January 2010 |
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It's Not Too Late! Grow Membership in January and February Is your state running a membership campaign right now? Consider it. Nationwide, approximately 18 percent of PTA members join in January and February. Capitalize on people's optimism that the New Year brings new opportunities to improve themselves, their lives, and their worlds. Encourage them to make it their number one resolution to be more involved in their children's education by joining PTA. January and February are not too late for parents to make a real impact in the current school year. Ask each of your units to be part of the "New Year—New Opportunities" membership campaign. Campaign materials and tips are available at PTA.org/January. PTAs that run more than one membership campaign a year have, on average, 20 percent more members. Grow your state's membership now! Student Artworks 'Wow' U.S. Department of Education
This year's opening ceremony featured special guest speakers and artistic performances from award-winning students. Highlights from the event included:
Reflections Deadline Reminder: March 2 The deadline for all state Reflections Program entries to arrive at the National PTA office is Tuesday, March 2. Be sure to review the requirements—covered in the State Arts Chairs' Guide—and complete all necessary forms. Download the forms and guide at PTAreflections.org, How to Begin: State Participation. If you have any questions, please contact Chantay Carter, National PTA arts in education program coordinator, at (800) 307-4782 Ext. 210 or ccarter@pta.org. PTA Take Your Family to School Week: Experience the Excitement February 7–13, PTAs nationwide will be welcoming families into their schools for PTA Take Your Family to School Week. Many creative events are planned, and we hope you'll be a part of them. Highlight local stories on the state PTA website and in newsletters. Issue a press release. Attend some of the events! Experience the excitement families and schools feel at this opportunity to learn, connect, and have a little fun. Click here for the national press release announcing this year's 32 PTA Take Your Family to School Week Award recipients. The awards are funded by AXA Foundation, Proud National Sponsor of PTA. For a great way to add flavor to your events and celebrations for the week, consider hosting a Jamba Juice Smoothie fundraiser.* Find out how PTAs can earn a percentage of sales on the Jamba Juice website. *Available in select markets. Jamba Juice is a Proud National Sponsor of PTA. Strengthening Family-School Partnerships: Tools You Can Use PTA's National Standards for Family-School Partnerships open doors to improved collaboration with principals and teachers, family engagement programs tied directly to student achievement, and more opportunities for family members to feel a strong connection to their schools and PTAs. To help units apply the standards to their program planning, PTA offers the National Standards Implementation Guide. The guide provides resources for assessing family engagement, examples of good practice for each standard, and research briefs to explain the findings behind the standards. Units just getting started can use the Power of Partnerships Family Surveyas a first step to gauge their current strengths and weaknesses. Units already using the standards to guide family engagement efforts should share their successes by applying for the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Family-School Partnerships Awards. The deadline for applications is March 1. Download the National Standards Implementation Guide and other Family-School Partnerships resources at PTA.org/Partnerships. Use state PTA websites, newsletters, and other communication vehicles to spread the word about these valuable tools. Family-School Partnership Awards: Encourage Applications Today! Show your state's leadership in building family-school partnerships. Encourage your units to apply for the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Family-School Partnership Awards today! All local PTAs that submit a complete award application demonstrating achievement in one or more of the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships will receive a Family-School Partnership Award of Merit. For representing the best in one of the six National Standards, six PTAs will receive an Award of Excellence and a $500 monetary award. One PTA will receive the Outstanding Family-School Partnership Award, and a $2,000 monetary award, for demonstrating significant achievement in all six standards. The application deadline is 11:59 p.m. EST, Monday, March 1. For more information, go to PTA.org/Hearst. That's right, for the first time in PTA history, the fifth annual Emerging Minority Leaders Conference will be held in conjunction with National PTA's Annual Convention and Exhibition June 10 – 13, 2010, in Memphis. The National PTA Emerging Minority Leaders Conference builds the leadership skills of emerging ethnic minority leaders at every level of the association, as well as offering others working in minority communities' valuable information and practical resources to better engage in communities of color. This year's conference features expert guest speakers and work group execution sessions on: Stereotyping: Who's Doing It and Why; Resolving Conflicts with Difficult People; and Dilated Pupil: A Case Study on Getting Involved Before It's Too Late, plus more than 50 convention workshops! Merging the conference with the National PTA convention gives all participants the opportunity to benefit from the entire collection of workshop offerings, allowing attendees to personally design a leadership experience that is unique to their needs and interests. Emerging Minority Leadership Conference participants will have opportunities to gather together for networking and group working sessions, as well as attend some of the events unique to the National PTA convention, such as the Convention Party hosted by Tennessee PTA, and the Reflections performances by the national winners during General 3. More details will be available beginning March 15 by visiting PTA.org/emlc. State Spotlight: Tennessee PTA Impacts State Parent Involvement Policy In April of 2009 it became state law in Tennessee that the Department of Education shall develop standards for parent involvement in public schools. Due to the work of the Tennessee PTA, the Department of Education plans to use the National PTA Standards for Family-School Partnerships in meeting this law.
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National PTA and the U.S. Department of Education honored students on Friday, January 15, for their award-winning artwork from PTA's Reflections Art Program. A ribbon-cutting ceremony held at the Department's headquarters in Washington, D.C. officially marked the opening of the exhibit which features student artwork from the 2008-2009 Reflections Program, themed "Wow!"