Volunteerism

Dear Parents,

The life-blood of any organization are the volunteers who have such a tremendous impact on that organization. Our school is blessed to have many such volunteers, who reach out to the entire community to spearhead new projects or work on existing ones that enhance our school.

This past Motzoei Shabbos and Sunday, we featured our NEAT girls’ annual production. Directed by Mrs. Tichyeh Schochet and Mrs. Devorah Raskin, the production featured the tremendous talents of our students in the areas of drama, song, dance, art, and sound and light technology. I cannot begin to tell you how many compliments I have received from the many families and students who attended. They commented on the high caliber of the students’ performance and the achdus that the production created for the school. The many out-of-town visitors who joined us for the play found it remarkable that a small school like NEAT could produce a play that was of similar quality to schools that are much larger in size. Our expressions of gratitude to all those who assisted with production are listed in the NEAT section of the newsletter.

I would like to comment on the overall topic of volunteerism. The current economy is such that many families are financially strapped, which places pressure on both the families and the school. The school has remained staunch in its determination to help families in need, but in the same light, the school needs the constant effort of volunteers. I found the following special quotes on volunteerism that I wanted to share with you.

“A pessimist, they say, sees a glass of water as being half empty; an optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.” - G. Thomas Gale
"The road to success is not crowded. While most are looking for ways to take, the truly successful people are finding ways to give. With a giving attitude, every situation is an opportunity for success."
- Unknown

I would like to point out a few ways in which parents can be helpful to the school. The school holds several fundraisers every year, and each of these helps us to provide scholarship funds for needy students and families.

Next Sunday night, we will be holding our annual Prize is Right event. This program is the culmination of months of hard work and preparation by Mrs. Elissa Felder. She will need much assistance in setting up for the event, and we ask you to please contact her at (401) 861-1994 if you can help. Please consider forwarding the link for the Prize Is Right website (http://www.phds-event.com) to your family and friends and ask them to support the school by making purchases in our annual auction. One email to grandparents, family and friends will help us sell more tickets and make this our most successful auction ever. Of course, we encourage you to attend the event.

Support of the families in the solicitation of ads for our annual Amudim Journal is extremely helpful to the school. I am proud to announce that this year’s Amudim honorees are Mr. Marty and Mrs. Elaine Saklad. Mr. and Mrs. Saklad have a history of ongoing volunteerism on behalf of the school. Mr. Saklad is a past president of the school and past chairman of our Budget and Finance Committee. Mrs. Saklad currently serves on the school’s Executive Committee and has been involved in numerous other committees over the years. They are true role models of volunteerism on behalf of the school and community. I will be sharing the names of our other honorees with you in an upcoming addition.

There are numerous ways in which many of our parents and families impact on the school, through participating on the various school boards; working on behalf of PTF; serving on the Amudim committee; volunteering for the Chess club, and many other areas. We thank all of our active parent volunteers, and we would like to reach out to all the parents to join us in working on behalf of the school in areas that they enjoy the most.