer and the merch campaign both launched. Merch went out through Custom Ink, with youth sizes ordered short.
3. WhatsApp saturation was raised as a communications risk. Too many groups, unclear names, and no way to opt into only what you cared about.

What needed a volunteer

• Grade reps and room parents — a new structure, with several grades unfilled
• Help with the Zombie Run in October
• Someone to coordinate the fundraising calendar

What came next

The Giving Groove calendar came directly out of this meeting — one printed sheet showing every ask for the year, so families see the whole shape of it in September instead of being surprised each month.

Recaps are written from the meeting notes. Names of families, household circumstances and individual donor amounts are never included. Recording and transcript are posted when available.