At long last, it's a PTO news update!
Here we go again.
PTO meeting this Tuesday evening! Please come!
Donation opportunities abound!
If you voted this past Tuesday in the Johnson Elementary cafeteria, there’s an 84 percent chance or so that you are displeased with the national results, as evidenced by the following chart.
You can play around with Virginia election returns at this website, if you’re a weirdo like me who enjoys such things. Though Charlottesville City’s overall voter turnout was down this year compared to 2020, I am heartened by the fact that more people showed up at Johnson this year to vote than did in 2020, as far as I can tell. (This might simply be an artifact of COVID-related things, as I’m not sure I’m seeing all the absentee or early voting information in these charts, but I’ll stick with the optimism.) More people walked into Johnson Elementary on Tuesday to vote this time than last time. It’s good, that our little corner of the community is staying engaged! (The Johnson attendance zone map and the Johnson voter precinct map are not perfectly compatible, but it’s close.)
I believe—and I think I can safely speak for the rest of the PTO, here—that civic engagement is itself a virtue. The reason I voted on Tuesday at Johnson at all, despite knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that my one little vote would not have a determinative effect on the outcome of any race, is because of that belief. I think of my vote—more than for any one candidate or against another—as a vote of good faith in favor of our system of representative democracy. A system that is as flawed as it is human. A system that I still believe—as I was taught as far back as my own elementary school days—offers the best chance for us to collectively do civic good. To seek justice and protect our fundamental human dignity, together—because whatever else can be said about us, our ability to thrive as a species is a result of our unique super-ability to communicate and cooperate. To build these complex communities and maintain them in service of both the individual and the collective good.
This isn’t about politics. This is just America stuff. This is human stuff.
The PTO isn’t about politics, either, of course. But it is about civic engagement. And just as I don’t think my one silly little vote in an ocean of millions and millions of them actually matters, the PTO is a leap of faith that engagement itself is a virtue. That we can do good simply by showing up, together. Sure, we raise money and pour it back into the school to help the teachers and staff do their important and often thankless job of educating our kids—and that is important and gratifying. But the more important thing is simply coming together, looking a roomful of people in the eye, and knowing that even when we’re not all pulling in the same direction, at least we showed up to pull. There is virtue in just showing up.
So no matter how you voted or whether you were able to vote at all, you’re invited to show up at the Johnson Elementary cafeteria on Tuesday evening at 6:00 for a PTO meeting. We’ll have barbecue sandwiches and mac and cheese from the Korner Restaurant for dinner, and we’ll have a presentation from Virginia529 to give information and answer questions about college savings plans for your family. There will be childcare, so bring the kids. Maybe you have thoughts about the elementary school rezoning process, or the elementary school renaming situation, or anything else—whatever it is, the PTO isn’t a bad place to start getting the word out. When you feel your voice is being lost in a sea of millions, the perfect cure is an hour (or less!) in an elementary school cafeteria on a Tuesday night, with a bunch of people who want nothing more than to see you show up. Because there is virtue—and reward—in just showing up. (And barbecue sandwiches, too.)
November Sunshine Sign-up
PTO co-chair and esteemed treasurer Jill is heading up the November Sunshine Committee effort, and needs your help! Please click the button below to sign up to bring in the supplies she needs to thrill the Johnson staff with a baked potato bar!
Donors Choose
Are you familiar with Donors Choose? It’s a platform for teachers to directly raise money for projects in their classrooms. You can visit the website and search through all sorts of worthy projects. Two Johnson teachers currently have fundraising requests up on that platform, including Johnson’s own Mrs. Shifflett, who is looking for money to “help me give my students organizational skills and independence for our new program while developing our fine motor skills.” Click the button below to consider helping her out!
Johnson Needs Helmets!
If you are able to donate kids-sized bicycle helmets in new or excellent condition (no damage from accidents), please get in touch! The PTO can take them off your hands and get them to where they need to go. You can even bring them to the meeting on Tuesday, if you’re able. Thanks!