 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.
 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!
 Mark your calendars for our final Northshore Council PTSA General Membership Meeting of 2018-19! It will be on Monday, May 6th at the Woodinville High School Library. We'll be hosting a meet and greet starting at 6:30pm and the meeting will begin at 7pm. In addition to all of the normal updates and information sharing, we'll be voting on a new budget, awarding our Golden Acorn, and there will be some Spring training opportunities! Training will begin at 8pm. Classes options will include:
Each PTA may send up to 4 voting representatives-- but we encourage ALL who are interested to attend. We hope you join us! Questions? Contact Carrie McKenzie & Grace Jurado.
 Many thanks to all who joined us for Northshore Council PTSA's March 18, 2019 General Membership Meeting. It was a full meeting with a wealth of information and inspiration! The meeting began with a report from Sue Freeman about the Northshore Community Kitchen. After 7 years of serving meals-to-go to Northshore School District families in need, the Kitchen was packing its final meals on March 19, 2019. Sue shared some inspiring statistics about the work the Kitchen has done, including the fact that they served 14,023 meals to 67 families in NSD over the years. A big thank you to Sue for her many years of organizing and managing operations of the Northshore Community Kitchen. We are so grateful for her dedication and service.  Many thanks to volunteer Sue Freeman 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. NSD Superintendent Dr. Reid shared updates regarding school schedule adjustments to make up for winter weather closures. She also answered questions on a variety of topics, including next year's school calendar, the change to a 7-period day in high school and its impact on bell times and scheduling, the need for mental health specialists at all high schools, Camp Cedar Springs, summer school registration, and more! We are grateful to Dr. Reid for taking time to join us and answer questions! General business items included approval of the minutes, review of financial reports, and formation of a Mid-Year Financial Review Committee and Budget Committee. Then we held Council elections for the 2019-2020 Executive Board. The following individuals were elected to office for next year and will begin their term on July 1, 2019:
Congratulations to our incoming officers!!! Membership voted to approve some changes to Northshore Council PTSA Standing Rules, removing the VP West and VP East officer positions and adding two new roles, Vice-President Local PTA Support: Secondary and Vice-President Local PTA Support: Elementary, as well as detailing experience requirements for individuals entering into those roles. A vote was also taken to name Council's delegates to this year's WSPTA Convention, including Grace Jurado, Carrie McKenzie, Stacey Meyer, and Tricia Woods. Nominations are being accepted for Council's Awards program now! Please submit your nominations for Outstanding Educator, Outstanding Advocate, Outstanding Service, Honorary Life Membership, Outstanding Student Advocate, and Golden Acorn by Monday, April 22, 2019. NSD School Board representative Jackie McGourty shared updates on work they are doing, including the possible purchase of a new building for high school programs. Then NSD Partnerships Coordinator Natalie Campbell shared information on upcoming district-sponsored events, including Project VOICE and the CP and Dorothy Johnson Award, as well as the refresh of the Art Docent program. Tim King from Northshore Community Church invited PTAs for their support and participation in this year's Community Serve Day, on Sunday, August 25, 2019. This year, 26 Northshore schools are participating! Find more information and sign-up to volunteer at http://www.communityserveday.org/. The meeting ended with a PTA Spotlight focused on Membership! Sorenson PTA President Amber Rosenquist shared their approach to membership, offering some great examples of what they do to grow membership each year. Then Canyon Park Middle School PTSA co-President Jane Chiodo gave an overview of how they are able to grow membership at the secondary level. Many thanks to both Amber and Jane for presenting at the meeting! Our final General Membership Meeting of the year is
Monday, May 6, 2019 at Woodinville High School. There will be a meet-and-greet beginning at 6:30pm with the meeting beginning at 7pm. We will have more great sharing of information, presentation of our Golden Acorn Award, as well as WSPTA Approved Training classes. We hope you join us!  Below please find the report from the Northshore Council PTSA Nominating Committee, listing the nominees for each of the officer positions for the 2019-2020 Executive Committee. The election for these positions will take place at the next Northshore Council PTSA General Membership Meeting on Monday, March 18th, at 7:00 p.m. at the NSD Administration Building. Nominations will be taken from the floor at that time. March 2, 2019
The Northshore Council PTSA Nominating Committee hereby places the following names into nomination for the 2019/2020 Northshore Council PTSA Executive Committee:
The Nominating Committee has confirmed that all nominees meet the eligibility requirements as stated in the WSPTA Uniform Bylaws and the Northshore Council PTSA Standing Rules. Respectfully submitted, Sue Freeman (Chair.) Nancy Chamberlain Stacey Meyer  Mark your calendars for our next Northshore Council PTSA General Membership Meeting on Monday, March 18th at the NSD Admin Building. We'll be hosting a meet and greet starting at 6:30pm and the meeting will begin at 7pm. Each PTA may send up to 4 voting representatives-- but we encourage ALL who are interested to attend. In addition to all of the normal updates and information sharing, we'll also be electing our 2019-20 Executive Board! We hope you join us! Questions? Contact Grace Jurado.
 The Region 6 Winter Conference has been rescheduled to take place on Saturday, February 2, 2019 at Dearborn Park International Elementary School (2820 South Orcas Street, Seattle, WA 98108). The event is 10:00am - 3:30pm and includes classes (including PTA & the Law), roundtable discussions, and more! This FREE training and leadership development event is for all PTA leaders! Come learn, network with your fellow PTA leaders, and meet part of your PTA support team. Learn more and register online...
 Many thanks to all who attended our General Membership Meeting on January 7, 2019! It was wonderful to see so many Northshore leaders in attendance this month. Also great gratitude to our featured presenters, Dr. Charla Griffy-Brown and Janice Kutzera. In addition to reviewing the November minutes as well as the November and December financial reports, we heard from a number of Council leaders regarding upcoming events. First VP Cindy Jensen encouraged all to attend the Reflections Celebration on January 12th (details available here). Council Advocacy VP Nancy Chamberlain invited everyone to participate in Focus Day on February 11th, noting that Council will again be providing free transportation to Olympia for any interested Northshore PTA/PTSA members (details available here). She also passed out postcards that local leaders could use and/or take back to their PTAs that their members can use to write to their legislators. She noted that completed postcards can be returned to Council via the district's interdepartmental mail and we will hand deliver them to legislators on Focus Day. Printable postcards are available on the WSPTA's Focus Day event page (scroll down to "Resources" at the bottom of the page). Advocacy Week will be February 11-14 and all are encouraged to sign-up for WSPTA Action Alerts to facilitate contacting legislators about WSPTA's current platform issues (details available here). Sue Freeman then shared information about the Nominating Committee and encouraged people to ask questions and to nominate potential candidates for next year's Executive Board roles. She noted that the hope is to have a full slate by March 2nd (details available here). Finally, Cindy Jensen stepped up to encourage local PTAs to participate in this year's WSPTA Awards of Excellence program, noting that applications are due March 1 (details available here). District Partnerships Coordinator Natalie Campbell shared a number of upcoming district events and also announced availability of an updated PTSA/PTA District Resource Guide, now available online. She noted that the Resource Guide is an ongoing effort and will be added-to over time as needed. Local PTA leaders will be able to find information there regarding facilities, communications, district policies relevant to PTAs, and more. Download a copy by clicking on the blue "PTA/PTSA Resource Guide" button on the PTA & PTSA page on the NSD website. Carmin Dalziel of the Northshore School Foundation introduced their new crowdfunding program, Northshore Gives, noting that they are piloting the program with a number of different funding opportunities. She also invited all to consider attending the upcoming All in for Kids Luncheon on April 4, 2019. Guest speaker, Dr. Charla Griffy-Brown, joined the meeting virtually and gave an informative presentation on "Cybersecurity 101: for Non-Profits." WSPTA Finance Officer Janice Kutzera followed with a talk about electronic banking safeguards and online financial safety for PTAs. There are many resources available on the Leadership Guides page of the WSPTA website (note: login/password is available via WSPTA's Leadership News). Then a local leader came forward and shared a powerful story about their personal experience in dealing with fraud. During the Q&A session, it was noted that there will be an upcoming in-person PTA & the Law training on February 7, 2019 at Woodinville Fire Station #31 from 6-9pm (details available here). Our PTA Spotlight this month highlighted Hollywood Hill PTA. Their PTA's Special Ed. Representative, Denise Need, joined us to share their "sensory box." The large storage tote lives between their school gym and music room, and is accessible to anyone during school assemblies and evening events. The box includes items such as headphones, ear plugs, a teddy bear, bumpy seat pad, activity books and crayons, fidget spinners and other items for kids of all ages. Directions are simply to use as needed to ease discomfort of any child then return items, wiped down, to the box when done. It is such wonderful idea that works to help create an inclusive and welcoming environment at events at their school. Great job Hollywood Hill PTA! Finally, we closed the meeting with some awesome doorprize drawings. We hope you will join us for our next general membership meeting on Monday, March 18, 2019!
 Please join us for our first Northshore Council PTSA General Membership Meeting of 2019 on Monday, January 7th at the NSD Admin Building (3330 Monte Villa Pkwy, Bothell, WA 98021). There will be a meet and greet at 6:30 and the meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. Each PTA may send up to 4 voting representatives-- but we encourage ALL who are interested to attend.
Learn how you can better protect YOUR PTA from fraud! To start the year off, we are excited to welcome Dr. Charla Griffy-Brown and WSPTA Finance Officer Janice Kutzera as guest speakers. Non-profit organizations are increasingly becoming targets for fraud, and there are even PTAs that have fallen prey to email and "phishing" schemes. Charla has a wealth of experience in the world of non-profits and technology and she will be sharing information about what you *need to know* about cybersecurity. Janice will be speaking to financial best practices and money handling. In addition to a presentation there will be a Q&A so that you can get your questions answered! We hope you join us for what is sure to be an informative meeting! Charla Griffy-Brown is a Professor in Information Systems and Technology Management at the Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business. In addition, she is an accomplished corporate board member and speaker. As a scholar she is now distinguished as Editor-in-Chief of the international journal, Technology in Society. She was recognized as one of Pepperdine University’s outstanding faculty with the Howard A. White Teaching Award in 2011 and in 2017 received recognition as a Waves of Innovation grant winner. Dr. Griffy-Brown graduated from Harvard University, is a former Fulbright Scholar, and holds a Ph.D. in Technology Management from Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. Charla has served as PTA president at Timbercrest Middle School and Co-President of Hollywood Hill Elementary. She currently serves on the Northshore Schools Foundation Board. |
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