DIS PTA asks community to 'Step it Up'
The Daniel Island School (DIS) Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is gearing up for another year - and with a new president and board many exciting changes are in the works.
With a new mission statement, “To support, enrich and connect,” the 2017-2018 DIS PTA board is hoping to do just that.
“We’re already working hard to plan events and get the year started off right,” said PTA President Jill Shively. “We are really trying to build on the successes of the past, be responsive to the community survey and make sure that we are doing everything that the PTA membership wants that is within our power to affect. Things that people know and have liked over the years, like the Island of Lights Luminary Event, Grandparent Bingo and the Middle School Dance will continue—we are just kicking them up a notch.”
A three-year resident of Daniel Island, Shively explained that her previous position within the board and experience working in educational technical assistance have primed her for the new position.
“I started with the PTA just to get involved, to meet people and to have a greater effect on the education experience that my kids were having,” said Shively. “I have a lot of experience in education—working with teachers and administrators to improve education as a whole…I have an education degree and a deep interest in improving and supporting public education.”
Building on the strong foundation that past boards have provided, Shively noted that the board’s main goals are to bring the DIS community together and create more avenues for communication.
“I think getting out the word about all the different areas that the PTA supports is a huge thing,” she said. “The Facebook PTA page was started by the board last year, which I think was a great step. We’re going to continue to support and expand the use of the page as one of our many methods of communication. We know that there are so many different ways that people get their information today. We’re going to try and find all of those ways and hit them as much as we can, so it can, again, get the word out.”
Increasing and maintaining membership is also a key focus of the board, according to Shively.
“We’re bringing in an online membership program to help us manage our membership better, which will provide an online membership directory to those that are members,” she said. “We are updating the webpage. We are using local support to enhance and add to the webpage to make it a communication hub - one of them.”
With emphasis on membership and community engagement, Shively and the board are introducing a program called, “Step It Up.”
“The idea behind that is two-fold,” continued Shively. “It’s one, step it up as in we’re asking our community to step up and get more involved. We’re going to find additional avenues to bring in more volunteers into the school and get more parents involved in the different activities that go on throughout the school year. And then two, we are asking our members to think about stepping it up a level. We have various membership levels that have member benefits at each one. We’re asking our members to think about what level they were at last year and thinking about stepping it up a level to provide support, which will give us additional funds to find more enrichment activities and other activities that we can bring into the school.”
Shively urged community members to get involved and provide feedback by volunteering and attending PTA meetings throughout the year.
“We hope to use the PTA meetings as a chance for everyone to come and if they have ideas or feedback for the board or the school, there will be a forum within the PTA meetings to allow for that,” she said. “We are trying to get more involvement by our community, hear from them more regularly and make sure that the agenda that the PTA follows, follows what the community is interested in.”
The board is planning to host new community events this year including a trivia night, a new middle school event and a community-wide corn hole tournament, according to Shively. Keep an eye out for further details.
If interested in volunteering with the PTA, look for an information sheet in the packet at “Packet Pick Up” at Daniel Island School on Aug. 14. For additional details on other events and activities, visit the group’s Facebook page - “Daniel Island School PTA.”