Hello Wildcat Families,
Are you passionate about making a difference in your child’s school? We need YOU!
We are looking for dedicated volunteers to fill key leadership roles for the upcoming 2025 - 2026 school year.
Open Positions:
President – Lead our PTA and help shape the future of our school! (MUST FILL)
Treasurer – Keep our budget on track and support school programs. (MUST FILL)
Secretary – Take notes, stay organized, and keep everyone informed. (MUST FILL)
Executive VP – Assist the President and help run the PTA smoothly. (Optional)
Parliamentarian – Ensure meetings follow procedures and run effectively.(Optional)
Financial Reviewer– Keep our financial records accurate and in check. (Optional)
Historian – Document our amazing events and milestones. (Optional)
Fundraising VP – Help us plan fun and creative ways to raise funds! (Optional)
Events VP – Organize exciting events that bring our school community together (Optional)
Why Join?
Make a direct impact on your child’s education.
Build a stronger school community.
Gain valuable leadership and teamwork experience.
Meet other amazing parents and staff!
⚠️ NO BOARD = ALL SINNOTT PTA MONEY TRANSFERRED TO SCHOOL DISTRICT ⚠️
Learn more about each board and program chair role below.
Join Us Today!
If you are interested in any position, please sign up at: Nomination Form . Send us a message or email SinnottPTA@gmail.com to learn more and apply! Let’s work together to make John Sinnott Elementary the best it can be!
Message From Sinnott PTA President
Hello,
I write to you today to inspire every one of you to contribute just 30 minutes a day and a dollar a day to continue the Sinnott Way of nurturing our next generation. This commitment might seem daunting at first, especially with our busy lives, but allow me to share what helped me and might help you in making this commitment.
Firstly, let's evaluate where our time goes. Research suggests we spend an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes daily on social media. Redirecting just 30 minutes of this time to PTA activities can have a profound impact. Research also suggests that >2 hrs of Screen time or social media usage daily is associated with negative parent- child relationships. Personally, as the PTA Music Volunteer Chair last year and now as PTA President, I've witnessed how this commitment has strengthened my bond with my child. While preparing for music lessons every week, my child and I sang, played instruments, rehearsed sign language, and simulated music classes at home. Collaboration on this speech, as she helped me put my thoughts on paper, enhanced her writing and grammar skills. From being hesitant to participate in PTA competitions at the start of the year, my child is now enthusiastically representing Sinnott with other Wildcat Trail Blazers in various events, including the Jr. Spelling Bee. Every PTA volunteer will have similar enriching experiences about their parent-child relationship to share with you.
Secondly, let me share a quote from a wise, 100-year-old, self-made billionaire. He said, “I know people who have a lot of money, and they get testimonial dinners and hospital wings named after them. Honestly, nobody in the world loves them. If you get to my age in life and nobody thinks well of you, I don’t care how big your bank account is, your life was a disaster.” Volunteering with the PTA has allowed me to experience this firsthand. Last school year, there were brief interruptions, longer than a week, in music classes. Every time we resumed class the teacher would give me a piece of art/craft and point to a kid and say she really missed the music class. Except for 30 minutes of music class, I had zero connection with this child yet there was unconditional appreciation for something I wasn’t even really qualified to do.
Lastly, volunteering isn't just about giving; it's also about gaining and growing. Whether it's fundraising, event management, or public speaking, there are countless opportunities to develop and hone valuable skills through PTA involvement. As an introvert, penning/sharing my experiences before today, might have been a nightmare in the past. However, through my involvement with the PTA, I've not only learned to push boundaries of my comfort zone but also honed my skills in advocacy and persuasion, far surpassing my initial expectations. Contributing to the PTA is a triple win: it strengthens your bond with your child, enriches your community, and fosters personal growth and fulfillment.
Now, you might wonder, why should you contribute financially? Well, consider this: according to Albert Bandura’s social learning theory, children are likely to observe and replicate the spending behaviors of their parents, including discretionary spending habits! On average, we spend $3.01 daily on buying coffee. So, the choice is yours: $1 a day donation for a cause or $3 daily on a cup of joe?
In closing, I urge you to imagine the kind of world we want our children to inherit. Imagine what our world would be like today if historical figures we admire sipped their coffee and scrolled through their newsfeed letting others shape the future, the world we live in today. Choice is ours- Do we want to passively let others shape their future, or do we want to actively contribute to creating a better tomorrow? I hope you'll join me in shaping a brighter future through your involvement with the PTA.
Please review all open officer board and chair roles below.
Thank you!
Elected Officers (Executive Board)
Required Officers
The President, Treasurer and Secretary are the three key roles for establishing and running our PTA organization. We cannot have a PTA at Sinnott without filling these three positions.
Oversees and coordinates the work of an executive board.
Presides at PTA board and Association meetings.
Serves as the official contact, communicator and representative of the PTA.
Maintains permanent records to track unit funds and financial transactions.
Pays all PTA bills.
Prepares financial reports for meetings.
Prepare agendas for monthly board meetings and Association meetings
Record detailed minutes of all meetings
Maintain the PTA records and important documents.
Additional Officers
The following officers help support the President, Secretary and Treasurer to establish and run the PTA organization.
Works as the primary aide to the president.
Helps lead PTA towards specific goals and oversees programs set forth by the PTA.
Performs president’s duties in his/her absence.
Review and study the PTA bylaws.
Help update bylaws.
Enforce the standing rules of bylaws with justice, courtesy and partiality to none.
Responsible for auditing books and financial records of a PTA to determine their accuracy.
Will present written reports on audits to the board and the association for adoption.
Organize fundraising events.
Focus on raising the amount of funds needed to meet the unit's budget.
Presents reports on proposed fundraising events at Board and Association meetings for approval.
Fundraising tasks like connecting with local business, educational organizations, afterschools and restaurants etc.
Events Vice-President
Work with program and event chairs to organize exciting events that bring our school community together.
Captures, assembles and preserves record of activities and achievements of the PTA.
Collects volunteer hours for PTA meetings and events.
Completes and submits the PTA Unit-Annual Historian Report to the council/district PTA.
Appointed Program Chairs (Year-round)
We are proud to provide music classes to our school by trained parents volunteers. The chair's responsibilities include new docent recruitment, training, schedules, instrument management, meetings etc. It is a big commitment but very rewarding journey to try. Music background is preferred.
Coordinates with SIE organization to recruit and train parents volunteers ready to go into classroom to help K-G3 monthly science classes.
PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention & Support) to benefit our entire student population. Chair needs to recruit volunteers team to run the ROARS store once a month on Friday.
Reflections is a National PTA art program and contest. Students have an opportunity to express their artistic talents and submit entries in the areas of Literature, Music Composition, Photography, Visual Art, Film and Dance Choreography. The program chair will organize contest submissions, identify judges for each category, and prepare for Winners Day. They should allow a two-month time commitment from start to finish.
Coordinate with volunteers to provide robotic/lego classes/training to kids about once a week. Coding background is preferred.
Coordinate weekly speech classes run by high schoolers for our students and prepare for annual speech showcase for Grades 3-6.
Coordinate with competition site for sign-ups, conduct 4 ACSL contests at school and organize award ceremony during year-end celebration.
Coordinate with competition site for sign-ups, prepare monthly prep training sessions, and award ceremony during year-end celebration
Coordinate to sign up teams, recruit coaches and enable school participation in the Milpitas Elementary Science Olympiad conducted by Milpitas High School each year.
Coordinate with competition site for sign-ups, recruit coaches and organize award ceremony during year-end celebration.
Coordinate with competition site for sign-ups, recruit coaches and organize award ceremony during year-end celebration.
Help PTA members and the general public understand PTA's positive impact, events and programs by developing communication plan. Perform duties of electronic communications, email account, calendar, print publications, deadline schedules, social media etc.
There are many products you can buy now online at PTA website like spirit wear. Spirit wear helps build enthusiasm and a sense of community and is one of the fundraisers for the year. Chair needs to manage the stock and distribute orders at school.
Website management includes update information. domain name, website account and password, design pages etc. Coding background is a plus.
Appointed Event Chairs (One-time)
Our Spelling Committee shall assist in coordinating two competitions based on the guidelines and materials provided by official Scripps National program: Senior Spelling Bee (3rd-6th grade) and Junior Spelling Bee (TK-2nd grade). Tasks include distributing registration forms, track entries, and prepare supplies such as certificates and name tags for competition day. These events may take place in the month of January and the committee should plan a commitment time of two months to organize and complete both competitions from start to finish.
This is PTA’s largest community event of the school year and is designed to generate the necessary funds to cover expenses for the school year. Our Walk-A- Thon and Fall Fest Committee shall co-chair the event with a teacher. With the support of the board, they will design a detailed plan and schedule of the event and be invited to a board meeting for review and approval. Fellow Volunteer Chair will work closely to ensure committed volunteers are secured for the day. They should allow a three month commitment time for this event from start to finish.
Our Book Fair Chair will oversee the plans and execution of Book Fair at school. This is a four day event with parent volunteers. He/she should allow a one-month time commitment from the start of advertising the event to the completion of the event. We have 2-3 book fair events during each school year.
Let‘s help our planet to be greener by recycling many uniforms/ books/ costumes that are still new or in good shape. Chair will organize uniform and book exchange event normally about the end of school year around May. Halloween costume exchange might be organized in September.
Event chair will help organize STEAM showcase event at the school.
Event chair will help organize teacher appreciation events at the school.
Event chair will help organize the Game Night event at school.
Event chair will help organize the Movie Night event at school.
Event chair will help organize the Hands On Arts event at school.