Sep 22, Thursday

Picture Day- SMILE!

Smile for the Picture Day Volunteers
Early autumn means "Picture Day" at Chickering and this September was an especially fun and challenging effort.  

The annual endeavor is daunting enough, without weather disruptions.  Veteran coordinator Lisa Turo always starts early.  By the first week of school, she was recruiting and organizing nearly 30 parent volunteers into 4 shifts.  These are the volunteers who help Coffee Pond Photographers capture gleaming smiles from 512 students, 28 classrooms, and one hundred teachers and administrators.  

Because of it is one of the PTO's most popular volunteer duties, Lisa rarely has trouble filling the slots.  
"It's lots of fun," she says, " and you get a chance to primp your own kid before their picture!"  

But this year, the smooth operation hit some bumps: unpredictable weather forced a last-minute move indoors while two of the four photographers were stuck in traffic.  But did Lisa despair?  No; at Dr. Reinemann's suggestion, she turned the indoor location into an asset with the fantastic decision to use the mosaic mural as the backdrop for class pictures.  And thanks to a gracious offer from Library Professional Cheryl Chase to use her orderly and beautiful library.  The mosaic glittered, the "portrait studio" was set up, and the volunteers were put to work.  They shepherded classes, collected envelopes and identifying information, served as liaisons with each photographer, straightened collars, smoothed cow-licks, and re-arranged by height.  All without disrupting adjacent classes.  

"The teachers and students were quite patient," Lisa says.  "They helped us get back on schedule after the early morning scramble."  
And all those toothy and toothless grins?  Beautiful.  Pictures arrive later this month, and they are sure to make you smile!