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.  Northshore advocates meeting with Representative Berg.  Northshore advocates meeting with Representative Donaghy.  Northshore advocates meeting with Representative Kloba. More on Advocacy:
 Council's VP of Advocacy, Jennifer Drury is scheduling virtual appointments with our legislators leading up to Focus Week. Please indicate your interest in participating in any or all of these activities by completing this short survey by February 5, 2023. Focus on Advocacy Week is scheduled for February 6 - 10, 2023. During this week, members can participate in daily calls to actions. Subscribe to WSPTA Action Network. Focus Day will be Monday, February 20, 2023 (Presidents Day), in Olympia and members are encouraged to meet with their legislators about our 2023-2024 Legislative Priorities. Washington State PTA is planning speakers and tours. 2023 Legislative Panel Preview Key leaders of the Washington State Legislature provided a preview of priorities for the 2023 Legislative Session. You can watch the 2023 Legislative Panel Preview on WSPTA's YouTube page. 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. Would you like to discuss more on how your PTA can participate this year? Please contact Northshore Council's VP of Advocacy, Jennifer Drury. More on Advocacy:
 As we wrap up another school year, Council would like to take a moment to recap some of the amazing advocacy work that has been done this year. We also want to thank all of our local PTA Advocacy Chairs, for the work they do at their school and within their community to advocate for all children, and our PTA members, who help strengthen our voice by being a part of the oldest and largest child advocacy organization in the country! In October, PTA delegates came together for the 43rd Annual WSPTA Legislative Assembly. During this event, PTA delegates were able to learn, listen, debate and vote on additions to our grassroots legislative platform. Three new resolutions and two amended resolutions were approved during the 2021 Legislative Assembly! New resolutions:
Amended resolutions:
The 60 day 2022 Washington state legislative session ran from January 10th to March 10th. This included the February 2022 Focus Week where PTA Members advocated to elected officials about WA State PTA's Top 5 Legislative Priorities for the current legislative session. Some key accomplishments from this year's legislative session include:
The end of the legislative session means it’s time to start looking and planning ahead. Here are a few actions you can take before the school year is over:
If you would like to learn more about Council's Advocacy work or how you can get involved, visit our Advocacy page.
Council Business:
Bond & Levies Support/Opposition Vote: Council's Board of Directors put forward the issue of supporting the bond and levies that are on the February ballot. During this meeting, both the pro and con positions on the issue were presented before calling for a motion to determine our PTSA’s support of or opposition to the bond and levies. Council would like to announce that the motion to support the Northshore School District Bond & Levies on the February 8th Ballot was passed unanimously. Learn more... District Updates:
Council Committee Reports:
We hope you will join us for our next General Membership Meeting on March 21st, 2022 @ 7pm. For a full list of our upcoming meetings and events, check out our Calendar. Northshore Council PTSA participated in Focus on Advocacy Week January 17-21!
Every meeting started with the number one priority of the Washington State PTA, Mental Health. Advocates asked that representatives work to fund and create policies that support mental health in our schools and communities. Additional Asks Included:
Throughout Focus on Advocacy Week, in addition to meeting with legislators, PTA advocates were asked to email their elected officials to advocate for children. Council and many of our local PTAs promoted Focus on Advocacy Week using social media accounts, websites, and newsletters to encourage members to participate as well. Throughout the next sixty days, the Washington State Senate and House will debate and vote on issues that directly affect children and families in Washington State. If you would like to be kept up to date on these issues, please subscribe to Action Alerts.  Northshore Council would like to thank the legislators and their assistants who met with us during Focus on Advocacy Week!
Council would also like to recognize the PTA Advocates who took time out of their week to participate in the meetings:
If you would like to learn more about Council's Advocacy work or how you can get involved, visit our Advocacy page.
Legislative session is upon us and starting Monday, January 17th, 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 17th through Friday, January 21st 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. Fill out this Focus Day Interest Google Form to schedule meetings with legislators 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 17 – Call to Action: Focus on dismantling racism ◘ Tuesday, January 18 – Call to Action: Focus on equity ◘ Wednesday, January 19 – Call to Action: Focus on mental health and wellness ◘ Thursday, January 20 – Call to Action: Focus on preserving and flexing funding ◘ Friday, January 21 – Call to Action: Focus on safety and emergency preparedness 4. Join Marie Sullivan, Washington State PTA’s legislative consultant, on January 11th from 7-8pm over Zoom as she presents Preparing for the 2022 Legislative Session - Your Questions Answered. 5. Check out the awesome videos and one page issue documents available on Washington State PTA’s Advocacy page about each of the priorities. 6. Spread the word! Invite others from your PTA community to join you in connecting with state legislative leaders. Use the hashtag #WSPTAOneVoice to share about Focus on Advocacy Week through your PTA's, and even your own, social media accounts. Remember to share updates via your PTA's other channels such as website or emails.
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.
 We're fresh out of Legislative Assembly and gearing up for Focus Week which will take place January 17 - 21, 2022! Let us know how we can support advocacy efforts at your school! Please complete Council's short Advocacy Efforts Survey to help us serve you better. Additionally, Council's Co-VPs of Advocacy, Diana Christiansen and Jennifer Drury, are happy to speak at one of your PTA's board or general meetings or talk with folks one-on-one about questions they have about getting involved in advocacy at all levels. Please reach out to us at advocacy@northshorecouncilptsa.org. 
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. 
Learn more about the WSPTA legislative priorities:
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.
 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):
Learn more about the WSPTA legislative priorities: 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.  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.
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.
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! |
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