Why I Joined the PTA

Why I Joined the PTA

By Kira Provo, Mountain View School PTA President

Some of my greatest childhood memories from school are centered around the fun events and experiences I was able to participate in growing up. When my children started school, I really wanted them to have the same opportunities and even better experiences. When we started in the district in 2010, my youngest at the time was entering kindergarten. I didn’t have any more kids at home and wanted to find away to become involved at school so I could not only keep busy, but also see my kids during the day on occasion. I met a few mom friends and was convinced to join the PTA. I started as Secretary and quickly began to learn about all the things the schools rely on the PTA for. I had no idea how many thingsthe PTA provided, planned, and organized. Most of those core childhood memories were most definitely provided by a PTA. This eye-opening discovery started my passion for advocacy in schools. I ended up taking a break from PTA for a few years after I had another baby but joined again when my newest child started school in 2017. I immediately jumped back in with the PTA and became even more involved, now as President.

I got really lucky with my team, we are like a big group of friends that love to spend time together and we always look forward to meetings, especially when we decide to meet over a great dinner. We have so much fun planning events and volunteering at school together. We brainstorm in a group chat nearly every day, and we’re always looking for the next, great idea.Sometimes we get in over our heads and over plan, but even when we go home exhausted after a long day and occasionally regret our ambitious attempts at having the best festivals in the West Valley, we still feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment just knowing that the students are going to remember these things, some even for a lifetime. Our teachers are stretched so thin and must provide so much out their own pockets and of their personal time. We find it so important to make sure they feel a sense of community, feel heard, and appreciated. Administration does as much as they can for our teachers but unfortunately there just isn’t enough money in the budgets because state funding in Arizona is incredibly low. That’s where we come in! The PTA is there to brainstorm new and exciting ideas to bring money into the classrooms and into the school where needed. We’ve funded Chromebooks for students, touchless water fill stations, library resources and so much more. We sometimes hold donation drives for things teachers need, and we do several different fundraisers year-round to fill in the gaps. A few times a year we ask parents to drop off coffee and supplies so that we can stock their coffee bar in the teacher’s lounge, little things like that make a big difference.

It can be hard to make friends as a mom, joining the PTA started so many friendships for me. Because we believe in inclusion and welcoming everyone, we have made our motto “you CAN sit with us” in reference to the movie, “Mean Girls”. The idea is to avoid the feeling of a clique and welcome the idea of a community and friendship. Being able to be part of the decision-making process for the book fairs, fun runs, festivals, and movie nights is so rewarding, and I know my own children appreciate seeing us put it all together for them and the community. Creating a place where everyone can have the most valuable and memorable experiences will always be our goal.