In November, our PTA had the privilege to meet with Oregon PTA President Anita Olsen at one of our functions. Anita was apparently impressed with our effort and wrote a complimentary article about Faubion PTA in the December/January 2008 Newsletter. I am pleased to share excerpts from the newsletter with our neighbors here:
“I am privileged to receive invitations to visit from PTAs all over the state – and I try to visit as many as I am able. Last month, I was invited to Faubion PTA in Northeast Portland. Faubion is a PTA with the same challenges many (other PTAs) have: how to get parents and families into the school to see the importance of their involvement while at the same time going on to their jobs during the day and preparing their children for the next school day each evening. And, after two years of struggling, Faubion is finding the answer. I was invited to an old fashioned kaffeeklatch before school one Friday morning. In and among the coffee and doughnuts, I met about a dozen wonderful folks – moms, dads, grandmas, and grandpas. They told me about family nights they organized: a craft night in October, a bingo night in November. Each event was designed to bring families into the school and it did just that – 40 to 50 people – often different families at each event, who heard about the importance of family involvement at their school while enjoying their children’s and one another’s company.”
Thank you, Anita, for your attendance and kind words. Faubion is “living the idea of Family-School Partnerships” and the results are heartening. We had a lot of fun at bingo night and from its reception, there will be more of the same in the future.
Our next Family Night event will be Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 6:30 P.M. We haven’t decided on which type of event yet (our PTA business meeting on December 20 will attend to that) but it will be advertised and it will be – again – family fun. Watch for it and please attend. You don’t have to be a PTA member; you don’t even have to have kids at Faubion. It is an opportunity to see our school and neighborhood, meet some of its members and have a good time.
Faubion PTA and the 350 wonderful kids who attend our neighborhood public school wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year.