Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School’s Parent-Teacher Organization will host a PTO Potluck for new members on Sept., 16. For members of the BHL PTO and Family Engagement Specialist, She-Ra Gonzalez, the first PTO meeting was successful in coming up with several ideas to improve parent involvement. “In previous years, I think (the BHL PTO) was very few parents doing every now and then a little fundraiser, like selling donuts to collect funds,” Gonzalez said. “So, (parent inclusion) is something that (the PTO wants) to be better at, just having a place where parents and families can have their voices heard and actually implement things within the school that they want.” Photo by Aza Khan
Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School will host its first ever Parent Teacher Organization Potluck on Sept. 16, at 6:00 p.m. to welcome new parents into the PTO.
Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School’s Parent-Teacher Organization will be hosting a PTO Potluck with BHL parents and guardians to encourage better involvement in school matters.
This potluck will start at 6:00 p.m. in the BHL Media Center on Sept. 16, and is open to all BHL parents and guardians. The BHL PTO’s first meeting had roughly 15 to20 parents in attendance, one of those parents was Regina Blackwell, a parent to a BHL sixth grader and the former PTO President at Cleveland Road Elementary last year.
“(Being in the PTO) creates a great relationship between you and the teachers and the administration. Because they get to know you, you get to know them,” Blackwell said. “I think it helps not only the parents feel they’re becoming one with the school, but it also helps the kids to know, ‘Hey, my parents are involved in what I’m doing,’ which is very encouraging for them.”
“Oftentimes when we call these meetings, there’s a lot of information behind the information, so I feel like sometimes it’s good to change that atmosphere (or) vibe with food or music,”
— She-Ra Gonzalez,
Member of the BHL PTO and Family Engagement Specialist
The idea of hosting a potluck was proposed by parents at the BHL PTO Info Session and first meeting on Aug. 19, where the organization discussed ways to impact parent involvement by bringing in more families.
“Food always brings people in. It’s an easy way to attract people to events,” She-Ra Gonzalez, member of the BHL PTO and Family Engagement Specialist, said. “ (The PTO) needs to do different things for different results. We’re hearing (from parents) and implementing things that they are asking for.”
Gonzalez has two students at BHL, making her both a parent and support professional at BHL. Gonzalez believes there is information that parents don’t receive easily when they are not in the PTO and that a potluck would appeal more to families to get involved.
“Oftentimes when we call these meetings, there’s a lot of information behind the information, so I feel like sometimes it’s good to change that atmosphere (or) vibe with food or music,” Gonzalez said. “Just (thinking of) different activities, icebreakers, this is just a different way of doing things that (people) actually enjoy and want to be a part of.”
