Once we'd voted on becoming a PTA, membership dues, and standing rules, it was time to elect the officers. At my school, we have a whopping three parents who are consistently involved and dependable. And one of them is not even the parent of a child that attends our school - she's the mother of one of the teachers! As you can see, we don't have much to work with here. So, naturally, those three parents had been pre-slated for the offices of president, vice president, and treasurer. We'd naively assumed that would be a sufficient slate. The state PTA president (who is actually really cool btw) intervened. She had some strong words to say about the importance of the role of a secretary. She even went so far as to say that the office of secretary, in her mind, is on the same level of importance as the president. She gave quite a schpeel. She didn't leave out the fact that this office could be a teacher, since it is the pTa after all. Since the only three parents in attendance had already been voted into other offices, a teacher it would have to be. The PTA rep opened the floor for volunteers.
Crickets. The silence was so silent, that I think I did actually hear a pin drop. Then some knucklehead thought to ask a question. It was a simple question, really. There was no intent behind it other than genuine curiosity. "How many meetings per year is the secretary required to attend?" I heard myself asking aloud. … BOOM. I was the scape goat. Suddenly everyone was filled with encouraging words and exclamations of how simple the task would be (although, strangely, no one seemed to be jumping at the opportunity themselves) and how it would absolutely be manageable for a second year teacher. Save one unnamed staff member, who was sitting near me and discretely whispering, "Dooon't dooo it." Looking back, I'm wondering who I should've listened to… It's likely that in the near future she'll have an opportunity to say, "I told you so." She may have been the only one who really had my best interest in mind. Time will tell. Either way, I was sworn in and signing my life away on the X before I really knew what was happening. It's all a blur, really. How many life lessons will it take before I learn to just keep my mouth closed?
Alas, I am secretary of my school's PTA, charter member of the state PTA. Wowsa.
Here's the twist: my school has never had a real PTA before now. So, in actuality, I'm one of the four founding members of our school's PTA. Annnnd I have no idea what the heck I'm doing. But, I do know that I'm accountable to the IRS if I don't have accurate records to show that our spending matches our budget. Goody.
Praise God the state department is offering a training on Saturday. Although I'm not thrilled about giving up my day off, I meant it when I said I have no idea what the heck I'm doing.
All I have to say, guys, is that when I googled "PTA secretary" THIS is what came up:
Not kidding.
Apparently I will, like it or not, grow to look like this woman by the time my year-long term is complete.
The upside is, holding this position as a second year teacher will look killer on my resume. :)
So, I will embrace my new role as PTA secretary. This is merely another life experience. And what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Right?
 |
| Represent. |
No comments:
Post a Comment