About PTA
By whatever name it has been known, National PTA was created to meet a profound challenge: to better the lives of children. And today, it continues to flourish because PTA has never lost sight of its goal: to change the lives of children across our great nation for the better.
Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst founded an organization—a nationwide movement—in a time when social activism was scorned and women did not have the vote. Believing that there is no stronger bond than that between mother and child, they felt it was up to mothers of this country to eliminate threats that endangered children. In 1897, they called for action and more than 2,000 people responded—many were mothers, but fathers, teachers, laborers, and legislators also responded. Support grew from that first meeting in Washington DC. Problems were identified and strategies devised. Through consistent hard work, sometimes after years of perseverance, the dreams became reality:
- the creation of kindergarten classes,
- child labor laws,
- a public health service,
- hot lunch programs,
- a juvenile justice system,
- mandatory immunization
Many more programs were accepted as national norms. Between 1897 and 1919, 37 state-level congresses were chartered to help carry out the work of the organization.
--from the National PTAwebsite
About Mandarin Middle School PTSA
We here at Mandarin Middle School are excited to have added the "S" to our PTA as 2008, meaning students can join and benefit from a number of service opportunities within our school and our community! Our PTSA's goals include supporting education programs already in place within the school and supplementing these programs with additional activities and opportunities to further enrich our students educational experience. Some of the ways we work toward these aims include the following:
- Providing additional programs to benefit parents and students, including the Reflections Program to supplement artistic expression and providing Vision and Hearing Screening for students, and supporting and sponsoring other programs, such as the Environmental Club's recycling program and National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week;
- Raising funds to support already established programs and start new ones, supply equipment when needed or beneficial, and undertaking actions to improve or enhance the school facilities;
- Supplying awards and award ceremonies to help motivate students to excel;
- Increasing communications between school and home, for example, by disseminating information helpful to parents and students, whether about school programs or additional resources for building strong schools, families, and communities, for example, financing the school's newsletter, starting an optional e-mail reminder system, and maintaining a yearly scrapbook of the school's activities;
- Representing parental concerns in various educational venues such as county, state, and national PTA and local SAC (School Accountability Committee) meetings;
- Making connections between our school and our community by partnering with local business, increasing school recognition through earning county, state, and national awards, and supporting our community, for example, participating in the 6th Annual Mr. Rogers Neighborhood Sweater Drive, America Recycles Day, assistance to Duval County students who need help with the purchase of eyeglasses, and various food drives, all of which not only benefit the community but also give our students the chance to establish the good habits of committing to something larger than themselves and giving back;
- Contributing to a positive supporting environment in the school with hospitality programs, teacher and staff recognition and appreciation luncheons, and school social programs such as games and dances;
- Organizing volunteers to enable and supplement the above programs and more, such as picture day, hall monitoring, and media center help;
- Supporting the Florida PTA/PTSA in providing scholarships to high school seniors who are PTSA members -- the Florida PTA/PTSA is very involved in lobbying state legislators for the rights of our children and to ensure proper funding for our schools;
- Supporting the National PTA/PTSA - the largest child advocacy group in the nation;
- And much, much more!
We are a volunteer organization, and we cannot accomplish these goals without your support. Join PTSA today, and help support these wonderful programs.
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Florida PTA Mission:
- A powerful voice for all children
- A relevant source for families and communities
- A strong advocate for the education and well-being of every child