PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Publication
Contact: Catherine Janis 305-595-0981, 786-201-4409
February 6, 2007
The Little Engine That Could!
That is how it felt from their shoes according to one member of the South Florida Preschool PTA (SFPPTA), a little known organization whose name belies its true identity. SFPPTA is an arm of the Florida and National PTA, however it is not affiliated with any particular preschool, nor do you have to have a child in a preschool. It is a mom's support group and child advocacy group with many social and community service activities. The group is open to all moms of preschool age children from infancy to age seven.
One of the SFPPTA's community service projects this years is the Dorothy M. Wallace COPE Center. Established in 1972, the COPE Center provides continuing opportunities for a purposeful education (COPE) to teen parents who have mad ethe commitment to keep their babies and also stay in school. COPE provides various support services and assistance teen parents need in order to succeed as mothers and in academics.
Each month the girls at the school attend special parenting classes and in the month of February they were focusing on the importance of reading to your child. The Center wanted to supply each student a copy of the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" to read to their child, but at the retail price of $7.95 per book and with a student body of 150 that was out of their reach.
That's when the SFPPTA stepped up - they were the engine that could! One enthusiastic member, Janet Moorhead, contacted the book's publisher (Holtzbrinck) who agreed to sell the books to the PTA for half price and ship them for free. The PTA did some fundraising and purchased all of the books for the school. Andrea Loring, the vice principal of the COPE Center said this was far more than she had hoped for. The alliance with the SFPPTA is a new one and in just one month it has proved to be a partnership that will be beneficial to all. the moms at the SFPPTA are expecially excited to be working with these young mothers and look forward to providing mentoring as well as other assistance.
In addition to working with the COPE Center, the SFPPTA also participates in community service projects with the Community Partnership for the Homeless. In the past they have hosted migrant holiday dinners, worked with Adopt-A-Family and Prevent Blindness Florida. They have many social activities such as book clubs, craft group, mom's night outs, couple's night, playgroups for children, and have monthly meetings with a speaker (the second Thursday of the month) that are open to all. The speakers, many well known, cover topics from parenting issues to couples issues, stress, time management and more. The meetings are held from 9:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. at Kendal United Methodist Church Social Hall 7600 SW 104 Street in Pinecrest.
If you are interested in becoming involved in the SFPPTA please call Cathy Janis at 305-595-0981 or visit www.sfppta.org on the internet.
Submitted by
Catherine Janis, Vice President SFPPTA