PTA


PTA NEWS

Welcome to the Helen Thompson PTA page!




Thank you for your interest in the Helen Thompson School Parent Teacher Association (PTA). We welcome your participation. There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer and get involved! Please join us at the next meeting or give us a call to share your ideas or offer a hand.


Helen Thompson School PTA 2006-07 Meeting Schedule

Join us at 6:30 pm in the Library

    September 19, 2006

    October 17, 2006

    November 14, 2006

    December 12, 2006

    January 16, 2007

    February 13, 2007

    March 20, 2007

    April 10, 2007

    May 15, 2007

    June 5, 2007



Helen Thompson School PTA Activities



Here is a sampling of the ways that the PTA at the Helen Thompson School is working to enrich our children’s school experience. You are very welcome to join a committee working on these programs. Call Susan Caldwell (PTA President for the 2006-07 school year) at 582-8658 if you have any questions or want to sign up to help. Thanks!

Fall Fundraiser

Each fall in the past few years we have raised thousands of dollars by helping our children to sell products from the Kathryn Beich catalogs. This fundraiser is especially important as it and the Peter Pan Fair bring in the majority of the PTA’s income.



Enrichment Programs

The PTA provides special science, art, music, literary and theater productions to the children throughout the school year. Over a third of the PTA’s budget expenses go towards providing these opportunities to the children and they appreciate them. In the past we have hosted storytellers, authors and drummers as well as annual plays presented by the Monmouth Theater and Hampsted Players and science guests such as the Chewonki Foundation natural history presentations and the Northern Stars Planetarium. This year we have a magic show lined up for the fall and want to find an appropriate artist-in-residence and perhaps a local author/illustrator who can inspire our children.



Reading Incentive Program

We work in partnership with the teachers to provide incentives for students to achieve their reading goals outside of the classroom. Teachers determine the benchmark goals (such as a certain number of books or pages read or time spent reading) to encourage students to read at home and with volunteers at the school. The PTA provides quarterly and year-end prizes and recruits classroom reading volunteers.



Scholastic Book Fairs

Each fall and spring we bring thousands of books to the school and the children and parents have an opportunity to purchase them. These fairs are run in conjunction with Parent-Teacher conferences. Volunteers are needed to help set up, take down and sell books. We are planning to ramp up our efforts and purchase our own books to do this fair ourselves rather than depending on the selection from Scholastic so your help is needed.



Reflections Program

Each year in the late fall the PTA brings the national PTA Reflections Program to the school. Students are encouraged to be creative in interpreting a particular theme (past year’s themes have been “an unusual hero” or “I am happy when…”). Students can submit entries in musical expression, artwork and creative writing, which are then anonymously judged. Each child who participates is welcome to a celebration honoring their creative efforts – last year we had an ice cream social.



Holiday Fair

The PTA gives the children in the school an opportunity to “shop” for their loved ones before Christmas by collecting, creating and organizing items to be sold (for just a few coins). The fair is set up in the gym for one day in December. This is not run as a fundraiser, but rather to provide each child an opportunity to give. They love it! We need help organizing the event, selling items on fair day and especially donating items that the children can purchase!



Spaghetti Supper

This year we will enjoy our 4th annual Spring Fever Spaghetti Supper. We welcome the community to come to the school for good food and socializing and a chance to win prizes (last year we did theme baskets). The teachers support us by setting up special displays of their students’ work to show off in the gym. We need lots of hands to help organize this event and volunteer on that particular evening.



Teacher and Staff Appreciation

We love our teachers and all the staff at Helen Thompson School! Each spring and fall we provide them with a special meal that they can enjoy in between their school day and parent/teacher conferences. Those of you who love to cook can share your talents! In the spring we provide other special acknowledgments during national appreciation week.



Peter Pan Fair

Helen Thompson School’s own Peter Pan Fair near the end of the school year is one of the longest-running school fairs in Maine – and it’s a blast! It includes games, great food, sales, raffles, and lots of fun. It is always a big hit. This event takes many hands to help organize and run on fair day.



New Potentials

Some new ideas that we are thinking about in the coming year include a Winterfest celebration, after school enrichment programs for smaller groups of children, a read-a-thon or walk-a-thon and “Canteen” nights for children to come and play games at the school. The officers are also likely to tackle an overview of the PTA bylaws and consideration of becoming a PTO in the future. There’s a lot going on and we welcome your new ideas, enthusiasm and time to put these great ideas into action.



Many hands make light work!




2006-2007 PTA Officers




Helen Thompson School Parent Teacher Association Mission Statement



The mission of the Helen Thompson School Parent Teacher Association is to enrich the school experience of each child who attends Helen Thompson School by:
    - Encouraging parent and community involvement in the education of our children,

    - Supporting the efforts of the school staff to create a positive learning environment and provide each child with an opportunity to succeed,

    - Working to keep communication between children, parents, teachers and administration open and constructive,

    - Providing additional learning opportunities by bringing special arts and sciences educational guests to the school,

    - Funding additional education supplies, tools, activities and/or celebrations that are not covered in the current school budget.