 The Northshore Council PTSA Emergency Preparedness Team, composed of E-Prep Chairs from schools across the district, meets monthly to discuss and support important school safety and preparedness initiatives. Topics have included NSD Emergency Management, Safety Policies, Emergency Containers, Safe School Emergency Operations Plans, Safe Schools Advocacy in Olympia, Student/Parent Reunification, School Active Threats, Security Cameras, Door Locks, Stop the Bleed Kits and much more. At the June 3rd, 2019 E-prep meeting, three individuals were recognized for outstanding contributions to Emergency Preparedness this year:
 Northshore Council PTSA 2019 E-Prep team picture, taken at the June 3, 2019 meeting. (Photo courtesy of Robin McKenzie.) Next year we hope to expand our team to include every school PTSA in the district and create even more collaboration with the School District Safety, Security and Emergency Preparedness group. Robin McKenzie and Tracy Jokisch will be serving as our Northshore Council E-Prep Co-Chairs for 2019-20. Please contact Tracy and Robin if you would like to be a part of our PTSA E-Prep team and join our Facebook group.
 The Northshore School District has established a consistent emergency Reunification methodology for all schools to ensure efficient and safe release of students to parents in the event of a crisis or emergency situation. It conducted a drill of the process in May 2019 that included district administrators, students, parents, and community members. As a part of the drill, students were bused from Woodinville High School to Pop Keeney Stadium and then were successfully reunited with their parents after a mock crisis/emergency. More drills are being planned for next year. Here is a list of things parents should know:
If you are interested in learning more about the process and methodology of parent-student reunification, here are a couple of resources: Northshore School District "Reunification Process" page: Standard Reunification Method handbook by The "I Love You Guys" Foundation:  Reunification drill organizers gathered outside of Pop Keeney stadium. (Photo courtesy of Robin McKenzie.)  Join us on Wednesday, January 16, 2019, for an important talk by author, educator and international speaker Jo Langford tailored to parents to build their Internet "savvy" to help our kids balance their online lives with boundaries, etiquette and good judgment. The talk will include:
The talk will begin at 7:00pm at the Canyon Park Middle School Little Theater (23723 23rd Ave SE, Bothell, WA 98021). This parent education event is being co-sponsored by Skyview Middle School PTSA, Canyon Park Middle School PTSA, Northshore Council PTSA and beheroes.net. Questions? Contact Skyview PTSA President Melissa Kline.  Download the flyer: 
 On November 7, 2018, Northshore Council PTSA and Northshore School District, in partnership with the American Lung Association, hosted a community presentation: "Tobacco use is changing, are you keeping up?" The presentation offering information about the changing face of tobacco products, how they are affecting youth and what you need to know to educate and protect our children from what the FDA has called an epidemic among teens.
The event was live streamed and the recording is now available for viewing: https://livestream.com/nsd/events/8437754?fbclid=IwAR0tCaFDWeSQG6diTjzib7Yf3dDTkvGxvsI0mui3SWWd66sCHx-MzZSeboA
 Parents, students, school staff and community members are invited to attend an educational presentation titled, "Tobacco use is changing, are you keeping up?" on Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at the Northshore Performing Arts Center (18125 92nd Ave NE, Bothell, WA 98011) from 6:15-7:30 p.m. Come learn about the changing face of tobacco products, how they are affecting youth and what you need to know to educate and protect our children from what the FDA has called an epidemic among teens. Speaker Lora Mednick, Health Promotions Coordinator at the American Lung Association in Washington, supports tobacco prevention and tobacco cessation programs and resource-sharing for youth and adults. She will be sharing information and answering questions regarding vaping, electronic nicotine delivery devices (ENDS), and more. This event is co-sponsored by Northshore Council PTSA, Northshore School District, and the American Lung Association. Questions? Contact Rebecca Cavanaugh, rcavanaugh@nsd.org. 
 October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Bullying can happen anywhere-- wherever kids gather in the community-- and cyber-bullying occurs on cell phones and online. Bullying Prevention Month works to encourage communities to work together to stop bullying and cyber-bullying by increasing awareness of the prevalence and impact of bullying on all children of all ages.
Washington State PTA's Legislative Principles regarding Safe and Nurturing Environments for Children and Youth explicitly support anti-bullying and anti-harassment. Additionally, a number of resolutions specifically address bullying, including:
Additional resources:  If you have looked at Council's 2018-19 calendar, you may have noticed that we have included information about awareness months throughout the year. We hope that these may be helpful for you as you think about advocacy, meeting or parent education topics and more!
October is Dyslexia Awareness Month, working to raise awareness about the learning disorder that involves difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters and other symbols. In Washington state, nearly 1 in 5 students, or about 20% of the population, is impacted by by language-based learning disorders such as dyslexia. Last year, the Washington State Legislature passed SB 6162, defining dyslexia and mandating development and implementation of screening processes and appropriate interventions in schools over the next few years. Washington State PTA Resolution 18.32 supports early screening for signs and symptoms of language processing disorders including but not limited to dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, with parental notification; and supports legislation for funding to support training of parents, teachers and other school personnel in early identification of language processing disorders and use of evidence based programs that provide explicit instruction including Multi-sensory Structured Language Teaching, with appropriate accommodations to provide students with equitable access to the general education curriculum. Additional resources:
 If you have looked at Council's 2018-19 calendar, you may have noticed that we have included information about awareness months throughout the year. We hope that these may be helpful for you as you think about advocacy, meeting or parent education topics and more! September is National Preparedness Month (NPM) working to raise awareness of the importance in being prepared, now and throughout the year, for the types of natural and man-made disasters that could affect where we live, work, go to school, worship and visit. In Washington state, the likelihood of a hurricane is pretty low, but an earthquake that could have just as devastating effects without any warning. Plus, we have our own issues with wildfires, storms and snow, too. Visit our Emergency Preparedness pages for more information on steps to get better prepared and two weeks ready! The Department of Homeland Security's website also offers a wealth of resources for NPM to help promote preparedness: https://www.ready.gov/september. Washington State PTA also has a resolution that ties in with NPM: |
Archives
June 2019
Categories
All
|
||||||
RSS Feed