PARENT INVOLVEMENT MONTH: October 2011

Pennsylvania PTA and others celebrated Parent Involvement at the 

Welcome everyone.  I am so excited to be here and share in this important event as the commonwealth recognizes the importance of Parental Involvement.

In 1899, Hannah Kent Schoff charted the Pennsylvania Congress of Mothers to improve the lives of all children in Pennsylvania; and today, 112 years later, Pennsylvania PTA still works to improve the lives of children in Pennsylvania.

Our founders intuitively understood the importance of parent and family involvement to the success of children in school, in our communities, and in our future.  Today research confirms this premise. 

We have faced many changes in our family units since 1899.  Because of these changes, we now need to define the word parent to include all individuals who are involved in a child’s life and well-being.  Parent involvement needs to include ALL families and needs to be defined as participation in every facet of a child’s education and development from cradle to career.

PTA understands that School, community and the home are interconnected in the lives of children.  They developed and utilize a set of National Standards for Family School Partnership.  Each standard addresses a different type of parent involvement, and the presence of all standards indicates a strong parent involvement plan.  PTA builds successful partnerships by:

Pennsylvania PTA is comprised of over 400 local units with 75,000 members that volunteer their time and talents to engage parents in their schools at a grassroots level.  They work with local school leaders on a daily basis to improve and enrich their schools and increase student success.  They partner with area business to supplement their resources.  They provide programs when budgets run short.  They work for student success.  They add their voices together and advocate for all Pennsylvania’s children to ensure that every child’s potential becomes a reality.

They do this because they too understand the role they play in student success and as President Abraham Lincoln once said…“A child is a person who is going to carry on what you have started.  He is going to sit where you are sitting, and when you are gone, attend those things which you think are important…He will assume control of your cities, states and nation.  He is going to move in and take over your churches, schools, universities, and corporations…..the fate of humanity are in his hands.”

PTA understands the importance of parental involvement because it has been the focus of our existence for over 100 years!  We applaud everyone who is involved in the life of a child!