Our founders represented women of imagination and courage. They had a simple idea—to improve the lives and future of all children. They understood the power of individual action, worked beyond the accepted barriers of their day, and took action to change the world for all children. Founders’ Day (February 17) is when we celebrate the legacy and work of our founders—Alice McLellan Birney, Phoebe Apperson Hearst and Selena Sloan Butler—to better the lives of every child in education, health and safety. It is a time to reflect and take pride in our achievements and renew our commitment to be a: powerful voice for all children; relevant resource for parents; and strong advocate for public education.                                                

Here are some celebration ideas to mark PTA Founders Day:

1. Publicly share your PTA’s history. Gather memorabilia, articles, old flyers and other fun things that have been around since the founding of your PTA and display it in the school, on a bulletin, or host a special event around it. Take snap shots and share on the web or social media.

2. Share major successes your local PTA and the accomplishments of your state PTA and National PTA. Publish a brochure or newsletter at PTA meetings or school events.

3. Celebrate your past and present volunteers. Hold a celebratory luncheon to honor the hard workers in your PTA. Maybe present a small token of appreciation, a certificate of service award or just a thank you note to let them know they have made a difference.

4. Plan a Founders Day event at your school. Recognize the PTA Founders with an event that celebrates community and education. Include a wall of PTA history, games, music, or however you want to draw in the community to share with them PTA’s 120 year history.

5. Host a Founder’s Day community service. Plan a community action that provides a service for recognition. Clean up the streets, shovel walks for seniors, host a pancake breakfast, volunteer for a city event or build a book house. Advertise it and share that your service as PTA members is in honor of Founders’ Day observance.

6. Ask the students to draw their ideas of what PTA means to them. Share and tweet student drawings on social media, hold a contest for the favorite images and make buttons to share for all!

7. Make a short video. Cell phone videos are easy to make and a 30 second clip of “What founders’ Day means for PTA.” is easy to watch, easy to share and can quickly highlight why it’s important to recognize the development of PTA.

8. Dedicate a bench or a plaque. Find a way to incorporate a paver into a local park, a bench for the school, or a plaque to hang that celebrates our Founders’ Success.

9. Donate a book to the library. Find a way to incorporate a bit of history on education and leaders into your school library. Or dedicate books to the library in honor of Founders’ Day.

10. Create a word search, a coloring page, a cutout or other activity. Create grab and go sheets to offer classrooms with a brief paragraph on the history of PTA the Founders and why PTA’s are important.

Download your Founders’ Day Celebration Idea’s Here.