PTA Spotlight!

New this year, I will be shining a spotlight on our PTA positions to help give a better understanding of how our PTA works.

Our first spotlight will shine on our awesome School Supplies Co-Coordinators, Julie Moore and Carolyn Watts. There is a lot of time and effort that goes into those conveniently-packaged school supply packs, and it starts in the early spring! Julie and Carolyn worked with the HMS Administration and grade level department heads to obtain a master list of student needs. These lists were then given to our vendor for pricing and availability. Online order forms were created and sales began in April. After looking at pre-sale data and projected enrollment for the new year, a final order for all supply packs was placed to the vendor in June. Next came summer delivery, and it was a very large delivery! Julie and Carolyn then spent many hours sorting, labeling, creating and printing spreadsheets to ensure a smooth pick up for our students during schedule pick up. They will continue to troubleshoot any issues throughout the school year. Julie and Carolyn have worked very hard over the last 6 months to make back-to-school a breeze for our families! They have already started planning for the 2016-17 school year! Please make sure to thank these two awesome volunteers for all their time and effort!

This spotlight will shine on our PTA Parlimentarian, Nadine Murphy. The Parliamentarian’s job is to assist the President with the proper execution of Robert’s Rules of Order during our PTA meetings. This helps to keep our meetings orderly and efficient. Nadine also assists the President to make sure we our following our PTA bylaws and standing rules as approved by you, our general membership. The parliamentarian also clarifies any questions regarding proper procedure during our meetings but does not engage in discussion or give opinions. The parliamentarian is also responsible for making sure our bylaws and standing rules are reviewed and revised as necessary. Thank you Nadine for all your hard work as Hendrick PTA Parliamentarian. Your knowledge is greatly appreciated by all PTA members! To see more information on PTA job descriptions, please click here (add link to pta job descriptions page on toolkit)

This spotlight will shine on our Hospitality Chairs, Trich Hawkins and Wendee Robinson! These 2 ladies are pure genius when it comes to hosting an event for the Hendrick Staff! They meticulously plan every detail for staff luncheons as well as department treats for staff meetings. Their responsibilities include planning multiple staff appreciation events and managing all food and drink items our PTA provides for the teachers and staff. Some of the events hosted by our PTA include a back-to-school breakfast for staff the week before school starts, Faculty luncheons every other month, treats for staff meetings and Teacher Appreciation Week which includes a luncheon and daily treat of some kind. Trich and Wendee plan every detail of faculty luncheons including the menu and amount of food needed. They work with the Volunteers VP to create online forms for PTA members to sign up to donate food or drink for each event. Hours and hours of planning, organizing, decorating, preparing food, serving food and cleaning everything up are all worth it to see the smiling, thankful faces of the Hendrick staff! In addition, these Hospitality Chairs regularly attend all PTA board and PTA general meetings. This is a really fun PTA board position where you can let your creativity flow and cooking skills shine! If you would like to volunteer for the next hospitality event or donate items, please email Trich and Wendee at hospitality@hendrickpta.org. Or, if you would like email Jennifer Jacobs at president@hendrickpta.org. We would love to have you! Please make sure to give Trich and to find out more information on how to become more involved in our PTA, please Wendee a great big thank you for the countless hours they serve on the Hendrick PTA Board!

This week our spotlight will shine on our PTA Membership, 2nd VP Chair, Anita Battista! The Membership VP is responsible for recruiting PTA members, maintaining the membership data throughout the school year and submitting up-to-date PTA membership information to Texas PTA. Anita is currently serving in her 2nd year as the Membership 2nd VP Chair. She has worked very hard with the staff to ensure 100% teacher participation in the Hendrick PTA. The Membership Chair is also responsible for making sure our council and national dues are paid annually. Anita has applied for multiple Texas PTA membership awards on behalf of the Hendrick PTA and we have received the Early Bird Award, Golden Apple Award, as well as others thanks to her hard work! Another part of the Membership position is to work with a committee on selecting Lifetime Members to represent Hendrick Middle School and to receive this award for their years of service and dedication to the PTA. If you are not currently a member of the Hendrick PTA, please consider joining today to say “Thank You” to Anita for all her hard work and dedication to the Hendrick PTA! Every membership counts. Please click here to join the Hendrick PTA. If you are interested in serving as the Membership 2nd VP for next year’s Hendrick PTA, please email here. If you would like to learn more regarding Hendrick PTA positions, please click here.

This week our spotlight will shine on our PTA Fundraising Chairperson, Liz Ziske! The Fundraising Chairperson is a board position. The Chair manages all fundraising events for the Hendrick PTA alongside the VP of Ways and Means. This includes Smile.Amazon, Box Tops and Spirit Nights. The Fundraising Chairperson manages coordinators for Box Tops and Spirit Nights. Currently, Liz is serving in all 3 of these positions as well as PE Uniforms! Liz works very hard with the HMS Administrators and PTA President to plan and organize a variety of fundraising events throughout the year. The Fundraising Chairperson schedules spirits nights with local area restaurants and promotes these events. As Box Tops Coordinator, Liz is responsible for collecting, organizing Box Tops, and mailing in collection sheets twice per school year. Her job also includes marketing all fundraising events! If you are interested in serving as the Hendrick PTA Fundraising Chairperson for the 2016-17 school year, please contact Liz for more information at fundraisingchair@hendrickpta.org. To see more information on PTA job descriptions, please click here.

This week our spotlight will shine on our PTA Spirit Wear Chairperson, Kristi Tsao. The Spirit Wear Chairperson position is a board position. Are you loving the latest Hendrick spirit wear designs? Well, you can thank Kristi! Kristi works with our vendor to create new and exciting spirit wear year to year. The Spirit Wear Chairperson manages the ordering process for HMS spirit wear. This is a year-round job, as design selection and ordering take place over the summer. Inventory is taken in late spring and decisions are made on what items should be retired along with what new items will be designed and ordered. Online order forms are then created and selling begins. New items are picked up from the vendor over the summer and put into existing inventory. All orders placed prior to schedule pick up are sorted and labeled for easy pickup. Orders placed online throughout the year are delivered directly to the student. Spirit wear is also sold weekly on the supply cart as well various Hendrick events such as football, volleyball, basketball games and track meets. The Spirit Wear Chairperson keeps close track of their budget, evaluating income and expenses monthly. Check requests for invoices and expenses are completed and turned in to the Treasurer upon receipt. Funds collected from sales are turned into the Treasurer for immediate deposit. There is a lot work to be done for this chairperson, but it is a fun and rewarding position! If you are interested in serving as the Spirit Wear Chair for the 2016-17 school year, please reach out to Kristi at spirtheitwear@hendrickpta.org for more information! To see more information on PTA job descriptions, please click here.

This week our spotlight will shine on the Communications Coordinator, Lisa Kotas! Communications is a very important position for our PTA. Lisa is in charge of collecting and organizing data to prepare the weekly PTA eNews. The PTA eNews is emailed EVERY Thursday at 10am with important information regarding Hendrick Middle School and PTA events. She is also responsible for maintaining and updating the PTA website and Facebook page, online calendars, as well as the school marquee. Lisa communicates weekly with the Hendrick office staff to ensure important PTA information is included in the Hendrick eNews which is emailed every Wednesday. Lisa is a devoted PTA volunteer whose time and talent is invaluable. In addition to serving as Communications Coordinator, Lisa is (delete is) also co-chairs the Socials Committee. I personally cannot thank Lisa enough for everything she does to help make our PTA a success! Please take a minute to thank Lisa for her service to the Hendrick PTA!

This week our spotlight will shine on our PTA Treasurer, Kristin Walsh! This is Kristin’s 2^nd year serving as Hendrick’s PTA Treasurer. As I am sure you can imagine, this is a very important position for our PTA. Kristin is responsible for managing the budget and all the financial documents for our PTA. She has learned the Hendrick PTA bylaws and standing rules regarding Hendrick PTA finances. Kristin’s duties require that she present a financial report at all board and general membership meetings and it is her responsibility to keep accurate and detailed account of all monies received and disbursed by the PTA. Kristin attends all school functions involving money, so that she can make timely deposits to our financial institution. She works closely with the 2^nd VP Membership to ensure that all PTA members’ names and dues are recorded at the state and local level properly. Kristin works closely with the President and VP Aide to create, present and maintain the approved PTA budget. Kristin reconciles monthly bank statements and files the PTA’s annual sales tax return in January. At the completion of each school year, it is her job to submit all required materials to the Financial Reconciliation Committee for review and approval. Serving as the PTA’s treasurer is a huge responsibility and one that Kristin does not take lightly. She works hard to make sure that our PTA is in complete compliance at all times all while managing her busy household with 3 children! Without Kristin’s hard work and devotion, our PTA could not function! Please take a minute to thank Kristin for her service to the Hendrick PTA!

This week our spotlight will shine on our PTA Secretary, Leah Stradley! Leah has served as the secretary for the 2015-16 school year. The role of secretary is to take minutes at both the Board and General Membership meetings, record attendance and maintain a notebook containing the approved minutes and financial documents for our PTA. Our approved minutes are legal documents that record all PTA activity. Accurate minutes are crucial to our PTA. Leah works hard during our meetings to record everything that is being said including important motions and financial amendments. Leah posts the minutes on the Hendrick PTA website for review before they are approved at the following meeting. We all appreciate Leah’s hard work as our PTA’s secretary! Please take time to thank Leah for her service to your PTA!

This week our spotlight will shine on our PTA 4^th VP/Volunteers, Edilia Bern! Edilia is currently serving in her first year as 4^th VP Volunteers for the Hendrick PTA Board. Her responsibilities are to recruit, schedule and manage all aspects of our PTA’s volunteers. She works closely with the Chairs and Coordinators to determine volunteers for all PTA events throughout the school year including one our largest events, Schedule Pick Up in August. Edilia creates the volunteer sign up forms on the PTA website. She will work with the nominating committee to help determine Board vacancies for the following school year. Edilia works hard to serve our PTA and to make sure that all events have plenty of volunteers. She also serves on the Plano Senior High School PTA Board while managing her busy family! Thank you, Edilia for serving the Hendrick PTA! You are truly appreciated!

Please thank Edilia for serving on the Hendrick PTA Board!

This week our spotlight will shine on the PTA Social Co-Chairs Susan Summer and Lisa Kotas! There is a lot of time and hard work that goes into planning the fall and spring student socials! A few of Susan and Lisa’s responsibilities include booking the DJ, purchasing goodies for the concession stand and recruiting student and parent volunteers. They work with the school administrators to ensure the students have a fun and safe night. The social chairs utilize the Hendrick PTA website to request drink donations and parent volunteers from ticket sales to dance floor chaperones. The day of the socials, Susan and Lisa can be found working in the cafeteria before school is even dismissed! They are icing drinks, setting up the concession stand and ticket tables and any other last minute preparation that is needed. They stay well after the last student is picked up to empty coolers, put away remaining concession items and basic clean up. The Hendrick PTA is very grateful to have these two hard working volunteers! This Friday, please be sure to thank Susan and Lisa for all their time and dedication to the Hendrick PTA!