PTSA Greatness

For those of you who are not in the field of education, or work in a school where your PTSA is not as fabulous as the crew here at Leota Jr High, you are missing out on some Greatness. Yes, I capitalized Greatness. I did so because it is a title, and therefore allowed. I gave the title of Greatness to the PTSA lunches that are provided to our school's staff once a month as a gesture of appreciation for the work we do for their children.

I have worked at three different schools and each one has had PTSA lunches on some level. One school had PTSA soup/chowder day every 6 weeks, or so. Another school had a big, almost banquet style, lunch once a trimester. Here at Leota we have a once a month, themed luncheon. The themes change each month and vary in cuisine to match the theme. This month we celebrated the Chinese New Year, and had a variety of rices, egg rolls, noodles, chicken dishes, vegetables and salads. The luncheons are catered with real plates, glasses and cloth napkins. Not common in a school lunchroom.

30-40 parents are involved in making the food, serving the staff, cleaning the dishes and tables, and organizing give-away prizes to the staff. Staff around the district know of our luncheons. If a district committee schedules a meeting on a luncheon day, and a Leota staff member is on that committee, then the meeting is held at Leota because staff from other schools are clamoring to attend our luncheons.

One such Greatness was yesterday. The staff lunchroom that usually has 8-12 staff members eating in it during a normal day was packed with 20-24 staff members. As staff piled the delicious food on their plates, and commented on the tremendous feast, I summoned my inner-strength. I had planned my meals for the day and had my packed lunch in hand. I sat and cut my pear and apple into slices. I opened my Greek yogurt, and poured some trail mix into it and stirred. I did have a glass of green tea that had been steeping awaiting the staff. I stuck with my plan, and I felt good about my choices.

This is a life change, and I know that I will not give up the PTSA lunches for the remainder of my career, but I am still early in this change. I need to show myself that I can make the tough choices, and that will give me confidence that I can continue this life change after the 6 months, plus a year.

When this change is complete, and I am at a healthy weight, life-style and feeling good, that will also be Greatness.