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WSPTA 109th Convention RECAP

5/25/2022

 
Be the Change - WSPTA Convention - RECAP
​This past weekend, PTA leaders from across Northshore joined alongside those from across the state at the 109th Washington State PTA Annual Convention - three full days of education, networking, inspiration, and fun.   
 
Some of the highlights included the keynote presentations. The first featured Northshore students from The Root of Us/Root of Youth founded by longtime Northshore PE teacher, Fernell Miller. In the second keynote, Teacher of the Year, Jerad Koepp, shared his experiences developing a rich Native American education program and support system for North Thurston students.   
 
PTA leaders from Northshore taught and attended classes in mental health, diversity, equity and inclusion, family and community engagement, and much more. The knowledge leaders gained over this weekend will help strengthen our goal of "Making Every Child’s Potential a Reality".
 
During the convention, WA State PTA also commended all the amazing work done by dedicated volunteers, many of who are parents and community members here in Northshore. Council, along with several of our local PTAs & PTSAs, received awards in both membership growth and standards of excellence! Visit our awards page to learn more about these.

To learn more about this year's convention, visit the WSPTA Convention information page.

Save the date for the 110th Annual WSPTA Convention which will be held April 14, 2023 - April 16, 2023 in Bellevue, WA.

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Council Leaders at the 109th Annual WSPTA Convention

Congratulations to our 2021-2022 Award Winning Northshore PTAs!

5/24/2022

 
WSPTA Awards of Excellence - Congratulations to Northshore's 2021-2022 Award Winning PTAs!
Each year, Washington State PTA recognizes the work of individuals, PTAs and Councils across the state via a variety of awards, including Leadership Academy and the Awards of Excellence Program. Some of our amazing Northshore PTAs submitted applications and were recognized for their efforts at the 2022 WSPTA Annual Convention held May 20th-22nd.

Awards work to celebrate the efforts of local PTAs and Councils in a variety of different areas. The criteria reflect a strong knowledge and application of best practices and the submission process can be rigorous. These awards are truly reflective of the dedication and strength of these PTAs and the  powerful contributions they make in their communities.

This year's recipients included:
🏆 Standards of Excellence
  • Canyon Creek Elementary PTA - Gold
  • Northshore Council PTSA - Gold
​
🏆 Advocacy Awards of Excellence
  • Northshore Council PTSA - Gold
  • Maywood Hills Elementary PTSA - Bronze

🏆 Family and Community Engagement
  • Maywood Hills Elementary PTSA - Bronze​​

🏆 PTAs Taking Significant Action
  • Maywood Hills Elementary PTSA - Gold
🏆 Outstanding Communication Strategy
  • Canyon Creek Elementary PTA - Gold
  • ​Northshore Council PTSA - Gold​

🏆 
Outstanding Newsletter
  • Canyon Creek Elementary PTA - Gold
  • Northshore Council PTSA - Gold

🏆 Outstanding Website
  • Canyon Creek Elementary PTA - Gold
  • Northshore Council PTSA - Gold​
  • Maywood Hills Elementary PTSA - Bronze
Congratulations to our award-winning Northshore PTAs!

WSPTA Membership Awards • 2021-2022

5/23/2022

 
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PTA is a membership-driven association. Sustaining and growing membership builds PTA's power as advocates and change makers not only in your own school community, but also at district, state, and national levels. WSPTA recognizes PTAs for their work growing membership as well as for achievements in membership.
Congratulations to our Northshore PTA/PTSAs that have earned
WSPTA Membership Awards in 2021-2022!!

Membership Achievement Awards:
100% Staff Membership Award
The 100% Staff Membership Award is presented to local PTAs that enroll at least as many school staff members as there are full-time certificated employees at the school. This award recognizes the value of teachers and school staff as stakeholders advocating for all children through PTA.
  • Canyon Creek Elementary PTA
  • Innovation Lab High School PTSA
  • Kenmore Elementary PTA
  • Skyview Middle School PTSA
  • Wellington Elementary PTA
  • ​Woodmoor Elementary PTSA

100% PTA Membership Award
The 100% PTA Membership Award is presented to local PTAs that enroll at least as many members as there are full-time enrolled students at the school associated with that PTA. This is the ultimate achievement in PTA membership and recognizes that every child in the school community has a paid PTA member to be their voice. 
  • Innovation Lab High School PTSA

Membership Growth Awards:
To highlight the importance of membership growth, Washington State PTA recognizes local PTAs for enrolling more members than they did in the previous year. As PTAs achieve incremental increases in membership growth, they are recognized for each milestone they reach.
WSPTA Membership Growth Awards

Many thanks to all of our amazing Northshore PTAs/PTSAs for continually striving for membership growth, helping us to have an even more powerful voice for our children!

Congratulations to our 2021-2022 Award Recipients!

5/19/2022

 
2021-2022 Council Award Recipients
​​Each year, Northshore Council PTSA recognizes a few special people who have gone above and beyond in service to our community and who promote the well-being and education of children in our district and beyond. During our Annual Spring Recognition Event on May 16th, Northshore Council was proud to recognize eleven amazing individuals. Learn more about them and why they were deserving of these achievements in the videos and stories below:

​​Golden Acorn - Diana Christiansen & Jennifer Drury
Jennifer and Diana didn’t hesitate to jump right into their roles as Co-Vice Presidents of Advocacy. Their work started early in their 2021-2022 term as they worked to hold online candidate forums for the fall 2021 school board elections. They reached out to each candidate, put together a list of questions they solicited from the community, and organized the candidate forums. Jennifer and Diana spent countless hours organizing these events, only for them to fall apart last minute. 
These two showed us the meaning of "PTA Flexible" by instead organizing an in-person candidate forum before the election took place, and got every school board candidate to attend. They even figured out a way to record the proceeding for community members to watch later. It was so important to them to ensure the community could hear from the candidates. We admire their determination and grit through all of the ups and downs during that chaotic time!
Jennifer and Diana didn't stop there. 
  • They attended WSPTA Legislative Assembly.
  • They organized a schedule of meet & greets with state legislators for our PTA Focus Day - leading the charge when it came to bringing up our legislative priorities.
  • They have also consistently been a presence at our local school board meetings helping to let them know what PTAs are doing to support our district, communities and state.
They are certainly the dynamic duo of advocacy!

​Golden Acorn - Rachel Fitzgerald
Rachel is ALL in on PTSA. Described as AWE-INSPIRING, Rachel is so organized and thorough in everything that she does. It is absolutely amazing the sheer amount of information that she puts out on behalf of Council each and every week. Rachel also helps the local PTAs that have been awarded grants from Council by advertising their events. She's created all sorts of videos, district staff appreciation efforts, managed to piece together a video for the recent school board forum, and adds fresh and original content to Council’s website.
It’s hard to imagine the time spent and the organization it takes to accomplish what she makes looks so easy. Queen of juggling everything, Rachel constantly thinks about how to best serve our local PTAs and in turn the students and families that they serve. She is a fountain of PTA knowledge and knows how to put that knowledge to good use in helping our local PTAs and Council navigate problems and issues that arise.

Besides serving council, Rachel is a dedicated volunteer at her kids schools. She volunteers in the library, supervises lunch, and helps with other various events & tasks for her local PTAs and schools. She is always thinking about how to best help kids whether that is through volunteering, advocating, or helping our local PTAs get the information they need to succeed. Simply put, Rachel is amazing!

Outstanding Educator - Steven Hopkins
Mr. Hopkins is the Principal of Sunrise Elementary. He has gone above and beyond in the Covid era to make sure children are engaged and parents are comfortable. Sunrise has shown consistent growth and development under the leadership of Mr. Hopkins. Particularly, the last 2 years presented unprecedented challenges to educators. His stoic leadership, kindness and level-headedness in efficiently navigating the challenges of the school and community are admirable. 
With Mr. Hopkins leadership, Sunrise opened HiCap classrooms as planned for the year despite the pandemic. He made safety a priority. His communication style is impeccable - giving timely, detailed, and pertinent messaging which is a boon in these times of isolation for the last 2 years.

Mr. Hopkins is the biggest strength to the Sunrise community. He made the students’ learning environment fun and safe. He nurtured values in children, made Sunrise Elementary a community of diversity, and helped kids learn to know and respect all cultures. The families at Sunrise are so fortunate to have an untiring advocate at the helm, whose vision and values have taken their school to great heights!

Outstanding Educator - Peter Schurke
​Mr. Schurke has a tough job. Tougher than say your average everyday comprehensive high school principal. Not only does he have to do the job of principal, but he also has to do the job of CEO of what is essentially a startup high school.

Innovation Lab is a choice high school, one that does not follow a standard learning model. Mr. Schurke is ILHS's cheerleader. 
He is constantly working to get the word out about this amazing new high school focused on mastery learning by hosting webinars, going directly to local middle schools, talking directly to students about the school during their lunch periods, and more. His optimism and excitement about learning is contagious. Mr. Schurke is always open to feedback - from parents and students, listening to others’ ideas, often responding with a "let's see how we can make this work". He is forward thinking and willing to push the envelope when it comes to his students’ experiences and opportunities.

Mr. Schurke has been described as passionate and a visionary, though he is also responsive to his school community. It’s known that if kids are having problems, see an issue, or need to talk through something - they can always find Mr. Schurke.
Peter Schurke is the heart and soul of Innovation Lab High School!

Outstanding Advocate - Clark Combs
​Mr. Combs has been with the District over thirty years as a teacher. During that time he has shown significant leadership in the areas of preparedness at his home school as well as a willingness to share district wide.

When he moved into the role of the Emergency Preparedness TOSA (Teach on Special Assignment) he really took off and has done an amazing job including working closely with PTA E-Prep leaders to bring consistency to schools and help those wanting to advance larger projects to be successful.
​Mr. Combs also helped schools organize and prepare in case of emergencies. Mr. Combs has been instrumental in explaining and working to implement full scale reunification drills with the help of volunteer PTA parents so that the district could practice response and work out the kinks. Most notably, Mr. Combs has taught close to 1,000 students, staff, and community members in the ACT (Antidote/CPR/Tourniquet) since the start of the Covid-19 closures. His willingness to bring this presentation to schools, city halls, and anywhere he can lay down the CPR dummies is admirable. He is helping make this community safer. This past year, he was also tasked with coordinating the District PCR Covid testing at sites including Pop Keeney. His willingness to take on this task and the success he has shown in doing it is a testimony to his commitment to our community and well worth recognizing!

Outstanding Student Advocate - Esther Kim
​Esther is an 11th grader at North Creek High School and has kept busy with many extra curricular projects. Esther has been described as dedicated, caring, and hardworking.

​As part of her work with ASB, Esther collaborated efforts between her local PTSA and school ASB to put together resources and treats for North Creek staff during the pandemic.
​Additionally, Esther reached out to North Creek's PTSA as she was working on a project at school to provide sanitary products to the students at NCHS. Esther wanted to be able to also deliver these to students who are in need as well. To further that cause, she has teamed with the North Creek/Skyview PTSA Food Pantry since November 2021 and has been providing 20 packs of the sanitary products to ensure it gets included in the food pantry bags that go out to families in need. Esther pays for these products from her weekend job.  No doubt she has been a positive influence in her community and an outstanding student advocate!

Outstanding Service - Pauline Wray & Melissa Kline
Pauline and Melissa have worked hard in their roles as Co-Chairs of Council's Mental Health Committee; advocating for mental health support for the students in our district and shining a light on the importance of mental health.

With their leadership, the Mental Health Committee has been able to get resources out to parents, students and staff in a multitude of ways.
Some of the things Melissa and Pauline were able to accomplish through their work on the Mental Health Committee include:
  • Creating a resource poster with crisis text and phone lines to put up in all of our secondary schools.
  • Publishing articles though Council's blog about various mental health topics such as bullying and self-care.
  • Brining in speakers to talk about relevant topics such as Identifying and Addressing Youth Anxiety and Digital Safety.
  • Creating a list of mental health resources for Council's website.

Pauline and Melissa also spend their time meeting with district administration to discuss issues surrounding access to mental health counselors for students among other topics. They have continually advocated to district admin and at school board meetings for better access to resources, more information for parents, and training for teachers. Pauline and Melissa work tirelessly for all students in our district. We are in awe of their passion and dedication regarding the advocacy surrounding the topic of mental health!

Outstanding Service - Jane Chiodo
Jane has been described as a force - not like a tornado, but more like a Mack truck on a cross-country road trip.

She is currently heavily involved in PTSA at the Council level where she has done an outstanding job as the Northshore Council PTSA President. She has been very supportive to the various Council committees providing what they need to help local PTAs.
​At the local PTA level, Jane has been involved at Canyon Park Middle School and Innovation Lab High School, where she serves as the current Communications Chair. Her professional monthly newsletters are full of information, easy to read, thoroughly edited and all-around top-notch. Although Jane has an official PTSA title in each of these organizations, she does
not hesitate to dive into projects wherever there is a need, no matter if it's in her job description or not. Just some of the ways she has served her local PTAs include:
  • Planning and implementing local September back-to-school events.
  • Providing insightful feedback to various committees and volunteers.
  • Helping with emergency preparedness.
  • Serving on her local nominating committee.

Jane also finds time to volunteer at her children's schools. She is a wealth of information; always willing to help solve problems, find answers, and suggest ideas. She does a great job of advocating for student needs as well as teacher needs.  Jane can always be counted on to promote programs, and PTA as a whole, or to help educate those not involved in PTA to learn about what PTA does as a child advocacy organization. Jane cares for the NSD schools, students and community and it shows in her work!​

Honorary Life Membership - Tracy Jokisch
Many of us are well acquainted with Tracy and are in awe of just how much she knows about emergency preparedness and safety. 

For as long as many can remember, she has been the E-Prep Chair for Bothell High School PTSA even though she doesn't have any kids there! In recent years, she joined Council as a Co-Chair of E-Prep.
Tracy has helped to run the monthly E-Prep meetings, providing an invaluable resource for our local leaders. She was also instrumental in working with the district to bring together a Stop the Bleed effort that spanned the entire districts PTAs and made all of our students and staff members safer in the process.

Tracy is kind, approachable, and always willing to lend a hand. When a new E-Prep Chair recently started at Canyon Park Middle School and discovered many of their supplies out of date, they reached out to Tracy for help. Tracy volunteered to meet at the school in order to walk through what CPMS would need and how much so that they could bring the school’s emergency supplies back up to par.

Tracy serves our Northshore community in so many ways. She frequently jumps in to help on Council committees,  recently serving on the Grants Committee and the Budget Committee. We are so fortunate to have gotten to know Tracy and our district is so fortunate to have such a dedicated volunteer!

Congratulations to our 2021-2022 Award Recipients

#PTAProud • 2022 Spring Recognition Event

5/18/2022

 
Spring Recognition  - PTA Proud

Check out the video below showcasing some of the AMAZING things our local PTAs & PTSAs have accomplished this year!

Emergency Preparedness Chair Meeting 6/7/2022

5/17/2022

 
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You are invited to join Council's next Emergency Preparedness (E-Prep) Chair meeting!
Anyone in PTA/PTSA is welcome to attend our meetings, and we encourage all local PTA/PTSA E-Prep chairs to attend as well as PTA/PTSA Presidents and/or Vice Presidents or delegates.

In this meeting we share and obtain updates from the NSD Safety team and discuss opportunities where the PTA can provide support to our schools in the areas of emergency preparedness, safety, and security.  

Date: Tuesday, June 7th
Time: 11:00 AM to Noon, Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Zoom Link & Passcode: Available upon request

If you would like the zoom link and passcode in order to attend this meeting, or have questions concerning Emergency Preparedness, please email Council's E-Prep Co-Chairs, Tracy Jokisch & Robin McKenzie. We look forward to seeing you!

Updating Contact Information for 2022-2023 PTA Leaders

5/12/2022

 
It's Time to Update Officers & Committee Chairs for the 2022-2023 School Year!
Time to Update 2022-2023 PTA/PTSA Officers
​Please have each member of your 2022-2023 PTA/PTSA complete this form https://forms.gle/nqa7PGFYeT8iWsYx8 before July 1st to ensure no missed communications from Council.

This includes positions such as the executive committee (aka: elected positions), board members, committee chairs, etc.

​Council gathers this information in order to support all Northshore Local PTA/PTSA Leaders. Contact information is used to connect with leaders including receiving our twice a month eNews, sending invites to Council events, relaying important and timely information about program specific areas (such as Advocacy or Reflections), and more!

Questions? Contact our VP of Communications at communicationsvp@northshorecouncilptsa.org.
​Remember to update officers into memberplanet as well!

Special Education: Student & Family Support (6/7)

5/11/2022

 
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Northshore Council PTSA is offering a FREE Parent Education Webinar Series in partnership with PAVE (Partnerships for Action, Voices for Empowerment). 

Special Education: Student & Family Support
Date: 
Tuesday, June 7th
Time: 
6:00PM
​Focus Topic: Caregiver Self-Care
Registration*: https://www.tfaforms.com/4970917

This webinar series will be presented by Jerri Clark, Parent Resources Coordinator of Partnerships in Action/Voices of Empowerment (PAVE). Each webinar in the series will have a different focus topic and a separate registration link.

This fourth (and final for this school year) webinar in the series will take place on June 7th and be focusing on Caregiver Self-Care. This webinar will discuss mindfulness to support resilience, why a checklist can calm your brain, and access to a video library with more self-care content. Check out the flyer below for more information.

*Deadline to register is 6pm on Monday, June 6th.

Questions? Email Council's Special Education Representative, Laura Staneff. 
For more information about PAVE, visit their website at https://wapave.org.

We look forward to seeing you at this and future Special Education: Student & Family Support events!

June 7th SpEd Webinar: Caregiver Self-Care
June 7th - Special Education: Student & Family Support Flyer
File Size: 483 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

2021-2022 Reflections Results from NPTA

5/10/2022

 
Congratulations • National PTA Reflections
Please join us in congratulating Hailey Bacalzo of Innovation Lab High School and Hayley Francisco of Timbercrest Middle School, who were honored for their artistic endeavors in the National PTA Reflections Program!
  • ILHS sophomore Hailey B. received an Award of Excellence for her photography entry "Lifting Up Nature".
  • TMS 7th grader Hayley F. received an Award of Merit for her literature entry entitled "The Shield".
​This year's Reflections theme was "I Will Change the World By...". National PTA received more than 900 entries from 47 state PTAs. A list of all National award recipients can be found here: https://www.pta.org/docs/default-source/files/programs/reflections/current_reflections-21-22/2021-22-reflections-winners-list.pdf

To learn more about Reflections and how to promote the PTA program at your school, visit our Reflections page.

Be SMART Presentation Opportunity

5/10/2022

 
Be SMART
Is your PTA looking for a parent education presentation to provide for your community? Consider hosting a Be SMART presentation!

Developed by Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action, The Be SMART educational program is designed to help parents and adults normalize conversations about gun safety and take responsible actions that can prevent child gun deaths and injuries. It asks parents and caretakers, gun owners and non-gun owners alike, to 'Be SMART' and take 5 simple steps to help keep our schools and communities safe.


Recognized by the National Parent Teacher Association, the Be SMART program has allowed volunteers to carry the lifesaving message within school districts across the country.

If you are interested in hosting a Be SMART presentation at your school, or to learn more about the program, please reach out to Jaclyn Condra by emailing 
kinbergj@yahoo.com.

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