Photo by Sarah Merly
Key Points
- Rock Springs Elementary PTA’s fall festival returned after a hiatus, featuring music, bounce houses, pony rides, and community resources on Thursday.
- The PTA won the Golden Orange Award and Florida PTA Membership Plus Award for 2025-26, recognizing good standing and membership benchmarks.
- PTA leaders aim to increase parental involvement.
After a few-year hiatus, Rock Springs Elementary PTA’s fall festival returned Thursday, gathering students and families together for music, bounce houses and more.
“I feel like the community, especially because this is a predominantly Hispanic community, they’re afraid to come out and they’re afraid to join in community events due to the community environment,” said PTA president Paola Leon. “So our main goal is to have everybody come together and offer a safe space for them to come and enjoy with their kids.”
The festival saw children playing with bubbles, jumping on bounce houses and riding a pony. Vendors including Florida State Parks, Orange County Library System and University of Central Florida Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (UCF CARD) also offered resources to families.
According to a Sept. 15 Facebook post, the Rock Springs PTA won two awards for the 2025-26 school year: the Golden Orange Award and the Florida PTA Membership Plus Award.
“The Golden Orange Award recognizes our PTA for remaining in good standing with the Orange County Council of PTA/PTSAs,” the post said. “The Florida PTA Membership Plus Award recognizes Rock Springs Elementary PTA for meeting Florida PTA’s membership benchmark for four or more consecutive years — an achievement made possible by the incredible support of our families, teachers, staff, and community members!”
This year, both Leon and PTA vice president Jennifer Mergal aim to continue building parental involvement.
“We’re here for [students] — we want them to have fun,” Mergal said. “We want school to not just be a place where they come to learn, but also a place for fun and engage with our community. The more that our community, like our families, come and engage with us, the more they’ll be willing to come to a meeting, so we want to put on fun events for our kids.”