Why you shouldn't be intimidated by PACA

I have been a CA parent for several years now, but this is the first time that I have been actively involved with PACA.  I have happily supplied cookies, been a field-trip chaperone and classroom reader, but being part of the larger parent organization has until now, held no interest.  Why? 

I was intimidated by what I thought was a select group of parents setting the tone for PACA.  Social anxiety, anyone?

I work, albeit part-time.  How could I fit it into my schedule?

I didn't want to navigate what I thought would be a highly bureaucratic and political machine (code: that means that I don't always play well with others; maybe I should spend some time in PreK?)

This year I took the PACA plunge, spurred by a volunteer opportunity (this blog) that I felt would suit my skill set and my schedule.  And I realize that I should have done this sooner.  

The first PACA meeting of the year will be held this Wednesday, September 5 at 8am. You should come.  If not to this meeting, then to another.  This is why:

PACA is made up of regular peeps.  Seriously.  We all share a common dedication to provide our kids with a fine, independent school education; consequently, we all share the same challenges: financial burdens, transportation difficulties and the concern that we are doing our best to raise responsible, productive and ethical citizens.  We share far more than you think.

PACA is our community.  We have all eschewed a free public education by selecting CA, which means that we don't have the built-in "community" that is nurtured through neighborhoods and at bus stops. We are spread throughout Central Ohio and represent a unique diversity of families.  PACA and its events form the community that is essential for our school. 

You should know what is going on at your kid's school.  By coming to a PACA meeting, you get to hear what is really going on at CA.  No one is going to make you stand up and introduce yourself or force you to sign up for volunteer activities that you are not interested in. Scouts honor. You get to know the faculty, the administration— which will seem important especially when you or your kid NEED something from them.  Finally, you get to know all the cool stuff that is happening at CA— and there is a lot of it.  

There was an interesting take on parent volunteering in this Sunday's New York Times— an article by Bruce Feiler titled, “It’s OK to Skip That Bake Sale.”  I would suggest a read and I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Feiler maintains that many of us operate with an “ethos of over parenting” and exist in a world where, “volunteering [at school] has become a status symbol of sorts." That may be true for some, agreed.  However, Feiler emphatically states that the most important thing we can do as parents is to be involved with our child's education.  

That's what PACA is all about.