Back-to-School Event: An event to kick off the school year.  All Keller families are invited to enjoy entertainment and play with friends, while either bringing a picnic dinner or purchasing from food trucks.  Parents can sign up for membership to the PTA and check out the upcoming events of the year (maybe even volunteering at some of them!).

Book Fair: Two book fairs are held per school year. They are scheduled for one week in October and one week in March. The book fair is open daily after school as well as one evening per week. The Chairperson will send information about the fair to the Keller families, set up the book fair (including decorations), invite the teachers to a preview so they can make a wish list of books for their classrooms, sign up volunteers to run the book fair daily, balance the book fair monies and break down the book fair at the end of the week.

Classroom Coordinator: The Room Parent Coordinator will communicate with classroom teachers in September assign Room Parents. The Room Parent Coordinator will communicate to the room parents their responsibilities for procuring items or a gift for Staff Appreciation week in May and the June Fun Fair auction basket theme. The Room Parent Coordinator will communicate any other PTA needs to the room parents throughout the year as desired by the teachers and/or PTA.

Cultural Arts & Education: The Chairperson(s) will work with the principal to organize educational assemblies. The goal is to have 3 or 4 assemblies per year.

DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion): The chairperson(s) will share information, tools, resources and leadership opportunities among association members, partners and communities to increase the impact of the collective work.  They will engage a diverse range of voices and lived experiences from members and prospective members— and seek to meet individuals and communities where they are—especially those currently or traditionally underrepresented and/or marginalized in our association. Bring diversity, equity, and inclusion issues to our school, staff, and families to help grow the conversation and make real change.  Plan events/ newsletters/ share websites & stories, work closely with the principal.

Family/ Community Event: This is an off or on-site event for Helen Keller Elementary families. The chairperson will organize the event which includes choosing the event, working with a representative at the event site, sending information home, handling all monies and providing volunteers as needed.

Fifth Grade Promotion Liaison/Coordinator: This person links the promotion happenings offered by the school with PTA donated and fundraised monies, as well as collect other funds to provide additional celebratory activities for the students. Recruit fifth-grade parent volunteers and delegate tasks accordingly. Look for fundraising opportunities. Work with the principal and fifth-grade teachers to plan for t-shirt purchase, promotion ceremony, and end of the year field trip.

Fun Fair: The end of the year event that features games, food, bounce houses, dunk tank, etc. The Chairperson is responsible for sending information home, renting the dunk tank, bounce houses and any other items required, providing food, games and prizes, handling monies, set-up, clean-up and recruiting and scheduling volunteers as needed.

Green Team: The Green Team is the committee that coordinates, organizes and documents each point for MI Green Schools program to make sure we meet or exceed the 20 points necessary to keep our "Evergreen" status. See http://www.michigangreenschools.us/ for more information.

Halloween Event: The Halloween Event is a fall event tied in with the book fair. In addition to the book fair occurring that evening, there will be trunk or treating in the parking lot, cider and donuts for sale and a costume contest (activities may vary from year to year). The Chairperson will send information home, secure families to distribute candy, secure volunteers for the event, get the cider and donuts and handle all monies.

Health & Wellness: The Chairperson(s) will research and provide information to the Keller community regarding the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. The chairperson(s) can develop programs or initiatives to support areas such as healthy diets, exercise, and wellness.

Huskies Run: This is one of the most important fundraisers of the year. Due to our commitment to not sell items for fundraisers, we hold one fun run a year where each child is asked to get pledges and then walk/run for a set period of time appropriate for their grade level. The Chairperson will send home information, explain the event to students during classes or at an assembly (with the help of the principal and the gym teacher) to get the children motivated, determine and coordinate the acquisition of favors and prizes, find volunteers to help the day of, collect monies and supply music and a snack the day of the event.

International Food & Fun Festival (IFFF): The much-loved event, which includes food and fun from around the world, is held on the same night as the Silent Auction. The Chairperson(s) will send home information, acquire food and entertainment (which includes games, music and performances), secure volunteers for the event, set up and clean up.

Late Start Coordinator: On Late Start Wednesdays, school start time is 9:25 a.m. instead of 8:25 a.m. The PTA supports as many “before-school activities” as possible. Options may include clubs (e.g., chess clubs, walking/running clubs, etc.), extracurricular workshops (e.g., art, music, etc.) or any other idea. This Chairperson will research before-school activities and coordinate them with the approval of the Principal and PTA. The Chairperson will secure necessary volunteers, determine sign-up procedures and schedule space for each activity. The Chairperson should be available to handle logistics or other issues that arise or at least at the start of any session. Note: The district will be providing a Homework Club during this time as well that is not PTA-related.

Membership: The Chairperson will sign up Helen Keller families, friends and staff for PTA Memberships. The Chairperson will collect membership forms and oversee online membership sign up, have a membership table at school events, work with the principal to achieve 100% staff participation and to achieve our membership goal.  Chairs will plan for possible membership contests in August, September, and October. The Membership Chair will also oversee the online directory that is part of Givebacks website.

Parent Event: A social event for parents only.  Get to know other Keller parents while enjoying a fun activity, such as trivia night, comedy club tickets or a foot rally.  

Performing Arts: The chairpersons plan for and direct an annual Talent Show consisting of Keller student performers.  Determine tryout guidelines, dates, and times, show date, and rehearsal dates and times with the principal and PTA president, distribute talent show information in a timely manner.

Pond & Courtyard: The Chairpersons will recruit volunteers to maintain and enhance the grounds and landscaping outside of the school (i.e., weeding, planting, watering, trimming, maintaining the pond and cleaning the courtyards). Special attention needed for our courtyard pond and fish.

Reflections: The PTA Reflections Program provides opportunities for students to express themselves and to receive positive recognition for their artistic efforts. The Chairperson will make posters promoting the program, send information home and collect all the submissions. Anonymous judges will decide the winners in each category and submit the winners to the state level.

Restaurant Nights: Restaurant Nights are fundraisers that occur at local restaurants or establishments, which give the PTA a percentage of the monies they earn during our event. There is a maximum of one night per month. The Chairperson is responsible for scheduling the nights and sending information home.

Scholarship: The Donald Curie PTA scholarship is given to Royal Oak High School students who have demonstrated excellence in scholarship, a commitment to community service, and have need in meeting postsecondary education financial obligations. The Chairperson reads 20-30 applications and ranks them according to a rubric provided.

School Supply Kits: The chairperson organizes the grade level school supply lists with an online company and communicates this to families who are interested in ordering back-to-school kits that will be delivered by the start of the next school year.

Silent Auction: This is a very important fundraiser that is held on the same night as the International Food & Fun Festival. The Chairperson will organize volunteers to solicit businesses for donations, catalog all items, send information home, secure volunteers for the event, set-up, monitor the auction, deliver winning bidders’ merchandise, handle all monies and clean up.

Social Media: The Chairperson acts as an administrator (grants access, moderates, etc.) of the Helen Keller Elementary PTA social media pages.

Spirit Wear: Newly designed spirit wear is available every year. The Chairperson will design the artwork for the spirit wear (the final art can be done by the chairperson or a designer can render the design), send out order forms, process the orders, place the complete order, fill the orders and deliver the spirit wear to the classrooms.

Staff Appreciation: The Chairperson will send home information to ask for volunteers for events throughout the year. These include, but are not limited to, lunches/dinners for the staff on conference days, bread day (Wednesday before Thanksgiving) and pie day (during Staff Appreciation week in May). For the lunches/dinners, the Chairperson will pick a theme, organize volunteers for food, set up and clean up. They will also be responsible to do something for 4 of the 5 days of staff appreciation week (e.g., coffee and pastries one morning and lunch on another day).

Summer Reading Program: At the end of the school year, a bag of books is provided to each K-4th grade student to take home and enjoy over the summer. The Chairperson will collect the book bags that will be returned at the beginning of the school year, re-shelve the books and correspond with families and teachers until all bags are returned. In late spring, the chairperson will make sure all books are labeled properly for distribution, send home information regarding the program, work with the staff to secure dates to use the library so students can go and select their books, secure volunteers for the book selection days and distribute the filled and labeled book bags to the classrooms.

Used Book Sale: The Chairperson of the Used Book Sale selects a date, along with the President and Principal, for a Used Book Sale. The Chairperson sets up collection boxes around the school to collect used books a few weeks prior to the sale. The chairperson should work with our Title 1 teacher to organize the books prior to the sale. On the date of the Used Book Sale, students come in during school to purchase books for $.25 apiece. The chairperson determines the amount of books a child can purchase based on the amount of donations. Any proceeds are added to the Reading Counts! Program account.

Volunteer Coordinator:  The Volunteer Coordinator will help committee chairs by recruiting volunteers throughout the year to support different events. At the request of chairs, will create Sign-Up Geniuses for committees to recruit volunteers. They also will help inform parents about volunteer opportunities and responsibilities.

Ways & Means/Fundraising: The Ways & Means/Fundraising Chairperson will look for alternative ways to raise funds throughout the year without placing an extra burden on our families to sell items. Examples include contests, earning cash rebates through Shoparoo and Kroger, Amazon Smile, promoting the Box Tops app, and researching and applying for PTA grants. The Chairperson will coordinate these opportunities and find volunteers/chairs to help with each one, if necessary.

Website: The Chairperson acts as administrator for the website, www.helenkellerpta.net, updating the site with information sent from the PTA President, VP/Communications and PTA committee chairs.

Winter Market: This once-a-year event takes place in December. It provides an opportunity for students and families to do holiday shopping. The Chairperson is responsible for getting vendors for the event, sending information home, set-up, clean-up and providing volunteers as needed.