Monday, September 30, 2013

Membership Memo

I have never had so many membership cards in all the years that I have been a PTA member. It really makes me feel part of this great organization. They just keep popping into my e-mail box. If you are experiencing any issues here are a few pointers.
  • The e-mail address is vital to the process --each member will get their card via this process.
  • If you do not have an e-mail the card will be sent to the president who can print it out and give it to the member.
  • There are no hard copies of cards to distribute this year.
  • Each time members are entered to the state database the following morning a notification will be waiting in their inbox.
  • Payments from each local unit can be sent weekly or monthly to state just as long as all members entered by October 25th are paid for by October 25th.
  • Going for Bronze membership recognition? To be automatically considered for this make sure you have entered 50% of your last year’s member total by September 30th (tonight) at midnight.
Caroline Brown, WSPTA Membership Director

Bronze Level Membership Award Deadline is Tonight at Midnight

Congratulations to all of you who have your membership campaigns in full swing! Great job! The first deadline to earn a membership award this year-- the Bronze Level award—local units need to enroll at least fifty (50%) of the previous year’s total membership enrolled in the Washington State PTA database by midnight TONIGHT (September 30). 

The next membership award deadline—for the Silver Level award—is due on October 25th (which is also the deadline for the initial payment of service fees to the WSPTA office). To earn the Silver Level award, PTAs need to enroll/remit membership fees for a 5% increase of the previous year’s membership by October 25, 2013. Be sure to get those members entered so you can receive the recognition you deserve!

Washington State Awarded Grant to Help Teen Parents and Families

Connecting pregnant and parent teens to available education services is crucial for them to succeed. A large-scale federal grant recently received by Washington state will help. The $6 million grant, grant known as Expectant and Parenting Teens, Women, Fathers and Their Families project, will help teens primarily   in four counties with high teen pregnancy and birth rates: Yakima, Franklin, Grant and Adams. The project will run from 2013 to 2017. As part of the grant, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction will receive $255,908 a year for four years for its the Graduation, Reality, and Dual-Role Skills  program. GRADS helps teens prepare for graduation, as well as increase positive parenting skills, academic achievement and economic independence. GRADS programs include on-site or nearby child care. For more information, click story: here.

Congratulations Reflections Special Artist Workshop Grant Recipients

Congratulations to the following local units will be receiving the Special Artist Workshop Grants as advertised in last week’s Leadership News. These local units will be receiving a $250.00 National PTA grant to provide these workshops.
·         Newport Heights Elementary PTA - 2.3.60
·         Meeker PTA - 5.7.30
·         Walnut Grove PTA - 3.7.80
·         Brown Point Elementary PTA - 10.9.50
·         Mt. Pilchuck Elementary PTA - 7.6.26
·         Sorenson Early Childhood Center PTA - 6.10.41
·         AJ PTSA - 9.2.22
·         Issaquah High School - 2.6.45
·         Emily Dickinson Elementary - 2.8.13
·         Arrowhead Elementary - 6.10.5

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Legislative Assembly Online Registration Now Available

Legislative Assembly online registration is now available on the website! For more information on the WSPTA Legislative Assembly (October 18-19, 2013 at the Sea-Tac Marriott) go to the Legislative Assembly blog. For information on how many delegates your PTA can send, click here.
 

Saturday, September 28, 2013

National Fire Prevention Week: October 6-12

For information on the National Fire Prevention week, go to the National Fire Prevention Association website: http://www.nfpa.org/.
 
 

Friday, September 27, 2013

Get to Know the WSPTA Convention Sponsors: McDonald's

Washington State PTA and the Washington based owner/operator McDonald’s franchises have entered into a partnership agreement for the purpose of promoting healthy eating by kids and supporting local schools throughout the state. With their continued effort to offer more wholesome and balanced options, McDonalds has recently expanded its menu to include a number of lower calorie and more nutritional items, and of course promoting child health and well-being is a core value of Washington State PTA.
  • How long have you been participating at the WSPTA Convention?  The McDonald’s Washington State Owners Association is proud to be the platinum sponsor of the 100th Annual WSPTA Convention. With almost 270 stores and 15K employees statewide, the over 40 local owner operators recognize their impact and feel a responsibility to show their ongoing support of the equal and even greater contribution that the WSPTA and public school system provides to our communities.
  • What does this partnership with WSPTA mean to you? This relationship is of the utmost importance to the local McDonald’s Owner Operators. An overall goal in this partnership is to support our teachers and the public school system while concurrently promoting healthy eating and nutrition for our youth. By having a relationship with the WSPTA, we are welcoming an open dialogue regarding changing perceptions about our menu.
  • What would you like our members and Convention attendees to know about your business? The McDonald’s Washington State Owners Association consists of over 40 local residents who are committed to providing balanced choices to their customers. They are committed to menu evolution. They are committed to providing properly sourced food that you can feel good about eating. They are also committed to providing opportunities to their communities and currently employ over 15,000 local residents. They contribute to the local economy through jobs, agricultural and industry. McDonald’s presence in the state of Washington has created 40,575 jobs and $812.4 million in annual spending.

Washington State PTA College Scholarship Grant Program

As you know, our scholarship grant program is funded by each PTA when you purchase awards through the Washington State PTA Online Store. Your efforts and support are very much appreciated as evidenced by the thank you letter we received on September 29, 2013:

Dear Washington State PTA Scholarship Donor/Committee,
Thank you so much for the generous $2,000 donation you have awarded me. Thanks to you and other scholarships I have received, I won’t have to take out any loans or pay much out of pocket this year as I received enough total scholarship money to cover the cost of tuition and a little more. I appreciate your generosity, and especially after working at minimum wage this summer, I realize that your gift is no little sum of money. My first classes start on the 25th and I am very excited! It’s hard to imagine giving out so much money to strangers, but I will use the scholarship so that someday hopefully I can help people as much as you have. Thank you! - Kelly
 

Congratulations Reflections Special Artist Workshop Grant Recipients

Congratulations to the local units receiving the Special Artist Workshop Grants as advertised in last week’s Leadership News. These local units will be receiving a $250.00 National PTA grant to provide these workshops.
·         Newport Heights Elementary PTA - 2.3.60
·         Meeker PTA - 5.7.30
·         Walnut Grove PTA - 3.7.80
·         Brown Point Elementary PTA - 10.9.50
·         Mt. Pilchuck Elementary PTA - 7.6.26
·         Sorenson Early Childhood Center PTA - 6.10.41
·         AJ PTSA - 9.2.22
·         Issaquah High School - 2.6.45
·         Emily Dickinson Elementary - 2.8.13
·         Arrowhead Elementary - 6.10.5

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Safe Kids Provides Information on Sports Safety

As kids gear up for sports this fall, Safe Kids Worldwide is teaming up with Johnson & Johnson to release new information about how to keep kids safe and in the game. Go to www.safekids.org for information on common sports injuries and how to prevent them.
 

Resource to Stop Bullying at School

The US Department of Health and Human Services has a resource available to help eliminate bullying at school. Go to www.stopbullying.gov for more information.



Wednesday, September 25, 2013

PEMCO/Sounders Principal Drawing Announced

In conjunction with our corporate partners, we have been advertising the PEMCO/Sounders “Principal on the Pitch (human hamster roll),” fun and fundraising event to our members for the Sounders game last Sunday. The WSPTA had 93 PTA applications for the lottery, and a special thank you to Gary Kip, the Executive Director of the Washington State Principal’s Association, and Heather Gillette, WSPTA President, who selected the random numbers last week. The schools selected to participate were: Park Orchard Elementary School, Kent (Principal:  Eric Richards) and Wellington Elementary School, Woodinville (Principal:  Bill Bagnall). 

These schools received 50 tickets to the Sounders game so selected students, parents, teachers, and others, could go onto the field for the half-time event at this sold-out game to cheer their principal to victory.

Principal of Orchard Elementary School in Kent, Eric Richards, won the human hamster roll at the halftime show and received $2,000 for his school; Bill Bagnall, the principal of Wellington Elementary School in Woodinville received $1,000 for his school for coming in second place. Both schools may also have a possible player appearance at their schools. 

We would like to thank all those PTAs who nominated their principals for this fun contest. Although it wasn’t required, we received some wonderful descriptions of the principals you were nominating and we enjoyed reading this so much that we thought we’d share some of them with you.

Among the nominations were:
Mr. Ficken, principal of Emerald
Park Elementary, dresses as a
wizard at the spring carnival
 
  • Bethany Spinler, principal of Bellevue Big Picture, “has put more time and energy into this school and its students, than any other principal I have known.”
  • Cindy Foster, principal of Lowell Elementary, “is such an incredible asset to our students, staff, families and PTA.  We are truly blessed to have her!”
  • Robin Lamoureux, principal of Parkside Elementary School, “is a wonderful, hard-working principal and would do anything for her students.”
  • Mr. Ficken, principal of Emerald Park Elementary School, “has been principal at our building since its opening in 1999 and is dedicated to our students and school community.  He participates in all the school and PTSA events and is an active member of our PTSA team.  He will even dress up at PTSA events to help draw in students and families.”
  • Bill Bagnall, principal of Wellington Elementary, is “a fun, energetic, good-sport, approachable, objective, and committed principal.”
  • Jack Tobin, principal of Dutch Hill School, “has certainly brought an element of 'fun' with him.  He has 520 students at our K-6 grade school, where he knows each student by name and joins them at recess as often as he can. Jack is a tireless supporter of the PTA and often donates his own prizes to our events, such as Lunch with the Principal, and Principal for the Day, which are always the first prizes chosen.”

Thank you to all of the outstanding principals in this state! We appreciate all that you do for kids!







Thank You WSPTA Membership

On behalf of the Washington State PTA, we provided a financial contribution of $100 to the Colorado PTA, to help their schools with the costs associated with the very tragic flooding this past week. Our hearts are with all of those affected by this tragedy.




 
 

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Membership Awards

Congratulations to all of you who have your membership campaigns in full swing! Great job! To earn the first membership award of the year—the Bronze Level award—local units need to enroll at least fifty (50%) of the previous year’s total membership enrolled in the Washington State PTA database by September 30. Be sure to get those members entered so you can receive the recognition you deserve.

 

 

OSPI 2014 Teacher of the Year Announced


The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction announced the selection of the Washington State Teacher of the Year at a ceremony yesterday at the EMP Museum in Seattle. Katie Brown, an ELL teacher from Shuksan Middle School in the Bellingham School District, was selected as the 2014 Washington State Teacher of the Year. Congratulations!

Legislative Survey

Every fall, the association selects its legislative priorities, and hearing from you is a valuable step in the process. You can respond to this survey anonymously or provide your contact information at the end. The survey covers 4 issues that members asked to make priorities. It closes on September 30, 2013.

Together we speak in a powerful voice! https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HBC3GMW

Due Dates for Membership Service Fees to the State PTA office


QUESTION:   
Would you please clarify what the due dates for state and national membership fees are? The email sent to local units about the membership remittance fees, states that the local unit will be billed weekly, if they input any new member during the week (there is no due date on this e-mailed remittance form).  Money Matters shows the remittance dates as Oct, Jan, & May 25th. 
 
ANSWER:

The service fee remittance due dates are still the same as before (October 25, January 25, and May 25). These are the only times your PTA is required to pay state and national service fees for members, although your unit may choose to submit service fees more often if you’d like. The reason for the weekly email remittance forms is that it gives timely information about member registrations in smaller groupings that should be easier to reconcile, and provides units options of when to pay, as follows: 


                    Some units find it useful to pay membership dues each week. They appreciate that the weekly remittance form provides a concise list of members they have just recently entered making it easier to reconcile while it is fresh in their mind, and is documentation of the payment amount.

                    Some units prefer to pay the dues once a month when they get together with the co-signer to pay bills. They may use the weekly remittance form to reconcile their entry while it is fresh (and in smaller volume than if done all at once).

                    Some units will choose to wait to pay dues until shortly before October 25th. They may use the weekly remittance form for reconciliation as mentioned above, or they may use the new statement described below.
 
The member web site now includes a new report called “Statement of Fees Due” which lists enrolled members for whom payment has not yet been received and recorded in the WSPTA membership database. Local units may use this report instead of the remittance forms as documentation supporting dues payment, and use the remittance form for weekly reconciliation of entry, or not at all.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Ten $250 Grants Available to Fund Special Artist Workshop


The Special Artist Workshop is intended to provide high quality, meaningful learning opportunities to students with special needs and their families, highlighting the value of arts learning and facilitating participation in the Reflections Special Artist Division.  A teaching artist with experience working with students with disabilities will partner with a special education teacher and a PTA leader to lead a workshop designed around exploring the 2013-2014 Reflections theme, “Believe, Dream, Inspire.”
 
Each workshop should strive to meet the following objectives:
  • Students have a meaningful arts learning experience
  • Students engage in a project that can be submitted to Reflections 2013-2014
  • Families take an active role in their child’s learning
  • Families feel empowered to support their child’s participation in the arts
  • Students and families have fun participating in the arts!
 
 
Local leaders hosting the Special Artist Workshops will have support from their State PTA and the National PTA.  As the local leader, you are responsible for the following tasks:
  • Promoting Special Artist Workshops to students with disabilities and their families
  • Collaborating with Teaching Artist and Special Education Teacher to prepare activities      
  • Preparing art supplies and all other associate materials (including facilities, snacks, Family Resource Folders, etc.)
  • Returning the Local Leader Feedback form and copies of the Family Feedback forms and photo release forms to WSPTA

The first 10 PTAs to respond with the intent to host a Special Artist Workshop to ptaprogdir@wastatepta.org will receive these $250 grants. The WSPTA will provide handbook and resources to locate a teaching artist for your workshop. Support is available from the National PTA and the WSPTA.

For more information on this grant opportunity, email ptaprogdir@wastatepta.org or reflections@wastatepta.org.
 


 
 

 

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Distracted Pedestrians

For more information on this growing area of injury – especially for those ages 15-19, click here.
   

Friday, September 20, 2013

Create Real Impact Contest

Impact Teen Drivers presents the Create Real Impact Contest, a contest that lets talented individuals foster conversations with friends, family and neighbors in one of four categories (Art, Music, Video, or Writing) proposing solutions to stop the deadly problem of distracted driving to their peers.  More information is available at www.createrealimpact.com.





 

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Expanding Our Expectations

A new report, "Expanding Our Expectations," by Partnership For Learning and Model Secondary Schools Project is now available and examines how the shift to college- and career-readiness standards is changing K-12 learning environments in Washington. 
 

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

September 2013 Edition of The Child Advocate Available Online

The back-to-school edition of Washington State PTA’s parent involvement publication, The Child Advocate, is now available online.
 
This issue provides articles on how to use your PTA experience for career advancement, tips for volunteering in the classroom, parenting for school success, establishing balance in after-school activities, helping kids adapt to the new school year, and back-to-school safety topics.  
 
As always, feel free to cut and paste articles or portions of articles as handouts at PTA events or to reprint in PTA newsletters. You can read the issue here.





 

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Legislative Assembly Voting Cards and Information Coming to Your Mailbox Soon!

Make sure your PTA community is represented at the WSPTA Legislative Assembly on October 18-19, 2013 at the Sea-Tac Marriott. All local units can send at least 2 delegates; your total number depends on membership levels. See the WSPTA Uniform Bylaws for more information on the total number of delegates available to represent your PTA. Also, check your local standing rules for how your PTA decides representation. Usually, the president and legislative chair, or designated alternates approved by the executive committee, represents a PTA. Voting cards and an issue guide will be sent out to presidents soon!

How often should board meetings and executive committee meetings occur?


QUESTION:   
The Best Practices list says, “Our PTA’s board of directors held regular meetings.”  How often is considered “regular”? And how often are executive committee meetings to be held? Also, regular meetings mean actually meeting face-to-face, not Facebook groups or email, correct? 

ANSWER:
“Regular” board meetings mean that at the beginning of the year your board determined a schedule that works for them about how frequently they would meet to conduct business. The majority probably meet once a month, some meet twice a month, and some meet every other month. What makes it regular is that it is frequent enough to appropriately conduct the required business and that it is planned out. What wouldn’t be regular is if every time you suddenly realize you need to conduct business you call a board meeting 10 days from that day.
Executive committee (EC) meetings may or may not be held. Not all PTAs have regular EC meetings. The EC really has no authority to conduct any business and only brings recommendations to the board. For some PTAs, the EC does meet regularly because they find it expedites the board meeting for the EC to have done preliminary work before board discussions. Most PTAs only need EC meetings to conduct sensitive discussions, but it is still the board that would need to take any action.
To address the final part of your question, regular meetings can only take place in person. No meetings can take place by email or through Facebook.



Leadership Spotlight: An Interview with Esperanza Badillo-Di Iorio, WSPTA Region 4 Director

Question: Why did you get involved in PTA leadership?

Answer: As a mom with five kids, I naturally became involved in PTA. When there was a need for a volunteer coordinator at my kid’s school, I volunteered simply because someone needed to fill this position. I didn’t set out to become president, but after serving as volunteer coordinator I became president of at Horizons Elementary PTSA. It has been a lot of work, but fun and rewarding, and with five kids, I’m sure I’ll be in PTA for a while too.
 
Question: How did you become involved in leadership at the state level?
Answer: When I was president of my local PTA, I attended the WSPTA Leadership Conference even though I was pregnant at the time. After attending this conference I became interested in volunteering in the region. Initially, I served as outreach chairperson and eventually became region director.
 
Question: How has the leadership training you received through the WSPTA benefited you?
Answer: I have been to every WSPTA convention, legislative assembly and leadership conference since 2007. Leadership training has helped me gain the knowledge and skills to advocate for my own children and speak to the local unit leaders in region 4 about issues they are passionate about and help them become more effective advocates as well.
For example, this past year our school board was planning to minimize the time kids could receive music and art in our district. As a music major with a love and passion for the music and the arts, I felt strongly that kids need to have this component in their education so I testified at the school board meeting on this issue.

Question: Do you participate in WSPTA’s Leadership Academy?
Answer: Yes, I have achieved the silver and gold levels of the leadership academy and have now fulfilled the requirement to receive the crystal level next year.  At first, leadership in PTA wasn’t about awards or recognition, but now I realize that achieving these distinctions looks good on a resume. As a stay-at-home mom who has been out of work for a few years, being a volunteer leader in PTA has helped me learn and grow as a parent and an individual. The skills and experience I have gained through PTA will help me contribute to any organization in the future and the training I received enabled me to be an effective advocate for initiating change and taking action on things I believe in.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Membership Service Fees

What are Membership Service Fees?

Membership service fees are collected by a PTA local unit and must include Washington State PTA’s membership service fee and the National PTA’s affiliation fee (sent to the Washington State PTA and forwarded by WSPTA to National PTA). If the local unit belongs to a council, it must also remit a separate council service fee directly to the council.

When are Membership Service Fees Remitted to the State PTA Office?


The service fee remittance due dates are October 25, January 25, and May 25. These are the only times your PTA is required to pay state and national service fees for members, although your unit may choose to submit service fees more often if you’d like. All local units--both PTAs in a council and non-council units, send membership service fees to the State PTA office.

Your unit will receive a weekly email remittance form, but does not need to pay these service fees weekly. The reason the weekly email remittance form is provided that it gives timely information about member registrations in smaller groupings that should be easier to reconcile, and provides units options of when to pay, as follows: 
  • Some units find it useful to pay membership dues each week. They appreciate that the weekly remittance form provides a concise list of members they have just recently entered making it easier to reconcile while it is fresh in their mind, and is documentation of the payment amount.
  • Some units prefer to pay the dues once a month when they get together with the co-signer to pay bills. They may use the weekly remittance form to reconcile their entry while it is fresh (and in smaller volume than if done all at once).
  •  Some units will choose to wait to pay dues until shortly before October 25th. They may use the weekly remittance form for reconciliation as mentioned above, or they may use the new statement described below.
The member web site now includes a new report called “Statement of Fees Due” which lists enrolled members for whom payment has not yet been received and recorded in the WSPTA membership database. Local units may use this report instead of the remittance forms as documentation supporting dues payment, and use the remittance form for weekly reconciliation of entry, or not at all.

At the end of each fiscal year, memberships entered online must balance with memberships paid by the local unit. If they don’t reconcile, the local unit will be billed for the balance. Be aware, however, that over payments cannot be refunded once fees have been forwarded to NPTA, so be very careful that the fees are paid correctly.






General Information on IRS Form 990, Charitable Organization Registration/Renewal and Corporation Renewal

Your IRS Form 990 is due on November 15, 2013, this is a receive date not a post mark date.
If your average income is under $50,000, you will complete the IRS Form 990-n(e-postcard).
If your average income is over $50,000 but under $200,000, you will complete the IRS Form 990-EZ.
If your average income is over $200,000, you will complete out the IRS Form 990.

The Charitable Organization Registration/Renewal was due on May 31, 2013.  Is your PTA’s, total income, (this includes membership fees sent to the Council) $50,000 or more? If so, then you are required to be registered with Charities Program.  If your PTA's income is under $50,000, then  you are encouraged to file the Optional Registration with the Secretary of State Charities Program.

Was your PTA Incorporated in September?  If so, then your annual Corporation Renewal is due on 9/30/13, the annual corporation is due regardless of the income you bring in and is separate from the Charitable Organization Registration/ Renewal.

If you have questions about IRS forms, Charitable Organization renewals, or Corporation renewals, please contact Tatia Vasbinder at the WSPTA office at tvasbinder@wastatepta.org.




Resolutions Proposals Being Accepted for the WSPTA 2014 Convention

One of the means that PTA members can help shape Washington State PTA’s advocacy agenda is through the resolution process. Resolutions are long­term positions addressed to statewide issues or problems adopted by delegates to WSPTA’s Annual Convention or Legislative Assembly. Resolutions to be considered at convention are due November 15, 2013. Information about submitting a resolution proposal is here and amending/retiring a resolution is here. Current resolutions are here.
 

State PTA Nominating Committee Requests Your Recommendations.

State PTA Officer Nominations are due November 8, 2013. The recommendation form is available here http://www.wastatepta.org/meetings/con14/Delegates to the 2014 WSPTA Convention will elect the following WSPTA officers: Secretary, Finance Officer, Leadership Director, Program Director and Outreach Director. In addition, three at-large members of the nominating committee will be selected at the 2014 convention. Please review the eligibility requirements listed on the recommendation form for each of the positions.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Pets in the Classroom Offers Grants to Teachers

Pets in the Classroom, the grant program sponsored by The Pet Care Trust, provides educational grants to teachers in grades Pre-K through 8th grade to purchase new pets, pet environments or pet food and supplies for existing classroom pets.  Studies have shown that caring for pets has a positive effect on children, improves school attendance, teaches children responsibility, encourages nurturing, and builds self-esteem. Since its inception in 2009 through this past school year, the Pets in the Classroom has provided over  22,500 grants to pre-kindergarten through eighth grade teachers, impacting the lives of approximately 1,129,600 students. You can get more information on the Pet Care Trust and the Pets in the Classroom grant program by visiting the website, www.PetsintheClassroom.org.
 


 

 

2014 Take Your Family to School Week Grant Opportunity

Local PTAs can apply for a $1,000 grant to support 2014 Take Your Family to School Week grant events. Held annually in celebration of PTA’s Founder’s Day, PTA’s Take Your Family to School Week will be from February 17-21, 2014. The theme will be Supporting Student Success, and will focus on family engagement solutions that are proven to help prevent the risks associated with high school dropout. To apply for a grant, go to www.pta.org/awards. All PTAs are encouraged to celebrate Take Your Family to School Week!

A proud national sponsor of PTA since 2005, AXA Foundation – the philanthropic arm of AXA Equitable – will again sponsor PTA’s Take Your Family to School Week. 

Grant Award: $1,000 to 50 Local PTAs
Application Deadline:  Friday, October 25 at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT
Informational Webinars*:  Wednesday, September 18 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT
Thursday, September 26 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Wednesday, October 9 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT
Wednesday, October 16  at 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT

*Attendees gain 10 bonus points on the grant application for attending one webinar. 

In November 2013, National PTA will launch a refreshed 2014 Take Your Family to School Week Toolkit to include a Leader’s Guide, template family recruitment tools, family engagement activities, etc. Visit www.pta.org/safetytoolkit to see some of the contents of last year’s 2013 Take Your Family to School Week Kit. Questions? Please contact programs@pta.org or Jeff Evans at 703-518-1221.

 

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Where Do Your School Board Candidates Stand on the Arts? Ask Them!

ArtsEd Washington is sponsoring a School Board Candidate Survey on Arts Education and wants every concerned education/arts advocate in every school district to sign on as a smARTS Champion and send the survey to their school board candidates. ArtsEd Washington will then post all candidate responses online for voters to consider before making their school board decisions.
 
Your participation helps your candidates to understand that the arts are an important part of each child’s education. Register to be a smARTS Champion in your district and ArtsEd Washington will make it easy – helping you access your candidate info, as well as providing an email template and a link to the survey.  Enroll to participate at www.artsedwashington.org.

 

 

Monday, September 9, 2013

Who are region directors and what do they do?

QUESTION: 
Who are region directors and what do they do?

ANSWER:
Region directors are volunteer leaders elected to the State PTA Board of Directors to represent local units in each region. Region directors plan and organize leadership trainings for the local units and councils, coordinate the delivery of the association’s programs and services within their region, are the voice of the members in their region at WSPTA board meetings, and are a valuable resource to assist local units and councils with PTA-related issues. For more information about your region or to contact your region director, click here.