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!).

Bingo Night: Chairpersons will organize 1-2 bingo nights for the school year, gathering all supplies needed to host the event, procuring the proper license from the state of Michigan (if necessary,) securing space and volunteers, and for setting up and cleaning up.

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 (activities may vary from year to year). The Chairperson will send information home, secure families to distribute candy, secure volunteers for the event, 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.

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.

Grounds/ Pond & Courtyard: The Chairpersons will recruit volunteers to maintain and enhance the landscaping outside of the main entrance (door 1) of the school and managing the pond area (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 works with an online company and communicates/ promotes the marketing information that the company provides weekly to families who are interested in ordering spirit wear items. The online company provides all digital flyers, the chairperson makes social media write-ups/ shares flyers with Communications VP/ President to share on social media & website.

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 organize something for 4 of the 5 days of staff appreciation week (e.g., coffee and pastries one morning and lunch on another day, etc).

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.

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 November or 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.