Art Docent

Parents teach art in the classroom during school by attending a training at the start of the year and conducting the lesson and art project in the classroom. 

Chairs:  Connie Carvalho, Jen Pixton, and Jeannie Hesse

 

Art Show & Ice Cream Social

Held toward the end of May, this event is a culmination of the art docent program. Volunteers are needed to prepare art for display, scoop ice cream, set up, and clean up. Enough volunteers are needed so everyone can spend time with their kids viewing their lovely work. Yearbooks are also distributed at this event.

Chair: Jennifer Powell; co-chair needed

Assemblies

Volunteers arrange for monthly fun and educational assemblies with outside instructors or performers, including the acclaimed Young Imaginations program.

VP of Programs: Open

Assemblies Chair: Heather Abrams

  

After-School Enrichment Programs

The PTA works with the Alameda Education Foundation to develop after-school programs to enrich your children's lives, i.e. chorus, Acting, Chess, Science, Tennis, Carpentry, etc. Volunteers are needed to coordinate the programs and to help get kids from classrooms to the programs (on-site). 

Chairs: Heather Abrams, Sydney Zaremba, Shay Phillips, Rita Madarassy

 

Book Fair

Scholastic Book Fair is held in the fall for four days after school and one evening.  Volunteers are needed to work at least one hour during one of those sessions. This event is very popular among students and supplies the media center and classrooms with lots of new books!

Chairs: Alison Aubrejuan and Clare Waterloo

Diversity Committee

Meets one evening a month to educate and celebrate our differences with other Franklin families!   Works with PTA to host Multicultural Night in the fall, Ability Awareness Day and speakers and art projects celebrating our diversity.

Chairs: Mitchelle Tanner and Jill Gorman

Field Trips

The PTA funds field trips, including 100% funding for buses used on field trips. Volunteers are needed to chaperone throughout the year. Check with your child's teacher for specific field trip information.

Go Green

The Franklin Goes Green Committee promotes ways to protect our planet both at school and home, such as reducing waste, recycling, and walking and biking to school. Through educational efforts, student and family engagement activities, and identifying ways to change our habits, we work to find ways to minimize our environmental footprint.  Committee members are active in supporting the lunchroom green waste program to help divert two-thirds of the lunchroom waste from landfill to recycling and compost.

Chair: Kathryn Boyle

Homework Club

The PTA is working with Principal Fetterly and staff to build a Homework Club this year. More information will be available soon. Volunteers needed to supervise this weekly club, and to help kids with homework when questions arise.

Math Fair

Students spend the morning learning about Math Around the World with fun games set up by the Lawrence Hall of Science. Volunteers are needed to help students with games.

Multicultural Night

This special event in the early fall celebrates Franklin’s diversity and cultural traditions of dance, song and food from around the world. Volunteers are needed to perform and help with set up and clean up.

Odyssey of the Mind

Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program. Volunteers needed to lead student teams.

 

Read to Feed

This program rewards students for reading while raising money for a charitable organization. For 6 weeks in the spring, Franklin students set reading goals, and read for sponsorship to "buy" animals for the Heifer Project International.  Heifer Project is a non-profit organization committed to ending world hunger and poverty through the purchase of animals for needy families.  By incorporating our school-wide reading program into Read-to-Feed we get the opportunity to support our children in reading and becoming responsible world citizens.  

Chairs: Shay Phillips and Natalie Chriss

Reading & Math Intervention

The PTA funds after-school reading and math intervention programs, based on teacher recommendations. Volunteers are sometimes needed to supervise. Instruction is provided by teachers.

Science Fair

Every year, Franklin Students participate in our very own Science Fair based on materials and curricula from the Lawrence Hall of Science. Volunteers are needed to help with exciting, hands on activities for all students.

Chair: OPEN      Staff coordinator: Barry Arbreton

Science Lab

This hugely popular PTA-funded program debuted in the 2010-2011 school year. A science specialist leads hands-on science lessons. Volunteers are needed to help with some lessons and experiments.

Snowflake Shoppe

Every December Franklin students look forward to purchasing handmade gifts for friends and family while raising money for the PTA. Volunteers are needed to make crafts and to work at the one-day shop at Franklin, setting and cleaning up, selling items or ringing up the purchases.  If you want to help but can’t think of a craft project, just call the chair people (they know non-crafty crafts).

Chair: Leoni Crawford

Spooktacular

Kids eagerly await our Halloween evening carnival with pumpkin painting for all and a "haunted hallway" for older kids. Volunteers are needed to set up, monitor the activities, and clean up. The more volunteers we get, the less work each one will have and the more time you’ll be able to spend with your children and attend the last night of the concurrent book fair.

Chair: Michele Ellson

 

Teacher Appreciation

In spring we host a group luncheon for our teachers expressing our gratitude for their dedication to our children’s’ education. Individual classrooms also show appreciation for their teachers through group gifts, flowers and/or other tokens.  In addition, we express appreciation for the teachers at various events (mostly involving food) throughout the year (e.g., back-to-school night, Valentine ’s Day). Volunteers are needed to cook/bake food for these events.
Chair: Open

Walking & Wheeling

Celebrate our neighborhood schools by walking, riding your bike, scootering, or skating to school. It's good for your health and good for the environment. Volunteers are needed from 8:00 – 8:30 am on the first Wednesday of every month, to hand out stickers to all students who arrive at school though self propulsion. 

Chair: Kathryn Boyle