Get Involved — Volunteer!

RDCS PTA is working to expand our ranks and we need YOU!

In order to build a sustainable organization that can help support Riverside Drive in all ways to years to come, we need people to take on small jobs throughout the year. From planning Spooky Movie Night to taking on weekly communications, there's something for every skill and capacity level. We're all busy, overworked, and overscheduled, but together we can help each other and help keep RDCS a wonderful community resource for all our school families.   

When adults volunteer, all students benefit! In 2024-25, we are looking for people to help with the following. Each position has a specific time frame and list of duties - please review, and reach out to us at rdcspta@gmail.com with any questions, and especially if you are interested in taking on one of these important jobs. 

If we cannot find people to help with these jobs, we will unfortunately not be able to run that event/fundraiser, and our school community will suffer for this. We will start to lose valuable enrichment programming and events. This has an impact on every single one of our children, and we need to find a way to make it all happen!

Kinder/New Family Playdate - August

• Held in the Kinder yard sometime the week/weekend before school begins, generally for 1 hour. New families come for meet-and-greet, to get a look at the campus.
• Coordinate with Ms. Richardson & Kinder teachers on date & time
• Include after-school programs (STAR, Monarch) info booths
• Coordinate volunteers to run different booths
• Sell spirit-wear and PTA memberships
• Provide light snacks for kids (popsicles, drinks) + some arts/crafts activity (includes ideation & purchase)
• Schedule someone to be Rocky mascot
• Setup & run event

Kona Ice Truck Social - August 

• Held in front of school on the first Friday of the first week as a social event for families to connect. Free Kona Ice for all students.
• Book Kona ice truck
• Coordinate volunteers to distribute tickets, sell Spirit Wear, and sell PTA memberships
• Setup and run event 
• Coordinate payment with Kona.
• Note: PTA pays for 300 servings. Families check in at the PTA membership table for their ticket, and then line up to get their serving. Families can purchase additional servings for adults

Coffee Mornings - August & as-needed

• First coffee morning is held Friday of the first week of school, to promote PTA membership, answer questions, and advertise Ice Truck Social that afternoon
• Coordinate volunteers for each gate (2 Riverside, 2-3 Huston / Ethel)
• Coordinate coffee order at Starbucks (6 travelers)
• Coordinate flyers & messaging for each table
• Ensure coffee morning boxes are prepped and ready to drop off in the morning (these contain coffee accoutrement, table cloths, signage, PTA membership envelopes, trash bags)
• Pickup and distribute coffee travelers
• Plan these as needed to promote other fundraisers/events 

Dine Outs (August/year-round)

• Determine and contact restaurants to set dates for all monthly dine-outs 
• Create messaging/flyers/social media posts to promote each event
• Attend in-person, or coordinate PTA member to attend in-person to connect with restaurant and complete any paperwork or other requirements
• Confirm payment details and address with restaurants
• Collect checks in-person as-needed 

Raise Craze / Fall Fundraiser (Sept/Oct)

• Register & setup Raise Craze website with all classrooms, organization, and payment info (https://raisecraze.com/)
• Submit Request for Fundraising Authorization through district (https://fundraising.lausd.net/)
• Put together marketing & messaging to distribute school-wide
• Determine teacher/school-wide experiences & physical prizes
• Determine custom Acts of Kindness
• Plan and execute school-wide Act of Kindness (i.e. Hygiene Kit Drive)
• Organize all printed materials at CopyHub for distribution school-wide
• Create online marketing materials (Instagram posts, etc.)
• Coordinate with school admin for “launch” event 
• Distribute info to teachers about how they can help promote in their classrooms
• Track fundraiser over the 2 weeks (share social media posts & goal updates to encourage more participation)
• Coordinate prize distribution after fundraiser concludes (both experience & physical prizing)

Hygiene Kit Drive - (Sept/Oct)

• Coordinate with Valley of Change on date & timing (Good tie-in with Raise Craze fundraiser)
• Solicit donations of kit items school-wide (classrooms are assigned items, message via PTA email update & room parents)
• Collect and organize donations
• Purchase supplemental items as needed
• Coordinate volunteers for day-of event 
• Coordinate with admin to schedule classrooms around enrichments and bell schedule - each classroom gets 15 minute slot, each student builds 1 bag)
• Setup & run event day-of
• Coordinate delivery of completed hygiene kit bags to Valley of Change for distribution

Spooky Movie Night (October; planning Aug-Oct)

• Research, get quotes, and book vendors PTA will be paying for (Monarch, etc.)
• Review & book all food trucks (determine any minimums, get all paperwork required by LAUSD)
• Book movie/DJ/AV services (in 2024 we used Event Busters)
• Determine movie to screen (in 2024 we had 4th & 5th graders vote)
• Submit Facilities Request via LAUSD portal (at least 45 days in advance of event date. Requires all vendor paperwork to be submitted with it, cannot be submitted until all paperwork is in order.)
• Submit Fundraising Request via LAUSD portal (if needed; this is usually a free event with only concession sold to offset costs which does not require a fundraising request)
• Determine how to format and price concession sales 
• Coordinate volunteers needed for setup, concession sales, spirit wear sales, cleanup, and any other prep or day-of activities)
• Setup and run event day-of
• Cleanup and ensure campus is back to original condition

Bingo Night - January

• Submit district paperwork via Facilities portal for use of auditorium (https://www.lausd.org/Page/18957)
• Find MC/DJ (Ms. Meyers is great for bingo-calling!)
• Determine & purchase/get donations for prizes (gift cards, etc.)
• Create marketing/messaging for school-wide distribution
• Book Kona Kokoa truck (we’ve purchased 75 servings for students, families are able to purchase additional servings as desired)
• You do NOT need to buy Bingo cards - we have TONS left from past 2 years. 
• Create digital way to track game (can just be an Excel spreadsheet, just something visual to display during the game so people can see what has been called and cards can be easily and quickly checked for accuracy)
• Coordinate volunteers for setup/cleanup
• Setup, run, and cleanup event

Bowling Day - February

• Connect with Corbin Bowl in Sept/Oct for lane booking & pricing (26 lanes + shoe rental for 90 minutes of bowling)
• Pay deposit via credit card (for reimbursement)
• Create signup either on Membership Toolkit or via SignUp Genius for families to RSVP
• Assign lanes (6 people max per lane)
• Communicate reminders about event to families, and pull people off waitlist as needed
• Greet & check people in day-of event, direct them to their lanes
• Pay balance for lanes (for reimbursement)
• Submit receipts to Treasurer for full reimbursement of all costs.

Dodger Family Day - April

• Connect with Dodger Group Sales in January for booking & pricing
• Determine how many tickets to pre-purchase 
• Pay deposit
• Present motion at Association meeting for ticket pricing 
• Create marketing/messaging for flyers, email updates & social media
• Create sales form on Membership Toolkit for ticket sales
• Track ticket sales
• Assign seats and distribute tickets to attendees

Beautification Day(s) - March / June / maybe one in fall?

• Coordinate with admin to schedule day(s) and determine priorities for cleanup/improvement
• Coordinate volunteers
• Setup SignUp genius for volunteer slots & material/equipment donations
• Solicit donations as needed from families & businesses
• Setup additional equipment rentals from Home Depot or Lowes as needed (i.e. power washers, sanders, other tools not donated)
• Purchase additional materials as needed (i.e. sand paper)
• Provide snacks/drinks (either purchased or donated)
• Setup and run event day-of (assign people to jobs, check progress)
• Cleanup and make sure campus is back to normal after event

Silent Auction - Spring (planning Jan-May)

• Decide & assign class basket themes
• Create messaging/flyer to distribute to classrooms to share basket theme and intent (early Feb)
• Solicit donations online and in-person using database of prior year donations, or personal connections from families
• Track all donations in public document, including general values
• Recruit & coordinate volunteers to assist with donations requests
• Hold monthly meetings to update progress and create report for Association Meetings
• Attend Executive Board meetings once-monthly, or send updates to the President to be shared at meetings.
• Prep class baskets
• Research best platform & organize/maintain the online auction website
• Create messaging for school-wide distribution to advertise timing, intent and directions for how to participate in silent auction
• Supervise & coordinate final day of silent auction (2024 was during Spring Fair, future timing TBD by future executive boards & silent auction chair)

Spring Fundraiser - March-April 

• Determine with the executive board timing and what type of fundraiser to run (Move-a-thon, Fun Run, Read-a-Thon)
• Research and decide which platform to use to collect donations (in 2024 we did a Move-a-Thon through Get Movin Fund Hub; in 2023 donations were collected via Membership Toolkit)
• Work with executive board & school admin to determine timing for any in-person activities associated with fundraiser (i.e. date of actual Fun Run)
• Submit Facilities Request via LAUSD portal
• Submit Fundraising Request via LAUSD portal
• Determine & coordinate purchase or donation of any prizes
• Create messaging/flyers/ sign-up directions for school-wide distribution
• Coordinate coffee-morning for extra advertising of fundraiser
• Setup & run any in-person component of events
• Coordinate volunteers as needed for in-person or other work
• Distribute prizes during/after completion of fundraiser
• Update Executive Board & Association on final fundraising tally 

Spring Fair - May (planning Jan-May)

• Research, get quote, and book inflatables/games
• Research, get quotes, and book vendors PTA will be paying for (cotton candy, Monarch, etc.)
• Review & book all food trucks (determine any minimums, get all paperwork required by LAUSD)
• Book movie/DJ/AV services (in 2024 we used Event Busters)
• Determine movie to screen (in 2024 we had 4th & 5th graders vote)
• Submit Facilities Request via LAUSD portal (at least 45 days in advance of event dates. Requires all vendor paperwork to be submitted with it, cannot be submitted until all paperwork is in order.)
• Submit Fundraising Request via LAUSD portal (if needed; in 2024 this was a free event with only concession sales to offset costs which do not need to be submitted as a fundraising request)
• Determine how to format and price concession sales (in 2024 we pre-sold tickets for $1, good for any concessions to avoid needing cash/money at concession stand)
• Coordinate volunteers needed for setup, supervision of inflatables, concession sales, spirit wear sales, cleanup, and any other prep or day-of activities)
• Setup and run event day-of
• Cleanup and ensure campus is back to original condition

YEAR ROUND JOBS 

Spirit Wear Management (Year-Round)

• Take inventory of all current spirit wear before end of year / in July or August
• Determine with executive board what to stock and what needs to be ordered
• Update all inventory, pricing, and listings on Spirit Wear store on PTA website
• Coordinate order or re-orders of any items (tees, sweat shirts, socks, hats, magnets, stickers, any new ideas or items) 
• Check stock periodically; track any vendor sales throughout the year to get best price on re-stocks or new items.
• Coordinate spirit wear sales during in-person PTA events (Kinder playdate, Spooky movie night, Spring Fair); including cleanup and storage after event

Communications (Year-Round)

• Create content for weekly emails, and periodic social media updates
• Create flyers for events, Instagram posts, etc (great if you LOVE Canva!)
• Track school & PTA calendar and update online as-needed
• Draft & send weekly PTA email update (work with President on this)
• Update social media (Instagram & Facebook) with PTA events, messaging about fundraisers, dine-outs, etc. 

Membership (Year-Round)

• Create membership drive incentives to recruit new members (August-September, and again in the Spring)
• Create messaging to remind previous members to re-up their membership for new school year
• Ideate & execute any membership incentive prizes (i.e. School-wide popsicle day for reaching membership goals)
• Create messaging / social media posts / flyers to promote and track membership drives 
• Ideate innovative ideas for incentives year-round
• Participate in beginning of the year in-person activities to promote and sell memberships (Kinder playdate, coffee morning, ice truck social, movie nights)

Website / Calendar (Year-Round)

• Track school & PTA calendar and update online as-needed
• Maintain website and update pages as-needed (main page for upcoming events, updated road maps, any sections that need updates, etc)
• Can be done in partnership with Communications chair

Rocky Mascot (Year-Round)

• Be Rocky at in-person events as requested! 
• Costume has only been worn by 2 people and is cleaned and ready for use, includes with an ice-vest for hotter events
• Clean & maintain costume and costume storage

Room Parent Coordinator (Year-Round)

• Serve as liaison between Executive Board & room parents
• Message out PTA initiatives
• Provide regular update email ideas/templates for room parents to send to their classrooms
• Field questions from room parents about classroom funds, teacher appreciation, etc.
• Update executive board & association on any room parent issues or needs, successful initiatives or tips for effective relationships with teachers & parents

School Tour PTA Rep (Year-Round)

• Appear in-person for any prospective family school tours (3-4 time in the Fall, 1-2 times in the Spring)
• Greet families as they arrive
• Talk about PTA in general, our highlight activities for the year, what we do, etc. 
• Field questions from prospective families about life at RDCS