 Northshore Council PTSA held its first general meeting of the 2019-2020 on Monday, September 16, 2019 at the NSD Administration Building. Co-Presidents Grace Jurado and Stacey Meyer called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and took a few moments to introduce this year's Council board members before diving into the agenda. Council business included a review of the minutes from the May meeting, updating Council's Standing Rules for 2019-2020 (link available soon!) and a review of the end-of-year financial report for 2018-2019 as well as financial reports from July and August. Vice-President Jane Chiodo encouraged local PTAs to apply for an Educational Speaker and Event Grant (the first application deadline is coming up on October 11th!). Cindy Jensen, our Council Reflections Chair, then spoke briefly about the Reflections program and the value of sharing this opportunity in our local PTAs that encourages students to express themselves creatively through this national arts recognition program. Co-VP of Advocacy, Nancy Chamberlain, took some time to promote the upcoming WSPTA Legislative Assembly, taking place October 26-27 at Bellevue College. Then the floor was opened for nominations for the Council Treasurer position, but there were no takers. We are grateful to Tricia Woods for continuing to serve in the role as we work to find a new Treasurer (contact Grace Jurado and Stacey Meyer if you are interested in learning more). We also heard from district leaders, including School Board Director Jackie McGourty and NSD Partnerships Coordinator Natalie Campbell, each of whom shared information, updates and answered questions about recent projects and current initiatives. The last part of the meeting was focused on outreach and advocacy. Kelly Hennessey is the Coordinator of Threads & Treads, a clothing resource for Northshore families that is operated by Canyon Park Middle School PTSA. She came forward to share information about the work they are doing to serve the community and asked for the support of Northshore PTAs as they work to expand their outreach to include Saturday hours. An exciting moment came as Northshore Schools Foundation (NSDF) Executive Director Carmin Dalziel committed the foundation's financial support to help ensure those Saturday hours through the end of the school year! Thank you NSDF!!! Finally, the membership of Northshore Council PTSA voted to adopt a Furniture Tip-Over Prevention Resolution. The idea to make this a PTA resolution came from Moorlands PTA member (and librarian) Crystal Ellis. Crystal lost her two-year old son to a tragic accident involving an unsafe dresser. She has turned her grief into action, founding Parents Against Tip-Overs and advocating with members of Congress for legislation that would lead to safer furniture. Northshore Council PTSA will now submit the Furniture Tip-Over Prevention Resolution for adoption at the National PTA Convention in 2020. The meeting closed with some fun door prize drawings followed by Fall Training classes on a variety of topics, including Treasurer Basics, How to Be a Membership Chair, Volunteers: Find Them and Keep Them, as well as Secretary: More than Just Minutes. Council meetings are a great way to network with other PTA leaders and learn about what is happening in the district and PTA. We hope you'll join us at our next general membership meeting on Monday, November 18th!
 The first Northshore Council PTSA General Membership meeting for 2019-2020 is on Monday, September 16th at the Northshore School District Administration Building. There will be a meet and greet at 6:30 and the meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. We'll discuss and vote on standing rules, goals, a budget, and a resolution on furniture tip-over accident prevention (see below for more details). Note: this meeting isn't just for presidents-- ALL are welcome. We'd love to have more PTA voices from across our district in attendance! Each PTA may send up to 4 voting representatives-- but we encourage ALL who are interested to attend. Immediately after the meeting, beginning at 8:00 p.m., we will be offering training for PTA officers, board members, committee chairs and interested members. Many thanks to all who offered feedback regarding which classes should be offered! As a result of your input, classes will include:
Furniture Tip-over Prevention Resolution Northshore Council PTSA membership will be considering the adoption of a Furniture Tip-Over Resolution at the membership meeting on Monday, September 16 at 7pm. The idea to make this a PTA resolution comes from Moorlands PTA member (and librarian) Crystal Ellis. Crystal lost her two-year old son to a tragic accident involving an unsafe dresser. She has turned her grief into action, founding Parents Against Tip-Overs and advocating with members of Congress for legislation that would lead to safer furniture. Furniture tip-overs are killing children in the U.S. at the rate of one child every 11 days. One child visits the ER every 37 minutes for a tip-over related injury. Currently, there is proposed national legislation that will work to stop the problem with newly manufactured clothing storage units. It is called the STURDY Act. It has been proposed in both the House and the Senate. There is also a State law recently passed in New York that requires public facilities that are responsible for the care of children, such as foster care facilities, daycares, and schools, that requires them to anchor any heavy furniture and televisions, to prevent the deaths and injuries of children from furniture tip-over incidents. PTA can help solve the furniture tip-over problem by speaking out and supporting first, the STURDY Act, secondly the creation of State by State legislation to require anchoring of furniture in public facilities to protect children in their care and, finally, educating local leaders to share information with their schools and communities about anchoring the furniture in their own homes. The proposed resolution is available for download below. 
If Northshore Council PTSA members adopt this resolution, it will officially be submitted by Northshore Council for consideration by National PTA at the National PTA Convention in 2020. If you would like to learn more about this resolution or have questions, Crystal Ellis will be available at the meet & greet before the meeting, from 6:30 - 7:00pm. We hope you join us for a great evening of networking and learning! Questions? Contact Council co-Presidents Grace Jurado & Stacey Meyer.
 Applications are now being accepted for Northshore Council PTSA's 2019-2020 Educational Speakers & Events Grant Program! Now in its second year, the program is designed to help support Northshore PTAs/PTSAs in hosting educational speakers and community events. Local PTAs may apply for grants through a simple application process. Grants are reviewed by the Council Board of Directors and are funded through the Council Programs budget. Grants are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis until the allocated funds for the year are used in their entirety. To apply, complete the application and return to Northshore Council PTSA by the submission deadline. Check out the Speaker & Event Grants page for a list of all 2019-2020 submission and review dates. The first grant submission deadline is Friday, October 11, 2019. Download the 2019-2020 application: NORTHSHORE COUNCIL PTSA GRANT REQUEST FOR EDUCATIONAL SPEAKERS AND EVENTS, 2019-2020 Events supported in 2018-2019 included:
Questions about the grant program? Please contact Jane Chiodo.
 Northshore Council PTSA's 2019-2020 calendar is now available: Be sure to save the date and mark your calendars for this year's Northshore Council PTSA General Membership Meetings:
All meetings start with a Meet & Greet beginning at 6:30pm followed by the official Call to Order at 7:00pm. Each PTA may send up to 4 voting representatives-- but we welcome ALL who are interested to attend. 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. We look forward to seeing you there! Some other 2019-2020 calendar planning tools: Northshore School District Calendar 2019-2020 OSPI Calendar of Common Religous and U.S. Public Holidays, 2019-20 Education-related recognition event dates, 2019-20:
 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.
 Our final Council Membership Meeting of the year took place on May 6, 2019 at Woodinville High School! It was a lively meeting full of great energy and information. After co-Presidents Carrie McKenzie and Grace Jurado called the meeting to order, we welcomed incoming Washington State PTA President, Janice Kutzera, who, with humor and grace, led the ceremonial installation of our incoming 2019-20 Northshore Council Officers. Northshore Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid took some time to address 'suburban legends, ' including questions about implementation of the new 7-period day in the high schools (starting Fall 2019) and study hall, start times, NSD's commitment to mental health supports in our schools, 5th grade camp, the district budget outlook and more. Fun fact: Dr. Reid was this year's recipient of Washington State PTA's Outstanding Educator Award, which was presented to her at the WSPTA Convention in April! Council business included Treasurer Tricia Woods's review of recent budget reports as well as a vote to approve the proposed 2019-20 Council budget. Financial Review Committee member Nancy Chamberlain reported the results of the completed mid-year financial review. Then our VP of Communications Robin Zaback, encouraged local leaders to take our Council Survey-- please let us know how we are doing by taking the survey before Friday, May 17th! She also reported on the upcoming membership database change to memberplanet, encouraging PTAs to be sure to enter their incoming officers into PT Avenue in order to help facilitate the transition. If you want to share your feedback regarding National PTA's proposed dues increase, be sure to respond to WSPTA's survey before May 15th. School Board Director Jackie McGourty shared some updates regarding the recently completed NSD audit, end-of-year district events, as well as a few legislative updates. This led into a brief legislative update from a PTA perspective from Council's co-VP of Advocacy, Nancy Chamberlain. The Art Docent program is celebrating 50 years in Northshore and NSD Partnerships Coordinator Natalie Campbell shared some of the exciting updates they are making to the program. You can learn more about the changes on the Art Docent Program 50th Anniversary Update page on the NSD website. New materials are password protected, but interested leaders and art docents can email partnerships@nsd.org to request access. Natalie also shared some exciting upcoming district events including:
Northshore Schools Foundation Director Carmen Dalziel encouraged us to spread the word about their upcoming Family Fun Day on June 8th-- a free, family friendly event with activities, music and more! She was also excited to announce that they are also currently reviewing grants submitted in their Spring Classroom Grant cycle-- be on the lookout for announcements of grant recipients soon! To cap off the final meeting of the year, Council First VP Cindy Jensen and co-President Carrie McKenzie presented this year's Golden Acorn awards to Robin Zaback and Robin McKenzie. Both of this year’s awardees raised the bar for their positions. Their engagement and impact can be seen and felt across the entire district and beyond, and still they are extremely active in their local units. They are an inspiration to all of us! Congratulations to Robin and Robin!!! ;)  Northshore Council's 2019 Golden Acorn recipients Robin McKenzie (left) and Robin Zaback (right). After the meeting adjourned, local leaders broke up into groups to attend spring training classes, including:
Many thanks to all who attended our final Council meeting of 2018-19. And thank you to our instructors as well as to the local leaders who took the time to join us for Spring training! We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting in the Fall!
 Our 2019 Spring Recognition Breakfast is scheduled for THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2019!!! Join us in Haynes Hall at McMenamins Anderson School (in Bothell) this June. The event will run from 9:30am - 11:30am. This is a district wide event that gives local PTAs the opportunity to treat their award winners to a lovely meal and a morning out among their peers. McMenamin's Anderson School 18607 Bothell Way NE Bothell, WA Local PTAs typically will invite their principal, executive team and their local award winners (e.g., Golden Acorn, Outstanding Educator, Outstanding Advocate, etc.). 'Official' invites will be available soon, but in order to allow their honored guests time to plan for the event, local PTAs are encouraged to begin making their invitations to administrators and board members now and to award winners as soon as they have been announced. Traditionally, each Local PTA is responsible for the cost of its attendees. The cost this year is $20/person. Please write a check for your whole group to Northshore Council PTSA. Mail Checks To: Spring Recognition Breakfast PO. Box 1001, Bothell, WA 98048. More information or questions? Visit our Spring Recognition Breakfast page or contact Stacey Meyer at ncptsaspringbreakfast@gmail.com or at 425-293-4666. ***NEW*** Check out the answers to Frequently Asked Questions about this year's event!  Woodin PTA, in partnership with Northshore Council PTSA, would like to invite you to this Parent Education Night for parents and guardians of elementary aged students (grades 3-5).:  Strong Start - Talking with Your Child About Puberty Tuesday, May 7, 2019 | 6:30 - 8pm at Woodin Elementary (12950 Northeast 195th Street Bothell, WA 98011) Parents want to talk with their child about puberty, but may not be sure how to start or what to say. Educator Robin Wright will lead this seminar which provides parents with information and skills on how to start conversations, what to cover at each age, and how to answer tricky questions. The physical, emotional and social changes of puberty are also reviewed to help parents feel better prepared and know what to expect. Please RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/parent-ed-night-strong-start-talking-with-your-child-about-puberty-tickets-59392759342 ** Free Childcare is provided for all potty-trained children.** Robin Wright - The Wright Conversations http://www.thewrightconversations.com/
 CONGRATULATIONS again to our 47 Northshore students who qualified for state-level judging! Washington State PTA judged over 900 pieces of art and the competition was tough. The results are in and we have ten students who placed at the state level, three of whom achieved Outstanding Interpretation and will continue onto National PTA for further judging. Student entries submitted to the national level go through two more rounds of review by esteemed arts professionals across the country before the winners are decided.  The 2018-2019 national winners will be announced May 1, 2019 via PTA Live! Honorees will be celebrated at the at National PTA's Convention & Expo, June 2019. Best of luck to our National qualifiers! Visit our Reflections page.
 On March 19, 2019, the Northshore Community Kitchen closed its doors after nearly seven years of serving its local community. The Northshore Community Kitchen, a partnership between Northshore Council PTSA and the Northshore YMCA, served as a wonderful resource for in-need families in our community since April 2012. Over the years, the program prepared packs and distributed around 45-50 ready-to-eat meals-to-go every Wednesday, year-round. Thanks to continuing support from some local businesses, PTAs, individual community members, and a terrific group of volunteers, they served a total of 14,023 meals! In addition, the Kitchen also supplied the Kenmore Library "Study Zone" program and Skyview Middle School's "Kitchen Table" homework club with snacks each week. Northshore Community Kitchen worked to raise awareness about the food insecurity issues facing many of our neighbors and also took positive steps to do something about it. Thank you to everyone who made the program such a success:
Great gratitude as well to volunteer Sue Freeman, who organized and managed Northshore Community Kitchen operations on behalf of Northshore Council PTSA, dedicating years of service and care toward the program, its volunteers and those it served.  At Northshore Council PTSA's March 18, 2019 General Membership Meeting, vollunteer Sue Freeman was recognized for her many years of dedication and service managing the Northshore Community Kitchen! Pictured (from Left): Northshore Council co-President Grace Jurado, Sue Freeman, Northshore School District Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid, Northshore Council co-President Carrie McKenzie. And a special thanks from Sue Freeman, "Most importantly, thank you to all the families who allowed us into their lives and trusted us to cook for them."
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