Web-Page Chair: Coordinates with district contact to update existing OLPTO website. Mark Latham will train.

Beautification Chair: Plans new beautification projects and maintains outdoor gardens with assistance from staff, students and other parent volunteers.

Nominating Committee: Proposes a slate of candidates for New Board. The committee needs to be in place soon after the first of the year. Because of term limits, we need a president or co-presidents for the 2009-2010 board.

Parent/Teacher Conference Dinner: Contact Principal for staff numbers, coordinate commit-tee and volunteers, plan, set-up and clean up.

Contact Laura Sams at csams@columbus.rr.com or Mark Latham at mlatham1@columbus.rr.com to let us know how you will use your talents for the Liberty Middle School PTO.

Use Kroger and Scrip gift cards to raise money for your child’s Washington, D.C. trip. You pay the face value of the gift card and use it with no cost to you. Any gift card with a rebate value greater than or equal to 4% earns you 2% credit of your purchase towards your child’s DC trip. There is only a 39¢ charge for PrestoPay processing when you place an order (less than the cost of stamps, envelopes and gas than placing an order the old way :)

Many families have already ordered their Scrip online and received their cards. It only takes minutes to set up your account using PrestoPay. Once you register for PrestoPay, your gift card purchase is deducted from your checking account. You do need to wait a couple days after registering with Presto Pay to verify your account and place your first order but once you set up your account, for the remaining years you order Scrip online, it only takes minutes to place your order from the comfort of your own home.

We now have hundreds of retail Scrip gift cards to choose from. You can earn significant $ towards your child’s DC trip by buying Scrip gift cards for hotels, gas, groceries, etc. Many of these cards are now reloadable online! Don’t wait, begin earning $ now. Visit this link for instructions on how to order today!

We encourage you to get actively involved in the LMS PTO. Why? It’s FUN and rewarding! Working on committees allows you to use your talents and make a difference in your child’s education. Friendships may even develop as you work towards creating a better educational experience for our children! Details about volunteering opportunities can be found at this link.

What’s New?

Our Back-to-School Store will take place in a new location. Purchase your supplies, Logo Wear, and Kroger Reloadable Cards in the Band and Choir rooms on August 13th and 14th. PTO members will be available to answer questions and record your volunteering requests.

We are introducing a new and easy way to order Scrip gift cards online. Scrip will be available for purchase online at www.shopwithscrip.com. Once enrolled, your order amount will be deducted directly from your checking account. See our PTO website for details on how to register for this important fundraising opportunity.

Our PTO meetings will be held on the third Friday of the month. Our first meeting will be on August 29th.

The LMS PTO fundraiser philosophy is to participate with fundraisers where families make purchases for items they are already buying. Our budget is funded through the Kroger Cares Reloadable Card program as well as Scrip. We also encourage you to participate in the Polaris Fashion Place, Earning for Learning program, as well as Giant Eagle’s, Apples For the Students program. See related articles in this newsletter.

Future newsletters will be available online on the LMS PTO website. We encourage all families to register with LMS listserve so you will always be current with the latest LMS and LMS PTO news.

We look forward to a successful 2008-2009 school year. Let’s be mindful of the motto that evolved last school year, “It’s All About the Kids!”

Have a great year!

Mark Latham: mlatham1@columbus.rr.com
Laura Sams: csams@columbus.rr.com

Refreshments are served at 9:00 am and our meetings begin promptly at 9:30am. We know your time is valuable so we make every effort to be finished with our meeting by 11:00 am. The meetings are held in the Guidance Conference Room, (the room is affectionately called, “the fish bowl.”)

All parents of LMS students are members of the LMS PTO. We hope you can participate in our meetings and you have the opportunity to use your talents for one of our committees.

Why attend monthly PTO meetings? We welcome your ideas and opinions. Participation at our PTO meetings gives you a voice. You help decide what we do as a group. Members attending our PTO meetings have the opportunity to discuss, evaluate and vote on PTO issues. We look forward to your support. 

1. Assistant Treasurer, Scrip report: Responsible for the accounting of all Scrip and Kroger funds. Presents a financial report at each OLPTO meeting.
2. Directory Committee Chair: Consults with PTO regarding style of directory. Types, edits, obtains printing quotes, shows officers proofs of the directory. Once approved at meeting, has directory printed and distributes it.
3. Parent/Teacher Conferences Dinner Committee Chair: Contact principal for date and staff numbers, coordinates committee and volunteers, plans, sets-up and cleans-up.
4. 8^th Grade Celebration Committee Chair: Contacts principal for teacher contact, coordinates volunteers, plans, executes and cleans-up at event.
5. Beautification Committee Chair: Collaborates with principal on new school beautification projects. Works with staff contact to coordinate student and parent volunteers for maintenance of outdoor gardens.
6. Web-Page Committee Chair: Designs and updates existing OLPTO website. Volunteer with web design skills is helpful.
7. Nominating Committee Chair: Proposes a slate of candidates for New Board.