Parents Organize to Help the Schools
So That All May Learn - The Story of the Springfield Public Schools A driving force in the school district...the Parent-Teacher Association...came into being in 1913 as the result of an unsafe condition at Boyd School. The problem was that community water buckets at the schools were being shared with a stray dog.
The organization, formed at Phelps School, was first called The Springfield Council of the National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations. Its membership consisted of the Mothers Circles from Phelps, Boyd, Bowerman, Campbell, and Fairbanks schools.
Early projects included such things as an anti-fly campaign, cleanliness and ventilation of school rooms, safety programs for skating, a baby welfare program, and Operation Toothbrush Drill which enabled every child to have a good toothbrush.
During its first four years the PTA was guided by Mrs. William Rulkoetter.
For the next seven years it was presided over by Mrs. J. B. McBride who later became a member of the Board of Education.
These were critical years in the growth of the organization as members were kept busy during the war supplying kits for soldiers, promoting sale of Liberty Bonds and stamps; knitting, sewing, and quilting for soldiers and war orphan, and publishing a wartime cookbook to help mothers prepare adequate meals from limited rations.