​Does someone in your PTA deserve a shout out?
​WSPTA has a formal volunteer award recognition program allowing local PTAs to award honors for outstanding educator, advocate, student advocate, and volunteer (Golden Acorn), as well as the honorary life membership award.

Awards are a great way for PTAs to show their community how much they appreciate them and to celebrate the dedication of those who support your PTA's mission and goals!

Local PTAs should appoint an awards committee who will gather nominations, review them, and choose the award recipients. This can be done during a meeting or some PTAs even choose to have the previous year's award recipients chair this committee. Check your Standing Rules as it may say who is on the committee. When the awards committee advertises for nomination submissions, it can be done via social media, newsletters, website, email, or even school flyers. To make it even easier for members to submit nominations, the awards committee can create an online submission form using tools like Google Forms or Survey Monkey. 

For recognizing the award recipients, your PTA can hold a volunteer recognition event or take time during a Membership Meeting to celebrate them. WSPTA offers a variety of items your PTA can order online to celebrate your award recipients including certificates, pins, plaques, and even yard signs!

Meeting Recap: 
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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. 
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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. 

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• 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. 

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• 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!

​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 prior to the meeting. You can also request the passcode by emailing Council PTSA Communications VP, Jenn Snyder.

​Northshore Council PTSA is proud to announce the recipient of our first round of Educational Speakers & Community Events Grants for 2022-2023!
​​​
Woodin Elementary PTA 
Adult English Language Learner (ELL) Series
Tuesdays at 5:30pm
January 24 to March 28, 2023
Registration fee: $10.00
Limited to 40 adults
For more information or to register, please contact info@nlwoodin.org.

Local PTAs/PTSAs interested in partnering with Northshore Council PTSA to host speakers or events are invited to apply for a Northshore Council PTSA Educational Speakers and Community Events Grant. 2022-2023 grants are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis and applications are reviewed by the Northshore Council PTSA. The submission deadline for the next round of Educational Speakers & Community Events Grants is November 25, 2022. 

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

Scam Emails
Some scams may spoof the email of another officer to help make the request look legitimate. But there are things to check for before you reply:

• Confirm the actual "from" address of the sender - don't just rely on the name that is shown.
• Does this email look and sound like other emails you have received from this person?
• Does this email ask you to do something that is not in alignment with current financial or money handling policies?
• Often these emails will state the sender is unavailable in a meeting, or out of town and sending money is an urgent matter. 
• If there is any question about an email, pick up the phone and talk to the person to double check on the message.  

​Common Scams

• Asking for gift cards. Remember gift cards are the equivalent of cash and if the email is acted upon, there is likely no recourse to get the money back.
• Requesting a wire transfer. Wire transfers are not recommended for PTAs. Instead you should have a clear funds disbursement procedure that is well documented for your records.

Protecting Your PTA
There are a few things you and your board should be doing in order to protect your PTA:

• Establish clear lines of communication between board members.
• Make your board aware of these type of scams and remind board of money handling best practices. 
• Know your budget well. The best indicator of a potential fraudulent activity is a request that is made for something outside of your PTAs member-approved budget.
• Make sure your board of directors is well trained! View upcoming trainings here.
• Make sure you have well documented procedures and processes for money disbursement. (See below)

Money Handling Policy

• Does your PTA have a money handling policy?
• Has your PTA updated their policy to include online banking?

Money handling policies are important to have so that it is very clear how your members and board are handling the funds of the PTA. Having these policies written out, communicated, and followed helps safeguard your PTA from scammers, and mishandled money.  They should include how you handle your cash, checks, deposits, withdrawals, any online money access, and more.  

Need some help putting your money handling policies together or updating them? Council's money handling policies is available for you to use as a sample. Still have questions? Contact Council Treasurer, Serena Xu.

​The goal is to have 5,000 members from across Washington State sign-up on October 26. This is a great day to invite your local community (local business leaders, community members, school board members, alumni of your school, and of course, your school’s family members) to join your PTA. This contest aims to grow knowledge and build membership by spreading the word about PTA, who we are, what we do, and why we do it as well as the knowledge that anyone can be a member of a PTA.

How to Participate: 

• Post your ask on your social media sites and PTA website.
• Ask your school to put it in the school newsletter.
• Show the value of your PTA, boast and brag about what your PTA has done and what you plan on doing for the students and school. ​
• Utilize PTA’s new resource on Why YOU belong in PTA.
• Think about how you can promote the Great PTA Sign-Up Day in your community. Find ideas and resources from WSPTA and from National PTA.
• Update your online join links with WSPTA and Council. (see below)
• Check your email for weekly helpful tips from WSPTA leading up to the Great Sign-Up Day! 
• Watch the WSPTA Membership page for updates.

​Of course, there will be prizes! If your PTA enrolls at least seven members on October 26, you will be entered into the prize drawings.

Update 10/17/22
Get ready to frame your ASK for The Great PTA Sign-Up Day (from WSPTA website)

• Who will you ask to join your PTA – parents, caregivers, staff, community supporters, alumni? Remember: ANYONE can be a PTA member!
• How will you ask them to join your PTA – social media posts, flyers, personal contact? Diversify your methods to get the word out about your PTA and why people should want to be involved!
• Where will you ask them to join your PTA? – at a school event, with a table at the public library, from a printed invitation shared with customers by a local business. When your PTA has a visible presence in your community, more people will want to learn more!
• Where will WE at WSPTA ask them to join your PTA? – At our Find Your PTA page! As a reminder, make sure you have shared your online join link with WSPTA so we can add it to this page. Submit yours at this link: https://bit.ly/3vXSV91.
• Need help setting up an online join link? Reach out to the WSPTA Support team at support@wastatepta.org for assistance!

Membership in a local PTA helps build community, gives each member a voice and vote in important matters, and counts towards our state membership numbers that we can use to show our strength when we advocate in Olympia on behalf of all children!

​Updating Online Join Links:
All of WSPTA's communications will direct people to the Find Your PTA webpage, so please double-check to ensure that your PTA’s online join link is listed and correct. If your link isn’t listed or needs to be updated, you can email support@wastatepta.org with the correct information or complete this form. This is also a good time to verify that
Council has your updated links on their Northshore PTA/PTSAs webpage. Email VP of Communications, Jenn Snyder to have your links updated with Council. 

Visit WSPTA for more information about the Great Sign-Up Day. 

Membership Resources:
Visit Council's Membership page for more tips and links to past articles. 
Questions? Contact Council's Membership Chair, Kimberly Ortiz.

Great retreats also include a few key social elements that serve as ways to allow board members to connect, bond, and get to know each other, all of which work to help build a more cohesive team:
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• ​Include at least one “getting to know you” activity.
• Have name tags, if even one member of the group is new. For virtual meetings, ask that all participants use their correct name when signing into the meeting.
• For a virtual retreat, get everyone chatting with a whimsical poll - such as "does pineapple belong on pizza" or "what superpower would you want". Menti.com is an easy tool to use for creating a live poll.
• Include a group social activity, such as a potluck or bowling. There are activities you can do to energize your online meeting as well.

​​The extended nature of a retreat means that a board can have time for conversations and discussions with more breadth and depth. Consider some of the following discussion areas and questions as you build your board retreat agenda:

• What norms do we want for our board? Consider creating your own Standards of Conduct (example from Council).
• Build your calendar (check both the Northshore School District Calendar and WA State PTA's Multicultural Calendar for conflicts)
• Develop a communication plan for the year
• Start planning your Membership Campaign
• Brainstorm
• Strengths of our PTA?
• Challenges of our PTA?
• Opportunities?
• How can we connect, welcome, and inspire our community?
• What do you want people to say about your PTA's achievements at the end of the year?
• How will you work together?
• What does success look like?
• What resources, training, or other outside help do we need to succeed?

Finally, remember that some of the most important work will happen after the retreat ends as ideas are put into action. Take time through the year to reflect and check-in with one another regarding discussions, action items, and progress toward goals.