President's Memo

This year has been off to a great start. In August, PTSA was happy to provide coffee and donuts to our staff during one of their training days. We also had some gift card drawings for staff who joined as PTSA members. Thank you to every staff member who has joined PTSA this year! Your partnership with PTSA (teachers are the T in PTSA) is critical to our success in enhancing the Southern experience for all students and families. It's not too late to join! Reach out to a PTSA member or stop in the library for a PTSA meeting. Our next meeting is October 24. You can also join via Zoom.

We continued August with our fundraiser, Boosterthon. For those of you unfamiliar with this fundraiser, students gathered pledges and then everyone participated in a super fun Color Run on September 19 (rescheduled from September 12 due to rainy conditions). The Boosterthon fundraiser pays for our entire PTSA budget, which includes over $13,000 for student experiences (field trips!). We are thrilled with the success of our fundraiser. We exceeded our goal of $20,000 by over $2,000. Way to go, Spartans!

I would also be remiss if I didn't thank the parent volunteers who came in to help with Boosterthon prizes as well as the Color Run. Our treasurer, Janice Watkins, kept up with all of it and ensured students were rewarded with their prizes daily. We could not have done it without her hard work!

And thanks to the generosity of Kochis Orthodontics, every staff and student received a free shirt for the Color Run.

We're excited to send every student on a quality field trip! Stay tuned for information from your student's teachers about upcoming field trips.

We wrapped up September with Kentucky Kids Day. It's a state PTA day to recognize our Kentucky kids. PTSA volunteers put together bags of candy for each of the nearly 800 students, just as a small gesture to say, "You matter."

Get involved with PTSA if you can. It doesn't have to be a big time commitment, there are always things going on. Parent/guardian involvement with PTSA is a volunteer opportunity to use your best talents in support of Southern Middle School and the success of our students. If you would like to be part of it, please email southernmiddleschoolptsa@gmail.com. You don't have to attend every meeting. You can review our minutes and agendas on the SMS PTSA website, and I've also listed some volunteer opportunities in this newsletter. We also post information on our Facebook page regularly. Be sure to like and follow SMS PTSA on Facebook as well as Southern Middle School. Ours is run by PTSA volunteers, and the Southern Middle School page is run by administration.

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it -- Many Hands Make Light Work! If you're not sure about how to get involved, please reach out. We're here to help you advocate for your student!

Thank you,

Kandace Bright

PTSA President