Meet your 2021-22 PTA, PTO, PTSO presidents
Here are the presidents of the parent organizations at each Hoover school and what they said about their goals and plans for the 2021-22 school year:
BLUFF PARK ELEMENTARY
► PTO President: Brooke Burgess
► Contact: bluffparkpto@gmail.com
► Goals: “BPES PTO’s goal for the 2021-22 school year is to maintain a sense of new normalcy for our great teachers, staff and students at BPES. We kicked the year off with a new sponsorship opportunity to engage local businesses in supporting BPES year-round. We are having events such as our outdoor cleanup, walk to school day, movie night and more. We have had so many parents get excited about being involved again, so we can’t wait to see what awesome things we can accomplish this year working together again for the betterment of BPES!”
DEER VALLEY ELEMENTARY
► PTO President: Gina Harris
► Contact: ginabharris@gmail.com
► Goals: “One of the main goals I am wanting to focus on this year is continuing to give the school some more TLC. Last year, we were able to raise money to have the red top refinished outside on the basketball courts. This year, I am hoping we are able to replace and update some of the playground equipment, as well as some areas both inside and outside the school.
“Another area of focus is updating our teacher workrooms, so that when parents come to volunteer they will have the resources needed and a place to work together. We are so privileged to be in an awesome school system, and I am so thankful for the teachers and staff at Deer Valley every day.”
GREEN VALLEY ELEMENTARY
► PTO Presidents: Mandy Burns and Lindsay Parker
► Contacts: mandy@chipburns.com; lwparker78@gmail.com
► Goals: “This school year, we are focusing on bringing our school community back together as we continue to walk through this unusual season. We are excited to do this through some fun things we have planned for this school year that will include hosting a fall festival, doing monthly spirit nights at local restaurants and beginning a new legacy gift program for our fifth graders.
“We also have a project under way to add an updated sign in front of our school building, and we can’t wait to unveil it. We are looking forward to a great year!”
GREYSTONE ELEMENTARY
► PTA President: Christina Carter
► Contact: christinacarter625@gmail.com
► Goals: “The Greystone Elementary PTA is energized and excited about the year ahead of us. We look forward to implementing new morale-boosting ideas for our faculty and staff, like monthly ‘Teacher Tuesday’ lunches and assigning all staff members to a classroom to better celebrate them individually on birthdays and holidays. We will hold our traditional Leave a Legacy fundraiser, though we will also be adding a secondary spring fundraiser and new corporate sponsorship program to further support our school.
“While we will continue our teacher grants, we are considering larger projects, such as a new sensory garden, a library update, the resurfacing of our volleyball court and a new mural to encourage Greystone school spirit.”
GWIN ELEMENTARY
► PTO President: Rebecca Whittle
► Contact: whittle.rebecca@gmail.com
► Goals: “We are very excited to be able to hold our annual fundraiser, the Fun Run, this year as we were not able to do so last year. With the funds raised, we plan to upgrade playground areas, as well as continue to fund teacher grants and supplement classroom needs and a variety of other school activities. We are looking forward to an amazing year ahead!”
RIVERCHASE ELEMENTARY
► PTO President: Ashley Bates
► Contact: ashleybates730@gmail.com
► Goals: “Riverchase’s 2021-22 PTO goal is to reengage with our families through new fundraising platforms. Our school is still feeling the financial impact of reduced giving and increased expenses caused by the pandemic. 2020 taught us that we need to adapt to more creative fundraising outlets to make giving easier, reach a wider audience and be COVID friendly. Our hope is that through these changes we will be able to provide the additional support needed to RES during this time.”
ROCKY RIDGE ELEMENTARY
► PTO President: Maleah McMillan
► Contact: rrespto@gmail.com
► Goals: “Our goal this year at Rocky Ridge is to create a greenhouse to use in correlation with our STEAM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math] Lab. This project is set to take place in our courtyard/garden area. Learning how to care and grow plants will teach students responsibility. Students will be able to make connections across several subject areas in this hands-on training/learning. This helps to add another dimension of learning to students that is more than just pencil/paper learning. It gets them outside to explore and learn in a real-life setting. We are so excited to see this project take root!
“As we continue to navigate through our 2021-22 school year, our PTO is committed to serving our school’s amazing teachers and staff by providing monthly ‘happies’ and volunteer assistance whenever needed.”
SHADES MOUNTAIN ELEMENTARY
► PTO President: Anne Weil
► Contact: anne@weilwrecker.com
► Goals: “SMES PTO this year is focused on building on the community that is already the heart and strength of our school. After over a year of isolating circumstances, we want to develop connections to draw more people in to be involved in the life of the school in whatever ways that is possible, in spite of the pandemic and busy family schedules. Every project we take on starts with that mindset, and the question I’m starting with as president is always, ‘How can we build each other up and grow through this?’”
SOUTH SHADES CREST ELEMENTARY
► PTO President: Tonya Tishaw
► Contact: sscpto@gmail.com
► Goals: “With our school fundraisers this year, the South Shades Crest PTO has a goal to raise $30,000. We will allocate this right back to the school to use for academic materials, grounds upkeep, technology, health room updates and much more.
“The PTO executive board will also choose a school project to fund. One project we are looking into is to give all the classrooms new rugs.”
TRACE CROSSINGS ELEMENTARY
► PTO President: Layla Hamilton
► Contact: layla.c.hamilton@gmail.com
► Goals: “The vision for the TCES PTO is to strengthen, enhance and encourage the educational and social environment of Trace Crossings Elementary School by creating and sustaining close relationships between our parents, teachers and students. Our goals are to enhance the parent-volunteer base to support student, school and PTO activities in order to complement the school curriculum as we aim to help create a safe and healthy learning environment where students can excel and feel confident in themselves.”
BROCK’S GAP INTERMEDIATE
► PTO President: Jobi Richard
► Contact: toddandjobi@charter.net
► Goals: “The main focus over the last few years of the Brock’s Gap Intermediate School’s PTO is the purchase of a bricked sign for the main entrance to the school. BGIS is tucked into the neighborhood of Lake Cyrus and is often difficult to find for new students, visitors and delivery personnel.
“Thanks to our generous BGIS families over the years, as well as the proficient letter writing skills of last year’s PTO president, Heather Lolley, which resulted in a significant donation from [state] Rep. Allen Farley, we are very close to achieving that goal. We hope to break ground with the new sign during this school year.”
BERRY MIDDLE
► PTO President: Ashley Lennex
► Contact: Ashley.lennex@gmail.com
► Goals: “Berry PTO’s No. 1 goal continues to be supporting, encouraging and showing appreciation to our staff, teachers and administration. Here at Berry, we have a very dedicated and hardworking staff. To show our support, we will continue appreciation events like luncheons and snack days for our entire staff, including administrators, teachers, custodians, nurses and child nutrition program workers.
“To get the school year started, in October, we kicked off our fundraising with our annual armchair fundraiser. This event helps support grant funding for our teachers. This is a very different year with many challenges. Our PTO is eager to help any way we can.”
BUMPUS MIDDLE
► PTO President: Tiffany Jenkins
► Contact: ebtkjenks@yahoo.com
► Goals: “We had our Color Run, our largest fundraiser of the year, in September to raise funds to support our school and bring back some normalcy for our students, staff and parents, as we were unable to have the event last year due to the pandemic. We want to continue to support our teachers and administrators and show our appreciation for all they do each and every day.”
SIMMONS MIDDLE
► PTO President: Sheli Phebus
► Contact: shelip@hotmail.com
► Goals: “We are excited to welcome all new and returning students, teachers and faculty into a happy, productive learning and workplace five days a week. Our Bucs Bounty (Oct. 4-15) raised money to put back into the classrooms through our teacher grants and to support continuing school improvements, including a new stage curtain to enhance the wonderful musical productions every year.
Our longer-term goals are to update a digital messaging board and landscaping in front of our school once construction is completed.”
HOOVER HIGH
► PTSO President: Dawn Blake
► Contact: dsblake70@gmail.com
► Goals: “Our goals for the Hoover High School PTSO this year are to increase our membership and continue support for our amazing faculty, staff and students at HHS. The HHS PTSO does not fundraise, so all funding for our programs come from membership dues and donations.
“One of our more significant support programs is teacher grants. These grants offer additional resources for enhancing academics in the classroom. We are hopeful with support from our parents and other donors to fulfill all of our grant requests.”
SPAIN PARK HIGH
► PTSO President: Tonia Ballintine
► Contact: Tonball36@aol.com
► Goals: “I have served various positions on PTO boards for the past 12 years, including PTO president at South Shades Crest Elementary. I have also served as a Hoover Parent Teacher Council board member for four years.
“Our goal for Spain Park PTSO this year is to maintain our longtime commitment of funding as many teacher grants as possible. The past several years we have funded 100% of our requested grants. This year more than ever, we are committed to helping with communications through our social media page. We find ourselves in unprecedented times with COVID-19, and we are there to support our parents, faculty, staff and students in any way possible. Our biggest goal for Spain Park PTSO this year is to increase our donations. Understandably, we saw a decrease last year, and we are focused on getting it back to the level we had previous to 2021.
“Our focus is to help our students and faculty by funding new innovative ideas and any new projects for our school. We are also committed to increasing our communication to our parents with emails and social media.”