By Amantha Garpiel

For Miami Valley Today

TIPP CITY — The Tipp City Board of Education invited the district’s various parent groups to present their recent accomplishments and any concerns or issues they have prior to the board’s executive session on Feb. 6.

During the Feb. 6 work session meeting, parent groups from each school in the district were in attendance to introduce themselves and their groups to the newest board members.

Parents from Parents Who Care, the high school parent group; LTPA, LT Ball Intermediate’s parent group; Parents Involved in Education (PIE) the group representing Nevin Coppock and Broadway; and the newest group the Tippecanoe Middle School parents’ association.

The first group to present was Parents Who Care. Parents Who Care have had numerous successes throughout the years and continue to support both Tippecanoe High School students and teachers.

The association provides concessions for PeeWee sports and both boys and girls basketball. Doing the concessions is one of the groups’ biggest fundraisers, though they are slightly behind their goal and plan to create a QR code to distribute to parents in the district to hopefully raise the funds necessary for the numerous events the group is responsible for.

Parents Who Care takes care of powderpuff football, the red carpet before prom, bonfires and the After Prom celebration at Scene 75. The group brought one request for the board to look into, and that is finding storage space for the group to use for their concession items and supplies. Parents Who Care typically meet on the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the high school. Their meetings are open for new parents to join.

Next, LTPA presented their recent projects. LTPA helps to support numerous after-school activities such as science club, STEM club, technology club, Quiz Bowl Team and math club.

The association also helps provide funds, volunteers and snacks for events including the Fourth Grade Hoedown and the fifth graders’ Blizzard Blast. LTPA is also in charge of the read-a-thon. During the read-a-thon, kids track the amount of time they have spent reading to earn various rewards. For teachers, LTPA provides conference meals and a reimbursement fund to reimburse teachers for classroom purchases they make out of their own pockets. They also run the PBIS store each Friday at LT Ball. Students can earn PBIS points to spend in the store through good behavior, good deeds and good academic performance. Running the store requires two volunteers every Friday and the group is in need of additional parent volunteers.

LTPA meetings vary but typically take place in the middle of the month at LT Ball and are open for new members to attend.

Next is PIE, Parents Involved in Education, a group that focuses on supporting both Nevin Coppock and Broadway Elementary schools. While PIE is one organization, they technically have two boards to ensure each school gets equal support.

PIE provides reimbursement for teachers and conference meals. For students, they host various events and provide funds for the purchase of playground equipment, retention of special guests, speakers and entertainers. They also help fund the Little Elves Workshop and create the third grade T-shirts.

Their biggest event so far is the Family Fun Night. They sell family tickets and provide food and entertainment. While the Family Fun Night is one of their biggest fundraisers, it is also a big event and the group is in need of more volunteers. Another common event to help parents be involved in the schools is volunteer lunch duty. Parents sign up to come in during lunch period and help make sure the Nevin Coppock lunch times go smoothly.

PIE meets on the second Tuesday of the month at 10 a.m. with both school principals and are working to find more meeting times to make the group more accessible to working parents.

Lastly, the newest parent group for Tippecanoe Middle School introduced themselves. The TMS parent group is very new and is just now getting off the ground. Being so new, the group did not have many successes to share. However, they recently held two fundraisers: a cinnamon roll sale and a spirit wear fundraiser. They have also been doing monthly dine-to-donate fundraisers at local restaurants to help raise funds for the group.

With what funds they do have, the group is focused on supporting the TMS PBIS program and store. None of the current parents can volunteer to run the store as they all work, but they do use their funds and parent donations to keep the store stocked with fun rewards and incentives for the students. They have also done two Chick-fil-A fundraisers at basketball games and support quarterly PBIS reward activities.

They have started this year to provide conference meals for the teachers and do quarterly staff surprises such as donuts and coffee. The group has an upcoming student dodgeball tournament to help raise funds as well. The TMS parent association’s next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at the middle school.

“We appreciate everybody representing the buildings and helping out every way they can,” said Superintendent Aaron Moran following the parent groups’ presentations.

After the presentations, the Board of Education entered into an executive session. No action was taken following the executive session.

The next meeting of the Tipp City Board of Education is set for Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. at LT Ball Intermediate School.

The writer is a regular contibutor to Miami Valley Today.