Volunteers needed for annual Fall Fest
All parents of students attending Albany schools are requested to volunteer and help with the annual Parent-Teacher Organization’s Fall Fest next weekend, and local room mothers are working with coordinator Malarie Sutton to finalize plans for the fundraising event.
The Fall Fest benefits all grades, even through high school, and all parents and teachers are asked to help.
“Please volunteer and help us out,” said Sutton, “We really need parents to sign up and get all the shifts covered so everything runs smoothly. Anyone interested in helping can contact me by leaving a text message at 325-762-6368.”
She added that Shayna Duke is also helping organize the event.
The PTO’s 2018 fall celebration will take place on Saturday, Oct. 27 on the campus of Nancy Smith Elementary School, and this year, for the first time, will include the Ministerial Alliance sponsored Trunk or Treat.
Trunk or Treat will be set up between the school and the bus barn from 5:00 until 6:30 p.m.
According to Sutton, an air castle will be set up in the courtyard in front of the cafeteria.
The cafeteria, which traditionally draws a large crowd, will begin serving at 5:00 p.m. to accommodate those who wish to eat right away. Booths and games are slated to open at 5:30 p.m. and close around 8:30 p.m., except for the Bingo booth which traditionally ends a little later, after all the prizes have been awarded.
The annual costume contest will provide entertainment for diners. The competition will start with the youngest group at 7:00 p.m. on the cafeteria stage, with winners selected by age and grade.
Cafeteria Help Requested
Michaela Smith and Tisha Wilkins are co-coordinators of the lunchroom and volunteers are needed to help prepare food beforehand.
“We have people signed up to help during the actual event, but we still need volunteers to help on Friday, and on Saturday morning,” said Smith. “We plan to start prepping the food in the NSES cafeteria at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26. We will continue cooking throughout the day on Saturday, Oct. 27.”
Those who can volunteer to help prepare the cafeteria food are asked to contact Smith at 214-883-5087.
Albany High School ag classes will again set up the framework for the Fall Fest booths on Wednesday before the event, eliminating the need for parents to perform the setup on Saturday morning.
Volunteers are asked to go to NSES at 9:00 a.m. on the day of the Fall Fest to get the games ready and decorate the booths.
Volunteers Needed
Room mothers have tried to contact every student’s parents.
“We need all parents to help out,” said Sutton. “It can be a struggle to get enough workers. We hope that if you have a student, you are willing to do your fair share.”
Parents who haven’t already signed up or heard from someone about requirements for their child’s class should contact a room mother.
Parents can check with the school or their child’s teacher to find out who the room mothers are for their student’s class.
Junior high and high school classes have booths too, and those booths need to have their shifts covered as well.
Mothers of freshmen and seniors are reminded that they are responsible for bringing two desserts. Freshmen mothers bring two desserts each for the Cake Walk, with senior mothers providing two pies or cakes each for the cafeteria.
“The big booths are the fourth grade Bingo, the cafeteria, the freshman class cake walk, and the senior desserts,” Wilkins said. “Many of the people in town will be asked to help out.”
Funds earned by the PTO function are funneled back into the local school system, benefitting both students and teachers.
The group sponsors and purchases items for Cub Mart. In addition, the annual fundraiser helps the PTO give scholarships to graduating seniors, and gives money to the district for special projects.
The PTO recently contributed $500 toward the cost of the run-through “A” that made its debut at the Homecoming football game. The organization is also working on getting teachers some extra funds to use in their classrooms.
“We do this for the kids,” Wilkins said. “We need help in all the booths, but especially the cafeteria, Bingo, and cake walk, because they are the busiest. Please help if you can.”
