May 2009 |
||||||||||||||||||||
The Official PTA Kit—The Must-Have Item for the Fall
Make sure your units get these valuable resources. Remind them to register to receive their free kit. All local, council, district, and region PTAs must register to receive their kit for 2009–2010. Current unit presidents should have received a postcard with their unit's personalized URL for the kit registration form, through which the incoming PTA president or other authorized leader will need to specify the unit's preferred shipping address and date. Help us spread the word about this change from previous years. Include articles in your newsletters (feel free to reprint articles from PTA Local Leader News), post the information on the state PTA website and link to the Kit FAQs at PTA.org/OfficialKit , and make announcements at upcoming PTA meetings. Each unit will receive only one free kit, so emphasize that the kit must go to the incoming PTA leadership team. Kits will ship weekly June 19 through the end of October (kits shipped after October 1 will incur a handling cost). State PTA offices, presidents, presidents-elect, membership chairs, and extension chairs will automatically receive a kit in mid-June and do not need to register. Please make sure your records are up to date with the PTA national office. If you have any questions, please contact Scott Brody at sbrody@pta.org or (800) 307-4782 Ext. 335. Please note: The address units provide on the registration form will be used one time only, for the specific purpose of shipping The Official PTA Kit. The form will clearly state this and will inform units that they must complete all change-of-officer/address paperwork for the state PTA. The state PTA will still need to update unit records with the PTA national office to ensure that units get PTA's other valuable mailings throughout the year. Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, and European Congress only: Please disregard the delivery process described above. Kit delivery for local and council/district/region units in your state will be managed by the state PTA office. The state PTA will be responsible for communicating to units about kit delivery. The order form will not allow units in these states to register for a kit. Leaders, We Need Your Help! Vote for PTA on Facebook! Only 4 days left to vote! Please spread the word to your local units to vote for PTA as a part of Target's "Bullseye Gives" campaign! On May 10, Target allocated a total of $3 million to be distributed among 10 charities. The charity with the most votes on Target's Facebook page will receive the largest share of the $3 million. As of May 21, PTA is in 7th place, on track to receive approximately $126,911, while the first place charity is on track to receive $786,179. We are counting on you to help turn that around! All proceeds received as part of the campaign will benefit the National PTA's Urban Family Engagement Initiative.
Visit PTA.org for more information. We encourage you to copy the widget to the right and use it on your state's website. Link the image to http://www.facebook.com/target. Add one or more widgets for downloading. Let's go PTA! 
Let's Fight Flu Together! Materials Available
For more information on this initiative, go to www.pta.org/flushotclinics. Don't miss it! Only 1 day remains to pre-register for national convention and take advantage of reduced rates! Pre-register by May 22, 2009, by visiting www.pta.org/annualconvention. Onsite registration in Ft. Lauderdale, FL opens at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, June 27th in the Atrium Lobby of the Ft. Lauderdale Convention Center. Don't miss out on discounted hotel rates still available through May 22nd. Book Now. Here are the top 10 reasons to attend national convention this year...
Change in Member Benefits Provider for Auto & Home Liberty Mutual is no longer a PTA Member Benefits Provider. Members currently participating in the Liberty Mutual plan will continue to have their coverage available until further notice from Liberty Mutual and will retain their member discount until their next policy renewal. We are pleased to welcome MetLife Auto and Home as the newest PTA Member Benefits Provider. The MetLife program will replace the plan previously offered by Liberty Mutual. MetLife will offer exclusive discounts for PTA members effective on June 1, 2009. PTA members can compare their current rates to those offered by MetLife to see what savings may be available. More information will be coming soon, including a special introductory mailing to PTA members at the end of June. Extended School Showings Through June 12th! Host PTA Movie Night Live 2 and take advantage of $250 of Value for only $125! Your school can now host Walt Disney's BOLT (PG rated) or the high school hit TWILIGHT (PG-13 rated) from now until June 12th. What can I purchase with the PTAdigital.com gift cards? $5 PTAdigital.com gift cards are redeemable at PTA's new online store, www.PTAdigital.com, where families can create personalized photo products such as a 5 picture photo cube, pocket photo books, customized posters, calendars, greeting cards, and door hangers all delivered right to your door for less than $5. Celebrate your teachers, graduates, friends, father's day and more! It's easy and fun to use your favorite pictures and messages to create memorable photo gifts! Already Signed Up for a Movie Night? Be sure your gift card recipients redeem their PTAdigital.com gift cards for the great products available at www.PTAdigital.com. Can't participate in this Movie Night? Even if your school can't participate in this movie night event, we encourage you to check out http://www.ptadigital.com/ for great photo gift ideas and fundraising products at discounted prices. Shipping is free on all products and most of our personalized photo products are priced below $5 including sales tax! Check it out today and help support PTA.
PTA Reflections—Promoting Achievement in the Arts and in Life Wow! More than half a million students in 50 states and in U.S. military installations overseas participated in the PTA Reflections Program this year, creating works of art that wowed judges from the local to the national level. Click here to see the entries of the top national award winners—the Outstanding Interpretation Award recipients in the program's six arts areas—and to access the full list of national award recipients. The 2009–2010 year marks the national Reflections Program's 40th anniversary. The updated rules have been sent to the state arts chairs and will be available soon at PTA.org/reflections. As we celebrate 40 years of achievement in the arts, we can think of no better tribute to the program's importance in encouraging children's creativity and artistic expression than to have all units participate. Urge your units to make Reflections part of their 2009–2010 year and see what a difference the arts make. Start promoting now! Reach out to local arts chairs and unit presidents to create your Reflections Program network; then share state rules and deadlines. The theme for 2009–2010: "Beauty is..." 2008–2009 Family-School Partnership Award Recipients PTA's Phoebe Apperson Hearst Family-School Partnership Awards celebrate PTAs that are working to achieve the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships. The PTA national office is proud to announce the award recipients for this, the award program's inaugural year. The Outstanding Family-School Partnership Award—and $2,000—goes to Elmdale Elementary School PTA in Springdale, Arkansas, for all-around achievement of the National Standards. By aligning programs and practices with the National Standards and developing strong partnerships with families and the community, Elmdale Elementary has overcome language barriers and conditions of poverty to promote the success of all students and meet the state achievement standards. The Family-School Partnership Award of Excellence—with $500—is given to six PTAs, each representing the best in one of the six National Standards. The award recipients are as follows:
Finally, for their commitment to striving to achieve the National Standards, 110 PTAs in 30 states will receive the Family-School Partnership Award of Merit. Do you enjoy bragging about the great things happening in your state? Well, so do we! Help us get the scoop from local units on what they did in the month of May. Child safety: Remind local units that they can be entered in a drawing for a PTA Video Store gift card just by telling us what they did this month to promote child safety. Stories must be e-mailed to ChildSafety@pta.org by June 15. Drawing winners will be notified via e-mail by June 19. PTA Teacher Appreciation Week: Earlier this month, schools nationwide celebrated those essential members of the school community—teachers. Encourage your units to share their pictures, stories, and even videos of Teacher Appreciation Week with other school communities through PTA's Thank-A-Teacher group on Facebook. We visit the Facebook page (and we think you should too!), but units can also share their stories directly with the PTA national office by sending an e-mail to TeacherAppreciation@pta.org. |
The Official PTA Kit
Voting is easy, go to 
Take advantage of free resources from the Let's Fight Flu Together! initiative for your summer meetings. Contact Annie Krysl, Outreach Manager, at 
