 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
Class schedule:
You are welcome to take as many classes as fit your schedule and, because they are WSPTA approved, they will count toward fulfilling your annual training requirement for 2020-21.
There are some great benefits to attending a Northshore Council training session including:
Please share this info with current and incoming officers, committee chairs and interested PTA members, and join us!
We look forward to seeing you in class!
Questions? Email Council President, Grace Jurado.
UPDATE:
**UPDATE** New event location: Leota Middle School Cafeteria!  Northshore Council PTSA invites you to join us in celebrating our amazing student artists who participated in this year's Reflections program. More than 350 pieces by students from across Northshore will be featured and on display Saturday, January 11, 2020, from 2:30 – 5:00pm at the Leota Middle School Cafeteria (19301 168th Ave NE, Woodinville, WA 98072). Any artists needing a quieter environment to look at art may arrive early for a quiet viewing time from 2:00 – 2:30pm. We hope you will join us in celebrating the work of our amazing student artists! We will need a number of helping hands for this event. Saturday morning we will need help setting up the art panels and displays and then help is needed after the event to take everything down and clean up. Please consider signing up to volunteer: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f084babaf28a4fc1-2020 Questions? Please reach out to Jane Chiodo at vp@northshorecouncilptsa.org.   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!
 At its annual Presidents & Principals Luncheon on October 29, 2019, Northshore Council PTSA brought together PTA leaders, school principals, and district administrators from across Northshore.  Student advocate Julia Gonzalez was the keynote speaker at this year's luncheon. After enjoying a lunch catered by Lombardi's (Mill Creek), keynote speaker Julia Gonzalez (now a freshman at Inglemoor High School) shared her story about developing the "ME Space" program at Northshore Middle School. "ME" stands for "Mental Emotional" or "Mind Escape" and the space is a dedicated room for students struggling with anxiety or overwhelming emotions to visit during the day when they need a mental health break. The program, started in 2018, continues to serve 25-30 students every week, providing them with a safe space to reset and recharge so that they are are able to re-focus on learning. Julia's presentation and the success of her student-centered program inspired some wonderful discussion around opportunities for school-PTA partnerships and collaboration in supporting Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). Many thanks to all who were able to attend as well as to event organizers Grace Jurado, Stacey Meyer and Carrie McKenzie. Gratitude to Evergreen Church for sharing their beautiful space with us for the event as well as to Lombardi's Mill Creek for providing a tasty lunch. A few photos from the event:  Northshore Council PTSA is proud to announce the recipients in our first round of Speaker & Event Grants for 2019-2020!
Each of these six events will be open to the Northshore community. Be on the lookout for announcements with detailed event information in the coming months! Local PTAs/PTSAs interested in partnering with Northshore Council PTSA to host speakers or events may apply for a Northshore Council PTSA Educational Speakers and Events Grant. 2019-2020 grants are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis and applications will be reviewed by the Northshore Council PTSA until the Council Programs budget is used in its entirety. The submission deadline for the next round of Speaker & Event Grants is December 6, 2019. For more information about the program and to download the application, visit our Educational Speaker & Events Grants Program page.
 Core to every PTA's mission is the overarching vision to make every child's potential a reality. Every child has needs that extend beyond the classroom and sometimes families might need additional supports in order to meet those needs. Helping to connect families with resources available in their community can be a wonderful way for local PTAs to offer their support.  Crystal Springs PTA printed a brochure titled, "Emergency Food & Housing Resources," and made it available in their school's main office. Crystal Springs PTA has taken this idea to heart and developed a great tool for their families. It is a brochure titled, "Emergency Food & Housing Resources." They have compiled a listing of community resources that families can reference in times of need and have put it all together in a handy brochure. Included are food stability resources, emergency housing options, and more, with details and contact information for each. Crystal Springs PTA printed the brochure and then partnered with their school office to ensure that the brochures are available and can be shared with interested families. The brochure they have created is available for download below. In addition, Crystal Springs PTA has shared the original MS Publisher file. It is editable so that your PTA can easily customize it for use in your community.
This is a wonderful way to help families who may be in need! Crystal Springs PTA's thoughtful approach to serving their community and their sharing spirit are great examples of what makes us #PTAProud!
 Over the past few years, Moorlands Elementary PTA has been working on campus beautification, beginning with the installation of a bottle cap mural and culminating in the completion of a garden surround. The years of effort have resulted in a school entrance that is both beautiful and welcoming. Two elements of the beautification project Bottle cap art mural – The bottle-cap mural which serves as a colorful backdrop to the new garden was originally completed in 2016. This collaborative project was an experience of tremendous support and community-building and so many positive lessons for Moorlands students. The process has done so much more than just teach students about the environment and using recycled materials to make something beautiful. The lessons that it has taught them in pulling together resources, goal-setting, project process and hard work and perseverance has been invaluable in their educational experience. They all have such pride and ownership of their work now that the see the mural up on campus. They will never look at another bottle cap the same-- and many have expressed interest in making their own bottle cap art project, so this experience really doesn’t end here. The Garden: In the spring of 2018 a garden committee was created. The support within the Moorlands community was overwhelming to move forward with finishing the beautification project since everyone was so proud of the mural. The garden was built to be used-- for families and visitors to walk the path, sit on the bench, smell the flowers and admire the beloved mural. Garden Chair Janna Snider elaborated, "My hope for the garden is that staff will use the space for meetings on sunny days, for class volunteers to take small groups outdoors to read and discuss literature, a place to calm a child down who is struggling, and for parents to take their child’s picture on the first day of Kindergarten. It is truly a community space for all to enjoy." Congratulations to Moorlands PTA and to the Moorlands Elementary community on completion of this amazing collaborative project! #PTAProud 25 volunteers, 5 work parties, 15 yards of dirt removed, 14 new yards added, and 175 plants! The bench, paid for by the PTA and made out of recycled milk bottles, was custom made for Moorlands and measures about 19’ long. Thank you to Janna Snider, Garden Chair, Moorlands PTA, for sharing her before and after project photos!
 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!
 Applications are now being accepted for Northshore Council PTSA's 2019-2020 Educational Speakers & Events Grant Program! Now in its second year, the program is designed to help support Northshore PTAs/PTSAs in hosting educational speakers and community events. Local PTAs may apply for grants through a simple application process. Grants are reviewed by the Council Board of Directors and are funded through the Council Programs budget. Grants are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis until the allocated funds for the year are used in their entirety. To apply, complete the application and return to Northshore Council PTSA by the submission deadline. Check out the Speaker & Event Grants page for a list of all 2019-2020 submission and review dates. The first grant submission deadline is Friday, October 11, 2019. Download the 2019-2020 application: NORTHSHORE COUNCIL PTSA GRANT REQUEST FOR EDUCATIONAL SPEAKERS AND EVENTS, 2019-2020 Events supported in 2018-2019 included:
Questions about the grant program? Please contact Jane Chiodo.
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