Gone are the days where you had to become a year-round P.T.A/P.T.O. member, classroom volunteer, tutor, or field trip chaperone in order to serve in some noteworthy capacity at your child’s school. There are so many ways to get involved nowadays that we, as parents, have no excuse for our passivity or inactivity. If you prefer more of the behind-the-scenes action than the in-your-face variety, when it comes to parent participation at your child’s school, let me give you some options to consider. Try out one or more of the following: donating to the classroom prize, snack, or supplies closet; ordering items from the school fundraiser and encouraging other family members and friends to do so; contributing monetary support or new/slightly used school uniform pieces, books, and supplies to the school for students in need, helping your child with homework (may I reiterate help as in assist, not do), and collecting Box Tops and sending them to your child’s school.
I’d like to discuss the Box Tops option for a moment; because this is a parent volunteer activity that takes a minimal amount of effort to execute but gets overlooked quite frequently. Picture using the last little bit of your regularly purchased food or household product and throwing its packaging or container away before simply using a pair of scissors to remove a rectangle-shaped label with the words “Box Tops for Education”. I mean we’re talking about a couple of extra minutes to clip a label off of a qualified product commonly found in your home…a label that will provide your child’s school with 10 cents for each one collected and turned in to the school. Easy…peasy, right? Right. Well, it should be a simple endeavor. But, I speak from personal experience when I admit that, in the past, I have been guilty of nonchalantly dismissing the importance of Box Tops and disposing of them without giving proper reflection to the benefit they provide to schools.
If you’re not too sure about this whole Box Tops thing, I want you to try to change your outlook on the matter. For every, “it’s too late to start collecting Box Tops so why start now”, think of it as “it’s never to late to start because schools can use money any time.” And for every “I don’t have children in school anymore so why collect”, think of it as “I don’t have a child in school but I know of a child that I can collect Box Tops for.” (I mean I personally ask the grandparents to clip and save their Box Tops for Little Man. It just adds even more to his collection).
Lastly, I want you to really contemplate this question: what is the opportunity cost of saving Box Tops? Here’s my quick answer: maybe a few minutes of your time in doing something else. And when I really think about it, the benefits totally outweigh any associated costs. It’s actually a win-win situation for both parties. You get to fulfill your parental involvement within the school community and your child’s school gets to receive money to use for its advancement. Who knows…your child, child’s classroom, or school might even get some kind of personalized incentive for participating. And remember that every little bit of effort adds up and will make a difference if more parents could take on this collective voluntary mission. So, in this school year, let’s work towards a Box Tops bonanza instead of remaining in our Box Tops bypassing ways. I’m game! Check out BTFE.com for more information.
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