 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!!!
#PTAProud To highlight the importance of membership growth, Washington State PTA recognizes local PTAs for enrolling more members than they did in the previous year. As PTAs achieve incremental increases in membership growth, they are recognized for each milestone they reach. As of May 31, 2019, the following Northshore PTAs/PTSAs have earned 2018-19 WSPTA Membership Growth Awards:  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. The following Northshore PTAs/PTSAs earned a WSPTA 100% Staff Membership Award in 2018-2019: 🏆 100% Staff Membership
Congratulations to our award-winning Northshore PTAs! Northshore Council PTAs/PTSAs welcomed 8,079 members in 2018-2019. We look forward to 2019-2020 to be even stronger!
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!  One challenge that all PTAs share is in growing our membership each year. Here in Northshore, we have four PTAs that have shown consistent growth in each of the last six years: Canyon Park PTSA, Lockwood PTA, Skyview PTSA and Sorenson PTA! Our Council Membership Chairs asked each of these successful PTAs what has worked for them that has helped drive their ongoing membership growth. Read their responses below and be sure to check out the examples they shared too! Canyon Park Middle School PTSA Co-President Jane Chiodo shared a bit about Canyon Park PTSA's approach to membership at the March 18th Northshore Council General Membership Meeting noting that the secondary level is very different from elementary. One primary difference is that there are no paper flyers as there is no means to distribute them (no more 'kidmail' in secondary!). So taking advantage of all avenues for communicating information and working to get the word out about PTSA is key!
Sorenson PTA The Sorenson Early Childhood Center has ~256 students and 58 staff members. Their PTA currently has 118 members! President Amber Rosenquist shared Sorenson PTA's membership approach and some examples at the March 18th Northshore Council General Membership Meeting. Here is some of what Sorenson PTA does to promote membership:  Sorenson PTA created an infographic to help inform members about how contributions are used. It was printed and included in their PTA Welcome packets.
Lockwood PTA Lockwood PTA membership co-Chairs Liz Nord and Amanda Sics noted that they work to campaign for membership throughout the year! Here is what they shared with us about their approach: We have sent out 3 different membership forms this year:
We of course noticed things that needed to be corrected with each form (for instance on the original form, we forgot to say who to write the check out to), and fixed it on the new one. Things we do to continue to get memberships throughout the year:
Skyview Middle School PTSA Skyview PTSA's President, Melissa Kline, shared a great list of key approaches that they use to promote membership at the secondary level:  Skyview PTSA gave a small gift to all staff at the start of the school year to help promote membership.
Many thanks to each of these PTAs for taking the time to share their membership approach and some great tips!  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! As of January 1, 2019, the following Northshore PTAs/PTSAs have earned 2018-19 WSPTA Membership Awards:  Congratulations to our award-winning Northshore PTAs! Northshore Council PTAs/PTSAs have 7,546 members so far this year. We need your help to meet our Council goal of 8,600! There is still time to make that happen and to earn an award for your PTA as well! Think about what you can do to promote membership this winter and remind your community about the value and importance of joining PTA! Questions? Need ideas? Contact our Council Membership Chiars, Sherry Rudolph and Mary Khouzam.
 Congratulations to the 10 Northshore PTAs that have won WSPTA Membership growth awards so far this year!
PLATINUM award winners have increased membership 20% over last year: ⭐ Bear Creek Elementary PTA ⭐ Moorlands PTA ⭐ Shelton View PTA GOLD award winners have increased membership 10% over last year: ⭐ Canyon Park Middle PTSA ⭐ Sorenson PTA BRONZE award winners have increased membership by at least 1 more member over last year: ⭐ Canyon Creek PTA ⭐ East Ridge PTA ⭐ Fernwood PTSA ⭐ Lockwood PTA ⭐ Timbercrest Middle PTSA Keep up the amazing work!!! Remember that membership is year-round and these awards are ongoing. If your PTA has earned an award-- keep the momentum going and work toward the next level. And if your PTA isn't there yet-- keep at it and continue building awareness because every member counts! If you have membership questions, are looking for ideas or need support, please contact our Council Membership Chairs, Sherry Rudolph and Mary Khouzam. They are here to help!  Feeling overwhelmed keeping up with membership? Need a little help with PT Avenue? There is a wealth of resources on the Washington State PTA website available to you and your team!
Visit Leadership Guides (use the login and password info sent via WSPTA's Leadership News) and then scroll down to the "Membership Database" section to find training guides, specific information on how to enter members in the database, manage reports and so much more! There is even a video to help you learn how to import data. Remember that you can ask for help entering data into the database. Make it a team effort. Membership is everyone’s responsibility! Questions? Council's Membership Chairs are here to support you as well and they are only an email away: Mary Khouzam and Sherry Rudolph.  A hallway display at school, acknowledging all your PTA members, can be a wonderful way to celebrate your PTAs growth!
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