Legislative session is upon us and starting Monday, January 18th, ​it's
​WSPTA's Focus on Advocacy Week!!

Here's a brief run-down on what you can expect out of this week long event and how you can get involved!

When is Focus on Advocacy Week?
This week long event runs Monday, January 18th through Friday, January 22nd.

Who should participate?
Anyone who wants to advocate for students, teachers, or their school community! Advocacy is for everyone and now is the perfect time to get involved.

Where does this take place?
This year, Focus on Advocacy Week is virtual! That means anyone wanting to participate can do so from their phone or computer.

What is the Legislative Session?
The Legislative session is the time when our senators and representatives work on bills. They will be
debating, reading emails, and holding meetings about current bills for the session.

What is Focus on Advocacy Week?
Focus on Advocacy Week is the week where we as PTA members focus on calling, writing, and having meetings with our
legislators. We do this to get our Legislative Priorities into the hearts and minds of our elected officials and to educate them on what our members need and want.

Why does Focus on Advocacy Week matter?
This is the best time to get our priorities heard by our representatives. Washington State PTA members voted and approved our top 5 issues that we believe lawmakers should work on. Now is the time that we bring these issues to the forefront of their work. See below for a list of our Top 5 Issues as well as how PTA plans to put equity at the center of everything we do with our 2020-2022 Legislative Priorities.

How can someone participate?
1. Sign up for the WSPTA's Action Network Group to get timely alerts.
2. Find your Washington State Legislature Representatives.
3. Set aside time during Focus on Advocacy Week to call and email. WSPTA has designated each day next week to a different focus topic:
   ◘ Monday, January 18 – Call to Action: Focus on anti-racism
   ◘ Tuesday, January 19 – Call to Action: Focus on equity
   ◘ Wednesday, January 20 – Call to Action: Focus on mental health and wellness
   ◘ Thursday, January 21 – Call to Action: Focus on preserving and flexing funding
   ◘ Friday, January 22 – Call to Action: Focus on safety and emergency preparedness
4. Read the January 11 Focus on Advocacy Weekly Report by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Chair, which includes the status of current bills.
5. Spread the word! Invite others from your PTA community to join you in connecting with state legislative leaders. Don't forget to share about Focus on Advocacy Week through your PTA channels such as your website, emails, or social media.

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Learn more about the WSPTA legislative priorities:

• Top Five Legislative Issues (including also supported issues)
• WSPTA Long-term Resolutions
• WSPTA Long-term Legislative Principles

Check out the image below from WSPTA to see how PTA is putting Equity at the Center of Everything We Do with our 2020-2022 Legislative Priorities. Click here for a printable version.

Northshore Council PTSA is proud to co-sponsor two upcoming Parent Education Events taking place on Thursday, January 28th; one on digital safety and the other on instilling positive self-identity in our children. These events were made possible by the Educational Speaker and Community Event Grants Program. Check out the details for each of these events below!

Join us for ‘Northshore PTAs Connect’ – an online roundtable discussion for PTA/PTSA leaders to ask questions, share ideas, and connect with one another.

​Northshore PTAs Connect Roundtables are designed to support our local PTA/PTSA leaders as we navigate membership, programs, and managing our organizations in an uncertain and ever-changing landscape.

This midday (12 noon) roundtable will be an open discussion in order to give our Local Leaders the opportunity to ask questions and tackle emerging or ongoing areas of interest or concern as we head into the 2nd half of the 20-21 school year.

Date: Thursday, January 28th
Time: 12:00PM (noon)
Location: Online via Zoom

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/97945642459
Meeting ID: 979 4564 2459
Passcode: *Available upon request

Council is so proud of the work our Northshore PTAs/PTSAs are doing to support and engage our community, especially during these challenging times and we can't wait to see what you have to offer in 2021!

As a reminder, we are keeping an ongoing list of events our local PTAs are hosting. This is a great resource to help connect with each other on events or inspire one for your PTA to host. 
If you have an event to include, particularly if it's available to members of other PTA/PTSAs, please share with our larger membership community by completing this Google form. 
To view a list of upcoming events, click here.

To help connect further with other local leaders, check out our new FACE/DEI Facebook Group which is open to anyone interested in engaging and learning more about Family & Community Engagement and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. We would love to have you join us!

Finally, as you plan activities for 2021, please consider planning inclusive events. National PTA has put together a comprehensive Multicultural Calendar to highlight and celebrate the diversity of our PTAs and school communities. You can view this calendar below or click here to print the PDF.

This year's Advocacy Week will be held January 18 – 22, 2021

In addition to our ongoing efforts, WSPTA will be asking members to take action from home or your phone throughout an entire week.  To participate, subscribe to the WSPTA Action Network to stay informed. Once subscribed, you'll receive an email notification when a new issue arises and there will be a pre-written email ready to go, which you can customize and edit so you can tell YOUR story and make your voice heard.

Tentative schedule (likely to change):

• Monday, January 18 – Call to Action: Focus on anti-racism
• Tuesday, January 19 – Call to Action: Focus on equity
• Wednesday, January 20 – Call to Action: Focus on mental health and wellness
• Thursday, January 21 – Call to Action: Focus on preserving and flexing funding
• Friday, January 22 – Call to Action: Focus on safety and emergency preparedness

Learn more about the WSPTA legislative priorities:

• Top Five Legislative Issues (including also supported issues)
• WSPTA Long-term Resolutions
• WSPTA Long-term Legislative Principles

Don't forget to make appointments with your Legislators!
It's important to make appointments as far in advanced as possible. For this year's Advocacy Week, all appointments will be virtual.

Input your address here to get the names of the Representatives and Senator(s) for you, your school district, and their contact information. Members should consult with their local PTA, council, or region advocacy chair for assistance in making legislator appointments. Appointments may begin as early as 8:00 am.

What do you say during an appointment with a legislator? Check out our previous Advocacy blog on writing Your PTA Story for helpful tips and resources. Additionally, WSPTA encourages you to visit their advocacy page, where you will find our 2021 WSPTA Legislative Platform, as well as a detailed one-page handout for each legislative priority in the drop-down lists under “Legislative Platform.” These one-page handouts are great sources of talking points and can be given to legislators as well.  In addition, due to the visual opportunities provided by a remote session, WSPTA be uploading position videos, which you can use as a start to your meeting or in advance to explain your support for a legislative priority.

Advocacy Tip: Tell legislators why WSPTA priorities are important to you and ask for their support!

Check out the image below from WSPTA to see how PTA is putting Equity at the Center of Everything We Do with our 2020-2022 Legislative Priorities. Click here for a printable version.

Still have questions about Advocacy or how you can get involved? Contact Council's VP of Advocacy, Diana Christiansen.

Please join us for our 3rd general membership meeting of the year on Thursday, January 21, 2021 via Zoom.

Guest Speaker Update: Cherry Holmes (Reg 6 DEI Chair, WSPTA FACE Committee + DEI Chair, and part of the OSPI DEI Workgroup) will be joining us during this meeting. She will be talking about WSPTA DEI resources that local leaders can use within their own units. 
 
Topic: Jan. 21, 2021 - Membership Meeting - Northshore Council PTSA
Time: Jan 21, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
​
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/98768030408

Meeting ID: 987 6803 0408
Passcode: *Available upon request.

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Meeting ID: 987 6803 0408
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aedmGZbOtD

Council meetings will build your PTA knowledge, give you the opportunity to network with other PTA, school district and community leaders, and they can be a lot of fun, too. Each PTA may send up to 4 voting representatives - but we encourage ALL who are interested to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!

*A meeting passcode is required to join. It will be sent to local leaders via email. You can also request the passcode by emailing Council PTSA Communications VP, Rachel Fitzgerald.

Legislative Assembly is over and Focus week is not until mid January… so what now?

Well, it is time to cuddle up with a warm cup of coffee (tea or cocoa also work!) and write a story. A story? Yes. It is time to look around and think deeply about what your students need, why they need it, and to develop your persuasive story about these needs to share with principals, school board members, and our state elected leaders.

How can you find inspiration? First, go back to your members and ASK what needs their children and families have and what their stories are. You can create an online member survey or even schedule an online chat to gather feedback. Once you have that feedback, you will want to check in with Washington State PTA’s new Legislative Platform which was voted and approved by members at Legislative Assembly in November. Do any of these issues speak to you and your PTA's needs?

Once inspiration has struck, build your pitch to legislators. WA State PTA has provided a document to help you do just that! Click here to download.

Don't forget to visit our Advocacy Page for more resources to help with developing your PTA story including signing up for Action Alerts from Washington State PTA which will keep you aware of upcoming issues in Olympia this coming year.

Questions about Advocacy? Contact Council's VP of Advocacy, Diana Christiansen.

Northshore Council PTSA is proud to announce the recipients of our second round of Educational Speakers & Community Events Grants for 2020-2021!

• Canyon Creek PTA, Ruby Bridges PTSA, Woodin PTA and Kokanee PTA - "Pandemic Parenting: Supporting Your Child's Mental Health During Uncertain Times" presented by Cher Anderton - 10/22
• Kenmore Elementary PTA, Canyon Creek Elementary PTA, Fernwood Elementary PTA, Kokanee Elementary PTA, Ruby Bridges Elementary PTSA, and Woodin Elementary PTA - "Inclusion in the Early Years" presented by Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee - January 28, 2021 (open to the Northshore community*)
• Cottage Lake Elementary PTA and Hollywood Hill Elementary PTA - "A Solution for (Almost) Every Struggle: Parenting Outside the B.O.C.S." presented by Christy Keating of The Heartful Parent/Savvy Parents Safe Kids - Jan./Feb. 2021 (open to the Northshore community*)
• Skyview MS PTSA, Canyon Park MS PTSA, Timbercrest MS PTSA - "Digital Safety - 101" presented by Jo Langford - January 28, 2021 (open to the Northshore community*)
• Ruby Bridges PTSA, Skyview MS PTSA, Canyon Creek PTSA, Cottage Lake PTA, Woodin PTA - "School Wide Scavenger Hunt!" license purchased from Goosechase app - dates TBD (this license can be utilized by other schools within NSD - contact vp@northshorecouncilptsa.org for more information)

Local PTAs/PTSAs interested in partnering with Northshore Council PTSA to host speakers or events may apply for a Northshore Council PTSA Educational Speakers and Community Events Grant. 2020-2021 grants are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis and applications will be reviewed by the Northshore Council PTSA until the Council Programs budget is used in its entirety. The submission deadline for the next round of Educational Speakers & Community Events Grants is January 22, 2021.

For more information about the program and to download the application, visit our Educational Speakers and Community Events Grant Program page.

*All events that are open to the Northshore community will have an RSVP link posted as soon as available. 

It was great to see so many local PTA leaders in attendance for our 2nd meeting of the 20-21 school year!

The meeting kicked off with a Q and A led by our Superintendent, Dr. Michelle Reid.  In addition to mentioning that the current plan with online schooling is to stay the course, she also answered many questions regarding topics such as homework, updates on the NSD curriculum resource web page, communication strategies for teachers and parents and building access for PTA’s.  There was also a discussion regarding ideas for the district to provide some morale boosting activities for students and families to help with community building while we are still isolating at home for online learning. Dr. Reid welcomed ideas from the group and will investigate how to best provide some community building activities in the district.  

During the Council Business portion of the meeting, the membership elected Grace Jurado, Liz Nord and Jane Chiodo as the 20-21 Nominating Committee.  Next on the agenda was a financial report given by Council Treasurer, Liz Nord.  Her report included the Treasurer’s Reports for both September and October, presentation of the newly adopted money handling policy and an update regarding the fulfillment of the Standards of Affiliation.  Liz noted that any PTA that needs to create or update their current money handling policy is welcome to use the council’s as a template found here.  
Lastly, there was an update regarding council goals which involved renaming the goal previously called Leading and Developing our Northshore PTAs and Leaders to Communicating with our Northshore Local PTAs and Leaders.  Grace Jurado, Nancy Chamberlain and Melissa Kline worked together to create a new title and verbiage surrounding the elements of the action items in effort to create goals that are concrete and attainable.   The membership unanimously voted to update the proposed changes to the council goals as presented.

During this meeting we also heard from Northshore Nourishing Network (NNN) Director Sue Freeman.  She shared information and tips for PTAs looking to start a successful food drive for their local units.  Sue noted that the Northshore Senior Center needs canned vegetables, tuna and chicken for those looking to donate. It was suggested by a member that coordination for a food drive combined with school supply pick up days or porch pick up to gather food donations.  Sue also shared that she has created helpful documents for suggested items to donate as well as how to start a free pantry.  Learn more about NNN here.

We then heard from community leaders including School Board Director Jacqueline McGourty, NSD Partnerships and Volunteer Coordinator Natalie Campbell and the Northshore Schools Foundation Executive Director Carmin Dalziel.

• Director McGourty reported that the school board just finished up the last round of ongoing discussions with our legislators, presenting them with their list of priorities.  The most prominent priority right now is digital equity.  She also shared that the board has started the refresh of their five year strategic plan.  Director McGourty mentioned that the board has also resumed school visits and that being able to see what is happening the classroom as well as with the principals and admins has been refreshing!  
• Natalie Campbell spoke about the decision to pilot the Peach Jar flyer distribution program for one year.  As well as mentioning that there is continued support for the Art Docent program.  She noted that NSD is finishing their pilot with 6 Crickets and they are looking for input based on if they should continue the program, retool it or decide its not needed.  Natalie is continuing to work on an update to the PTA Resource Guide.  The guide will include reminders with regards to communications, what can be published on the website, accessibility standards, resources for translation and more. This will be especially helpful to those new PTA leaders in our district.
• Carmin Dalziel reported that the Northshore Schools Foundation’s classroom grant process is now open.  PTA leaders are welcome to request grants for their schools. They will be sending out postcards to teachers.  Right now there is a big focus on high school seniors.  NSF is currently offering classes on things like financial aid among other things for seniors and their families to take advantage of. Carmin shared that all though last year when COVID hit they gifted $200 gift cards for families from their Basic Needs Aid program.  Now that COVID is more of a normal situation the Basic Needs Aid fund will be reserved for emergencies.  NSF is working with the district to make sure that there is a CARE team at each school for students and families in need.  In total they have donated $94K towards the success of this program. For more frequent NSF updates please refer the NSF blog.

​Lastly on the agenda was Council updates on Advocacy, Membership and F.A.C.E. as well as an update from our First Vice President, Jane Chiodo, regarding the WSPTA awards and the Speaker and Events Grants.

• VP of Advocacy, Diana Christiansen shared the top five legislative priorities and the WSPTA supported issues for 20-21.  Diana also wanted to share thanks for the candidates that participated in the candidates forum.  She also shared a PDF for how to share a pitch with legislators.  Reminder that Focus Day is January 18th, and that week will be Focus on Advocacy Week.  Check out our Advocacy page for more legislative updates including a link to sign up for the WSPTA Action Network.
  
• Membership Chair, Melissa Kline, shared that as a whole our district is at 52% for membership. There are 5 PTAs that have 75% of last years membership! She also explained how the 100% Staff Membership award is calculated and how to apply for it.  Melissa reminded members that personal connection is the best way to gain members.  More tips and suggestions are posted on our Membership webpage in the Membership Facebook group.
• F.A.C.E. Chair, Lauren Lewis, encouraged all to join the new F.A.C.E. and DEI Facebook group.  The group is for F.A.C.E. (Family and Community Engagement) & DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Chairs or anyone interested about learning and sharing more on these topics.  Lauren is working on putting together at least on event that is open for all PTAs to attend.  The biggest asks have been surrounding mental health and internet safety.  It was also highlighted that NSD has a strategic plan for inclusion – there is an inventory for all parent groups for a self-assessment.  The district spent time putting together these documents and there are clear takeaways.
  
• First VP Jane Chiodo shared that the next Educational Speakers and Community Events Grant application deadline is November 27th.  The final deadline will be January 22nd, 2021.  For more information click here.  Lastly, Jane spoke about the WSPTA Awards of Excellence program.  PTAs are encouraged to check out the different categories to look at the criteria for the award and which ones your PTA might be interested in.  Some examples of awards include the Standards of Excellence, Communications, Significant Actions, Newsletter and Outstanding Website.  Applications for awards are due by March 15, 2021.

​Council meetings are a great way to reach other PTA leaders and learn about what is happening in the district and PTA. We hope you will join us for our next general membership meeting on Thursday, January 21st!

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 membership.

PTAs must be in good standing and submit a completed application form by March 15, 2021 to be eligible for this award. Recipients of the 100% Staff Membership Award will be recognized at the WSPTA convention in the spring.

Check out the below flyer put together by Washington State PTA to help determine if you are eligible for this award! Click here to download or print the flyer.

​Looking for ways to earn 100% Staff Membership this year?

The 3 key recommendations made by
all WA State Award Winning PTAs are to:
♦ Be welcoming!
♦ Communicate goals and the rewards for reaching goals
♦ Always have ways to join your PTA available, in paper or online

Check out this list of ideas compiled from WA State PTAs and decide which strategies your PTA can work on to help accomplish 100% Staff Membership for this year!