Meet your 2021-22 PTA, PTO, PTSO presidents

Here are the presidents of the parent organizations at each area school and what they said about their goals and plans for the 2021-22 school year:

CHELSEA PARK ELEMENTARY

► PTO President: Anna Endico

► Contact: cpespto2@gmail.com

► Children: Ethan (eighth grade), Ean (third grade), Emma (first grade)

“This is my first year serving as PTO president. I have been involved with PTO almost six years and was a Teacher Appreciation chair before I was president. For fundraising this year, we just finished our Boosterthon Fun Run, will have Charleston Wrap in the spring and if COVID allows, we are working hard to bring a Spring Fest to Chelsea Park Elementary. I’d like to thank our teachers and staff at CPES for everything they do for our kids, and I’m so honored that I have the privilege to work/volunteer alongside everyone at CPES.”

FOREST OAKS ELEMENTARY

► PTO President: Brandy Pate

► Contact: foespresident@gmail.com

► Children: Zoey (eighth grade AVIA) and  Sam (fifth grade)

“This is my first year as PTO president. I have been in the PTO since 2017-18 as a Room Parent Coordinator, Publicity and Community Liaison (Adopt-a-Class). I have also served on the Chelsea Middle School PTO.

“This year, our major fundraisers are the Read-A-Thon in the fall and our second annual Hornet Hustle fun run in the spring. We also have our Gingerbread Lane shop, four spirit nights and many more fundraisers including shaved ice, spirit wear and popcorn fundraisers. We have an amazing team of 19 PTO board members and countless volunteers who work so hard to make a huge impact in the lives of our students, teachers and staff.”

MT LAUREL ELEMENTARY

► PTO President: KK Swarts

► Contact: kkswarts@yahoo.com

► Children: Parker (fifth grade) and Caroline (second grade)

“This is my first year as president, but I have been an active member of the PTO since my son started kindergarten. I previously held the position of VP of fundraising and have also worked on our Teacher Appreciation Committee and our T-shirt Committee.

“Our plans for the upcoming year include our annual cash drive, our Renaissance Fair and silent auction, as well as the Boosterthon Fun Run. We have small things we will work on such as selling Mt Laurel merchandise throughout the year, too. We are hoping for an amazing year with our students, faculty and staff along with the amazing community who support our school.”

CHELSEA HIGH SCHOOL

► PTO President: Subrena Cox

► Contact: dcox1207@bellsouth.net

► Children: Courtney (12th grade),  Kristin (eighth grade)

“I’ve been involved with PTO for seven years, serving on several committees at Chelsea Park Elementary School, Chelsea Middle School and Chelsea High School. This will be my first year serving as president of an awesome PTO board. Partnering with parents and the community, we can offer a great learning environment. We look forward to continuing to support the students, staff and administration at Chelsea High School.”

OAK MOUNTAIN ELEMENTARY

► PTO President: Veronica Wilson

► Contact: veronicawelchwilson@gmail.com

► Children: Shepard (third grade), Remington (first grade)

“This is my first year as president, but I have been involved with PTO since 2018. During those years, I served as co-room mom, room mom, hospitality, restaurant fundraising,  Grandparents Day and Fall Fun Fest volunteer. This is my first year as an officer, and I couldn’t be more excited. Our PTO works to achieve the highest support for our school while also being family and community minded.

“We are currently collecting Bluebird Sponsorship and silent auction items for our fall fundraiser. We are also adding to our restaurant fundraising, Meals on the Mountain, which will be restaurant supporters who provide frozen meals families can take home and bake. Our new playground is the biggest school project we are working towards funding and completing. Pave the Way For Play allows families and businesses to purchase a brick option.”

OAK MOUNTAIN INTERMEDIATE

► PTO President: Jennifer Kiser

► Contact: kiser5isv@gmail.com

► Children: Lilly (sixth grade), Liam (fourth grade) and Mac (first grade)

“This is my first year serving as PTO president and first official position. I have volunteered with PTO and in my childrens’ classrooms since my youngest was in kindergarten at OMES.

“We recently had our Charleston Wrap fundraiser. We also have our annual Boosterthon coming at the end of October along with Spirit Nights monthly at different local restaurants. In the spring, we will have our Silent Auction. I am excited to work with Dr. Junkin, Mrs. Hodo and all faculty and staff. We have a fabulous PTO team and many parent volunteers ready to jump in when they are needed.”

OAK MOUNTAIN MIDDLE

► PTO President: Katherine Naumann

► Contact: oakmountainpto@gmail.com

► Children: (eighth grade) at OMMS and (10th grade) at OMHS

“This is my first year as OMMS PTO president. OMMS continues to rebuild from severe tornado damage sustained in March, and the PTO is striving to do what we can to support the administration in recovery. We are also excited to partner with Feed the Need for a mission-based fundraiser. At the end of our event, the students will package 20,000 meals to be distributed locally and internationally. In addition, we are always seeking local business sponsors for monthly and quarterly student and teacher recognition.”

INVERNESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

► PTO President: Allyson Madinger

► Contact: inverness.pto.pres@gmail.com

► Children: Addy Kate (eighth grade), Audrey (third grade) and Millie (first grade)

“This is my third year as PTO president at IES. I have been involved with the PTO at IES for six years and had not held a board position before becoming PTO president. I held numerous committee head positions but had not been directly involved in the day to day running of our school’s PTO. When the time came to step into my current role, I had a lot to learn. I’ve learned a lot in the past couple of years as PTO president but still want to learn more and am dedicated to making our PTO a functional and successful part of our school.

“We recently wrapped up our biggest fundraiser of the year, the Eaglethon Fun Run as well as our annual Scarecrows on the Hill, which were up all of October. We have many other fundraisers planned, but with the uncertainty of the near future, we have many of the fundraisers on hold until we hear more about whether parents and visitors will be allowed back into the building. No matter what rules or regulations are kept in place throughout the school year, we’ll continue to try and move forward and take it one day at a time.”

GREYSTONE ELEMENTARY

► PTA President: Christina Carter

► Contact: christinacarter625@gmail.com

► Children: Caroline (seventh grade) and Cannon (fourth grade)

“The Greystone Elementary PTA is energized and excited about the year ahead of us. We look forward to implementing new morale boosting ideas for our faculty and staff, like monthly ‘Teacher Tuesday’ lunches and assigning all staff members to a classroom to better celebrate them individually on birthdays and holidays.

“We will hold our traditional Leave a Legacy fundraiser, though we will also be adding a secondary spring fundraiser and new corporate sponsorship program to further support our school. While we will continue our teacher grants, we are considering larger projects, such as a new sensory garden, a library update, the resurfacing of our volleyball court and a new mural to encourage Greystone school spirit.” 

BERRY MIDDLE

► PTO President: Ashley Lennex

► Contact: ashley.lennex@gmail.com

► Children: Taylor (eighth grade) and Bryce (fifth grade)

“Berry PTO’s No. 1 goal continues to be supporting, encouraging and showing appreciation to our staff, teachers and administration. At Berry, we have a very dedicated and hardworking staff. To show our support, we will continue appreciation events like luncheons and snack days for our entire staff, including administrators, teachers, custodians, nurses and child nutrition program workers. 

“To get the school year started, in October, we kicked off our fundraising with our annual armchair fundraiser. This event helps support grant funding for our teachers. This is a very different year with many challenges. Our PTO is eager to help any way we can.” 

SPAIN PARK HIGH

► PTSO President: Tonia Ballintine

► Contact: tonball36@aol.com

► Children: Luke (10th grade)

“I have served various positions on PTO boards for the past 12 years, including PTO president at South Shades Crest Elementary. I have also served as a Hoover Parent Teacher Council board member for four years.

“Our goal for Spain Park PTSO this year is to maintain our longtime commitment of funding as many teacher grants as possible. The past several years we have funded 100% of our requested grants. This year more than ever, we are committed to helping with communications through our social media page. We find ourselves in unprecedented times with COVID-19, and we are there to support our parents, faculty, staff and students in any way possible. Our biggest goal for Spain Park PTSO this year is to increase our donations. Understandably, we saw a decrease last year, and we are focused on getting it back to the level we had previous to 2021.

“Our focus is to help our students and faculty by funding new innovative ideas and any new projects for our school. We are also committed to increasing our communication to our parents with emails and social media.”

– Editor’s Note: A print-ready photo of Jennifer Kiser was not available at press time. The presidents of the Chelsea Middle and Oak Mountain High PTOs did not respond to our request for information.