I am the P.L.U.S. Chair for the 2019-2020 school year. P.L.U.S. stands for Parents Lending Useful Support and is our parent volunteer community that serves the school. We have a wide range of events and activities that we put on throughout the year. We have chairs for each committee and they will be asking for parents to join their committees in the beginning of the year. This is the best way to get involved and meet other parents. Below is a preview of all the different committees and events we help with throughout the year. I hope you will get involved with PLUS!
Lisa Marre
P.L.U.S. Chair 2019-2020
Chairperson: The PLUS Chairperson is responsible for the administration of all PLUS activities and presides over the PLUS board meetings throughout the school year, including the annual May luncheon. Additionally, before the school year begins, some hours are spent for preparation of back-to-school events and planning for the upcoming school year. The Chairperson will attend the School Commission meetings as the representative from PLUS. In addition, the Chairperson will serve as Advisor and Nominating Chair for the following year.
Assistant Chairperson: The Assistant PLUS Chairperson assists the Chairperson in all PLUS events. In addition, the Assistant Chairperson is responsible for organizing Teacher Appreciation Week which takes place in May. The Assistant Chairperson will serve as Chairperson the following year.
Recording Secretary: The Recording Secretary will attend the PLUS meeting to create meeting notes from the PLUS meetings that happen through the year.
Treasurer: The Treasurer is the bookkeeper for PLUS and all of its activities. The Treasurer is responsible for maintaining and monitoring budgets/expenditures for each committee and communicating all fiscal matters with the PLUS Chairperson and Assistant Chairperson. The Treasurer also communicates and works with the Parish Accountant / Bookkeeper. This position is a two-year commitment.
Advisor and Nominating Chair: This position is filled by the PLUS Chairperson from the previous year. The Advisor is available to advise the Chairperson as needed. In the Nominating role, the Advisor will help the PLUS Chairperson and the Assistant Chairperson work on nominating future Board positions along with a Nominating Committee comprised of three previous PLUS Board members.
COMMITTEES
Art-a-la-Carte: Art-a-la-Carte (AALC) is an art enrichment program presented to the students by AALC docents (volunteers). All parents will have an opportunity to teach an AALC lesson sometime during the year. The AALC committee will need a class coordinator for each class or grade to assist with the scheduling. The AALC Chairperson and Assistant Chairperson work together to recruit and train docents to teach the pre-prepared curriculum to students in grades K through 3rd.
Bake Sale: The Bake Sale Committee is responsible for organizing a bake sale which is held during the Brown Bag Lunches. Brown Bag Lunch typically takes place early in the school year in September as well as in January in conjunction with Catholic Schools Week. Proceeds from the Bake Sale are used to support PLUS events.
Book Fair: SMCS has two Book Fairs each year. One book fair is in the late Fall and one is in the Spring. Under the direction and guidance of the librarian, the Book Fair is designed to promote school spirit and encourage student reading. The Book Fair supports the school by raising money and collecting book donations for the library. PLUS provides volunteer assistance to the librarian during the book fairs.
Care and Concerns: The mission of the Care and Concerns Committee is to care for and serve those people in our school who have special needs at any given time. These needs may include births, deaths, hospitalization, illness, or any other unforeseen situations where we may show our love for others. We offer this help to our school families as a loving extension of God and his care for us. The committee organizes assistance such as carpools, meals, playdates, and prayers.
Docents: This committee assists the school administration with the promotion of the school to interested/potential /prospective parents at the Open House event held in the fall. The committee coordinates with the SMCS administrative staff regarding the following: decorating the PLC, greeting prospective parents, and assisting with guided campus tours on the day of the Open House.
8th Grade Moms Farewell Luncheon: This committee will help plan a luncheon to honor the parents of 8th Grade students. The committee will help plan and decorate for this event. They will work with the hospitality chairs to set-up and clean-up for this event.
Concessions: The PLUS Chair and Assistant PLUS Chair coordinate the running of the concession stand during Field Day. A committee is formed to help the chairs with stocking the concession stand and selling during Field Day. On Brown Bag Lunch Days another member of PLUS will coordinate the outside sale of Chick-Fil-A as an option for our students and will rely on volunteers.
Hospitality: The Hospitality Committee supports parents and staff by coordinating the delivery, set up and take-down of refreshments for various events and activities during the school year. The events serviced by this committee include (1) PLUS Welcome Back Coffee (fall), (2) New Family Check In (fall), (3) Open House (fall), (4) Grandparent Day (fall), (5) Teacher Appreciation Week, (6) New Family Coffee (spring) and (7) End of Year Luncheons (spring).
Halloween Carnival - All School
This committee organizes volunteers, supplies, activities, and decor for the carnival booths. The 2019 carnival will take place on Friday, October 25 in the early evening.
Middle School Dances: There are (2) two dances attended by the 6 – 8 th graders. Under the direction of the middle school Assistant Principal and Principal, this committee is in charge of party planning, hiring a disc jockey, selling tickets, decorating and coordinating volunteers and chaperones.
New Family Sponsors: This committee is responsible for the matching of new St. Michael families with a current, sponsor family to serve them throughout the year as a point of information and assistance. In addition, the committee will coordinate with Hospitality to host the New Family Coffee in the Fall and the Welcome Coffee during the Spring. This will include extending an invitation to our new and host families, décor and set-up/takedown after the event.
Red Ribbon Week
This committee helps the chair organize guest speakers and possibly class or grade level incentives to help our students pledge to be drug free. It is a week long event usually in correlation with the National Red Ribbon Week sometime in October.
Room Parents: The primary role of this committee is to manage the selection of the Head Room Parent and Assistant Room Parents for each class. This committee will gather interested parents and place them in a classroom as a Room Parent for the school year. The Chair and Assistant Chair will make notebooks for each of the Head and Assistant Room Parents that include information regarding the organization of class parties, budget/reimbursements, faculty birthdays, Read-A-Story and the 8th Grade Graduation. Room parent forms are due at a date specified each August, followed by a mandatory Room Parent meeting.
Social: This committee will plan a designated number of social events for the SMCS community throughout the year. These events are meant to provide an opportunity for school families to gather and build community. Typically, this will consist of one event in the Fall and one in the Spring; however, this may change on a yearly basis depending on the school calendar. The fall 2019 event is the Houston Astros game on Sunday, September 22.
Special Events: This committee will research and seek out good speakers that PLUS will host for the parents of the school periodically. The Chair and Assistant Chair will work with the PLUS Chairperson to procure speakers that will provide insight and information on social and educational issues that might be interesting to the parents of our school.
Steps 4 Students: This committee is responsible for all race-related communication with both SMCS and the Steps for Students organization and will work closely with our school development office. The committee will secure sign-up incentives, coordinate the design of race day shirt and distribute race day packets. In addition, they will set up the race day tent, supply food, drinks and manage the takedown and clean up at the end of race day.
Teacher Birthdays: The Chair and Assistant Chairs will work with the principal to plan a monthly birthday treat honoring the faculty birthdays of the month. The Chair and Assistant Chairs will organize the ordering, delivery and set up of each of the birthday month treats.
Take a Chance Raffle: This committee handles all the business of the Take a Chance Raffle leading up to the Halloween Carnival. The Chair and Assistant Chair will coordinate a volunteer group to make the baskets and facilitate the ticket sales at lunch prior to the Halloween Carnival. The Committee Chair and Assistant Chair will work with the Halloween Chairs to coordinate this fund-raiser for the school. Take a Chance Raffle tickets are sold at lunch the week prior to the Halloween Carnival.
Teacher Appreciation: Teacher Appreciation activities are planned and coordinated by the Assistant PLUS Chair. A committee is formed to help the Assistant Chair with needs pertaining to Teacher Appreciation.
Uniform Closet: This committee assists the parents of St. Michael students by collecting and organizing outgrown uniforms to be re-used by those who need them. The committee will periodically collect and size usable uniform items which have been donated or remain unclaimed in the school’s lost and found. These uniforms are then stored in the PLUS storage closet in the workroom by the school office. The PLUS closet is always accessible during the school year. This committee will also help organize lost and found items to be on display for parents during brown bag lunches.