When Lois Ebert was president of the village’s PTA in 1950s, the group raised money to buy radios for their children’s classrooms.
In the 1990s the technological ante has been upped as the PTA continues to raise money, but now for school computers.
There are more schools and more students in Frankfort School District 157C now, and computers are part of the classroom norm. But, according to Rosalie Plechaty, the current PTA president, the mission hasn’t changed since the first Parent-Teacher Association was formed 100 years ago.
And that’s also true in Frankfort, where the local PTA will celebrate its 50th anniversary in February, Plechaty said.
“It’s a very work-oriented group,” she said. “It was then and it is now. We still care about the same things, supporting our schools.”
The connection is very clear to Ebert. “We spent our time working (for the school) and raising money and giving the kids something to do.”
PTA fundraising was just as important when Ellen Bell was the organization’s president in 1958. “We bought a lot of stuff for the schools that they wouldn’t have had,” Bell said.
And school district growth isn’t a new phenomenon either, said Ebert, who recalled her daughter starting kindergarten as one of a class of 15 and graduating from 8th grade in a class of 30.
The PTA may have the same goals, but activities reflect some of the social changes, as a selection of scrapbooks on display at the luncheon demonstrated.
A yellowed newspaper clipping pasted in the 1951 yearbook announced an October meeting featuring a film titled “Survival Under Atomic Attack.” Another alerted residents to an upcoming square dance, with admission charges of 25 cents for adults and 10 cents for children.
The 1995 version featured bright-colored photos and crisp computer graphics.
While square dancing might not be a draw for the kids of the ’90s, PTA members still sponsor events for students.
At a recent luncheon that drew 100 people, including 15 past presidents, to Grand Prairie School, PTA members from Frankfort School District 157C discovered there’s no generation gap in parents’ dedication to their kids.
The return of so many former presidents indicates the solidarity volunteer work generates. “The best thing (is) people are giving from themselves,” Plechaty said. “You can’t put a price tag on that.
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“This table (of past presidents dating back to 1958) alone represents years of wisdom and leadership,” she said. “Our younger moms need to see this.”