Why I'm Running For PTA President

I must be crazy, right?  Why am I running for PTA president at my kids' school?  I'm a dad, I have a full time job that could take even more of my time if I let it, a house full of DIY projects, a significant other who works part-time (which means that I have a fair portion of the weekly chores around the house), and between the two of us we have two kids that are in school and are growing up faster with each day that passes.  Why would I want to add one more big responsibility to that list?  After considering everything, it came down down to two choices: either do something, or accept things as they are.  It came down to the fact that I think the pain of not doing this finally exceeded the perceived pain of trying.

Looking at my list of my responsibilities, it was obvious to me that trying to start a grass roots non-profit in my neighborhood is too much to take on right now.  I can't eat this elephant in one bite.  When I look at my priorities in life today, my family and my neighborhood, the National PTA's organization closely lines up with those priorities.  The big plus is that they have an existing network to build a community group that is centered around a school.  Parents or other people who want to support their neighborhood school can get to work immediately.  If you want to help your kids or your neighborhood school, the national PTA has a "big tent" policy.  All you have to do is join, and you will have the same empowerment and vote as everyone else in the organization.  I want to build up the Washington Elementary PTA to raise the civic awareness of the parents in my kids' school, build a network in the Washington community so that we can help each other when needed, and provide a framework to host fun, family events to bring together even more parents.

When my daughter was born, something inside me changed.  It took me almost four years to learn it, but I saw that my kids act like I do and not how I tell them to be.  It was one of those lighting bolt moments where I realized that if I want my kids to believe in all of the things that I do, I have to show them.  Besides, we all know how well we listened to our parents at times, but we all remember what we saw them do.  My step-father was in the Navy, and I remember how proud I was of him.  I wasn't proud because he was in the military or all the things he told me.  I was proud of him because of the integrity that he showed me by example and the deep respect that I saw other people give him because of that integrity.  Now it's my turn. I want my kids to step up and try when something is important and no matter how hard it may be.  I have to show them that real change happens with actions and not words.

So after considering all of this, and some other reasons that can be another blog post, the pain to my admittedly over-developed sense of civic duty finally exceeded my desire to go-with-the-flow.  I admit that I may be biting off more than I can chew.  My ideas may be bigger than the reality it will take to implement them.  I may fall flat on my face because I can't do this alone, and I may not be able to build a team if I can't find a way to get more people involved.  I'm willing to take those risks because it boiled down to just one question that I could not answer in front of my kids twenty years from now: how could I not try?  If I'm elected, and if I fail, I can live with that because at least I stopped talking about problems in education and instead tried to do something about them.

If you live in the Washington Elementary community, please stop by the open house today between 4pm and 6pm.  There will be a PTA membership drive table, and you can become a member of the Washington Elementary PTA for only $6.00 for the entire year.  That's less than two large coffees at Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks.  You can also "Like" the Washington Elementary PTA Facebook page to find the latest news.

If I can find time to be a PTA President, I hope you can find the time to join and help your PTA.