July 2025 - Welcome Back!
June 24th, 2025
Hello Pine Lane Families,
What an AMAZING year PLEA had! Your help, in whatever capacity you provided, led to the fun and success of a wonderful year. Below are some bullet points we'd like to make special note of:
- $33,400+ through dedicated fundraising efforts (poinsettias, silent auction and bear crawl)
- $4,382 in Restaurant Nights --WHOA! (but actually missing two payments still)
- $3,432 spent in teacher gifts/food throughout the year
- two new endeavors (which was a goal for the board-- fall poinsettia sales and winter KNO with split campuses)
- a refreshed sense of excitement for the board!!
A special thank you to Becca Konen, PLEA's Executive Board VP, who was an integral piece to the successes noted above! Her role on the Board and specifically her coordination of KNO, Bear Crawl, and commitment towards recruiting volunteers is much appreciated.
With Becca's term ending, I'd like to welcome Jess Campbell to the PLEA Executive Board! Jess has been an engaged and active PLEA member in the last few years and her new role on the Board with us is very exciting.
There are nine members that make up PLEA's Board-- all of whom are equally deserving of our praise! Thank you Bre, Amber, Vickie, Debbie, Jen, Allison, and Chris-- your continued efforts in everything you bring to Pine Lane is admirable.
A round of applause for Gina Roth for her coordination of the Restaurant Nights this past year! Not only were the meals delicious, but it allowed our PLE community to connect outside of school. With big shoes to fill, Jaclyn Dougherty has volunteered to coordinate these fun evenings for us! We look forward to these once again starting in the fall.
Thank you ALL for your participation and enthusiasm... Let's keep the momentum going!
While we’re commonly known as the PTO, our official name is Pine Lane Educational Alliance—PLEA for short. And no, we’re not trying to sound like a courtroom drama deal or a rhyming door-to-door pest control company. We exist to support Pine Lane students, staff, and families through fundraising, event planning, and a whole lot of enthusiastic organizing—minus the bug spray.
It is WILD to think we're already looking ahead to next year (and even a bit in the following one) for events. I'm reaching out with TWO goals in mind:
- To provide dates and agenda items for the 2025/2026 PLEA Community Meetings
- To share the direction and values guiding PLEA moving forward
The 2025-2026 school year will be my fourth year with PLEA and my third serving on the Executive Board. It's been both a joy and challenge--one that gives me a front-row seat to the many thoughts, suggestions, and emotions shared by our community. A community that is so loved! I truly value the openness and honesty, and I want to be just as transparent in return.
Here's the reality: PLEA simply cannot function effectively when just a few people take on the full coordination of an event. We’re working on a PLEA contingency plan to help ensure that as families move on from Pine Lane, the knowledge and structure behind our long-standing traditions are clearly shared by the veteran volunteers—making it easier for the next crew to step in, carry the torch, and keep the magic going!
We value the insight and energy the PLE teachers and staff bring to these events, and we’re grateful for their involvement! That said, we want to clarify how these efforts will come together. The primary organization of events including planning, logistics, and execution will come from parent volunteers (in other words, we need you!). PLE teachers and staff will play an important role in supporting PLEA by volunteering their time during the event itself (not to mention being a hype person for fundraising endeavors!).
Our vision is to build a PTO that's inclusive, collaborative, and truly reflective of our entire community--PLE teachers, staff, and families! We want more voice, more ideas, and more hands helping to make our events the best they can be.
As we move forward, please know that while the Board is open to feedback, it's important to recognize that decisions are made with input from many-- administrators, fellow Board members, long-time volunteers, and new faces eager to get involved.
I'm excited to see what we can create when we all pitch in, and I genuinely hope you'll consider joining us--whether for a single event or in an ongoing role. Please, if you haven't done so yet, download The Band app and join our group (see qr code below). This app allows instant communication to coordinate smaller meetings, provide updates in real-time, request help, etc. We will also be posting regularly to our very own S'more account which will be up and running in the fall.
Let’s continue working together to create meaningful and fun experiences for our students and school!
With gratitude,
Jess Burchinal
PLEA President
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