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PTA celebrates Founder’s Day
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Neighbors | Submitted .A group of past PTA presidents, representing all schools of the Austintown district, posed for a group photo at the close of their Founder's Day dinner on March 13.
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Neighbors | Submitted .Current Austintown PTA Council president Laurie Gartland (front left) celebrated Austintown's Founder's Day dinner on March 13 with a group of past PTA Council presidents.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .A group of former Austintown PTA presidents looked through some of the scrapbooks that colleagues brought to the March 13 PTA Founder’s Day dinner. The former presidents are, from left, Joan Morrison, Joyce Pogany, Joyce Swoger, Sue DeToro, Geri Williams, and Linda Beilby.
By SARAH FOOR
The Austintown Council of PTAs, as well as school administrators and district leadership, gathered at Rachel’s Banquet Center on March 13 for its annual Founder’s Day dinner.
Founder’s Day celebrates the creation of the first PTA on Feb. 17, 1897. The celebration offers PTA members the chance to reflect and celebrate the importance of the organization on the national, state, and local levels.
PTA Council President Laurie Gartland shared a speech to open the event.
“Through PTA advocacy in America, we have been able to better protect, feed, house and educate our students, and involve parents in their upbringing. Today, we must reaffirm the PTA pledge to be a powerful voice for all children, a relevant resource for parents, and a strong advocate for public education,” Gartland said.
The event was a celebration of the accomplishments in the Austintown district. Reflections art projects from Frank Ohl and Austintown elementaries were on display during the dinner, as well as a collection of PTA scrapbooks spanning 30-plus years in the district.
About 75 PTA members and administrators were in attendance, including 30 past PTA presidents.
The dinner was also a time for reflection to honor trailblazing Austintown PTA member Helen Wilcox, who passed away on March 7. Wilcox, who was a secretary at AMS for 30 years, was a president of the Lloyd PTA in the 1950s and a founding member of the Austintown PTA council.
“Without Helen Wilcox, we would not be here today. We will continue to honor her memory,” Gartland said at the event.