California Middle School has its newest organization in the form of the Parent Teacher Student Association.
After being a part of California Elementary School's parent teacher organization, several parents gathered together so they could create new and exciting opportunities for the student body at CMS.
The PTSA creates events for the school and seeks to promote education and communication between students and faculty. According to PTSA Co-Vice President Stacy Kusgen, she and several other members made the decision to create their organization after they found that the middle school did not have a PTO of its own.
While PTSA President Yvanna Blanke said the process took some time as they drafted by-laws and searched for other parents willing to join, the organization eventually gained school board approval as a legitimate group tied to the school. The PTSA became free to establish its own dances, parties, school activities and fundraisers.
The PTSA has since hosted a Halloween dance, a pumpkin carving contest, a CMS Pintos Dine-Out with several businesses and has taken to selling Pintos apparel. Any funds received from these activities will be put back toward creating events and opportunities for students.
"We are currently raising funds for our raffle (with the school in January)," Blanke said. "We specifically are raising funds for our teacher grants. How those work include teachers filling out an application for needs in their classrooms or their grade, they send an application, we review it and then we pay out accordingly."
Members said the PTSA plans to become a charitable organization in the future. They said they would like to give back to the community any way they can, but must wait before doing so. Blanke said this is because it takes a lot of time and money to be registered and licensed as a charitable organization.
As the group continues their work, they hope to build their organization from the ground up in order to gain status as a charity. Until then, the CMS PTSA will continue promoting education and offering students fun activities for them to engage in as a reward for their hard work. Members said they would like to thank their community for the support they have received so far in order to give California's students the credit they deserve.
"We've had a lot of amazing support from California," Kusgen said. "Local donations and donated items (are always appreciated). We're here to support the school and the students, as well as to put money back in the school."