Our Biggest FUNdraiser is Up & RUNning!

IT’S FUN RUN TIME! While all Whittier students will participate in the run on October 7th, only those who are registered in FundHub, our fundraising and physical activity tracking website, will be eligible for the amazing prizes we’ll have this year. Registration is completely optional.

This year we'll be giving away a new set of prizes for the most physically active kids and classrooms in the weeks leading up to Fun Run! Be on the lookout for more info coming soon about how to track your child's physical activity--whether it's from riding a bike, playing basketball, climbing a tree... you name it, help your child get active to be eligible to win new prizes!

The Fun Run provides about 40% of the PTO's operating budget, helping us to pay for all of our various activities, including Staff Grants for classroom materials and clubs, staff appreciation efforts like Sunshine Drops, community workshops, and our many special events throughout the year. Got more questions? We might have the answers in our Fun Run FAQ.

Calling All Helping Paws: PAW Place Needs You!

Got a little time? Want to make a BIG difference? PAW Place needs our school community to lend a hand! 💙

We’re looking for volunteers next Friday, September 25, with AM and PM shifts available. We’re also collecting NEW items to help stock PAW Place with fun activities for our students—think arts & crafts kits, board games, games, and more!

Can’t volunteer? You can still help! Shop our Amazon Wish List and send a much-needed item our way. Every volunteer hour, donation, and purchase helps make PAW Place an even more welcoming and fun place for our students. 🐾

🙋 Ready to Help?

Sign Up for a Volunteer Shift
Shop the PAW Place Amazon Wish List
Every paw makes a difference! 🐾

Amazon Wish List Sign up to Volunteer

Help Spread a Little Sunshine to our Whittier Staff

Our Monthly Sunshine Drops are a way to help our Whittier Team know how much they are appreciated. The PTO has set aside $250. a month to bring some cheer to teachers and staff. We just want you to take the lead! Each month parent volunteers from a particular grade level will get together with the help of our Staff Appreciation Lead Noemi Mata to coordinate something nice for all Whittier staff to enjoy. The Grade Level Schedule is below, but you don’t have to wait to sign up.

September - Grade 5
October - Grade 4
November - Grade 3
January - Grade 2
February - Grade 1 & Early Childhood
March - Grade K

Whether you are adding coziness to the community room, setting up a treat trolley, making a kitchen supply basket or just bringing coffee and donuts, the possibilities are endless and can be as simple or creative as you want it to be. Just have fun with it! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Noemi Mata at vp@whittierpro.org

First Parents’ Night Out 9/25

Our first Parents’ Night Out will be on Friday Sept. 25th at One Lake Brewing. Plan to get a sitter, or better yet sign up for the Kids Night Out at the Park District Gymnastics Resource Center which is just a block away! For $30 you can drop the kids off at GRC for three hours of pizza, games, crafts, and open gym time. GRC limits Kids Night Out to 30 spots and they do fill up every month, so sign up today! We’ll be hanging out at One Lake from 6:30 - 9:30 — hope to see you there!

Save the Date: 10/14 Book Club Night

Join us for Fall Book Club Night! On October 14th at 5:30 pm we will gather for our first book club of the year. Adults can read along with kiddos or join our PTO Adult Ed event that night. A few facilitators are needed for each book club if you’d like to lead. More info to come. Sign up today, get your books, and begin reading! We can’t wait to discuss!

Select Your Book and Sign Up Here

Check Out Next Year’s Events Calendar!
Subscribe and Sign Up to Help!

We’ve got next year’s PTO calendar ready to roll and couldn’t wait to share it with you all ASAP! Not only did we want to give you all the chance to save the dates early, we also wanted to call out a few events in particular that we’ll need some help with planning. Want to step up and help with (or lead!) an event? Click the button below. And don’t forget to subscribe to the calendar (available in Google, Apple, or Outlook format) so you don’t miss anything—note you’ll need a Membership Toolkit account in order to access the calendar subscription. This calendar will update automatically with any changes and new additions. Note that we don’t yet have start times set for all events, so these will show up as all-day events on your calendar for now.

We wanted to point out some highlights for this year in particular:

We’ve added more low-cost family get togethers, including a free family hangout at Taylor Park, an Ice Skating night, and we’ll be bringing back family nights at Urban Air and Fleetwood Roller Rink again along with an outdoor Bears game watch and potluck.

The Annual Adults-Only Fundraiser is happening earlier this year on February 6th, which is over Mardi Gras weekend… so there’s your theme!

More family enrichment nights, including a fall Science Night, two book clubs, and a return of Math Night with Mathnasium!

We’re also doing more adults-only social events this year, and while we know at least one will be at One Lake Brewing to coincide with the GRC’s “Parents’ Night Out”, the others are TBD—sign up below to help plan them!

Find Event Specific Roles

The PTO Needs YOU!

We’ve got a number of open leadership positions for the coming school year, which means more opportunities to make your mark on our school community! While many of these are listed as single positions, any can be split up or co-led. Have a friend join you in leading one of our PTO areas! Here are some of the biggest needs:

WISE Co-Lead: Help keep our PTO-run after-school program running smoothly with excellent low-cost enrichment options for our kids.

VP of Engagement: For the event planners! Help make sure our events are well-planned, organized, and most of all fun to keep our families engaged.

Treasurer: Help us ensure we’re within budget and track our expenditures.

Ready to step up and make a difference for our school community? Click the button below to see our open roles! Want to help out with one of the roles but you’re a little short on time? Let’s talk!