Published: October 19, 2009

Not Your Mother's PTA

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Colleen McKerley of Mount Lebanon may not be on the payroll at nearby Jubilee Christian School of the South Hills, a few miles southwest of downtown Pittsburgh, but she says serving the school is almost a full-time job.

McKerley is the co-chairwoman of the school's parent-teacher group, which has volunteers who log more than 7,000 hours a year doing everything from helping in the library and school buses to assisting with the academic curriculum. The association is involved with an annual school program each March that teaches the students about a particular foreign country, which will be Russia this year. McKerley's organization is helping the teachers plan the projects, and members are doing research on different aspects of the country, like Russian games.

The parent group even helped interview candidates for a new principal recently, says McKerley, 43. It's a long way from the parent groups she remembers...