July 2009 |
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Welcome to PTA Partners in Leadership In July 2005, PTA introduced three new e-newsletters—PTA Partners in Leadership, PTA Local Leader News, and The PTA Parent— targeted specifically to state leaders, local leaders, and the general membership and public, respectively. Please be sure that state and local leaders in your state are receiving these valuable resources and promote all three newsletters throughout your state. PTA Partners in Leadership is sent monthly to all state PTA board members. If any of your state board members are not receiving this newsletter, please enter their information into OMDR. (Free) Back-to-School Supplies for Local PTAs
Not just students and teachers are gathering supplies for the new school year; PTAs are too. Here are a few important supplies your units should know about:
State boards can further support local, council, district, and region PTAs, and experience the excitement of the Back-to-School season, by
Join us for the fight against the flu this season by encouraging your local units to host a clinic in their school or community place. With the recent media attention to the H1N1 virus or swine flu, we have all been reminded of how serious the flu can be. See what your state can do in getting this important message out. Your state plays a key role in communicating with all regional, council, and local PTA's and your support of this initiative is vital. Take a moment to share the importance of keeping our children healthy all year long by adding information to your state communications. Now is the time for local units to start planning their fall activities, which includes hosting an influenza vaccination clinic! Additional state newsletter articles, web graphics, and more will be sent to your state communication chairs in the upcoming weeks. All schools are encouraged to participate in Let's Fight Flu Together!
More information on how to set up a clinic, necessary forms, promotion ideas, and frequently asked questions are available at pta.org/flushotclinics. If you have questions regarding this initiative, please contact Annie Krysl, Outreach Manager, at akrysl@pta.org or 800-307-4782 ext. 329. Together we can fight the flu! It's Here! Introducing the PTA Visa Powered by Capital One
PTA, Capital One and OneCause, a PTA National Member Benefits Provider, have joined forces to provide you with this new credit card fundraising program, which turns your supporters' everyday purchases into much-needed contributions. The PTA Visa powered by Capital One allows your supporters to contribute 1% of every purchase plus a $25 bonus with first purchase on their personal account. All contributions will be shared among your local, state and national PTA.. Create your local PTA's own credit card fundraising program! Learn more and get started at onecause.com/onevoice. United We Serve – PTA Members Answer the Call to Service PTA has partnered with the White House on an important volunteer initiative called United We Serve. Launched on June 22nd, the campaign encourages all Americans to volunteer in their communities this summer and throughout the school year. PTA is answering President Barack Obama's call to service in a number of meaningful ways. First, PTA kicked off its involvement by partnering with Scholastic to donate 5,000 books to children and 9,000 resources for parents at the PTA Family Expo, which was held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida alongside the PTA National Convention. In addition, PTA leaders in Detroit, Michigan, Newark, New Jersey and Louisville, Kentucky. are stepping up to plan back-to-school events where a combined 1,500 students will receive new books, sign up for library cards, and engage in a number of fun activities to support family literacy. It is not too late to get involved! Service projects can be planned year round on education, health and to serve military families. The PTA Call to Service Toolkit was created to provide step-by-step instructions on how to create a service project. Projects can be simple, fun, and should involve your whole community. When the project is complete, don't forget to share your story of service so that your great work can be shared with President Obama and the Corporation for National and Community Service. For more information, visit pta.org/calltoservice. In October, PTA will be hosting a series of conference calls and web feedback with our youth members to address their role in PTA and help us plan for the future. In August, your state will be asked to nominate three youth to participate. It is important that the youth nominated are diverse in accordance with PTA's diversity, in 10-12th grade, are involved in PTA, and are open to sharing their ideas and comments to the group. More information will be sent to you soon regarding the application, timeline, and goals of this initiative. At the 113th Annual PTA National Convention, a series of men took center stage, the PTA Family Expo made its debut to draw in families from all over the south Florida community, and both keynote speakers and young Reflections Program award winners brought attendees to their feet. It was an amazing convention that set the bar high for 2010 in Memphis, Tennessee. In Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, during the last weekend in June, Chuck Saylors officially became the first ever male national PTA president. During his installation ceremony, convention attendees were treated to some personal and moving remarks from old friends of the new president: the National School Boards Association president Sonny Savoie, and former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley. On Monday there were stirring addresses from national PTA CEO Byron V. Garrett and the National Teacher of the Year Anthony Mullen, with a special guest speaker on Saturday, Jim Shelton, from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement. Across town at Lockhart Stadium, local families enjoyed entertainment, games, hands-on activities, health screenings, and much more at the PTA Family Expo. There were special performances by 2Much and Tiffany Giardina, and appearances by Olympic gold medalist Dara Torres, NFL player Chris Draft, and multi-platinum singer CeCe Peniston. PTA leaders and members, along with community representatives and youth, will gather again next year for the national convention in Memphis, Tennessee from June 10-13, 2010. Reflections Program Winners Featured at Convention At the convention awards ceremony, direct descendants of Reflections Program founder Mary Lou Anderson gave remarks on the importance of the arts before ceding the stage to the student artists who received the Reflections Program's highest recognition in the areas of dance choreography, film production, literature, photography, and visual arts. The 2008–2009 PTA Reflections Program—themed "Wow!"—boasted participation from more than 500,000 students from local PTAs across the United States and in military installations abroad. In addition to the six national Outstanding Interpretation Awards, PTA awarded 72 national Awards of Excellence and 120 national Awards of Merit across four grade divisions—primary, intermediate, middle/junior, and senior—and six arts areas—dance choreography, film production, literature, musical composition, photography, and the visual arts. As U.S. schools increasingly lose funding for the arts in classrooms, it is vital that PTA advocates for quality arts education. One of the simplest ways to support, promote, and celebrate the arts is through participation in the PTA Reflections Program. Help PTA reach record numbers for the 40th anniversary of Reflections; encourage all units to take part in the 2009–2010 program. The theme: "Beauty is..." Rules and guides are available at PTAreflections.org.
Using the Ning.com platform, the PTA Great Idea Bank website will enable PTA leaders and members to share ideas on how to run PTAs and PTA events more effectively. It will also be helpful to parents, enabling them to interact and learn from each other how to overcome today's parenting challenges. The site features discussion forums on topics such as student achievement and parents and schools working together. Users can add to conversations, start new discussions, join groups devoted to specific topics (such as PTA Healthy Lifestyles), or post photos from their events. A downloadable user guide is available. Please consider linking to ptagreatideabank.org. Join up and spread the word. The site's success depends on proven, trusted ideas from peers, so the more people contributing to the site, the better. Membership/Extension Plans Are Your Guide to Strengthening PTA Membership growth is one of the priorities of PTA organizationally because we are continuously striving to strengthen our voice on behalf of all children. It is important to set plans to reach out to populations that may not be familiar with the mission of PTA and if introduced to it, would likely want to belong. It is equally important to make contact with and offer support to currently existing units in order to increase their membership and affirm their sense of value to the organization. Because our membership is so critical to the progress of PTA, the Standards of Affiliation for each state PTA congress requires a membership/extension plan to be in place by August 31, 2009. The plan is a guide for future growth which includes goals, objectives, time lines and assigned responsibility.
School Year's Eve is the go-to resource for families, students, and communities, and offers new ways to prepare for the school year ahead. The site is loaded with fun and educational resources, activities, healthy recipes, parenting tips, special discounts and more. Participants also have the opportunity to enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win cash prizes. A promotional poster on School Year's Eve is included in the Official PTA Kit with all the resources your PTAs need to prepare for the upcoming school year. To get information and register for the sweepstakes, visit PTA.org or Schoolyearseve.com and remember to check back often for updates and more great offers and resources during the Back-to-school season. Don't miss the party of the year! Encourage Units to Promote Healthy Lifestyles This November As you prepare local leaders for the upcoming school year, be sure to mention the opportunity for their units to receive up to $1,000 for November activities focused on health and wellness. November is PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month! At leadership trainings and through other state communications, spread the word about the observance and the resources at PTA.org/HealthyLifestyles. There are event ideas focused on nutrition and physical activity, event planning tips, and a link to the PTA Healthy Lifestyles Award application. There are also great resources for parents: PTA Healthy Lifestyles: A Parent's Guide and new posters with dietary, physical activity, and sleep recommendations for kids ages 2 to 18. PTA Helps Cable Industry Honor Excellence in Teaching On June 10, Cable in the Classroom, the education foundation of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and a partner of PTA, honored individuals who are at the forefront of innovation in education, including those who are creatively using cable technology and content to expand and enhance learning. As part of this fifth annual Cable's Leaders in Learning Awards ceremony, held in Washington DC, Mishaela Durán, director of government affairs for national PTA, helped present the Media Literacy Education Awards to Lynda Bergsma of Tucson, Arizona, and Elana Yonah Rosen of San Francisco, California. Learn more about the impressive work of these two women, and read the stories of the other 11 award recipients, at LeadersinLearningAwards.org. Help leaders in your state educate families about safe and responsible media use; go to PTA.org/MediaSafety for resources. |
Just in time for back-to-school, the 
PTA has revamped the Great Idea Bank and relaunched it as a social and idea-sharing network: 
For millions of parents of school-aged children, January is not the real "new year." It's in August and early September—the time of year when mothers, fathers, and children across the country are putting away the pool toys, updating their wardrobes, shopping for school supplies, planning carpools and setting up schedules for caretaking, classes, sporting activities, and more.