Marisa's+SL+project.

=//**My SL Experience…**// = I  remember growing up and hearing adults say…”children are our future”. So when I become a mother I knew early that I had a very important stake in educating and supporting my children. In fact, children are our future. What happens to children in their first days, months and years of life affects their development, the development of our society, and the development of our world. So, when I first heard about the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) I was more than excited to share this opportunity with my family, other parents and their children.


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 * The PTA is the largest volunteer child advocacy association in the country, as well as the nation’s original and premier parent involvement organization. PTA promotes parent involvement in schools and the community. PTA offers a variety of programs to help parents, students, and communities succeed.************

**********Membership is open to anyone who believes in the mission and purposes of Parent Teacher Association. Every person who joins a local PTA automatically becomes a member of both the state an d national PTAs.************

=**__History__** = F or more than 100 years, Parent Teacher Association (PTA) has provided support, information and resources to families focused on the health and education of children. The organization was founded in 1897 in Washington DC as the National Congress of Mothers by Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst. They founded this organization in a time when social activism was scorned and women did not have the vote. Believing that there is no stronger bond than that between mother and child, they felt it was up to mothers of this country to eliminate threats that endangered children. So, in 1897, they called for action and more than 2,000 people responded—many were mothers, but fathers, teachers, laborers, and legislators also supported.

As result of the first meeting in Washington, DC, problems were identified and strategies devised. Through consistent hard work, and perseverance, the dreams became reality: q the creation of kindergarten classes q child labor laws q a public health service q hot lunch programs q a juvenile justice system q mandatory immunization q ...and many more programs were accepted as national norms.

If not for these women and their vision and determination, there would not be a PTA, an organization that has been woven into the very fabric of American life. The PTA was created to meet a profound challenge: to better the lives of children. And today, over 5 million parents, teachers, community members, and other concerned citizens are currently PTA members. The PTA continues to flourish because it has never lost sight of its goal: //to change the lives of children across our great nation for the better**.**//

I have been involved in PTA for the past 9 years. I spent most of my PTA years on the board of the John Marshall High School PTA and most recent Harry Byrd Middle School PTA. I have made so many wonderful connections by participating in PTA on both the unit and school level. The PTA has also provided me a meaningful, engaging experience that enhances my child’s learning process for life.

Byrd Middle School has an active PTA that helps to build our community and enrich our children's educational experience. Our PTA raises money through donations and events to fund special programs and workshops, enrichment programs, and school supplies and materials. Our PTA is a dynamic organization, with meetings held monthly.I must admit that volunteering inevitably involves a bit of schedule-juggling and a wee bit of chaos from time to time. So since February I’ve participated in several activities with my local PTA. **So far this year we have:** In closing, this experience also reminded me why I want to be an “agent of change”, the PTA allows you to be a voice for your child and allows you to voice your concerns and ideas with a group of like individuals who have a similar vision and hope for children, education and for the community. I think everyone should experience a service learning project no matter what their program or degree. Service learning helps you to appreciate your community and it makes you feel good to know that you have done a good thing.
 * Sent somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 emails to parents to keep them in touch with news and information
 * Increased the number of parents on our email database from about 200 last October to approaching 500 today
 * Run some very successful community events like Annual Book Exchange Program, Hope for Haiti Kits, Potluck Dinner, with more to come.
 * Annual Book Exchange (March 1-5, 2010) I volunteered to collect books during the week and assisted during the exchange. The **Annual Book Exchange Program** is a good chance to clean out bookshelves and garages of old. The PTA asked that each student bring in one or more books, appropriate for their grade level. Then on Friday March 5, 2010 everyone got the chance to go to the exchange and pick out a “new” book! The extra books left over were donated to a Domestic Violence Shelter.
 * March 19, 2010 I collected **Hope for Haiti Kits**. The kits included shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, bar of soap, hand towel, brush and comb.
 * On April 14, 2010 I volunteered as a Door Greeter during our PTA General Meeting and **Potluck Dinner**.



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