PTO Partners support Beacon, Mariner classrooms

Beacon and Mariner middle school PTOs are working together to drum up financial support for teachers and student activities through a program called PTO Partners.

Mariner PTO President Jessica Tyndall said the program is a way for businesses and families to give back to their children’s school by donating a $200 sponsorship. 

Half of the sponsorship goes directly to teachers so they can purchase items they would typically buy out of pocket, Tyndall said, and the remaining $100 goes to the PTO to be distributed for activities that benefit students and teachers.

Tyndall and Beacon PTO President Stephanie Mastrangelo have recruited about 100 and 60 partners, respectively, and urge locals to support the businesses that support local students.

“The PTO serves as a backbone for schools,” Tyndall said. “And when we’re successful, kids win.”

“The whole school wins,” Mastrangelo added. “We want to make sure the people responsible for molding young people get the monetary and emotional support they need.”

That $200 donation goes a long way, Tyndall said. Last year, the PTO sponsored three students on the eighth-grade science trip to Florida, and this year they hope to sponsor five, she said. In addition to the experiences students enjoy on the trip, Tyndall said, some children have never left the state or been on an airplane before, and this opportunity gives them a safe, educational way to do so.

Funds also support the Mariner seventh-grade science overnight trip to Cape Henlopen State Park and school dances, Tyndall said, adding funds also go toward staff appreciation events.

“It takes a whole team to run a school,” she said.

Mastrangelo said this is the first year Beacon has had the PTO Partners program, so it is growing steadily. Plans for use of the funds include sponsoring school dances, field day dunk tanks and Rita’s water ice treats, teacher appreciation meals, the eighth-grade celebration and the return of the eighth-grade field trip, she said.

For more information on PTO Partners and how to support local schools, find Beacon Middle PTO and Mariner Middle PTO on Facebook.