I know I am far from the most involved person in Fredericksburg. When I first moved back here I wanted to be. I even tried. I just didn't have the time or energy to live up to my lofty self expectations, and just ended up letting people down. So I just decided that in my case less is more. I'd rather volunteer for things I KNEW I was going to be able to do, than to take on more than I could ever handle.
Today my son came home with a small printed letter from the school about the teachers having a dress up day for relay for life. The kids bring in money and use that money to place a vote for the best dressed teacher. Great idea...here is where I am having some issues. Relay for Life is a WONDERFUL cause. Please do not think I'm bashing their fundraising efforts. I even intend to send money in with Kaileb and Lid. I just have an issue with the fact that the teachers work so hard to raise money for this (not the first fundraiser this year) and a few other causes, but when I approached our previous principal (as I was being run ragged looking for donations with very minimal help) and asked if the Teachers would be willing to help with auction donations I was told "I wont ask my staff to do that. They have enough to do" My jaw hit the floor.
The auction proceeds go to pay for things such as the smartboards, the in class PA systems, jump drives etc which greatly aide the teachers in their daily lessons, and the Christmas Bazaar, roller skating party and sixth grade camp for the kids. Our school is very lucky to have a PTO that is able to do these things for our school. For those of you who don't know or remember it wasn't that long ago that the Fredericksburg PTO couldn't do these things. I know I can only say this as a what if, but if there are parents out there willing to work as hard as the ones in our school, as a teacher I would be THRILLED! I would do whatever I could to help them make our school the best it could be.
We have some of the most wonderful teachers at Fredericksburg Elementary. I'm not for one second taking that for granted. They do help the day of the auction with serving the food, but other than that its the extent of their assistance. There is a lot of time, thought, and effort
that goes into planning this auction. It seems like our teachers may take that for granted sometimes. Just look at it this way. If each of one of our approximately 15 teachers were to go out and find 3-5 donations that would be 45-75 donations. If ya get creative you wouldn't even need to look outside your classroom. I'm sure people will argue "how do we know where they went?" Just ask. Communicate. We've boasted having a wonderful learning community, but a community takes all of us doing a little for the greater good. Something I think all of us, including me would do well to remember some days.
