March 2009 |
||||
|
In This Issue PTA’s Back-to-School Kit Gets an Overhaul PTA’s Back-to-School Kit Gets an Overhaul Big changes are in store for Back-to-School. The PTA Back-to-School Kit is becoming The Official PTA Kit—our Big Box of Possibilities for use over the entire school year. Back by popular demand - PTA Movie Night Live 2! Get started today to participate! Last November, over 3,700 PTA schools and an estimated 1,000,000 family members attended our first movie night event with Kung Fu Panda, making PTA Movie Night Live the largest school movie event of its kind. PTA, in partnership with HP, is pleased to announce the films for the second movie night event this Spring: Walt Disney Picture’s family film Bolt Participating schools will receive a movie night kit with everything they need for their event, including a screening DVD of the movie, the required public performance license, and more! Admission is only $5 per student (parents are FREE for Bolt), which includes a gift from PTAdigital.com valued at $5. In addition, students and parents have the option to add a special Domino's® Pizza deal for $2 each. It’s easy to get started. Here’s how:
Please note: To participate, schools must complete registration by April 27 and have a 25 attendee minimum. PTA Movie Night Live is proudly sponsored by PTAdigital.com, your new online destination where students, parents, and faculty can create customized photo products such as calendars, posters, and photo books, for both fundraising and personal use. You’ll also find your favorite family movies at PTAdigital.com.  Let’s Fight Flu Together! - Start Planning Now
The Let’s Fight Flu Together! registration for fall clinics is now open! Encourage your local units to begin working with their school administration and school nurses now to fight the flu next season. PTAs that register by midnight, Friday, May 1, 2009 and are in good standing will be entered in a drawing to win one of four $250 awards to be used for the promotion of their clinics. Local units can register their flu vaccination clinics at pta.org/flushotclinics. Now is also the time for your state PTA to plan your influenza vaccination clinic! Whether it be in partnership with another organization or business, the clinics can take place in any community space. This is a great way for you to give back to your communities while also providing an essential public health initiative. This is a great initiative to help you create and strengthen your partnership with your state Department of Health, state school nurses association and other state health organizations. If you need additional materials on Let’s Fight Flu Together! or have questions about the campaign, contact PTA Outreach Manager Annie Krysl at (800) 307-4782 ext. 329 or akrysl@pta.org.
 2009 PTA National Convention: Bring the Kids
Registration is now open for the 113th Annual PTA National Convention and Exhibition! This year, convention will be held from June 26–29, 2009, in family-friendly Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and there are plenty of reasons for the kids to come, too:
The 2009 PTA National Convention will also feature several guest speakers, including Olympic medalist Dara Torres and multi-platinum singer CeCe Peniston. Register yourself and your students at pta.org/annualconvention today! Seeking Good Men and Women to Train! The Training Capacity Building Initiative (TCBI) is once again seeking applicants for the TCBI class of 2009! TCBI Volunteer Trainers assist state PTAs in building their capacity to meet their state’s local training needs. To do this, National PTA during October will train and certify TCBI Volunteer Trainers from almost every state, to provide quality, consistent core PTA trainings to local PTAs in their states. State Presidents will send out these Trainers to local units that may desire training on PTA topics. TCBI Volunteer trainers often utilize their states training resources, using state developed workshops and resources to support their state PTA. In addition, TCBI Volunteer Trainers also utilize the National Training Library to assist state’s training needs. The National Training library is being developed along the five strategic drivers of Diversity, Membership, Organizational Effectiveness, Financial Viability, and Leadership according to the National Strategic Plan. If you know of someone who would be a good TCBI Volunteer Trainer, contact your State President and recommend someone! TCBI Volunteer Trainers join a states’ already established training resources to assist PTA across the country make every child’s potential a reality! Parent Involvement Schools of Excellence: Latest List Now Online Congratulations to the latest—and final—recipients of PTA’s Parent Involvement Schools of Excellence Certification! The most up-to-date list of schools holding the three-year Certification of Excellence, as well as the list of schools receiving Recognition of Commitment, is posted online at pta.org/picert. Check to see which schools in your state have received certification and celebrate their success in involving parents. While PTA is no longer accepting applications for Parent Involvement Schools of Excellence Certification (as of December 31, 2008), schools currently certified will retain that honor through their original three-year term. In addition, all local, council, district, and regional PTAs, including those with Certification of Excellence, are eligible to apply for PTA’s new Phoebe Apperson Hearst Family-School Partnership Awards. PTA created this new annual awards program to better applaud PTAs for encouraging parent involvement and achieving the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships. Applications were due the first of this month. Watch later this spring for the announcement of the first Phoebe Apperson Hearst Outstanding Family-School Partnership Award and Award of Excellence recipients. Learn more at pta.org/hearst. Thank a Teacher May 3–9
Join your local PTAs in honoring teachers during PTA Teacher Appreciation Week this May.
More ideas and resources are available at PTA.org/teachers. May 1 Deadline: Arts Enhancement Grants for Local Units Alert your local units: All applications for PTA’s Mary Lou Anderson Reflections Arts Enhancement Grants must be received by the PTA national office on or before May 1, 2009. Please encourage units to use the online application form, available until 11:59 p.m. Eastern, May 1. The grant program offers a limited number of matching grants of up to $1,000 to help local units establish or enhance student-centered arts education programs. Special consideration is given to programs that reach students whose environmental, familial, and/or socioeconomic situation may affect their academic success or ability to learn. The grant application and program details are available online at PTA.org/artsgrants. Summer Safety The carefree days of summer that children look forward to can bring with them increased safety concerns for parents. More unstructured time is likely to mean more time spent in front of the TV and computer. A change in routines can result in more time spent home alone. Summer activities often mean new friends for parents to get to know. Encourage local units to focus on child safety this May in preparation for the summer months ahead, and help remind parents what they can do to keep their children safer over the summer. Here are a couple things to note:
New Grants From Action for Healthy Kids Increasing the number of children eating breakfast at school to start their day right is the goal of a new grant program. Action for Healthy Kids, with generous support from Kellogg’s Corporate Citizenship Fund, is offering grants to schools that currently participate in the School Breakfast Program with greater than 50 percent eligibility for free and reduced-price meals. The goal is to increase their average daily student participation by 25 percent. Download a PDF of the grant application. Complete proposals are due to Action for Healthy Kids by Friday, April 10, 2009. More information can be found at actionforhealthykids.org or by contacting Sarah Titzer, director of team programs at (317) 884-0321 or Sarah@ActionForHealthyKids.org.
|
