Greenbelt Elementary School Holds Year's First PTA Meeting

Crowded in the media room at Greenbelt Elementary School, parents sat around exchanging first-day-of-school stories and waited for the first Parent-Teacher Association meeting to begin Tuesday night.

The meeting began with an announcement of good news; the used book sale during the Labor Day weekend events earned $13,000 for the school.

"This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and we could not be happier with the turnout," PTA President Lucy Dierkson said. Dierkson, who grew up in Prince George's County and has three children currently enrolled in the school system, said the money's usage was voted on last year and usually goes toward covering field trips for children who cannot pay or to the new public address system. She said the board decides on any other expenses that arise.

Dierkson also stressed throughout the meeting that the PTA has an entirely new board running it and they are in need of parent volunteers to help.

"We have a big school and to have people involved is the only way we'll function," she said. "If I look at in small steps, everything can happen."

Kimberly Seidel, Greenbelt's principal, was also at the meeting with several announcements. Seidel was happy to announce that the first day of school ran very smoothly and made sure to thank the PTA for providing breakfast and lunch for teachers on the first day.

Seidel also announced they will have a walk to school day Oct. 6, which is a program continued from last year that aims to encourage families to walk to school together in the morning to cut down on traffic and get to know other Greenbelt parents. Along with event announcements, Seidel also said that Greenbelt's test scores were relatively high and they just needed a slight improvement in math scores.

The school needs more sixth grade volunteers, specifically math tutors. There will be an opportunity for parents interested in volunteering their time to fill out the paperwork and fees it takes to become a tutor or chaperone in Prince George's County public schools.

Oct. 5, parents can meet in the cafeteria from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. for a $7 commercial clearance background check, which is necessary for field trip chaperones or they can participate in the $60 full-clearance and finger-printing background check that makes them eligible for tutoring and can be waived if the parent agrees to volunteer 40 hours of their time.

The next PTA meeting is Oct. 5 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the media room at Greenbelt Elementary School.