It didn’t take long for Gattis Elementary to notice when Maria Medina decided to get involved with the PTA. And now Maria’s efforts have attracted the attention of a national award.
Medina, a Round Rock parent and PTA president, has been nominated for the Volly Awards, a national award given in honor of parent volunteers. The award is sponsored by Booster, an elementary school fundraising company that serves more than 3,600 schools nationwide.
“We created the Volly Awards to honor the hard-working parent volunteers working behind the scenes to support their school’s students, faculty, staff, and community,” said Stephen Murray, President of Booster.
Medina was nominated for this national award by her fellow parent volunteers. From school-wide programs to individualized care for students and parents, she’s served her community in countless ways.
She currently serves as the PTA President of Gattis Elementary, where her son attends first grade. On top of her PTA responsibilities, Medina has spent extra time reaching out to Spanish-speaking parents at Gattis, who at times can feel excluded due to the language barrier.
She was also instrumental in bringing the Boosterthon Fun Run to her school, a fundraiser that was so successful it enabled the PTA to update the school library, provide teacher and staff grants, purchase ukuleles and headphones for the music department, as well as fund art projects, field trips, and a new student program called RISE.
“Maria is so connected with our community. All her leadership efforts are focused on bringing our families together. She deserves this award more than anyone I know,” said Jenn Brown, Vice President of the Gattis PTA.
A vocal advocate for the unification of students and parents at her school, Medina also brought two important programs to the Gattis community: International Fest and Reflections. The former is is a free event designed to help students and parents explore and exchange a love of their unique culture and heritage. For Reflections, she partnered with the Gattis art department to create a program where students can express themselves through their creative works of art.
“When we have volunteers like Maria who are really willing to put in the work for the benefit of our teachers and students, it makes a world of difference to our community,” said Brown.
Though Maria received the honor of being chosen as a monthly Volly Award winner, she’s now in the running to become the National winner (which would earn her a $1,500 Visa gift card and 500 spirit t-shirts for her school.)
To vote for Medina of Round Rock to win the National Volly Award, visit VollyAward.com/Voting and cast your vote before May 6!
