The PTA-sponsored event, struggling under the voluntary membership system, was filled with children's smiles and became a child-centered project!

On the morning of Sunday, June 9, 2024,
at the elementary school my daughters attend,
we held a project called the 'Dream Project,' and it was a huge success.

This was sponsored by the PTA.
Right now, in Kitakyushu City, PTAs are being shaken in every region!

It all started with the 'voluntary membership system' that was introduced in a semi-compulsory manner starting in the 2022 fiscal year.

In the schools where children attend, the PTA, where parents and teachers teamed up, has traditionally taken 'everyone's participation' for granted.
(Whether or not to participate in activities was a secondary issue.)

However,
starting in the 2022 fiscal year, there was an instruction to change the organization into one where 'those who want to join, join.'
In other words, it means there is now a choice in the PTA: 'Will you join? Or will you not?'

It's an outrageous story, but please see the previous article for details.

And this system, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to the collapse of PTAs one after another, without any chance for rebuilding or even discussion.

Following the same logic as reducing the burden on school teachers, a trend of reducing the burden of PTA activities has led to the destruction of committee activities one after another.

The PTA at our school has been very enthusiastic and warm in its activities for a long time, and we have managed to hold on, but various committees have disappeared, and it feels like volunteer officers are now leading the way.

I personally believe that the PTA is an important organization for nurturing children within the community, so I have tried to provide as much support as I can for PTA activities.

And this fiscal year, it was decided that I would become the PTA president.
To be precise, we have adopted a structure with three co-representatives.
Since there are many things I cannot do, such as evening meetings or daytime work, we try to have each of the three of us take charge of the areas we can handle.

Since everyone is doing PTA activities alongside housework and childcare, we also wanted to promote efficient burden reduction, so
we made the very difficult 'PTA General Meeting' an electronic version.
We distributed the agenda using the communication app from the school to each household. We used a form for responses regarding approval or disapproval.
Responses from more than a majority were received, and the general meeting was successfully established.
It was a very efficient general meeting, and it was also decided that I would take office as PTA president.

Now, this is the first big event under the new official structure!

Our PTA is rethinking PTA activities themselves with the theme of 'for the children.'
As one of the features of our activities, we hold 'fun events' for children called the 'Dream Project' series every season.

So far, we have held events such as
'Hunter: Run for Money' and
'School Hide-and-Seek' and
'Gymnasium Play.'

This time, since it was the beginning of the fiscal year and the preparation period was short, we planned to hold many simple games in the gymnasium.

We made flyers, distributed them as printouts, and had people sign up using the 'QR code' posted on them.
Since it's hard to get many sign-ups just by distributing the printout once,
we used the school's distribution app to promote it again and made it possible to click directly on the application form.
As a result, the number of participants kept increasing,
and about 120 elementary school students participated!!
That's about one-third of the entire school!!

About 50 parents also participated,
and even though it was a Sunday, 15 teachers also participated.

In this article, I will refrain from posting photos of the scene that include the children, but I will upload a few so that you can get a sense of what the venue was like.

Although I don't have a photo, there was a game where you quickly stack paper cups with numbers written on them in order, and
the one that was exciting from start to finish was 'rubber band jumping'.
Anyway, go higher! Children challenging their own limits were lining up.

It was impressive to see children who were tired from playing drop by, and families who were close enjoying it together.
The Karuta cards feature Kokuraminami Ward's specialties, famous products, wonderful culture, and customs, and since they seem to have them in their classrooms, the children were very familiar with them.
There were even some experts who would snatch up the picture cards in an instant...

In addition, we also set up a card game corner where they could play freely.

From here on is the creative corner!!
Especially for girls, there are many who love making things more than playing!

In particular, we set the theme as making gifts for Father's Day the following week.

It was very heartwarming to see this opportunity turn into a way for children to express their daily gratitude and feelings to their parents and teachers.

In this way, with arts and crafts, traditional games, and karuta,
as for the event elements, it was a bit scattered,
but it turned out to be a very friendly and heartwarming event.

And when 120 children gathered in the gymnasium, it was quite a large crowd!!
Each booth was a huge success.

And then, in the middle of it all, something suddenly started...

Standing at the podium on the stage,
it's an event where you just 'shout as loud as you can!'

There was an app to measure volume, and the moms held up their smartphones to measure it.
I was in charge of emceeing, but
I was worried that 'maybe no one will come because they're shy...'

In times like these, a fun 'example' is more important than anything.
When we asked the teachers, they put forward the youngest male teacher (lol).

As expected of a teacher, he was cool.

The emcee said, 'Everyone! Mr. XX is going to show you an example!'
Then the teacher said,
'Since it's Sunday today, I want to shout with all my might, I want to... EAT MEAT!!!!!!'
He showed us a shout that nearly maxed out the measurement.

Perhaps they got the hang of it from that,
but children who wanted to try it themselves lined up one after another, and it wouldn't end (lol).

They climbed up onto the high stage, looked down at the whole gym, and everyone was looking at them. I think they were nervous too.
Some kids got scared the moment they stood up, but everyone mustered their courage and shouted loudly.

'I want to eat XX!'
'Kyaa!!'
'Wow!!'
'I'll do my best!!'

It was so cute how every child said whatever was on their mind.

They still seemed like they hadn't had enough fun, but that was the end.
It was a two-hour event that flew by in an instant.

We will now hold the closing ceremony, so please line up by grade level.
(This is to make it easier to distribute the snack prizes.)

At the closing ceremony, we recognized nine children.
We presented them with mini certificates of commendation.

First, we recognized the top three children from a tournament that suddenly started during arm wrestling (lol).

Next, we recorded the results of the shouting volume measurement and recognized the five children who reached the maximum level.

And one more person.
We also recognized a first-grade boy who shouted, 'I love this school so much!!!'

Everyone, you all did a great job.

I had the 120 children stand where they were, turn toward the parents and teachers behind and to the sides of them, and said,
'Let's express our gratitude to everyone who prepared and ran this event.'
'Ready, set!'
'Thank you very much!!'

The children's voices were as loud as in the shouting contest and filled with emotion, and even though I was the emcee, it was hard for me to hold back my tears.

I think the hearts of everyone who worked so hard on the preparation and operation were also comforted.

When we asked the children for their thoughts, we received many very happy comments, such as:
The various booth games were fun.
I was happy with the creative corner.
I want to try the shouting contest again.
I would be happy if there were an event like this again!!
And so on.

Finally, the vice principal gave a greeting.
'It is rare for a school to have such wonderful activities carried out by the PTA. You are all lucky to be at this school!! Now, let's do the shouting contest all together one more time!!! We're all going to say, 'XX Elementary School is the best!!''

Ready, set!

'XX Elementary School is the best!!!!'

The children's voices rang out so loudly that it felt like they might break through the gymnasium roof.
It is a truly wonderful school.

At the very end, the other PTA president gave the closing remarks.

'The PTA is an activity 'for the children' just like this. I hope that by cooperating with each other on what we can do, we can continue to create memories and fun for the children.'

Your activities are exactly as you described, and they were quite moving.

PTA membership is voluntary.

I hope that by coming together and sharing our thoughts like this, we can continue to work for the children.
Of course, PTA activities and the use of PTA membership fees are not limited to events like this, but we hold this 'Dream Project' as a symbolic activity. I think the next one will be held around the autumn of the second semester.

I hope this will help raise awareness of the PTA, even if just a little.
As the vice principal said,
for the children,
I'm glad I went to this school.
I'm glad I grew up in this town.
I hope we can work together so that they can feel that way.

PTA activities that put children at the center and bring our thoughts together.

Our school is also struggling with a voluntary membership system.

This was a record of the activities of one small PTA, struggling with a mountain of challenges.

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read this article.