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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Mac Maker: Lisa McNiven's PTA group helped supply Rolling Hills Middle School with several new computers, including 10 iMacs.
Public Citizen
Silicon Valley PTA
Lisa McNiven forges connection between schools, parents
By Moryt Milo
In Silicon Valley, where putting down roots has become as rare as the bountiful orchards that once bloomed across its floor, Lisa McNiven has proven that family and community can stay connected.
Her roots are deep. For the past 19 years she has lived in a home only a mile and half from where she grew up. She and her husband Mike have watched their children, Jenny, an eighth-grader at Rolling Hills Middle School, and Danny, a senior at Westmont High School, follow in their footsteps at Campbell schools.
Her desire to stay connected led to McNiven's involvement in her children's schools. She was the past PTA president at Forest Hill and just recently ended her term as PTA president at Rolling Hills. During her tenure, the PTA worked on programs to help improve school technology. This spring they saw success when the PTA supplied the majority of the computers in a brand new Library/ Media Center at Rolling Hills Middle School.
Says McNiven about her experiences as past PTA president: " The one thing about Campbell schools is that there is a great group of parents. Everyone pitches in and wants to work together. "
As her children grew older she continued to stay involved, initially volunteering as secretary and, most recently, as the current treasurer of the Campbell Education Foundation. McNiven became interested in the Campbell Education Foundation after talking with a teacher she knew at Forest Hill. McNiven says, "At the time I was looking for an avenue that would benefit both schools [my children] were in and I knew the foundation was struggling for volunteers. So that's how it started."
According to McNiven, The Campbell Education Foundation is the only foundation focused specifically on grant giving for the Campbell Union Schools, that includes students from kindergarten through eighth grade. Their objective is to offer another resource to teachers and projects that would otherwise go unfunded. The Foundation holds a grant process once a year and has made applying for a grant a simple one-page form. Last year they gave out $15,000 in grants for everything from tricycles at the Village School (Hazelwood) to a Colonial Williamsburg project at Blackford Elementary. The Foundation plans to diversify their giving from planter boxes to grow flowers at Blackford to a printer to complement an iMac at Rolling Hills.
McNiven says, "We could have spent another $15,000 last year but we didn't have the funds." Their main fundraising venues are festivals such as the Prune Festival and Oktoberfest. But they are looking into new ways to reach the community.
At this year's Oktoberfest (Oct. 21-22), the Campbell Education Foundation will once again have a booth and will be selling pizza. The proceeds from the booth help fund grant requests for the 14 elementary and middle schools in the Campbell Union School District.
"Parents need to try and be as involved as they can," McNiven says. "I know it's difficult, but whatever involvement you can have in a school, the rewards are great. To me that's the most important thing, being involved in your kids lives."
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Campbell, California
