We are excited to share that Northshore Council PTSA has been named the Outstanding Council of the Year by the Washington State PTA. This award was presented at the WSPTA 111th Annual Convention and Business Meeting which was held May 17-19, 2024. Our heartfelt thanks go out to our dedicated volunteers, educators, and community partners who have made this achievement possible. Together, we continue to strive for excellence in supporting our students and community.

In addition to this incredible honor, Northshore Council PTSA was also recognized with several other awards:

• Platinum Award for Standards of Excellence
• Gold Award for Outstanding Communication Strategies
• Gold Award for Outstanding Website
• Silver Award for Outstanding Newsletter

We are immensely proud of these achievements, which reflect our commitment to excellence in all areas of our work. Thank you to our dedicated volunteers and supporters who have made these successes possible!

Council Business:
The meeting kicked off with an approval of minutes from our March 21st general meeting, before moving on to hear the Treasurer’s Report for the month of April from Council Treasurer, Serena Xu.

Next on the agenda were updates from Council President, Jane Chiodo, which included:

• Information on Northshore School District's student-led Mental Health Awareness talk at North Creek High School on May 18, 2022 6-7:30pm in the NCHS Commons. Link to RSVP was available in the latest issue of Council's eNews.
• Introduction of the incoming board members and thank you to all the outgoing board members. Click here to see the list of volunteers who were elected to Council for 2022-2023 during our previous membership meeting.
• Reminders about our two open elected positions - Secretary & VP of Events. If you are interested in taking on either of these positions, please email [email protected]. Our board of directors can appoint someone to the position temporarily. The election process will begin in the fall with the goal of holding the election at our first general membership meeting which will take place in September.
• Submitting local award winners to Council for recognition. We would love to highlight local PTA award winners to our communities. Please fill out our google form & let us know who your recipients are.
• Information on connecting with Council over the summer.
  1. Check our calendar and June eNews for summer office hours.
  2. Follow Council on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for latest updates.
  3. Visit our Contact Us Page to email us any time with questions.

Our VP of Communications, Rachel Fitzgerald, then shared with everyone the importance of updating the contact information for positions being filled for next year in your PTA. If you are an officer next year, please update your contact information before July 1st, 2022. This information will be used to contact you by council board members that want to support your PTA. It is also how you will be on the list to receive communications from council, including the council newsletter, that will keep you updated on events and happenings in our district. Remember to update officers in memberplanet as well!

The Council business portion of our meeting ended with a farewell for Dr. Michelle Reid who will be leaving Northshore School District at the end of June to serve as the Superintendent of the Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia.

Jane Chiodo read a letter with messages of appreciation from Council leaders for all that Dr. Reid has done for our district over the years. Click here to read the thank-you letter.

District and Community Reports:

• Marco Garcia, NSD Partnerships and Volunteer Coordinator, reminded us about the 2022 Community Serve Day taking place Sunday, August 21st and let us know about the CP & Dorothy Johnson awards ceremony which the district would be holding on Thursday, May 26th at 6p.m. He also let us know that the Connections newsletter would continue to have a dedicated section for district wide updates from PTA and to email him if there was anything we wanted included in future newsletters.
• School Board President, Jackie McGourty, gave an update explaining the current state of the interim superintendent  search and that they planned to announce by June 1. She also talked about the School Board's refresh of the strategic plan.
• Representing the Northshore Schools Foundation, Hanisha Bakshani, gave updates about the Skills4Life podcasts, their grant program, and encouraged anyone who might be interested to learn more about the foundation and become an ambassador for their school.

​After the updates were given by the community partners there was a reminder to the local PTA attendees to please remember to fill out the end of year survey from Council. This survey lets us know how we can better serve your PTA with your valuable feedback. We will be taking survey responses up until midnight on Friday, June 17th.

​Last, but certainly not least, the evening ended with our 2021-2022 Spring Recognition Event! This event was hosted by First Vice President and Awards Committee Chair, Mary Khouzam. 

The event included performances from the Woodinville High School String Quartet and the Canyon Park Middle School Advanced Drama Class. Two of Northshore's Reflections artists were also able to showcase their submissions which received awards from National PTA!

The highlight of the event was celebrating all the achievements of our local PTAs/PTSAs that make us #PTAProud. Council would also like to celebrate the local award winners in a future blog. To include your local recipients, please complete this form.

During our Spring Recognition, Council was also honored to present this year's Council Recognition Awards.
Congratulations to the following eleven (11) individuals:
🌟 Golden Acorn: Diana Christiansen
🌟 Golden Acorn: Jennifer Drury
🌟 Golden Acorn: Rachel Fitzgerald
🌟 Outstanding Educator: Steven Hopkins
🌟 Outstanding Educator: Peter Schurke
🌟 Outstanding Advocate: Clark Combs
🌟 Outstanding Student Advocate: Esther Kim
🌟 Outstanding Service: Jane Chiodo
🌟 Outstanding Service: Melissa Kline
🌟 Outstanding Service: Pauline Wray
🌟 Honorary Life Membership: Tracy Jokisch

Click here to learn more about each of our 2021-2022 Council Award Recipients.

Each year, Washington State PTA recognizes the work of individuals, PTAs and Councils across the state via a variety of awards, including Leadership Academy and the Awards of Excellence Program. Some of our amazing Northshore PTAs submitted applications and were recognized for their efforts at the 2022 WSPTA Annual Convention held May 20th-22nd.

Awards work to celebrate the efforts of local PTAs and Councils in a variety of different areas. The criteria reflect a strong knowledge and application of best practices and the submission process can be rigorous. These awards are truly reflective of the dedication and strength of these PTAs and the  powerful contributions they make in their communities.

This year's recipients included:

Now's a great time to check in regarding your membership goal for the year!
Many PTAs focus their Membership Campaign efforts at the start of the school year. However, Council recommends keeping your campaign going all year long - it's never to late to Join PTA! 

Washington State PTA is even running a final membership contest of the year as incentive. WSPTA's “Keep those Members Coming” contest just requires your PTA to add seven new members between February 1st and March 14th to qualify.

We are also just 3 weeks away from the deadline for 100% Staff and 100% Membership awards. If your PTA has qualified for either of these awards, please make sure to fill out the application form and return it by the deadline of March 15th. See below for more information about these and WSPTA's Membership Growth Awards.

Washington State PTA gives out two types of PTA Membership Awards:

• Membership Growth Awards which are automatically calculated and awarded to local PTAs and councils that reach the required criteria levels for Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum recognition.
• Membership Achievement Awards which are the highest membership honor a local PTA can earn. They include the 100% PTA Membership Award and the 100% Staff Membership Award.

Membership Growth Awards Levels
Bronze: Recognizes local PTAs, in good standing, for enrolling at least one more member than their previous year’s total membership.

Silver: Recognizes local PTAs, in good standing, for enrolling PTA members equaling at least 105% of their previous year’s total membership.

Gold: Recognizes local PTAs, in good standing, for enrolling PTA members equaling at least 110% of their previous year’s total membership.

Platinum: Recognizes local PTAs, in good standing, for enrolling PTA members equaling at least 120% of their previous year’s total membership.

Membership Achievement Awards
​100% Staff Membership Award: Recognizes local PTAs that have at least as many school staff members enrolled in their PTA as there are full-time, certificated staff members employed at the school associated with that PTA. Check out our previous blog for to learn about achieving 100% Staff Membership – it’s easier than you think! Many of our local PTAs earned this award last year - view the recipient list here!

100% PTA Membership Award: Presented to local PTAs that enroll at least as many members as there are full-time enrolled students at the school associated with that PTA. Our very own Sunrise Elementary PTA earned this award in 2019-2020!

Membership Achievement Awards require a local PTA to complete a simple form (available from WSPTA here), get it signed by the principal of the school associated with that PTA, and submit it to WSPTA by March 15th. Submissions can be done by mail or scanned and sent via email. Once forms are received and approved, your PTA will receive a digital awards kit to help celebrate your achievement and be recognized at the WSPTA Convention in May.​