 Every year PTAs start their membership campaign and every year families ask the same question: "Why join the PTA?" This year especially, families may be asking why they should support PTA. It can be hard to communicate your PTA's value now that everything is online when families are used to attending PTA events or seeing the support your PTA does in the classroom. That's why it's more important than ever to answer the question "Why PTA?" One great way of doing that is sharing with your families the reason why you support the PTA. Knowing WHY those leading your PTA serve is a great way to inspire other families to support your PTA by joining or donating. Check out all the reasons that inspire your Northshore Council Leaders to PTA below! Interested in making your own "Why I PTA" slides? Contact Council's VP of Membership, Melissa Kline, for help on how to.  Join us for ‘Northshore PTAs Connect’ – an online roundtable discussion for PTA/PTSA leaders to ask questions, share ideas and connect with one another. Offered two times a month—once in the evening (7pm) and once at midday (noon)— this series of roundtable events is designed to support our local PTA/PTSA leaders as we navigate membership, programs and managing our organizations in an uncertain and ever-changing landscape. Each roundtable event will feature a focus topic, but it is an open discussion and there is always opportunity to ask questions and tackle emerging or ongoing areas of interest or concern.
You may choose to attend the topics or times that work best for you, or attend them all!
We hope to see you there!!! If you have questions or suggested topics you would like to see addressed in the discussion, please email Council PTSA President, Robin Zaback.  Hello Northshore PTA/PTSA Leaders!
All great Membership Campaigns start the same way: with a plan! As you begin to coordinate your 2020-2021 membership plans, think about the reasons why families and staff should join.
This year it's more important than ever to kick off your campaign and start entering those memberships because Washington State PTA has a ***NEW*** requirement. This year, in order to remain in good standing, your PTA/PTSA must have at LEAST 25 members entered into memberplanet by October 31, 2020. Why is it important to remain in good standing? If you want to attend convention, send in reflections submissions, apply for awards, or apply for grants you must be in good standing. One way to increase your membership this year is to make sure it is EASY to join online. I would love to compile a list of all our local PTAs/PTSAs with a link directly to your site to join online. This will make each PTA/PTSA more accessible to members of our community, school board, and even district admin who might be looking to join. Please email me your updated join link. I will even join the 1st THREE PTAs/PTSAs to email their links! Please know you can contact me anytime with questions or to help you brainstorm ideas for your membership campaign. Reminder: Our first Northshore PTAs Connect is this Thursday, August 13th. This first online roundtable will have a focus on membership. And, remember, Membership is everyone's job, so all officers are welcome to join! Additionally, please email your membership chair name(s) and contact information to me ASAP so they can be added to all communications about membership. Melissa Kline Northshore Council PTSA Membership Chair membership@northshorecouncilptsa.org
Use the steps below and the suggested tools to help you move toward a setting up a successful fall membership campaign!
And don't forget to take time to read the Membership Handbook*️! It offers a wealth of information about all aspects of membership and it includes a monthly calendar to guide you through the membership year. *️ Note: Leadership Guides resources are password protected. The username and password info can be found in the latest issue of WSPTA's Leadership News or you can request them from your Council VP of Support-- Elementary or Secondary.
PTA is a membership-driven association. Sustaining and growing membership builds PTA's power as advocates and change makers not only in your own school community, but also at district, state and national levels. WSPTA recognizes PTAs for their work growing membership as well as for achievements in membership.
Congratulations to our Northshore PTA/PTSAs that have earned
WSPTA Membership Awards in 2019-2020!!!
Membership Achievement Awards:
100% Membership Award
(The 100% PTA Membership Award is presented to local PTAs that enroll at least as many members as there are fulltime enrolled students at the school associated with that PTA. This is the ultimate achievement in PTA membership and recognizes that every child in the school community has a paid PTA member to be their voice.)
100% Staff Membership Award
(The 100% Staff Membership Award is presented to local PTAs that enroll at least as many school staff members as there are full-time certificated employees at the school. This award recognizes the value of teachers and school staff as stakeholders advocating for all children through PTA.)
Membership Growth Awards:
Many thanks to all of our amazing Northshore PTAs/PTSAs for continually striving for membership growth, helping us to have an even more powerful voice for our children!
 Congratulations to our Northshore PTA/PTSAs that have earned WSPTA Membership Growth Awards so far in 2019-2020!!! Keep up the amazing work and continue to build upon your success! As of January 1, 2020, Northshore Council PTSA has 7,303 members. This is about 90% of our total from last year. We have lots of room to grow and we can still make our goal of 8,400 members across Northshore! Keep reminding your community about the value of PTA membership and the work you do within your school community and beyond!!! Membership Growth Awards are automatically calculated and awarded to local PTAs and councils that reach the required criteria levels for Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum recognition. Your PTA can focus on the important work of enrolling members while the WSPTA Membership Committee determines your eligibility and recognizes your PTA or council for its membership growth. Awards are typically calculated on a monthly basis and can be earned all the way through June. Visit the WSPTA website for more information about WSPTA Membership Awards.
 We are grateful to all who were able to attend our General Membership Meeting on Monday, November 18, 2019. News of interest from the November 18th PTSA General Meeting included Dr. Reid’s report that the innovation lab high school located in Canyon Park will open next fall. Peter Schurke is the planning principal and registration will likely coincide with that for Northshore’s other high schools. Also, EAP Placement sites should be announced the week of November 25th. Northshore Schools Foundation is partnering with NSD for Hour of Code again this year, December 9 – 16, with activities for families and awards for participation. NSD Partnerships Coordinator Natalie Campbell reported that the district is partnering with local PTAs to bring the Northwest Art Project, a tour which includes eight original works of Northwest artists and supporting curriculum, to twice as many schools as last year. Reflections Entries are due by November 26. Cindy Jensen will be collecting pieces at the Starbucks by Kenmore Lanes November 25 and 26th from 7 – 8:30pm. Council's co-VP of Advocacy, Nancy Chamberlain, gave a brief summary on Washington State PTA's Legislative Assembly (October 26-27, 2019), noting that delegates adopted Family and Community Engagement as a new principal as well as four new Resolutions including: the Vital Impact of Membership on PTAs Sustainability, Mission-Focused Fundraising, Equitable Education Opportunities to Close Gaps Across the Achievement Spectrum, and Gun Violence Prevention and Safety. She urges all members to sign up for Advocacy Action Alerts and to mark calendars for Focus Day in Olympia on January 20, 2020. Kids are welcome! Sign up for free Focus Day transportation to Olympia with Council. During the Emergency Preparedness Presentation, Council's E-Prep co-Chair, Robin McKenzie, urged families to make sure their contact information is correct in ParentVue, develop an emergency plan at home, and sign-up for King County/Snohomish County Alerts. He suggested PTAs engage with their school on the Reunification Process plan. He noted that the District will be doing a Reunification Exercise in March. The Council also approved new goals, elected a Nominating Committee (many thanks to Jane Chiodo, Carmin Dalziel, and Tricia Woods for serving on the committee!), celebrated our 6840 members and discussed ways to boost membership. We are also thrilled to report that Tricia Woods has decided to continue on as our Treasurer. (Note: we are still seeking interested candidates to serve in other key roles, including VP of Events and Membership Chair. Contact Grace Jurado if you would like to learn more!) After the meeting adjourned, members could choose between four training class options including: ✔️ Lining Up Your Leaders: How to Have a Successful Nominating Committee and Election ✔️ How to Use WSPTA Positions for Local Advocacy ✔️ Keep Your A$$ets Out of Trouble: Managing a Non-Profit ✔️ Emergency Preparedness: What Your PTA Needs to Know Many thanks to Stacey Meyer, Nancy Chamberlain, Grace Jurado and Robin McKenzie for leading the classes and sharing their knowledge and experience with attendees. The next General Membership meeting will be January 23, 2020 at the NSD Administration Building. Meet and Greet at 6:30 pm. Call to order at 7pm. We hope you will join us!
This list was originally presented at our November 18, 2019 membership meeting by Northshore Council PTSA Membership Chair, Amber Rosenquist.
The following Northshore PTAs have already surpassed their total membership from the last school year. Great job!
Keep up the amazing work!!! Remember that membership is year-round and growth goals are ongoing. If your PTA has already met its initial goal-- keep the momentum going and set your next goal. And if your PTA isn't there yet-- keep at it and continue building awareness because every member counts! If you have questions about membership, whether it's about memberplanet or finding inspiration for your next campaign, Council is here to help! Contact Council Membership Chair Amber Rosenquist with your questions.
 A big shout-out to Westhill PTSA on their incredibly successful back-to-school membership campaign that resulted in 161 sign-ups BEFORE school even started! That is only 7 members short of their total membership for all of 2018-2019! How did they do it??? Westhill PTSA kicked off its membership year with a social media campaign in their Westhill Elementary PTSA Facebook group. On August 19th They shared their Olympics theme for the year and announced their "Gold Medal Goal" of reaching 200 members (nearly a 20% increase over their 2018-2019 total) and encouraged families to sponsor a teacher. In the two weeks that followed, they offered regular updates and encouraged families to sponsor their teachers and staff members. They shared a video that debunks common membership myths (watch the video) and promoted their online membership sign-up option (which they offered through their website, www.westhllptsa.org). A week into the campaign, they shared an update, listing the teachers who had been sponsored so far, and hyped up their teacher sponsorship efforts. One day, they posted 7 times throughout the day, giving regular updates as more sponsorships came in. It really built excitement and gave a lot of visibility to the campaign and drove even more families to participate. This prompted Westhill PTSA to broaden their focus to encouraging people to sponsor staff members as well. By the next day, they only needed 14 more memberships to ensure every staff member could join. A few more posts with updates (9 more! 7 more! 5 more!) and by August 31st, they had received 60 total sponsored memberships-- enough to cover the ENTIRE Westhill Elementary staff. The campaign was conducted entirely via social media and word-of-mouth and their community responded to the challenge in a big way. "The level of donations was incredible and we were able to get people to sign up and tack on a teacher. We were able to share with the staff during their in-service day and they were very excited and thankful," reported Westhill PTSA President, Lindsay Christiansen, who credited their Membership Chair, Missy Cornwell, for her creative approach and for driving the campaign. Not only did Westhill PTSA kick off their membership year in a fabulous way, but they were able to build excitement and bring their community together while also showing their support for their school staff in a big way. Way to go, Westhill PTSA!!!
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