August 17, 2009

Dear Satchel Ford Family:

Welcome back (or welcome to!) to Satchel Ford!  It is hard to believe the new school year is here.  We hope the transition from the summer routine to the school routine will be easy and hassle free for each of you. 

We are truly honored to serve as PTO Presidents this school year.  We have “big shoes” to fill as our predecessors, Erin and Geddings Crawford, and others that served before them, have built a strong foundation for us as a PTO. We are privileged to have an excellent board, but more importantly, an exceptional group of students and parents. With your involvement, we know that it will be a fun and successful year for everyone in our Satchel Ford family.

The PTO is an extremely active organization, yet purposeful.   Our goals, as set forth by our bylaws, are as follows:

• to support and promote the educational programs of Satchel Ford Elementary School

• to work cooperatively with the community, educators, parents and children to enrich the educational standards of the school, and

• to assist in providing an educational climate, which will enrich the lives of the students.

As you know, 100% of all money raised by the PTO benefits our classrooms and our children.  We have and will continue to use this money to upgrade technology, supplies, and resources in the classrooms.  We will continue to make improvements to both the interior and exterior of our school home.  We will continue to assist, recognize and thank our teachers and administration for the wonderful and challenging job they are doing with our children.  We will promote SFE as a great place for all children to be. 

We are fortunate to have an outstanding web master, Edye Blencowe, and web site- www.sfpto.org.  Here you will find information on everything happening at Satchel Ford, from upcoming events to volunteer opportunities.  We encourage you to take advantage of this great resource.  You can also subscribe to the eBulletin by sending an email to enews and write “subscribe” in the subject line.

On a final note, we would like to ask each of you to please join the PTO.   Everyone is encouraged and welcome!  It takes the entire team to achieve success, so 100% membership is our goal.  The PTO is OUR organization.  By joining, you are showing the rest of our Satchel Ford Family that we are all in this together.  Whether you can commit one hour or several, we can find something for you to do!  Through your ideas and involvement, we can remain the only “excellent” elementary school in Richland One and one of the best elementary schools in Columbia!

We look forward to seeing you in the halls and in the classrooms throughout the year.  Please feel free to contact us or members of your board at any time with questions, concerns or words of wisdom.  After all, we are all in this together!  Have a great school year and GO SATCHEL FORD!

Sincerely,

Carla and Michael Graf
PTO Presidents, 2009-2010
803-787-2656

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Officers of the Satchel Ford PTO: