October 2009

• PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month
• PTA Take Your Family to School Week Awards
• Official PTA Kit Distribution Update
• Let's Fight Flu Together! Update
• PTA on Television and Radio
• Guide to Stronger Family-School Partnerships
• What's Happening in Your State?
• State PTA 990s and Audits Due Soon
• New ABA Publication

November Is PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month

Next month, PTAs in every state will be celebrating PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month with events, activities, and programs designed to help their school communities adopt healthier habits. Students will be challenged to express their creativity in health-themed art contests, community health fairs will showcase local resources available to families, and special guests will join student walking clubs.

As a state leader, how are you planning to contribute to the celebration? There’s still time to encourage local units to participate, to plan to attend events, or to organize your own observation of the month. Visit PTA.org/HealthyLifestyles for resources to share, including PTA Healthy Lifestyles: A Parent’s Guide and the new PTA Healthy Lifestyles Health and Wellness Facts posters, now available in both English and Spanish.

Also consider giving special recognition to the units in your state that applied for a PTA Healthy Lifestyles Award. Are there state PTA resources and partnerships you could leverage to help those schools that were not selected for a financial award? To receive information about the schools in your state that applied, send an e-mail to HealthyLifestyles@pta.org.

Deadline Reminder: PTA Take Your Family to School Week Awards

All PTA Take Your Family to School Week Award applications are due by 5:00 p.m. CST, Friday, November 6, 2009. Encourage your units to plan events welcoming families into the school February 7–13, 2010, and apply for an award of $1897.

All applications must be submitted online and are subject to competitive review. Local PTAs in good standing may apply.

Event ideas, planning tools, and the application form are available at PTA.org/FamilyToSchool.

Awards funded by AXA Foundation, Proud National Sponsor of PTA.

Official PTA Kit Distribution Update

Official PTA Kit registration is now closed and kits are currently shipping to all units in good standing that did not previously register. PTAs can still purchase additional kits for $35 each through the order form. Newly chartered PTAs can still receive a free kit (while supplies last); state PTAs should contact the National PTA Information Center to request a kit.

Let’s Fight Flu Together! Update

Many local health departments across the country are looking for partners to help them with the distribution of the H1N1 vaccine. PTAs interested in having both vaccines at their clinic should register to host a Let’s Fight Flu Together! clinic and work with Flu Busters and their local health department to organize the event. For the most up to date information on H1N1 vaccine, go to http://www.flu.gov/.

To register, go to PTA.org/flushotclinics or call 866-782-3014. Seasonal flu vaccination clinics can take place anytime from now until January.

Please continue to share this information with your local units and encourage them to get involved and keep everyone healthy this flu season.

PTA on Television and Radio

In September, the television spots from the PTA Gateway Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign were ranked in the top 10 percent of all PSAs in distribution during the month. The campaign’s radio spots are getting great airtime as well. Check the television and radio reports available through the PSA Web portal at PTA.org/GatewayPSAs to see whether stations in your state are airing the PTA PSAs.

Send a thank-you note to any stations airing the PSAs, or include a thank-you in your next newsletter and send a copy to the stations. Your expression of appreciation can influence stations to continue to run the PSAs. If key stations are not yet airing the PSAs, give them a call or send a follow-up letter or e-mail—or a copy of the PSAs, if they haven’t already received them.

All the tools you need are at PTA.org/GatewayPSAs. Go to the PSA Web portal for reports on stations airing the PSAs, the list of stations that received the PSAs in the national campaign (with contact information), an order form for sending the PSAs to additional stations, sample letters and phone scripts, and more.

Print ads to support your campaign are also available.

A Guide to Stronger Family-School Partnerships, Awards for Success

The benefits of family-school-community partnerships are many: higher teacher morale, increased parent involvement, and greater student success are only a few. That’s why PTA developed PTA National Standards for Family-School Partnerships: An Implementation Guide, available at PTA.org/Partnerships.

Encourage units to use the guide to help establish activities, programs, and policies that encourage family-school partnerships. Units should then plan to apply for the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Family-School Partnership Awards, which recognize local PTAs that are achieving the National Standards and include monetary awards of up to $2,000. The award application will be available starting January 15, 2010. Direct units to PTA.org/Hearst to learn more.

What’s Happening in Your State?

PTA News from Across the Country

• Maryland PTA launches Parent Involvement Month 09 Kickoff Program
  
  It started with the Governor’s Proclamation that declared October Parent Involvement Month and from there, the event began on October 5, 2009 at Talbott Springs Elementary School in Columbia, MD. This was a partnership between Maryland PTA, the Maryland Department of Education and Maryland State PIRC. Following an official welcome from Howard County Superintendent Dr. Sydney Cousin, Maryland State Superintendent Dr. Nancy Grasmick spoke about parent involvement in the state. The event concluded with the kickoff of the WATCH D.O.G.S. program at the school.
  
  This is just one example of a partnership with key stakeholders that resulted in an opportunity to feature the importance of the PTA mission as well as the use of a teamwork process to provide visibility, credibility, and a powerful message to all parents in the state.
  
  While October is officially Parent Involvement Month, all schools need parents to be engaged and involved throughout every month of the year.

Thanks to PTA leaders in California, especially from District 4 Region and Palm Lane Elementary School PTA in Anaheim, more than 120 students and their families were able to celebrate a new national holiday created by National PTA and Conde Nast Publishing this summer. Called School Year’s Eve, the event provided activities for families and a free day at DisneyLand. For more details, visit http://www.schoolyearseve.com/.

State PTA 990s and Audits Due Soon

Please mark your calendars! State PTAs with a fiscal year ending June 30th (this includes most state congresses) November 15th is the IRS due date for filing your 990. After you have filed your 990 and conducted your audit please forward a copy of these documents to National PTA headquarters no later than December 15th.  According to the National PTA Standards of Affiliation a state PTA must:

• File a copy of the state PTA’s 990 with National PTA within 30 days of filing with the Internal Revenue Service (extension requests with IRS must also be filed with National PTA).
• File a copy of the state PTA’s audited financials with National PTA annually, within 5 ½ months of the end of the state PTA’s fiscal year (i.e., same time as 990 is due).

Please email or mail copies of your audit and 990 to the National PTA office, attention Linda Sterling. State PTA’s may file a 990, 990EZ, or 990N tax form with the IRS.

New ABA Publication Featuring Contribution from Mishaela Duran, National PTA Director of Government Affairs

The ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty and the National Network for Youth will release Runaway and Homeless Youth and the Law: Model State Statutes later this month. Runaway and Homeless Youth and the Law: Model State Statutes is a unique publication that provides guidance for policymakers, advocates, attorneys and service providers on how state laws can assist homeless and runaway youth. The laws were developed by experts in the field with input provided during two national conferences.

The comprehensive resource provides not only model statutes, but background information and research to provide context for each issue. Additionally, the authors have provided commentary to assist in the implementation of the law. Runaway and Homeless Youth and the Law: Model State Statutes is a necessity for any person or agency interested in improving state laws so that these vulnerable youth can find safety, services and stability.

The book will be released on September 22nd and will be available for $14.95 through the ABA Web Store or by calling the ABA Service Center at 1-800-285-2221.

Discounts for bulk orders are available (e.g., purchase 5-49 books and save 10%; 50-99 and save 20%; 100-399 and save 30%; 400+ save 40%). The book will also be posted on the ABA and NN4Y websites as a free pdf download.