DECATUR — Parents at the Decatur Northside Elementary School are looking to revitalize the Parent Teacher Organization and get more of the community involved.

Over the years, the PTO, which organizes the Fall Festival and sponsors fundraisers for the school playground among other things, has dwindled down to just a handful of members that shoulder all the responsibilities of organizing the events.

A reorganization and planning meeting will beheld at 6 p.m., July 12, at the Gallery Cafe. The meeting will cover the election of officers and the initial planning and scheduling of activities for the 2011-2012 school year.

More parent and teacher involvement is the key to growing the organization and providing more activities for kids, according to parent Karen Davis.

The more people that are involved, the more ideas there will be and the more activities there will be to choose from.

Davis said she would like to look for more ways to include parents from the Hispanic and Asian communities in the organization.

“We would like to find a way for everybody to get involved,” she said.

As a working mom, Davis said she realizes people are really busy. If more people are involved, each person will have to do less. Even a few hours can make a big difference, especially if parents know ahead of time what they will need to do so the task can be organized into their schedule.

“The kids would definitely benefit from it (more PTO activities), especially the kids that aren’t involved in after-school activities, either through the school or their families,” she said.

Community, Pages 11 on 06/29/2011