Thank you to everyone who was able to join us for our first Peacemaker’s PTA General Meeting of the year! We heard from AISD about what the upcoming bond election means for facilities, technology, and teacher salaries (short version: the bond can pay for the first two, enabling AISD to have more capital to put towards things like salaries); we heard from Matt Love about how families can attend Campus Advisory Council meetings, where the principal meets with the community to discuss plans and hear concerns; and we got a recap on where we are with the No Hassle Fundraiser (currently around $10,000 – way to go Maplewood!).
We also spent a large portion of the meeting breaking up into brainstorming teams about several of our possible upcoming events. Attendees self-sorted by interest area at topically organized tables, and helped brainstorm, ask questions, think of possible contacts, vendors, and possible volunteer leads for each event or activity.
We need awesome people like you to make these events happen. If you’d like to help get any of these ideas off the ground, or support staff and teachers in making them happen, please reach out to president@maplewoodelementary.com – and thank you for making Maplewood marvelous!
Key Takeways from Topic Tables
Parent Happy Hours (Nov, Feb, April)
Proposed by parent Ashley Ibsen, these would help us create spaces where caregivers could get together and socialize, without quite so much overhead as the Parent Proms of the past. There’s an existing possibility of a happy hour at Colleen’s Kitchen in November, and interest in holding one in February and April at one of the following locations: Batch, Cherrywood Coffeehouse, Central Market (so people could bring children). Other ideas: nametags, children welcome, Tiny Tails Hoppy Hour, blow-up screen movie, alternating Tuesdays or Thursdays, or maybe a weekend date.
Black History Month (Jan-Feb)
Teachers are at the helm of the cultural events that happen on campus, but they would love parent support to make these events great. Caregivers expressed much love for the door decorating with historical figures, and would love to have more handwritten elements that give more historical and cultural context to the displays. There was also an idea proposed to support Ms. Bass in highlighting black writers that month, and working with Creative Action for ideas on musical performers to hire.
Fun Run (Feb)
This is an event that the campus is hoping to bring back, with Coach Rod(riguez) at the helm… but she’ll need parent support so we’re looking for helpers for this event. The timeframe for this would likely be in February, and there are many different ways this race could go — small, large, free vs. fundraiser, located on campus, or at Mueller, or starting at Patterson and ending on the campus. There was interest in finding local sponsors for this event (Texas Running Company, Loop Running Supply, Cherrywood Coffeehouse), to help pay for water stations, snacks and assorted run expenses. Maybe a commemorative tee, too.
Spring Fling (April – Earth Day)
There were a lot of great ideas coming out of this committee to turn Spring Fling into a celebration of Earth Day, with lots of pollinators and native planting friendly activities, workshops, and presenters. Definitely interest in having our after school care providers take part as they did with Fall Fest — imagine the amazing face painting and activities that iKids and Creative Action could come up with for Earth Day! A few other activities and vendors suggested included 2 Hives Honey, and Kona Ice, the Wildflower Center, Beekeepers, seed swap, garden tours, nature scavenger hunt, seed ball making, butterfly activities, and a campus clean up. We’d defintely need a rain plan for this date!
5th Grade Graduation (May)
So many great ideas coming out of this table brainstorm! Interest in having a yearbook – possibly investigating an app to make yearbook making easier. Interest in doing a 5th grade mural project (Karen Mamaess’s name was dropped), and getting lots of photos of our 5th graders from events like PeaceFest, Fall Fest, Spring Fling, Fun Run, Outdoor School and parents. Interest in seeing if AISD could help with printing, too.