How do you say Thank You for the extraordinary amount of time and effort people take out of their lives to make a difference for our students, staff and community?  The below is just a minor fraction of some of the many people who deserve thanks from PTSA Council!
Interested in Volunteering with Council? - Check Out Our Volunteer Page.

​​Showing Our Appreciation During the 2023-2024 School Year 

• THREE CHEERS to Melissa Bennett for planning and organizing this year's Spring Recognition event. Her creativity and enthusiasm shone through in all the details, making it a fantastic event. 
  • HATS OFF to Rachel Fitzgerald and Jennifer Snyder for their work on the Spring Recognition program and slide deck. 
  • APPRECIATION to Brenae Brix, Diana Christiansen, Angela Dawson, Jennifer Drury, Rachel Fitzgerald, Jasmine Lee Fry, Mary Khouzam, Laura Staneff, and Allison Torgesen for speaking at the event.
  • GRATITUDE to WSPTA President Angela Steck for coming to present Council with the Outstanding PTA of the Year Award.
  • KUDOS to all that assisted with set up and clean up.
    View photos from Spring Recognition Event here. 
• HEARTFELT GRATITUDE to 2024 Council Awards Committee members Grace Jurado and Melissa Kline for reviewing nominations and selecting recipients to be recognized during our Spring Recognition Brunch. Read about this year's recipients. 
• SPECIAL THANKS to Melissa Bennett, Rachel Fitzgerald, and Anna Jensen for reviewing the eNews before it was published this year. Your time and extra sets of eyes have been very appreciated. 
• As we reflect on the 2023-2024 school year, we extend MANY THANKS to our outgoing Northshore Council PTSA board members. Your thoughtful guidance, expertise, and unwavering commitment have played a crucial role in our mission to support the children and youth in our community. Thank you for your outstanding contributions!
• ​CHEERS to Terra Droney and Holly Muenchow for hosting three Advocacy Meetups on "Navigating Budget Cuts in Education" this month for our community! Missed one? Don't worry, there's another scheduled for Tuesday, May 21 on Zoom at 7 PM. Learn more and register for Zoom link.
• SHOUT OUT to Melissa Bennett​, Angela Dawson​, Terra Droney, Rachel Fitzgerald, Holly Muenchow, and Laura Staneff for volunteering at the Northshore School District Family Symposium at North Creek High School on Saturday, May 4. They provided Northshore families with information about Council and local PTAs. ​
• HATS OFF to our 2024-2025 Council Budget Committee, Brenae Brix​, Rachel Fitzgerald, Anna Jensen, and Holly Muenchow for your work in creating the new Council budget which will be presented and voted on at the May General Membership Meeting.
• KUDOS to ​​​​Kimberly Ortiz and Allison Torgesen​ for providing support to our local leaders, addressing membership questions, and providing memberplanet tips. As we transition to the GiveBacks website, Council will remain a resource. Please don't hesitate to reach out as we navigate this new system together. 
• THREE CHEERS to our newly elected 2023-2024 Council Officers, Melissa Bennett, Brenae Brix, Diana Christiansen, Terra Droney, Grace Jurado, Holly Muenchow, and Christine Roehnelt! We extend our sincere gratitude to each of you for your willingness to step up and serve next school year. There's still an opportunity to contribute to Council next year. Consider self-nominating for an open position! 
• MUCH GRATITUDE to Grace Jurado for her leadership as the Chair of Council's 2023-2024 Grants Committee. MANY THANKS to committee members Brenae Brix, Melissa Kline, Rachel Fitzgerald, and Christine Roehnelt, who alongside, Grace, helped local PTAs partner with Council to bring educational speakers and events to our community. We're excited to announce that a bonus grant cycle has been added. Learn how you can apply for a grant.
• ROUND OF APPLAUSE to Council Reflections Co-Chairs Jasmine Lee Fry and Foram Shah​ as well as Council VP of Events, Melissa Bennett, who put together the awesome Reflections Art Reception! Thanks for creating such a fun and inspiring space for our student artists to shine!
  • SPECIAL THANKS to our amazing volunteers who were there to help with the event: Yoonmi Antone and Family, David Bennett, Diana Christiansen, Angela Dawson, Rachel Fitzgerald, Jane Fischer, Kirsty Lee Gil, Kedra Mavrinac, Holly Muenchow, Louise Meyer, and Laura Staneff, Laura Templeton. We couldn't have done it without you!
  • BIG HIGH FIVE to the National Honor Society student volunteers Jeremy A., Elisabeth A., Ellina C., Elaina D., Manny F., Enna M., and Kaaya V. for all your help. 
  • ​HUGE THANK YOU to the Bothell High School Culinary Arts Program for catering the event! Your delicious desserts were the perfect complement to the festivities.
• HEARTFELT GRATITUDE to Anna Jensen, Holly Muenchow, and Laura Staneff, the Council's Nominating Committee, for their dedication and hard work in finding the best possible candidates to serve on Council's 2024-2025 Executive Board. Read the 2024 Nominating Committee Report and more about the election and how to self-nominate. ​
• SHOUT OUT to Diana Christiansen, Terra Droney, and Laura Staneff, our mid-year Financial Review Committee members, for dedicating their time to reviewing our financials and sharing their feedback. Additionally, KUDOS to Brenae Brix for her outstanding organization of the financials, ensuring they were ready for the committee's review. We appreciate all your hard work and dedication!
• MANY THANKS to this year's Council level Reflections judges Buffy Anson, David Dorrian, Amelie Fry, Greg Fry, Laura Staneff, Suma Subramaniam, Han Tran, Patsy Treece, Jill Zosel, and our student judge Katie C.
• APPRECIATION to all our Northshore Reflections Chairs for running your programs and celebrating student artists!
• MUCH GRATITUDE to Melissa Bennett​ for representing the Northshore Council PTSA Members and Board of Directors by presenting a letter to the school board and Superintendent Tolley addressing concerns about the budget cuts for the 2024-25 academic year. Read the letter here. 
  MUCH APPRECIATION to all Northshore PTA advocates who actively engaged in virtual meetings with local legislators and promptly responded to Action Alerts during Focus on Advocacy Week. 
• SPECIAL THANKS to Brenae Brix, Diana Christiansen, Jennifer Drury, Laura Staneff, Superintendent Tolley, School Board Director Jacqueline McGourty, School Board Director Elisabeth Sotak, School Board Director Han Tran, as well as local PTA advocates and student advocates who journeyed to Olympia and met with legislators on Focus on Advocacy Day. With over 25 PTA advocates representing Northshore, your commitment and active participation make a substantial impact! 
• BRAVO to Terra Droney and Holly Muenchow for their hard work and dedication in coordinating our Northshore advocacy efforts on Focus Day. Their efforts involved organizing carpools, scheduling meetings with legislators, hosting informative meetups, and more. Well done! 
• MUCH APPRECIATION to Melissa Bennett​ for delivering the Council report during the Northshore School District Board meeting. 
• HUGE SHOUT OUT to Terra Droney & Holly Muenchow for organizing Advocacy Meetups and providing an opportunity for the community to gain insights on advocating for increased school funding. These sessions have been a crucial preparation step for Focus on Advocacy Day in Olympia. Join them on Tuesday morning, 1/09, for the last session before Focus on Advocacy Day in Olympia.
• To all of the amazing volunteers throughout our district - we see you and appreciate the difference you are making! We hope that during the upcoming break, you can make time for yourself as well. Rest, relax, and enjoy the winter break and time with your families!
• A HEARTFELT THANK YOU to Christine Roehnelt for her dedicated work in recording notes during our PTSA meetings and providing timely, informative recaps of each general meeting. The role of our PTA Secretary is paramount, as these minutes serve as a lasting record of our PTA's history.
• WARMEST THANKS to Director Bob Swain for his invaluable service as our School Board/PTSA liaison and for actively participating in Council meetings throughout the past year. Council greatly values our partnership with the School Board.
• Please join us in giving a ROUND OF APPLAUSE to ​Anna Jensen, Holly Muenchow, and Laura Staneff as they have been elected to serve on this year's Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee will be seeking qualified individuals to lead Northshore Council PTSA in 2024-2025. Online nomination form and more information coming soon. Learn more about what is a Nominating Committee on our blog post Everything You Have Wanted to Know About Nominating Committees.  
• KUDOS to Diana Christiansen and Holly Muenchow for attending the WSPTA Council Summit alongside council leaders from various parts of the state to share ideas and learn how to best support local leaders. 
• HUGE SHOUT OUT to all of those who made our recent Presidents & Principals luncheon a success and to everyone who was able to join us for our event! We hope you all were able to pack your car with valuable insights, ideas, and resources to strengthen your programs as you travel through this year on your PTA Journey to Destination Success!
  • ​​We would also like to give SPECIAL THANKS to:
    • The Bothell High School Culinary Arts Program for catering our lunch;
    • Our speakers, Blue Griner, NCHS student who provided info about the Period Peeps Project, and Grace Jurado, Council's First VP, who presented on our Educational Speakers and Community Events Grant Program;
    • All the day of volunteers who helped make the event happen by being there early to set up, helping to check people in, handing out lunches, and staying afterward to help clean up;
    • Council members, Holly Muenchow and Allison Torgesen, who facilitated the sharing portion of our event (and gave out lots of treats while doing so!);
    • ​Council's P&P Event Committee members, Angela Dawson, Rachel Fitzgerald, Anna Jensen, Mary Khouzam, and Jenn Snyder, for all their many hours of work designing the worksheet, creating slides, organizing speakers, coordinating the catering, managing the RSVPs, and making sure everything ran smoothly during the event,
    • Council's AMAZING VP of Events, Melissa Bennett, who not only chaired this event and helped with every aspect, but also went above and beyond with her decorations and designs to make this one of the best P&P events yet!
      If you were invited to this event, please make sure to complete our feedback survey by Friday, November 10th. For those unable to attend, please visit our website for a recap of this year's event. 
• GRATITUDE to Melissa Bennett, Brenae Brix, Dianna Christiansen, Angela Dawson​, Jennifer Drury​, Rachel Fitzgerald, Jasmine Lee Fry, Anna Jensen, Holly Muenchow, Christine Roehnelt​, Jenn Snyder, and Laura Staneff, for meeting with the Northshore school board directors, Superintendent Tolley and staff to learn more about the 2024-2025 budget and AI. If you would like a budget presentation at your local PTA meeting, please contact Deputy Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer JoLynn Berge at [email protected].
• SPECIAL SHOUTOUT to Terra Droney, Rachel Fitzgerald, Anna Jensen, and Holly Muenchow, who attended the WSPTA 2023 Legislative Assembly this past weekend as Council delegates! Together, along with 19 other AMAZING Northshore PTA/PTSA delegates representing 11 of our local PTAs, they worked to give a voice to all students.
• THREE CHEERS to Rachel Fitzgerald for hosting Be SMART, a parent education event that outlined simple steps that all adults—whether they own guns or not—can take to keep our children and communities safer.​ If you are interested in hosting a Be SMART presentation at your school, or to learn more about the program, please reach out to Jaclyn Condra by emailing [email protected].
• MUCH APPRECIATION to Council Co-VPs of Advocacy Terra Droney and Holly Muenchow for organizing the Council's School Board Candidate Forum 2023 and KUDOS to Rachel Fitzgerald and Jenn Snyder for your assistance with communication and being timekeepers at the event. Watch a recording of the forum here. 
• MANY THANKS to Robin McKenzie and our new E-Prep Co-Chair Lanea Miller for hosting the first E-Prep Meeting of the school year. E-Prep will be held virtually on the first Tuesday of each month at 11am. Visit our blog for more information on how you can join the next meeting.  
• SHOUT OUT to Jasmine Lee Fry and Foram Shah for hosting two Reflections Roundtables helping local leaders get their Reflections program off the ground. View a recording and slide deck from the Roundtable here. 
• CONGRATULATIONS to Christine Roehnelt​ who was elected as the new Northshore Council PTSA 2023-24 Secretary at our General Meeting on Monday, September 18. Read a recap from the meeting. 
• ​MANY THANKS to Terra Droney and Holly Muenchow for attending the September 11th School Board meeting and reporting to the Board the latest happenings within Council and our Northshore PTAs. 
• HIGH FIVES to Diana Christiansen and Jennifer Drury for hosting two Back to School PTA Leaders Meetups this month giving local leaders an opportunity to connect and share ideas.    
• KUDOS to Allison Torgesen for leading an informative memberplanet breakout session at our General Membership Meeting. Did you miss the meeting, but have questions about membership or memberplanet? Reach out to Council Membership Co-Chairs Kimberly Ortiz & Allison Torgesen​. 
• KUDOS to Council VPs of Support, Diana Christiansen and Jennifer Drury. They have been busy supporting our local leaders with start of the year questions. Come meet Diana and Jennifer tomorrow, September 12, at Miner's Corner at our first of two Back to School PTA Leaders Meetups. 
• ​MANY THANKS to the Council Budget Committee Brenae Brix, Rachel Fitzgerald, Mary Khouzam, Melissa Kline, and Serena Xu for all of your hard work in helping create the new Council budget will be presented and voted on at the September General Membership Meeting.
• THREE CHEERS to Brenae Brix, Diana Christiansen, Angela Dawson, Terra Droney, Cherry Holmes, Laura Staneff and local leaders for attending WSPTA's Autumn Leadership Launch on August 25 and 26 to strengthen their leadership skills for the upcoming school year. 
• SHOUT OUT to Terra Droney for giving the Council Report at the August 14th School Board Meeting and updating them on the latest Council and local PTA/PTSA happenings. 
• GRATITUDE to Melissa Bennett, Rachel Fitzgerald, Riley Fitzgerald, and Jenn Snyder for promoting the value of PTA, membership, and voter registration at the NSD Back to School Resource Fair on August 10th. Several families joined their local PTA that day and many more were interested in connecting with their school's PTA - so make sure your website & online join link is updated for this year.
• SHOUTOUT to Council's National PTA Convention Delegates Jane Chiodo, Angela Dawson, Rachel Fitzgerald, Holly Muenchow, and Liz Wong who represented WSPTA at National Convention. Read more about the resolutions that were voted on during the 2023 Convention. 
  MANY THANKS to Melissa Bennett for hosting Council's Summer Retreat and to Council leaders for taking time during the summer to start preparing for the upcoming year.
• MUCH APPRECIATION to our Year End Financial Review Committee members Brenae Brix, Diana Christiansen, and Melissa Kline. And SPECIAL THANKS to Serena Xu for finalizing all the financials and having it organized and ready for the review. 
• THREE CHEERS to Terra Droney & Holly Muenchow for organizing and hosting the Northshore School Board Candidates Meet and Greet over the summer to help voters get a chance to talk with the candidates prior to voting in the primary election. Look for information coming soon about an upcoming candidate forum being held before the November election. ​

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​Showing Our Appreciation during the 2022-2023 School Year

• GRATITUDE to our outgoing Northshore Council PTSA board members Melissa Kline, Mary Khouzam, Pauline Wray, and Serena Xu. Your thoughtful leadership, knowledge, and dedication has been invaluable to helping us fulfill our mission in serving the children and youth in our community each year.
• HATS OFF to Kim Ortiz, Council's Membership Chair who supported our local PTAs membership efforts this past year. Membership across Northshore PTAs topped last year!
  MUCH APPRECIATION to 2023 Council Awards Committee members Grace Jurado and Melissa Kline for their work reviewing nominations and selecting recipients to be recognized at this year's award winners during our Spring Recognition Brunch tomorrow.
• SPECIAL SHOUTOUT to Rachel Fitzgerald for speaking to the school board on behalf of Northshore PTAs during public comments on May 22, 2023. Rachel shared how PTAs across Northshore need volunteers. You can listen to Rachel's comments to the board. (Rachel's comments begin at 23:40). 
  KUDOS to Brenae Brix, Jennifer Drury, Rachel Fitzgerald, Mary Khouzam, and Claudine Miller for reviewing the eNews before it was published this year. Your time and extra set of eyes has been very appreciated. 
• THREE CHEERS to everyone on Northshore Council PTSA Board who jumped in and helped plan the Spring Recognition Brunch. Without a VP of Events this year it was all hands on deck to make this a successful event tomorrow.
  ​ROUND OF APPLAUSE to Jennifer Drury for serving as VP of Advocacy. We are grateful for your voice and your support of Northshore PTAs' advocacy efforts.
• SPECIAL THANKS to Brenae Brix and Diana Christiansen for supporting our elementary and secondary PTAs this year. This year has been a challenging year and your support and knowledge helped PTAs fulfill their missions and goals.
• MUCH APPRECIATION to Jenn Snyder for organizing and putting together the NSD Staff Appreciation video earlier this month! And THANK YOU to everyone who sent in messages to be included in the video. If you didn't get a chance to watch it, its available on our blog.
• KUDOS to Brenae Brix for organizing a parent education for high school families at our May membership meeting. The Community & Technical Colleges: Preparing Students for their Future presentation was well attended and provided some valuable information to families. 
• THREE CHEERS to Rachel Fitzgerald and Jenn Snyder for submitting applications to WSPTA Awards of Excellence. SHOUT OUT to Northshore Council PTSA leaders as we were awarded gold level awards for Standards of Excellence, Outstanding Communication, Outstanding Newsletter, and Outstanding Website. Learn more about WSPTA Awards and how you can submit your PTA for next year. 
• MUCH APPRECIATION to Cherry Holmes for organizing a panel discussion on race and equity in the Northshore community which featured student voices as well as educators and administrators. 
• SPECIAL THANKS to Terra Droney, Cherry Holmes, and Claudine Miller for representing Northshore Council PTSA as delegates at the WSPTA Annual Business Meeting.
• ​SHOUT OUT to our current and incoming Northshore Council leaders Brenae Brix, Diana Christiansen, Terra Droney, Jennifer Drury, Rachel Fitzgerald, Anna Jensen, Holly Muenchow, and Laura Staneff, who participated in this year's WSPTA Spring Training Conference over this past weekend where they received valuable training, networked with PTA leaders from across Washington state, and celebrated PTA and this past year's achievements. 
• MUCH APPRECIATION to Anna Jensen & Laura Staneff for their continued advocacy this year for Special Education. They have connected the local PTA Special Education Representatives through regular meetings and a Facebook group and opened the lines of communication by meeting regularly with district staff. 
• MANY THANKS to Robin McKenzie for his continued work supporting Emergency Preparedness across our district. He meets monthly with our local PTA E-Prep Chairs and with members of Northshore School District's safety and security team.
• SHOUT OUT to our Treasurer, Serena Xu, for always keeping our accounting organized and supporting our local PTA treasurers when they have questions. 
• THANK YOU to our hardworking Nominating Committee Jane Chiodo, Cherry Holmes, and Laura Staneff for putting together the slate of candidates which were elected at our March 20, 2023 General Membership Meeting!
• ROUND OF APPLAUSE to our newly elected 2022-2023 Council Officers. We appreciate each of you for stepping up to serve next school year and look forward to all the work you will accomplish.
  ​KUDOS to Diana Christiansen for organizing Donut Forget - to Complete Your SOA Contest for local PTAs.
• MUCH APPRECIATION to our 2022-2023 Grants Committee, Grace Jurado, Mary Khouzam, Melissa Kline, Pauline Wray, and Serena Xu who helped connect our local PTAs with funding bring educational speakers to the community. Learn more about the grant program.
• VERY SPECIAL THANKS to Brenae Brix, Jane Chiodo, Diana Christiansen, Terra Droney, Jennifer Drury, Rachel Fitzgerald, Jasmine Lee Fry, Anna Jensen, Grace Jurado, Melissa Kline, Holly Muenchow, Liz Nord, Jenn Snyder for spending a morning at the NSD Superintendent Focus Group and providing thoughtful feedback on the three Superintendent candidates last week.
• KUDOS to all the local PTA & Council leaders who attended Region 6 Spring Training Conference in order to strengthen their PTA knowledge and better serve their communities.
• THANK YOU to Jenn Snyder who has been going all out on communications to keep us all in the know. She has helped to create graphics and promote a variety of PTA programs and district events including, but not limited to parent education, the superintendent town hall, meetings, and trainings.
• SHOUT OUT to all Northshore PTA advocates that participated in virtual meetings with local legislators and responded to Action Alerts for Focus on Advocacy Week.
• SPECIAL THANKS to Cherry Holmes, Rachel Fitzgerald, Interim Superintendent Mike Tolley, School Board Director Sandy Hayes, local PTA advocates, and student advocates for going to Olympia and meeting with legislators for Focus on Advocacy Day. 
• MUCH APPRECIATION to Jennifer Drury for organizing in-person and virtual meetings with our legislators and for all her work leading up to the Focus on Advocacy events. 
• KUDOS to Rachel Fitzgerald, Claudine Miller, Kim Ortiz, and Jenn Snyder for attending WSPTA's first Council Summit of 2023. It was a great opportunity to share feedback and collaborate with other local Council leaders. 
• THANK YOU to this year's Council level judges Greg Fry, Oceana Dunsire, Colleen Robson, Kali Robson, Amanda Rice and especially our student judges, Amelie F., Joyin A., Evelyn L., and Meagan M., from Woodinville High School. 
• A HUGE SHOUT OUT out to all our Northshore PTAs/PTSAs Reflections Chairs for running your programs and celebrating student artists!
• MANY THANKS to Council Reflections Chair, Jasmine Lee Fry, for organizing this year's Reflections program, and supporting our local Reflections Chairs.
• MUCH GRATITUDE to our Mental Health Committee Members, Carrie Aull, Melissa Kline, and Pauline Wray for their work and providing relevant articles to our community on the topic of mental health. 
• ​SHOUT OUT to our mid-year Financial Review Committee members Diana Christiansen, Melissa Kline, and Laura Staneff for reviewing our financials and providing your valuable feedback. And THANKS to Serena Xu for having the financials organized and ready for the committee to review. 
• APPRECIATION to Brenae Brix for her collaboration with Northshore School District staff in bringing the first Virtual College and Career Fair to the Northshore community.  
• ROUND OF APPLAUSE to Jane Chiodo, Cherry Holmes, and Laura Staneff for being elected to our Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee is responsible for presenting the best-qualified candidates to serve as the elected officers who will lead Northshore Council PTSA in 2023-2024. Learn more about electing a Nominating Committee for your PTA at an upcoming WSPTA training, Nominating Committee: Why it is important and how it works on February 03. Looking to get involved with Council next year? Email ​[email protected].
• KUDOS to Jennifer Drury for attending the Northshore School District School Board meeting on behalf of the Council for National School Board Appreciation Month. Jennifer expressed MUCH APPRECIATION to our elected School Board Directors for their commitment and service to our community.
• MUCH APPRECIATION to Brenae Brix, Rachel Fitzgerald, Anna Jensen, Mary Khouzam, Jenn Snyder, and Laura Staneff for participating in the Superintendent Search Focus Group. MUCH GRATITUDE to the Council members who were not able to attend, but submitted feedback to be shared with the recruiting firm. There's still an opportunity to participate in a Town Hall on January 10 at Northshore Middle School's Library.   
• SHOUT OUT to Laura Staneff for attending the December 12 School Board meeting and presenting a report on what our local PTAs are doing at their schools.
• MANY THANKS to Director Amy Cast for serving as our School Board/PTSA liaison and attending Council meetings this past year. We look forward to having Director Bob Swain as our new School Board/PTSA liaison. Council is very appreciative of our partnership with the School Board. 
• KUDOS to all the local PTA Reflections Chairs who submitted students' artwork to Council. Stay tuned for Reflections results and which students' artwork moves on to the state level. 
• SHOUT OUT to Rachel Fitzgerald and Claudine Miller for attending the WSPTA Council Summit this past week.
• MANY THANKS to Rachel Fitzgerald for representing Northshore Council at the recent school board meeting. 
• KUDOS to Robin McKenzie for providing training to the E-Prep Chairs. HIGH FIVES to the PTA leaders who attended the training. 
• THREE CHEERS to our Council leaders for all their hard work during the first half of the school year. We hope each of them and all the leaders across the district use the upcoming Winter Break to rest, spend time with loved ones, and reenergize as we head into 2023. 
• MUCH APPRECIATION to Heather Hart and Grace Jurado for providing training, in their role as WSPTA Region 6 Co-Directors, to our Council and local PTA leaders after our general membership meeting. SHOUT OUT to all the leaders who attended. Trainings help build better leaders to serve our community. 
  SPECIAL THANKS to Jennifer Drury, Calin Garcia, and Claudine Miller for meeting with Director Cast and Interim Superintendent Tolley to share WSPTA Legislative priorities and how they align with the priorities of Northshore families.
  SPECIAL SHOUTOUT to Jennifer Drury for attending the school board meeting and highlighting the latest happenings in Council and our local PTAs.
• MUCH GRATITUDE to our committee volunteers Cherry Holmes, Laura Staneff, Rachel Fitzgerald, and Mary Khouzam for organizing the return of the in-person Presidents & Principals Luncheon which provided an opportunity for community leaders to formulate goals for the benefit of NSD children. And a SHOUT OUT to Jenn Snyder for creating the creative graphics and ensuring communication was sent to local PTAs!
• MANY THANKS to Brenae Brix, Diana Christiansen, Jennifer Drury, Melissa Kline, Claudine Miller, and Serena Xu for their help with set-up, greeting guests, and clean-up at the Presidents & Principals Luncheon.  
• APPRECIATION to Jennifer Drury for hosting two Advocacy Coffee events and continuing the conversation and work after Legislative Assembly.
• MUCH APPRECIATION to Jennifer Drury, Cherry Holmes, and Kim Ortiz who attended the WSPTA 2022 Legislative Assembly this past weekend as Council delegates! And a BIG SHOUTOUT to all our Northshore PTA/PTSA delegates who attended virtually and in person.
• ​VERY SPECIAL THANKS to Carrie Aull, Melissa Kline, and Pauline Wray for hosting the first Mental Health Committee meeting this school year. If you would like to join the next committee meeting or learn more about it, please email the committee. 
• KUDOS to Rachel Fitzgerald for organizing Be Smart - a parent education webinar about gun safety for our Northshore community. Interested in bringing this presentation to your school community or another topic for parent education? View a list of past presentations for ideas. Contact Council for more information.
• MANY THANKS to Diana Christiansen, Rachel Fitzgerald, Kim Ortiz, and Leota Middle School student volunteers Ronan F. and Rory F. for picking up the Join PTA Yard Signs at all the Northshore schools. If there is still a sign at your school, please email [email protected] for pick up.
• GRATITUDE to Cherry Holmes for speaking at the Northshore School District Board meeting on October 10 on behalf of the Council.
• SHOUT OUT to Robin McKenzie for hosting E-Prep Training on Oct. 11. E-Prep Chairs meets monthly and the next meeting is on November 15. Learn more about E-Prep and how you can get involved.
• MUCH APPRECIATION to Jasmine Lee Fry for hosting two Reflections Roundtables. Visit our Reflections webpage to learn more about the program or reach out to Jasmine with your questions.  
• GRATITUDE to Laura Staneff for bringing the Parent Education webinar Special Education Basics: IEPs and 504 Plans to our community. 
• PROPS to Robin McKenzie for hosting the first of monthly E-Prep Chair meetings. The October meeting will be on Oct. 18th at 11am with E-Prep training scheduled for Oct. 11. 
• WELCOME BACK to Anna A. Jensen who will be serving as Council's Special Education Co-Representative! ​
• CONGRATULATIONS to our new Northshore Council PTSA Secretary, Claudine Miller, who was elected by membership at our General Meeting on Monday, September 19th.
• MUCH GRATITUDE to Liz Nord for doing our installation of officers with an added special touch.
• SPECIAL THANKS to Melissa Kline for speaking at the September 12th School Board meeting about Mental Health Awareness.
• ROUND OF APPLAUSE to Brenae Brix and Cherry Holmes for hosting the 2nd PTA Back-to-School Leader Meet Up. If you missed the meet up, but would like to pick up some Stay Healthy posters and stickers for your school, please reach out to the VPs of Support, Brenae Brix or Diana Christiansen.
• SHOUT OUT to all the council members and local leaders who spent their weekend attending the WSPTA Autumn Leadership Launch (ALL) in order to be better prepared to serve this school year.
• KUDOS to Brenae Brix and Diana Christiansen for planning and organizing our first Back-to-School PTA Leaders Meet Up at Miner's Corner. And MANY THANKS to Cherry Holmes for co-hosting and welcoming our PTA leaders with Brenae. 
• SHOUT OUT Melissa Kline and North Creek High School students, Carter K. and Chase K. for placing Join PTA yard signs at all schools across our district. 
• ​MANY THANKS to Rachel Fitzgerald, Mary Khouzam, and Melissa Kline for serving on our Year End Financial Review Committee. And CHEERS to Serena Xu who organized all the financials to make the committee's job easier.
• GRATITUDE to 2022- 2023 Budget Committee Brenae Brix, Jane Chiodo, Rachel Fitzgerald, Tracy Jokisch, Melissa Kline, and Serena Xu for preparing the budget for this school year that has been presented to Council's Board of Directors and will be voted on at our upcoming September general membership meeting. 
• APPRECIATION to Rachel Fitzgerald, Mary Khouzam, Claudine Miller, and Laura Staneff for promoting PTA at the NSD Back to School Resource Fair on August 11th. And HOORAYS to Jen Drury for organizing voter registration information to have available at the Fair.

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Read Thank You's from 2018 - 2022.

At Northshore Council PTSA's March 18, 2019 General Membership Meeting, volunteer Sue Freeman was recognized 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.

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