Northshore Council PTSA 6.10
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PTAs Need YOU!

5/29/2023

 
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PTAs Need YOU!
PTAs all across Northshore School District are in need of volunteers. Volunteers for your school's PTA/PTSA are the ones responsible for all the amazing things PTAs accomplish throughout the year including things like:
  •  Family Events
  •  Classroom Grants
  •  Advocacy Efforts
  •  Funding for Field Trips
  •  Staff Appreciation
  •  Parent Education Events
  •  And so much more!!

Currently, NSD PTAs are in the process of electing officers for next school year. Without elected officers, PTAs are not able to fund programs and are even at risk of closing. 

Contact your school's PTA/PTSA to find out how you can help & encourage others to do the same! No experience necessary to become a volunteer. In fact, Northshore Council PTSA & WA State PTA provide support and training for PTA leaders all throughout the year.
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Click on images to download and share on your PTA's social media or newsletter.
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Myth: Volunteering for PTA has no impact on my child's school experience.

Fact: Not only does volunteering for PTA connect you with other parents and teachers at your school, it also shows your child that you are interested and invested in their educational experience. Research has proven that parental involvement within the child's school increases academic achievements and decreases behavior issues. Additionally, volunteers are the ones who make PTA programming and support possible in order to better each and every child's school experience!
Myth: Volunteering for PTA is only for stay-at-home moms. 

Fact: Anyone can be a PTA Volunteer! A parent with a full time job who is only available in the evenings or weekends, a grandpa who wants to stay active during retirement, an auntie who wants to teach a fun hip-hop class after school, a neighbor from down the street who wants to give back to their community - all of these people and so many more make great volunteers!
Myth: PTAs only need volunteers in elementary school. 

Fact: PTAs in our Middle Schools & High Schools need volunteers as well, but it may look a bit different than it did in elementary. Many of the volunteers at the secondary level are "behind the scenes" helping to coordinate teacher grants, planning end of the year grad celebrations, or working with the ASB to increase resources. And, of course, all levels of PTAs need volunteers to fill the role of their executive board which includes positions such as President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
Myth: The same people volunteer every year; I'm not needed. 

Fact: While it's great to have dedicated volunteers return each year, PTAs welcome and need new volunteers each year! There are term limits for elected volunteers, events that are growing in attendance, and new program ideas being suggested - all of which benefit from an increase in new volunteers.
Myth: I don't have the experience to be a PTA Volunteer. 

Fact: There is no experience necessary to volunteer! In fact, there are supports for new and returning PTA volunteers such as training classes, resource guides, online toolkits, and ways to connect with other PTA volunteers to ask questions and get help (such as Council's Facebook groups, office hours, and website).
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Click to download flyer.

Council Volunteer Opportunities for 2023-2024

5/20/2023

 
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​Northshore Council PTSA has many volunteer opportunities for people with all skill sets and variable amounts of "free" time. Check out the various Council programs on our website to see what committee interests you. We'd love to have you part of our team next year! Co-Chairs are welcome for any of the positions. 

Open Elected Positions
  • Secretary 
Open Appointed Positions
  • Membership - filled 
  • Mental Health
  • Reflections - filled 
  • Emergency Preparedness (EPrep) - seeking a co-chair
Open Committee Positions
  • Grants (Year Long)
  • Awards (Spring)
  • Nominating Committee (Winter)
​Interested in learning more about any of these Council volunteer opportunities? Contact Co-Presidents at [email protected].

WSPTA 2022-2023 Membership Award Recipients

5/19/2023

 
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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 2022-2023!!

Membership Achievement Awards

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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 6.10.90
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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.
  • Woodmoor Elementary PTSA 6.10.52
  • ​Innovation Lab High School PTSA 6.10.90 ​

​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.
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Membership Growth Award Recipients
Membership Growth Awards given to Northshore PTAs. Click image to view full list.
​Membership Growth Awards
  • Bronze Award: recognizes local PTAs, in good standing, for enrolling at least one more member than their previous year’s total membership.
  • Silver Award: recognizes local PTAs, in good standing, for enrolling PTA members equaling at least 105% of their previous year’s total membership.
  • Gold Award: recognizes local PTAs, in good standing, for enrolling PTA members equaling at least 110% of their previous year’s total membership.
  • ​Platinum Award: recognizes local PTAs, in good standing, for enrolling PTA members equaling at least 120% of their previous year’s total membership.
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More Membership resources can be found on WSPTA's website.

Questions? Contact Council's Membership Chair, Kim Ortiz.
Visit Northshore Council Membership Page ​
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WSPTA 2022-2023 Awards Recipients

5/19/2023

 
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​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. Cottage Lake Elementary and Council  submitted applications and were recognized for their efforts at the WSPTA 2023 Spring Training Conference held on May 6th and 7th.

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 to their communities.

This year's recipients included:

2022 - 2023 WSPTA Awards Recipients

​​Standards of Excellence for PTAs & Councils
Recognizing the effective use of WSPTA best practices as a guide for local PTAs and Councils to be child-focused, responsible to members, knowledgeable, fiscally responsible, involved, and well-trained.
  • Northshore Council PTSA - Gold
  • Cottage Lake Elementary PTA - Silver
Leadership Service Award
The purpose of this program is to recognize and acknowledge leadership skills attained by PTA leaders throughout all levels of the association
  • Carrie McKenzie - Crystal 
    North Creek High School PTSA President
Outstanding Communication Strategy
Recognizing the effective use of multiple communication channels to reach members and community. 
  • Northshore Council PTSA - Gold

Outstanding Newsletter
Recognizing the effective use of newsletters as a communication tool. 
  • Northshore Council PTSA - Gold​

​​Outstanding Website
Recognizing the effective use of websites as a communication tool
  • Northshore Council PTSA - Gold
  • Cottage Lake Elementary PTA - Bronze
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Congratulations!
Learn more about the WSPTA Standards of Excellence Awards and Leadership Awards and apply for your PTA next year. 

March 20, 2023 Membership Meeting Recap

5/19/2023

 
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On March 20th, 2023, Northshore Council PTSA held a virtual General Membership Meeting. We would like to say thank you to all of the local leaders from across the Northshore School District, as well as community and school partners for taking the time to join us!
Continue reading below for a recap of the meeting. 
District and Community Partners:
We welcomed NSD’s Director of Food Services Juliana Fisher as our guest speaker. Ms. Fisher shared with us that about 2500 NSD students qualify for Free and Reduced rate breakfasts and lunches, but unfortunately only a fraction of them are currently enrolled in the program. As a result, Food Services is partnering with schools to make sure that all families are aware of the benefits and services to their students, and to encourage them to sign up if they qualify for the program. Ms. Fisher also shared with us that Food Services has faced some recent challenges due to the COVID pandemic and the impact that it had on providing meals at all schools. The main challenges have been a decrease in staffing, as well as supply chain issues. These issues have impacted the capacity for menu varieties, scratch cooking, cultural access, increasing vegetarian/vegan options, and cultural/linguistic/emotional access. Recently, Food Services created and implemented a picture food menu for our schools, which has been a hit with some of our students! Thank you, Ms. Fisher, for joining us and sharing with us how NSD Food Services continues to feed our students in our schools!

Council Business:
Council Treasurer Serena Xu presented the February Financial Report for review and approval, as well as the proposed Council budget for the 2023-2024 school year. Many thanks to the Council Budget committee (Mary Khouzam, Rachel Fitzgerald, Serena Xu, Brenae Brix, and Melissa Kline) for all of your hard work in helping create and proposing the new Council budget! Serena also shared with us that the Standard of Affiliation (SOA) is complete, and all elected Council officers have completed all of their required training, including PTA and the Law. Speaking of the SOA, Council Board member Diana Christiansen shared that 6 NSD schools participated in our SOA Raffle Drawing. The participating schools were Lockwood Elementary, Innovation Lab High School, Woodin Elementary, Frank Love Elementary, Cottage Lake Elementary, and Canyon Creek Elementary. The winner of the SOA Raffle Drawing is Lockwood Elementary! Congratulations, Lockwood! 

Council Nominating Committee member Cherry Holmes presented nominees for Council Executive Officers, and a vote was taken to approve the nominations. Our new Council Executive Board for the 2023-2024 school year are as follows: 

President - Rachel Fitzgerald
Vice President - Grace Jurado
Treasurer - Brenae Brix
Co-VP of Advocacy - Holly Muenchow 
Co-VP of Advocacy - Terra Droney
VP of Communications - Jennifer Snyder
VP of Elementary Support - Diana Christiansen
VP of Secondary Support - Jennifer Drury

Congratulations, new Executive Board members!

We currently have two Executive Board positions that we need to fill. Those positions are Secretary and VP of Events. If you like keeping accurate records and creating meeting minutes and newsletters, or if you love throwing parties or events, please consider throwing your name in the hat for one of these roles. ​Council will continue to seek volunteers for the OPEN positions of Secretary and VP of Events with the goal of holding an election at our General Membership Meeting on May 15, 2023.

Advocacy Chair Jen Drury gave thanks to all of those involved in advocating for the best superintendent candidates, and thanks, also, to all of those who spent time during this last Washington State Legislative Session advocating for the Special Education bill, which passed in the Senate. Thank you, advocates! Half a dozen of advocates, including parents, spent much time in Zoom meetings with our legislators, and 2 dozen NSD parents, students, Superintendent Tolley, NSD school staff, and school board members traveled to Olympia on February 20th to meet with our state legislators and shared their voices in advocating for things that impact our students and our schools. Thank you for all of your advocacy!

On behalf of the Grant Committee Chair (Grace Jurado, who as unable to join us), Mary Khouzam shared that another round for grant application submissions was open until March 24th, and the Council Awards Nominations form will be available soon.

Reflections Chair Jasmine Fry shared that online showcasing is now available on Council’s website, and several NSD students did well! Carissa P. from Leota Middle School is advancing to National Reflections for Videography. Congratulations, Carissa! 

After several other committee updates, including info for an upcoming Mental Health Fair on May 23rd at Skyview Middle School, and a reminder that the Washington State PTA Convention will be held in May at the Bellevue Hilton, Co-Chair President, Mary Khouzam, brought our meeting to a close by reminding us that planning for Council’s Spring Recognition Even is underway, and details will be shared shortly. To help determine the time of day that works best for attendance, Mary shared a link to a poll asking us if a morning event time or an afternoon event time works best for each of us. 

Thank you to everyone who took time to join us!

​

Time to Update 2023-2024 Leaders Contact Information with Council

5/19/2023

 
Complete Council 2023-2024 Contact Form
Share this page or the link above and ask your incoming board to complete the form. ​
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Council Wants to Stay Connected! 
Now is the perfect time to start the process of preparing for your transition to your 2023-2024 PTA Leaders. One key step to that process is connecting your incoming board with Council and having everyone on the incoming board update their contact information with Council.
Please have each member of your 2023-2024 PTA/PTSA board complete the Council 2023-2024 Contact form by July, 01, 2023 or as they are elected/appointed to your board. 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!
​​Share with the Incoming Board All the Ways to Connect with Council: ​
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  • ​Council 2023-2024 Contact Form
    For local Northshore PTA leaders including executive committee (aka: elected positions), board members, committee chairs, etc.)
  • Council Email Contact List
  • Northshore Council webpage
  • Northshore Council Facebook page 
  • Northshore Council Instagram 
  • Northshore Council Twitter

Facebook Groups for local Northshore PTA Leaders:
  • Northshore Council PTSA Presidents (Current and Incoming 2023-2024 Presidents Only & Council)
  • Northshore Council PTSA Membership Chairs
  • Northshore Council PTSA Advocacy Community
  • Northshore Council PTSA EPREP Chairs
  • Northshore Council PTSA Reflections and Art Docent Chairs
  • Northshore Council PTSA Special Education Representatives
  • Northshore Council PTSA F.A.C.E. & DEI Chairs
  • Northshore Council PTSA Treasurers

If you have questions about how to update contact information or how to connect with Council on Social Media, please contact our VP of Communications at [email protected].

PTA Summer: Setting Up For A Great Fall!

5/18/2023

 
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What to Plan for Your Summer Retreat
  •  Schedule ahead so that people know when it is going to be. Prioritize having the whole team there.
  •  Make it fun. A game? A picnic? Whatever seems fun to your board and would help you get to know each other! There are a ton of team-building activities like 2 Truths and a Lie that can help you all get to know each other a little better.
  • Give out some homework. To save time, ask everyone to read or fill out a few documents in advance. Examples might include: 
    1. Contact information (including preferences),
    2. Your PTA's Standing Rules,
    3. Your Budget,
    4. Code of Conduct*,
    5. Your PTA Money Handling Policy*, and 
    6. Social Media Policy*.
  • Create an agenda. Although you don’t have to take minutes at a Retreat (since you are not voting on anything.), it’s good to have a schedule and try to stick to it.  
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What goes on the Retreat Agenda?
Create your calendar as best you can.  Get down your meetings and some of your bigger events.
Review the Budget and Standing Rules.
Discuss your team’s communication norms and individual expectations.
Brainstorm new ideas for Membership, Advocacy, Diversity, and Engagement.
There are more resources available. Check out PTA Year-End Board Transition: Nuts and Bolts and Summer Board Retreat - Northshore Council PTSA 6.10 for previous year’s ideas from Council.

Communication Methods You Might Discuss
  • Sharing the floor at meetings to get everyone’s ideas.
  • How to use email. What response time am I expecting?  Should I reply all?
  • When to use the phone. How late to call?
  • What is confidential and what is not.
  • Text message usage.
  • When are you ‘off’ work.
  • Who posts on Social Media.

Update Memberplanet 
Assign Incoming 2023-2024 Executive Board/Officers.
We use Memberplanet’s COMMITTEES menu to handle board/officer reporting, a WSPTA Standards of Affiliation requirement. If you haven’t already, please input your 2023-24 officers. You may access a full guide to reporting your officers by accessing the membership database. 


If you have any questions about this process, please don’t hesitate to reach out to [email protected].

More Tips on Using Memberplanet

​End of Year Financial Review
If you still need a committee, don’t worry! The PTA President just needs to appoint 3 or more members of your PTA who were non-signers on your bank account for the period being reviewed. WSPTA have a financial review checklist to guide them. 

Download Checklist & Forms 
*Check WSPTA Leadership Newsletter for username and password.

Beware of Text

​Texting is a great resource when someone forgot the ice on the way to the  back to school fair.
Texting is not a great place to:
  • Discuss other board members, students, families, or staff members.
  • Hold PTA Business.
  • Make Committee decisions when there are other committee members not on the text message thread. 
  • Settle disagreements or blow off steam.
​
​This may seem obvious, but it’s easy to fall into texting especially as you and your PTA team members become good friends.  It’s best to keep business communications and your friendship communication separate.

10 Digital Miscommunications — and How to Avoid Them (hbr.org)

Parent Education - Community & Technical College: Preparing Students for their Future

5/8/2023

 
Join us at our May General Membership Meeting for a special parent education presentation. ​
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 “Help. College? I’m a parent of a high schooler. 
​What do I need to know to help them?”
 
If this is you, please join us for the presentation and get your questions answered.
Monday, May 15, 2023
7 PM
Online via Zoom
Northshore Council PTSA Membership Meeting

We will begin our meeting with a special 30-minute parent education presentation: Community & Technical College: Preparing Students for Their Future. Come learn about high-quality, affordable educational opportunities that can launch your student into a meaningful job and career path. The presenters will be Lake Washington Institute of Technology and Cascadia College. This presentation is appropriate for parents of all (freshman-senior) high school students.
​

Immediately following the presentation, we will conduct our regular PTA business including holding an election for VP of Events.
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Zoom Meeting Information: 
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83070692283?

​Meeting ID: 830 7069 2283
​Passcode: *Available Upon Request*
General Membership Meeting - May 15
Request passcode by emailing [email protected] before meeting.
Questions? Please email Brenae Brix, VP Secondary Support at [email protected].

We Appreciate Northshore School District Staff!

5/7/2023

 

Northshore School District Staff Appreciation Week is May 8th to May 12th.

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Northshore Council PTSA wants to show just how much we and families all across the district appreciate ALL Northshore District Staff.

​ The video below is filled with messages from PTA Leaders, Volunteers, and Families.
Click to Play Video
Click to Play Video

​Link to share Canva video. No sign in required: ​https://bit.ly/41mjemk (4:30)

Share Your List of Local PTA/PTSA Recognition Award Winners with Council!

5/6/2023

 
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We would love to shine the spotlight on your 2023 PTA award winners!

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Click Button Above
Does your PTA give out a Golden Acorn award? Maybe an Outstanding Educator, or an Outstanding Advocate award? Or more? Please let us know by completing this form. 

We would like to create a list of all of our local PTA award winners to share with the community. These volunteers deserve to be celebrated!!!

If possible, please let us know your award winners by Thursday, June 1st so they can be celebrated in our last eNews for this school year! 

Learn more about local PTA/PTSA awards.

Questions? Email Jenn Snyder at [email protected].
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Northshore Council PTSA 6.10 
PO Box 1461
Bothell, WA 98041-1461
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ABOUT US
CONTACT US 
NORTHSHORE COUNCIL PTAS/PTSAS
​
COUNCIL ENEWS

Northshore Council PTSA is a welcoming organization that works to support our Local PTAs and serve the children and youth of our community through advocacy, collaboration, education, engagement, leadership, and mentorship.
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