PTA members work through summer break
They toil behind the scenes making sure both teachers and students are well-stocked with school supplies and families get the lowdown on their kids' new surroundings.
Ice cream socials, walk-a-thons, school orientations and anniversary parties are just a few of the activities on the agendas of parent groups at several DuPage County schools this year.
As the school year approaches, many parents have been hard at work this summer ensuring their elementary and middle schools are ready for the new year.
"We're hopefully going to bring more of the school to the community," said Margaret DeLaRosa McGuire, PTA president at Hadley Middle School in Glen Ellyn.
The Hadley PTA hosted a school orientation last week for new parents and students. Volunteers trained seventh- and eighth-graders to talk to their new schoolmates and parents about what to expect in the new year.
The PTA followed the orientation with an ice cream social Friday centered around the theme of "A Teacher's Funeral," a book Hadley students were encouraged to read over the summer.
At Elsie Johnson Elementary in Hanover Park, the school's parents' group spent the summer planning monthly activities centered around the school's 25th anniversary, which will be celebrated in the coming year.
The PTA organized a logo design contest for students last year, and will be distributing T-shirts to incoming students this fall.
School PTA president Heather Phillips said the group plans to get an aerial photo of the students outside the school forming the number 25. Parent volunteers have also been contacting former alumni to get involved in the celebrations.
"This is my first year in the role," Phillips said of her experiences, "and one thing I haven't expected this summer was all the paperwork I've been getting."
At nearby Jay Stream Middle School in Carol Stream, parent volunteers are planning a fall walk-a-thon at Armstrong Park. Judy Zika, a parent helping to organize the event, said 1,800 people are expected to participate.
"It's going to be a blast," she said.
Not all parents groups are involved in high-profile events at their schools. Many times the more mundane clerical and administrative tasks fall to the parents.
Gina Lombard, PTO president of Westview Elementary School in Wood Dale, said the parents' group helped pick a new company to purchase clothes emblazoned with the school's logo.
She and a handful of volunteers also spent the summer organizing folders with orientation information, the school handbook and other information for parents.
"It's just so parents don't just get bombarded with forms at the beginning of the school year," Lombardi said. "There's one centralized place for them to get it all."