PTO General Meeting: Tuesday, 8/8/2023 @ 7pm

We asked ChatGPT to share some reasons why parents should come to the first PTO general meeting of the year. Read what it told us.

According to the by-laws, the PTO is required to have a minimum of (2) two meetings per school year. One at the beginning of the school year to introduce the PTO Team and present the annual budget. And one at the end of the school year to introduce the following year's PTO Team and close out the annual budget.

Sounds exciting, right? No wonder it's not clear to see the value of attending an in-person meeting at 7pm on a Tuesday night.

How could we encourage parents to come? We turned to ChatGPT for answers (work smarter, not harder). It generated some answers, and we added our own thoughts.

"PTO meetings are where you'll receive updates about upcoming events, school projects, and important news."

We want you to have plenty of time in advance to read, translate, and process all information before you attend our meetings and/or get involved in our initiatives. That is why post E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G on our website -- from our by-laws and our meeting agendas to the volunteer opportunities and budget information.

When you attend, we want you to come informed so you can add value to the conversation and elevate our efforts.

"PTO meetings are where you'll learn about the allocation of funds raised through PTO events and fundraisers."

The PTO budget is not a secret. You can reach out to our Treasurer with questions about our revenue and expenditures and get a copy of the budget on our website (available in the member-only after the meeting).

However, it's much easier to talk financials or vote on the budget when you're sitting in WGA's Tech Hub, looking at the equipment purchased using PTO funds. (When was the last time an AI-bot purchased you a 3D printer?)

"PTO meetings are where you'll learn about exciting volunteer opportunities that align with your interests and skills."

All current volunteer opportunities are posted on wgapto.org/volunteer (even for upcoming events). You can also contact our Volunteer Coordinator to share ideas or fill out the interest form to be considered for future opportunities.

But it's much harder to observe, engage, organize and seize an opportunity if you're not on-campus in-person. Plus, we want to see your faces and smiles!

"PTO meetings provide an excellent opportunity to connect and build relationships with other parents, teachers, and school staff."

We think friendships get stronger when people come together and work towards a common cause. That's why we are also organizing to help Ms. Wodarcyk stock her 'Mock Store' for her Financial Literacy and Entrepreneur (FLitE) program.

We are encouraging all parents who come to the meeting to bring recycle bin-bound items -- see the list of suggested items in the WGA Specials Quarter 1 Newsletter. Although you can bring these items at any time to the front office in the coming weeks, we want to show our WGA teachers/staff the power of our PTO community in accelerating teachers' request in a timely, efficient manner.

"PTO meetings may have fun surprises, like freebies or raffles, to make the experience even more enjoyable."

We couldn't agree with ChatGPT more. Who wants fun WGA swag?!

That's why for every recycle bin-bound items for the FLitE mock store you bring (see WGA Specials Quarter 1 Newsletter for more details), you will receive free WGA swag.

(Only available to in-person attendees).

So, you're going to be there, right?!

Thanks to ChatGPT for generating the headings in this post. We hope you consider attending the meeting. We promise we only offer human-generated responses at all the live meetings. ;)

Check out 8/8/23 meeting agenda here.