If you are interested in any of these committees or events, please contact the any member of the PTO Board or email underwoodpto@gmail.com. See descriptions of each below.
Committees
- Creative Arts and Sciences (CASC): This committee helps enrich the district curriculum by bringing special programming in music, dance, drama, the fine arts, and sciences to Underwood. Working closely with teachers, volunteers select and organize speakers and other activities for the entire school as well as curriculum-related activities targeted to each classroom.
- Understanding Our Differences (UOD): This committee coordinates a special curriculum for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students about what it is like to have a disability and how to be a good friend to someone who has one. Volunteers help students understand certain handicaps, provide them with opportunities to have frank discussions with people who have these handicaps, and respect the humanity of each individual regardless of differences.
- Community Outreach: This committee provides opportunities for students to make the school, community, and world a better place. Examples of past activities include Halloween UNICEF collections, winter coat and boot drives, and food collections for local food pantries.
- Room Parents: This committee solicits volunteers and coordinates room parents throughout the year. Room parents serve as a link between teachers and families by assisting teachers in communicating with families about upcoming events and recruiting volunteers for field trips, donations, and other activities, organizing a schedule for library volunteers for the class, and coordinating holiday and year-end gifts for teachers and classroom aides.
- Volunteer Coordinator: This committee helps other committees create volunteer sign-ups to match parent volunteers up with events and activities where assistance is needed.
Events
- Mystery Dinner : This committee plans an annual school-wide fall parent social evening starting with an appetizer party for all parents, followed by dinner parties at surprise locations throughout the neighborhood, and concluding with a reunion for dessert and a nightcap. Volunteers solicit host families, get diners to sign up, and plan seating for the big night.
- Teacher Appreciation: This committee helps plan the teacher appreciation luncheon each year in February.
- Camp Fair: This committee brings together over 30 different day and overnight camps into a single space and affords both the Underwood community AND the broader local and regional community the opportunity to meet in person with Camp Directors and to learn more about various camps. This event takes place in February.
- Online Auction: This committee plans an annual fundraising auction, which takes place in early March each year. The auction is typically the PTO’s largest fundraiser and the money raised through the online auction supports most of the PTO’s other programming throughout the year. Volunteers solicit and organize donations and the bidding process.
- First Annual Walk-A-Thon: In late April, the Underwood PTO will sponsor the first annual Underwood walk-a-thon. This committee will coordinate the online and in person event logistics.
- Carnival: This committee runs the annual school carnival that takes place on the first Friday in June each year. There are games, bouncy houses, prizes, and snow cones. It is a great community building event and fun for kids and adults alike.
- Color Day: This committee assists the physical education teacher in coordinating relay race type field-day activities on a school morning in June. Volunteers help run stations.