Bon Voyage, We Can't Thank You Enough
Tim Eldridge, PTA Co-President, last night at the Executive Board meeting tendered his resignation. Tim and his lovely wife Anne Gordon, and children Charles (2-202) and Alexandra are leaving PS 8. Frankly, PS 8 will not be the same after they have gone. Tim, with the unwavering support of his family, has made an indelible mark on our beloved school.
The Gordon-Eldridges joined the PS 8 community at the start of the 2007 school-year when Charlie began PS8 in 1st Grade. Tim jumped into PTA activities straight away and his impact was immediate. We are fortunate to be in a community that has many parents who want to help PS8. But Tim's ideas and passion are as unique as his ability to follow-through and get things done. That's why when it became apparent just a few months later that a vacancy would arise for a new Corresponding Secretary, Tim was nominated and served in that role. As Corresponding Secretary, the stamp of Tim's professional expertise can be seen in every aspect of our website, from appearance to communications. He was the voice of many pithy emails and postings that had a distinctive British ring to them. Tim has used all of his expertise to brand PS 8, and to develop a sustainable web presence by helping to set the standards and train willing members in the important aspects needed to deliver our communications.
Never afraid of a challenge, Tim joined up with Joanne Singleton 2007-2008 Co-President, to run and be elected as the PTA 2008-2009 Co-Presidents. In this relatively short period of time, actually just a little over a year, Tim has made an amazing number of lasting contributions to PS 8. One area of critical importance that Tim took the lead on was the development and reworking of our annual budget, asking the hard questions, crafting the message for our annual appeal, and giving meaningful presentations to our community to let them know the amount of money needed to fund our goals, exactly where the money goes, and how the children are touch by what the PTA funds.
With his communications background, Tim has been incredibly valuable to our ongoing media interactions related to school activities, assisting us with crafting quotes to major media organizations, such as the New York Times.
But with all that said - and admittedly these are only some exemplars of Tim's contributions - what is most impressive has been Tim's commitment and devotion to safeguarding, as best he could, the school environment for his son, and those who have severe, life-threatening allergies.
Tim has a wealth of knowledge on allergies and anaphylaxis; he moved mountains in a public school system to make an amazing thing happen. PS 8 over the course of a few short, but very intense months through Tim's quest and partnership with Joanne and her health care resources went from a school with no plan of what to do if a child or someone else had an anaphylactic reaction at school, to a school with all administrators, teachers and staff trained in the signs of anaphylaxis, certified in epipen administration, and a Code Yellow to follow in the event of an occurrence. When asked about her work with Tim, Joanne said "Aside from all the projects that we have worked on together, this was clearly the most meaningful to both of us, and I would say how we transitioned from colleagues to trusted friends. This collaboration touched my heart."
Tim's focus has been contributions directed at the school level. Tim's wife, Anne, consistently made contributions at the classroom level, chaperoning class trips, assisting Charles in presenting to his class on allergies and anaphylaxis, and helping a class of American 1st-graders celebrate Australia Day!
The Gordon-Eldridges have been valuable members of our community, and although they will be missed, their contributions are a legacy to our community. There is no question that with the passion Tim and Anne share for education their good works will continue on at their next school.
We wish Tim and his family all the best, we can't thank you enough.
Posted on: January 13, 2009
