​On Presidents Day, about 25 Northshore PTA parents and students travelled to Olympia and met in person with three lawmakers that represent our district, Representatives Berg, Donaghy, and Kloba. Joining them was Interim Superintendent Mike Tolley and School Board Director Sandy Hayes. 

Leading up to and during Focus Day, members of Northshore PTSA Council met with all nine Senators and Representatives that cover the large territory of Northshore School District.  These advocates shared the Top Washington State PTA Legislative Priorities including Special Education Funding, Addressing Student Mental Health, Gun Safety and Suicide Prevention, School Safety, and Addressing Critical Gaps in Funding. Specifically, students and their families shared how educational policies and gaps in funding directly impact them. They also advocated for specific laws like raising the cap on Special Education Funding and Universal Highly Capable Screening.  Here is a complete description of Washington State PTA's Platform.  

Focus on Advocacy - Q&A "Office Hours" is being offered by WSPTA. This is an open opportunity to have your questions answered by experienced WSPTA Advocates and learn how to best hold effective meetings with legislators. There is no formal program, please just come by and let us help you. Register to receive meeting link. 

• February 01 | 12pm - 1pm | Online
• February 01 | 7pm - 8pm | Online

​Would you like to discuss more on how your PTA can participate this year? Please contact Northshore Council's VP of Advocacy, Jennifer Drury.

​What is Focus on Advocacy Day?
February 20th kicks off a full week of member advocacy! We need WSPTA leaders and members to meet with their state representatives and senators to share the PTA mission and priorities. Let’s make sure the PTA voice is loud and proud on this day! You will be provided with everything you need to know in order to schedule and hold a successful meeting with your legislators. While these meetings would ideally be on Monday (Focus on Advocacy Day), they may need to be scheduled throughout the week to accommodate your legislators’ schedules.

What is Focus on Advocacy Week?
Your actions throughout the week of February 20 - 24th (Update: rescheduled February 6-10th) will be quick and easy, but will make a tremendous impact. It will be so easy that you can take action from home, while waiting for a coffee order, or sitting in your child’s pick-up line!
WSPTA will be asking members to act virtually throughout Focus on Advocacy Week. Each day will focus on an important part of the WSPTA platform. The best way to participate is by subscribing to the WSPTA Action Network so that you receive the daily calls to action for this week and periodically throughout the legislative session. You will be provided with easily customizable messages that the action alert system will automatically send to your legislators. It is easy to do and only takes a few minutes! We also encourage you to share your advocacy work on your personal and PTA social media accounts throughout the week using the hashtag #WSPTAOneVoice.

2023 Legislative Panel Preview
Key leaders of the Washington State Legislature provided a preview of priorities for the 2023 Legislative Session. This was an interactive meeting where attendees had the opportunity to learn how policy and budget priorities may align with WSPTA’s adopted legislative platform and get the most current information about how to participate in the process this year. You can watch the 2023 Legislative Panel Preview on WSPTA's YouTube page.

​In our area of the Pacific Northwest, many of us suffer from the “winter blues”, or it's more severe type of depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Often when the seasons change to fall and winter and the days get shorter and darker, we might feel sad and not ourselves. We may also get into a slump after the fun and festivities of the holidays have ended. This may cause us to have trouble sleeping, overeating, and have low motivation.  

Not only is SAD common in people with depressive disorders, but also those with anxiety, panic and eating disorders, and also ADHD.  SAD affects mostly women, and generally the onset is between ages 20-30 years of age.  This means it may not affect our children as much as us caregivers. We need to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of our loved ones. 

While it is not fully known what causes SAD, research shows that low levels of the brain chemical serotonin plays a large role, as well as high levels of melatonin. Both of these help maintain daily body rhythms, along with sufficient levels of vitamin D. Traditional treatments include light therapy, vitamin D, talking to a therapist, and possibly some medications.

Check out these links for more information:

• Seasonal Affective Disorder (nih.gov)  
• Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) | Mental Health America (mhanational.org)
• Tips for Managing the Holiday Blues | NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness  ​
• 7 tips to beat the winter blues | Health & Wellness Services | University of Colorado Boulder​

Meeting Recap: 
​
Council Business:
After reviewing and approving the meeting minutes from our September General Membership meeting, Council Treasurer Serena Xu presented the October 2022 financial report for review, as well as requesting volunteers for the Mid-Year Financial Review Committee. Please email Serena Xu if interested in serving on the committee.

Next on the agenda, Communications VP Jenn Snyder proposed changes to our social media policy by adding Instagram, as well as removing our inactive YouTube account, which were then approved by vote. 

Co-President Mary Khouzam asked for volunteers to serve on the Nominating Committee. If you would like to serve on the Nominating Committee, please email the Council Co-Presidents at before December 16th. The election of the Nominating Committee will take place at the January 19 General Membership meeting. 
​
Community Partners:

• Northshore School District - Community Partnerships and Volunteer Coordinator Marco Garcia announced that COVID vaccine requirements have been lifted for volunteering in NSD schools, and will no longer be required. He also shared that Parent Square (district communication tool) will launch for all staff in January 2023, and for all paraeducators in February 2023. The NSD Communications newsletter will now be sent out to families on Mondays, with submissions due the Wednesdays before. 

​

• NSD School Board - School Board member Amy Cast (shared via Council Co-President Rachel Fitzgerald, as Director Cast was unable to join us) let us know that the superintendent search has been awarded to GR Recruiting, who will now move forward with developing a profile of what staff and families are looking for in a superintendent. The search is to be completed by Spring 2023. 

Thank you community partners for joining us!​

​Council Committee Updates:

• Advocacy - Jennifer Drury let us know that Coffee Conversations with NSD families has been a success, as well as ongoing conversations with the NSD School Board. Focus Day will be held on February 20th, and we are encouraged to email our legislators rather than send postcards, since the cards are not read anymore due to a lack of storage space in the legislative offices. Jennifer also shared that we would like to have more conversations with NSD students to give them an opportunity to share their ideas and thoughts regarding advocacy work in our schools. Legislative Assembly took place in October, and the Top 5 Priorities to focus on this year were determined to be 1) Addressing the Student Mental Health Crisis, 2) Addressing critical gaps in Education Funding, 3) Preventing and reducing gun violence and suicides, 4) Addressing funding, inclusion, and supports in Special Education, and 5) Building and maintaining safer school facilities. 

 

• ​Membership - Kim Ortiz shared that we are now at 99.9% of last year’s membership numbers, with several schools above 100% of their last year’s membership numbers. Those schools are Cottage Lake Elementary, Frank Love Elementary, Sorenson Early Childhood Center, Shelton View Elementary, Westhill Elementary, Kenmore Middle School, Timbercrest Middle School, Bothell High School, and Woodinville High School. 

​

• Reflections - Jasmine Lee Fry (via Rachel Fitzgerald, as Jasmine was unable to join us) shared that the deadline for local submissions is on December 2nd. 

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• Speaker and Events Grants Program - Grace Jurado shared that Northshore Council is the only Council that has all members in good standing, and only one grant request has been received for this grants quarter. The deadline for the second round of grants was November 25th. More information about the Council's next round of Educational Speakers and Community Events grant requests can be found on our blog. 

Before adjourning the meeting, Co-President Mary Khouzam gave a thank you to those who planned and coordinated the Presidents and Principals Event, and reminded everyone to complete and submit the Presidents and Principals Event survey. Mary also shared that Council is looking for someone to volunteer as VP of Events, and another volunteer is needed to serve as Council’s Family and Community and Engagement (F.A.C.E.) Chair. If you are interested in volunteering, please email the Co-Presidents as soon as possible. 

After adjourning our meeting, attendees were given an opportunity to join two training sessions (“Volunteers and How to Find Them”, and “Roles and Responsibilities of the Board”). 

Please join us for our next General Membership Meeting on January 19th at 7pm via Zoom!

At the 44th Annual Legislative Assembly members from across the state came together to learn, debate, and vote on the new legislative priorities WSPTA will focus on for the next two years. In addition to the issues the delegates ranked as the top five, an additional eight issues were added to the "also supported" list. ​

Jennifer Drury, Cherry Holmes, and Kim Ortiz represented Council as voting delegates. In addition to Council delegates, there were PTA leaders from across Northshore schools that attended either in-person or remotely as delegates for their PTAs. 

What issues are important to your school community and students across the state? Take this poll to give us some input before Legislative Assembly.  Please share with all your local PTA members.

​We will share results with Northshore PTA Presidents and Advocacy/Legislative Chairs.

Welcome back for the 2022-2023 school year. We are excited to have our first meeting of the new school year. We invite you to attend and share ideas. Open to All!

Date: Wednesday, October 12th, 2022 
Time: 6 PM
Location: ​Online via Zoom

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/71180094000?

​Meeting ID: 711 8009 4000
Passcode: *available upon request*

The goal of this committee is to promote mental health awareness and partner to bring relevant trainings, events, and resources to our community. 

​For questions about the mental health committee and for the meeting passcode, please email mentalhealth@northshorecouncilptsa.org.

Visit our Mental Health Awareness page for more information and resources. 

Registration is NOW OPEN for WSPTA's Legislative Assembly!

​WSPTA's 44th Annual Legislative Assembly
When: Saturday, October 15th & Sunday, October 16th
Where: Hybrid - Bellevue College / Remote

PTA delegates from across the state will come together to update the WSPTA legislative platform. At legislative assembly, discover the power PTA has to advocate for the success of every child – the whole child. In PTA every member has an equal voice, and your input matters a great deal to the success of PTA's grassroots member-driven platform. PTA is needed more than ever right now, and you can help!