For more information about our PTA officers, committee, and contact information for committee chairs, see the Officers and Committee Chairs for 2023-2024.
These pages describe the standing committees for the current school year. If you are interested in getting involved in any of these activities, please express your interests using our volunteer interest form.
These pages describe the standing committees for the current school year. If you are interested in getting involved in any of these activities, please express your interests using our volunteer interest form.
Standing Committees
Advocacy
The advocacy committee shall develop and organize meetings, activities, and programs to further the goals and purposes of PTA. This committee is tasked with improving communications and relationships between school staff and families; educating families and caregivers on important issues related to the health and educational success of their children; and helping to make each child’s potential a reality.
NOTE: This committee chair is required by state PTA and must be entered into MemberHub.
NOTE: This committee chair is required by state PTA and must be entered into MemberHub.
Audit Committee
In July-August, the Audit Committee conducts a sampling audit of the PTA Treasurer's books for the prior year. This committee is comprised of 3 people who were members of the PTA for the audit year. The NCPTA Annual Financial review report is completed and filed online in the NC PTA database by August 31.
Book Fair
The Book Far is one-week event, usually held twice a year. During the fair, students are given the opportunity to purchase books. Responsibilties include: collaborate with the Media Specialist to arrange dates and setup of books fair with book vendor; arrange for volunteers during the duration of the fair to assist students with preview and purchases, serve as cashiers, work Family Night, perform setup and pack-up of books; develop and distribute flyers to teachers/staff/parents; publicize the event; create wish list forms for students and teachers; arrange for entertainment/games on Family Night; arrange with Treasurer for cash box change and for daily deposits of revenues on purchase days.
COUGAR FUN RUN
The Cougar Fun Run is Swift Creek PTA's only main fundraiser. The revenues from this fundraiser constitute most of the operating budget for the year. Students get pledges for laps walked in a 20-minute period. Responsibilities include: set date with PTA President and principal; develop and distribute parent and teacher information; publicize event through newsletter articles, flyers, posters, and so on; develop an incentive plan for students; organize volunteers for the day of the event and for counting money in the days before and after the event; direct activities on the day of the event; make arrangements with the Treasurer for deposits of revenues on days of counting
COUGAR COUNTER
The Cougar Counter is our store. It is open a half hour before school starts most Tuesday and Thursday mornings throughout the school year. The store sells school supply items such as pencils, erasers, pens, science fair boards, and so on. Responsibilities include: order and reorder products; submit articles for the newsletter as necessary; coordinate parent volunteers to run the store (volunteers must be paid members of the PTA.); prepare deposits and submit to Treasurer as necessary; maintain an adequate supply of change in case drawer.
Cultural Arts
Cultural Arts assemblies are scheduled for students periodically throughout the school year. Swift Creek PTA tries to provide 3-4 performances a year. Responsibilities include: attend Cultural Arts fair sponsored by the United Arts Council (usually held in August prior to school starting) and recommend artists and performers who will visit Swift Creek during that year; work with school administration and performers to arrange performances; publicize the performance schedule at school, through the newsletter, etc.; maintain budget and coordinate compensation to performers with the Treasurer; may also arrange for Visiting Artists to complement school curriculum; ensures all contracts are signed by the PTA President as necessary.
District 5 Council Representative
Advisory Councils are setup by district based on which school board member the school falls under. Swift Creek Elementary is currently in District 5. Swift Creek's principal selects one representative to attend regular meetings. This representative then reports meeting highlights during PTA business meetings and/or through newsletter articles. The representative also solicits concerns from Swift Creek parents and takes those concerns to the Advisory Council meetings.
Grade PaRENT
Each year, classroom teachers rely on parents to plan and coordinate special learning experiences and activities. Responsibilities include: work with teachers to identify the room parent(s) in each classroom; help recruit "surrogate room parents" to support teachers in the event they have no grade parent volunteer; plan and direct an informational meeting for grade parent volunteers; work with Hospitality committee to coordinate activities during Teacher Appreciation week; provide grade parent list to any committee who needs to recruit volunteers for their activity.
Healthy LifeSTYLEs
The Healthy Lifestyles committee works with school administration and teachers to educate students on healthy lifestyle choices with food, exercise, and decision making. Responsibilities include: coordinating weekly classroom activities aimed at getting kids moving; organizing walking/running clubs at recess; providing programs in the classroom to discuss subjects like nutrition and exercise; coordinating Family Fun Walks 3-4 times a year where familiies get together at local parks to walk hiking trails together; provide incentive opportunities for students who improve their activity levels throughout the year.
Hospitality
The Hospitality committee coordinates refreshments that are served at various functions throughout the year. Primary events include the Welcome Back Teacher breakfast (August), Early Release day lunches, and Teacher Appreciation Week activities (breakfasts, lunches, gifts, etc.). Hospitality also helps to coordinate special treats for other appreciation weeks such as custodians, cafeteria, principal/administrative staff, and bus drivers. Hospitality also helps to recognize teacher/staff birthdays throughout the year. Responsibilities include: develop themes and menus for each event; distribute flyers to teachers/staff as necessary to inform of events; arrange for volunteers to prepare/donate food for various events or to arrange with food vendors when items are catered; arrange for volunteers for serving/hostessing, setup and cleanup; submit articles for the newsletter announcing events and thanking volunteer help.
Garden
The Garden committee works to keep our school grounds maintained. Responsibilities include: plan landscaping projects in collaboration with the PTA board and principal; organize campus cleanup days throughout the school year; coordinate volunteers to assist with these projects; advertise cleanup days through flyers, newsletter articles, etc.
MEMBERSHIP
Recruiting families to join the Swift Creek PTA is crucial to meeting our goals and objectives. The majority of activity for this committee takes place in the week before school begins through the first few weeks of the school year. Responsibilities include: getting membership cards from the NCPTA; plan and distribute teacher and staff invitations; develop and distribute flyers to parents to recruit families to join the PTA; set up membership table at Meet the Teacher (before school starts), Kindergarten Meet the Teacher (one week into school), and Open House (in September); assist in the recruitment of volunteers for various PTA committees; track all members who join and submit Membership list (and updates as necessary) online to the NCPTA database and submit dues to the Treasurer; arrange incentives for families to join (such as free Chick-Fil-A sandwich, free loaf of bread from Great Harvest, free snow cone from Pelicans); return unused membership cards to NCPTA (March)
Newsletter
School and PTA work together to distribute (weekly) emails to notify parents about what is happening in the upcoming week. This newsletter info is also posted to the home page of the PTA website.
Nominating Committee
The Nominating Committee is formed in January of each school year. The purpose of this committee is to nominate and present a slate of officers for the following school year at the April PTA meeting. The Nominating committee also works with current committee chairs to ensure all committee chair openings for the following school year are covered. Responsibilities include: electing own chairperson; advertising through flyers/newsletters/emails to parents requesting nominations for officer/committee chair positions; meeting as a group to identify individuals to fill the roles of the executive committee and of any open committees; contacting individuals to determine their willingness to serve in the nominated role; assisting with the vote for the slate of candidates at the May General Membership meeting. Neither the PTA President nor the Principal may be members of the Nominating Committee.
PAINLESS FUNDRAISERS
The Painless Fundraisers committee identifies fundraising opportunities for our school that take minimal effort for our families. The primary painless fundraisers at Swift Creek include collecting Campbell soup labels for education, collecting General Mills box tops, and linking shopping cards such as Harris Teeter VIC and Food Liion MVP to Swift Creek. Responsibilties include: provide collection boxes to classroom teachers; develop flyers/write newsletter articles to inform parents, teachers, and staff about the collection process, the list of specified products, and collection dates; collect VIP/MVP card numbers from parents and link them to Swift Creek Elementary (for those folks who don't want to do it themselves); submit trimmed box tops and soup labels alongn with submission forms on a periodic basis; report results to the PTA business meetings and in the PTA newsletter; work with PTA executive board to determine how to spend the money raised through this fundraiser (money should support activities that cover the entire student population; in the past, we have rotated giving the money to each of the specialist teachers since they teach everyone.)
Parent LiAISOn to leadership team
The Leadership team at Swift Creek is comprised of staff/teacher representatives and a parent representative. This team oversees and executes plans to help the school achive its vision and mission (including, but not limited to reviewing test score analysis, school improvement, budgeting, goal planning, teacher planning, learning strategies, etc). The parent liaison participates in leadership meetings, takes back team concerns/requests to the PTA, and provides a parent perspective on school leadership decisions.
PTA WebSITE
The PTA website coordinator is responsible for ensuring the information provided on the PTA website is current and accurate. Upcoming dates, recently newsletters, and monthly PTA meeting minutes should be kept up-to-date. The PTA website is part of the Swift Creek school website.
RECYCLING
The SCES Recycling Committee is committed to reducing waste and promoting sustainability, while teaching students about the positive effects of reducing, reusing, recycling, and letting rot (aka composting).
School Supply Kits
Each spring, Swift Creek provides the opportunity for parents to purchase school supply kits for their children for the next school year. Responsibilities include: advertising school supply kit availability; sending home and collecting order forms; advertising school supply kits at Kindergarten orientation in May (for upcoming kindergarteners); placing the orders for the school supply kits; having school supply kits ready for pickup at Meet the Teacher.
SCIENCE FAIR
The Science Fair is held in early February and is optional for third, fourth, and fifth graders. Students work as individuals or in teams to create a project that follows the scientific method. Results are judged and displayed for all students, teachers, and parents to view. The top project winners from the Swift Creek science fair are submitted to the regional science fair for competition (mid-February). Responsibilities include: advertise the science fair and collect the approval form research plans from participants in advance of the fair; work with Cougar Counter to have science boards available for sale; arrange for juding of the local science fair entries; arrange fo the displays of the entries; develop recognition program for participants and winners; coordinate entries going to the regional fair; report local judging results and regional results (if applicable) to Swift Creek through PTA meetings, newsletter articles, emails, etc.
Spirit Sales
Sales of Swift Creek Elementary logo clothing are held each fall and spring. Sales may be done through materials in Tuesday folders or in person at events like Meet the Teacher, Open House, Cougar Fun Run, Book Fair Family Nights, Parade of Pumpkins, Spring Fling, etc. Responsibilities include: coordinate with vendor which items will be sold; work with Fun Run committee to come up with logo that supports theme; obtain certificates of resale for vendor from Treasurer; develop and distribute advertising and order forms; display items prominently prior to sale; organize submitted orders; place orders with vendors; distribute individual orders after production; coordinate deposits with Treasurer; organize parent volunteers to help as needed.
Student Directory
A free student directory is provided to any Swift Creek family that joins the PTA. Responsibilities include: develop directory form and distribute to all students; establish a collection process for the forms; type student informaion into computer database; arrange directory first by class/grade level and then by alphabetical order by student last name; obtain a copy of the current year PTA board names/numbers to include in the front of the directory; arrange for printing of directory and distribute directory to students, teachers, and staff (target should be the end of the first quarter); reserve extra copies of the directory to hand out as more families join the PTA.
Yearbook Editor
A school yearbook is published and distributed at the end of each school year. Responsibiltiies include: organize the collection of photographs throughtout the school year across all grades/clubs/events; work with publisher to determine timeline for page deadlines; develop and distribute advertising orders for yearbook; develop and distribute book order information; develop and distribute fifth grade congratulation ad orders; organize all orders and coordinate deposits with Treasurer; distribute individual yearbook orders (in conjunction with school administration) when publishing is complete.