 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGEHappy Fall Wake County PTA Family!! The school year is under full swing now and I hope that everyone has had a great year thus far!! We know that some of our PTAs have struggled operationally and have been in the need of a little assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact us if your unit is in need of some assistance from our council. Some of you are not fully aware of what a council is….. A council is an organized group of three or more local PTA units affiliated with NCPTA for the purpose of promoting conferences, communications, leadership development, and coordination of the efforts of such local PTA units. The PTA council’s main purpose is to promote the welfare of children and youth. The Wake County PTA Council provides unity, strength and promotes all PTA units in the communities of Wake County. We are committed to serving, empowering and encouraging all of our members by being an integral part of the National PTA, NCPTA, our school board, superintendent, administration, teachers & staff, parents, businesses and especially our children. We are trustworthy advocates who want to ensure that all Wake County families are engaged in every child’s success. Due to our large district (191 schools), this year, we are hoping to have regional representatives from our nine (9) district areas. You will see more about this from our VP of Leadership & Training. With this new aspect of the council, along with all of the training we would like to bring to our units we would like to see 100% unit membership this year. Currently we are at 39% membership. If you have any questions on council membership, please reach out to myself at president@wakepta.org or our treasurer, Sonya Reid at treasurer@wakepta.org. In the subject line, please put “Council Membership”. We will respond as soon as possible. A big “thank-you” to all of our units who have joined. For those who have not yet joined, you can find the WCPTA Invoice here. We are hoping to have more training this year in different locations in order to meet the needs of all of our units. If you know of locations in your area that offer free meeting spaces in the evenings, please be sure to let us know. Also, we are planning to have more online (webinars) type of trainings, as well, to also be able to accommodate our vast district. Remember that NCPTA has a Lifeline for Leader webinar on every 2nd Monday of the month. This month’s topic is “PTA Financial Basics” on Monday, October 7, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. Go to ncpta.org and register. In addition, National PTA has numerous resources to assist your unit with any topic. Thank you to all of you for all that you do to ensure that every child’s potential becomes a reality!! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have issues, concerns, or questions. TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!! Wishing you all a happy fall and a successful PTA year!! Advocating for you, Kassandra 2019-2020 WCPSS PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR/ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR Each year, Wake County PTA Council has the honor and the privilege of being a part of the interview process for the WCPSS Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year. For the past two years, I have had that honor and that privilege. I am just totally amazed at the wealth of knowledge, experience, and attitude of servant leadership that each one of these leaders exemplifies. The Wake County PTA Council would like to acknowledge and honor the finalists for this year’s celebration: Principals: Dr. Elena Ashburn – Broughton Magnet High Gretta Dula – Sanderson High Bob Grant – Washington Magnet Elementary *Dr. Ruth Steidinger – Olive Chapel Elementary Dr. Annice Williams – Poe Magnet Elementary Assistant Principals: Leslie Blake – Millbrook Magnet Elementary *Catie Burnette – Hilburn Academy Kenya Moore-Kerr – Vandora Springs Elementary Dena Nealy – East Millbrook Magnet Middle Monica Sawyer – Enloe Magnet High *2019-20 POY – Dr. Ruth Steidinger *2019-20 APOY – Catie Burnette CONGRATULATIONS TO THESE AMAZING FINALISTS!! ADVOCACY  City of Raleigh and Town of Cary Municipal Elections VOTE October 8th Municipal Elections for Angier, Apex, Durham, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Morrisville, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Wendell, and Zebulon VOTE November 5th More information on upcoming elections can be found here Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Act On Sept. 18, 2019, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) introduced the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Act (ESSCP) to provide dedicated funding to states to lower the staffing ratios for school counselors, school psychologists and school social workers. Contact your members of Congress to ask them to become a co-sponsor of this bill. FINANCEGood Standing Requirements A local PTA unit must comply with the following NCPTA requirements in order to maintain its charter and 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status:
Visit NCPTA's website to find more information about good standing requirements. HEALTH AND WELLNESS October is National Bullying Prevention Month Here are some tips and ideas from StompOutBullying.org on how students can celebrate National Bullying Prevention Month. Visit StompOutBullying.org to learn more and download the toolkit.
Bullying Prevention: Changing our Language, Modeling Empathy Rebecca Wenrich Wheeler – MA, MEd, CSAPC Preventing bullying behavior among youth begins with adults. Recognizing the impact of language, school climate, and adult modeling are foundational to bullying prevention. Language describing bullying behavior influences our perceptions on the preventable nature of bullying. The term anti-bullying is often misused when someone actually means bullying prevention. While, yes, we are against bullying, the term anti-bullying is reactive, as if bullying behavior is inevitable and unable to be prevented. All we can do is react when it happens. Prevention involves a shift in mindset, moving from reactive to proactive thinking. READ MORE October 10th is World Mental Health Day Every 40 seconds, someone loses their life to suicide. Join us, on 10 October, in “40 seconds of action” to raise awareness of the scale of suicide around the world and the role that each of us can play to help prevent it. Find out more at WHO - Suicide Prevention E-Cigarettes/Vaping Resources Although traditional cigarette smoking is on the decline, electronic cigarette use among teens has increased more than 900%.. Electronic cigarettes, often referred to as, e-cigarettes, e-cigs, or vapes, are electronic devices that heat a liquid containing nicotine and special flavors to produce an aerosol that is breathed into the lungs. The aerosol can also be inhaled by bystanders. They come in lots of shapes and sizes. Testing on long-term health effects are still being conducted, however we already know that e-cigarettes are not safe, contain chemicals that damage lungs, and are harmful on the adolescent developing brain. Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, the same highly addictive drug found in traditional cigarettes. For more information on electronic cigarettes and teens, download the Talk with Your Teens About E-cigarettes: A Tip Sheet for Parents provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Office on Smoking and Health. Questions about the impacts of nicotine on adolescents? Questions about effects of e-cigarettes? Contact the WCPTA Health And Wellness Committee to schedule a program for your PTA. PoeFest Community Festival 2019 You are invited to our FREE community festival to celebrate healthy choices! Please join us for fun, food, prizes, special guests, interactive theaters and great local entertainment. Date: Saturday, October 12, 2019 Time: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Location: 224 Sunnybrook Road, Raleigh NC 27610 The Wake County PTA Council will be distributing dental hygiene kits including toothbrushes, timers, tooth paste and more during PoeFest. Download the informational flyer here.   For more information, contact Triangle Area Dyslexic Advocacy. #TADA-NC is a parent-led grassroots movement across the state of North Carolina determined to advocate for appropriate literacy education for all students, especially those with dyslexia and related difficulties. LEADERSHIP ONLINE Q&A FOR LEADERS
Join WCPTA for our first online Q&A of the year! We’ll be checking in to see if you have everything in order to get your PTA year going and stay in compliance – Board positions, required committees, membership & dues, insurance, reporting data to NCPTA, and any other questions you have. Topic: BEGINNING OF THE YEAR OPERATIONS Time: Oct 17, 2019 7:00 – 7:40 PM Join Zoom Meeting – click on this link to join the meeting (no downloads needed) Dial in by phone: +1 646 558 8656 REGIONAL REPS NEEDED FOR WAKE PTA Did you know that WCPSS has 191 schools this year?? That is A LOT of local PTA units! It is getting more challenging for us to hold trainings and provide support for such a large school system, so WCPTA has the goal this year of working more closely with schools by region. We are always looking for ways to provide more training and support, and we appreciate the feedback we’ve received from all of you. One thing we’ve heard many times over is that PTA leaders are looking for community, support, and ideas from each other. We are hoping to foster all of this for local units by providing more accessible opportunities closer to home. We are also looking for a PTA President from each of the nine WCPSS regions to be a representative to Wake PTA Council. Superintendent Moore attends our monthly meetings and shares important updates on what is happening in our schools - this is a great way to find out what’s going on in schools and advocacy work across the county. Regional representatives will be able to report this important information back to local units in your area. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Amy Jones, leadership@wakepta.org and Kassandra Watson, president@wakepta.org Please be on the lookout for a separate email with additional details!  PRESIDENT'S MESSAGEGreetings PTA Family, The school year has officially kicked off!! The Wake County PTA Council hosted its annual Summer Leadership Conference on Thursday, August 29that Crossroads II. Thanks to all who came out and participated!! Slide presentations for sessions on Advocacy, Communications, Financial Management, Health and Wellness, and Reflections can be found on the WCPTA website. Wake PTA Council welcomes the new executive leadership team at the NCPTA. The new executive director for NCPTA is Mari Urness and the NCPTA president is Harold Dixon. Find out more about them here. Remember, to reach out to us with any questions or issues that you may have. If we don’t know the answer, we will seek the answer and follow up. Wishing you all a great and successful school year. Together we can do so much more!!! Kindly, Kassandra L. Watson ADVOCACY Early voting begins September 18, do you know where to go? Find out at wakevotesearly.com Check out this video from the Wake County Board of Elections, explaining the importance of the upcoming local elections! Find out more about the October 8th and November 5th elections and polling places Are you interested in hosting a voting drive as part of your fall PTA activities? Contact You Can Vote, they will work with you to make setting one up easy! Have a student turning 18 by Election Day? Make sure you’re #VoteReady by registering to vote at NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org! #NationalVoterRegistrationDay is Sept 24  FINANCEDon't forget to pay your Wake County PTA Council Dues of $50 by October 31, 2019 (invoice) This one time payment provides you access to:
HEALTH AND WELLNESS September is National Suicide Prevention Month #BeThe1To Ask the tough question When somebody you know is in emotional pain, ask them directly: “Are you thinking about killing yourself?” #BeThe1To Keep Them Safe Is your friend thinking about suicide? Ask if they’ve thought about how they would do it and separate them from anything they could use to hurt themselves. #BeThe1To Be There If your friend is thinking about suicide, Listen to their reasons for feeling hopeless and in pain. Listen with compassion and empathy and without dismissing or judging. #BeThe1To Help Them Connect Help your friend connect to a support system, whether it’s 800-273- TALK(8255), family, friends, clergy, coaches, co-workers or therapists, so they have a network to reach out to for help. #BeThe1To Follow Up Check in with the person you care about on a regular basis. Making contact with a friend in the days and weeks after a crisis can make a difference in keeping them alive.  Throughout the year, WCPTA, in collaboration with Public Schools First NC and Wake NCAE, will be hosting screenings of Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope, as well as workshops on how to put the information you learn from the film into action. Film Screening and Discussion Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 7 PM – 8:30 PM Crossroads II 110 Corning Road Cary, NC 27518 Room 1400 Strategies for Creating Trauma-Informed Schools Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 7 PM – 8:30 PM Crossroads II 110 Corning Road Cary, NC 27518 Room 1400 This 90-minute session is based on the film Resilience about toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and how students can survive trauma by learning to be resilient. Designed for administrators/school level leadership, this presentation is grounded in research on how to foster resilient learners by cultivating a trauma-informed learning environment in your school. Discussion will focus on helping your staff build relationships that allow their students to grow, thrive, and be successful academically. School leaders will be provided resources to share with their school leadership team. #BeTraumaInformed  Check out these 6 Tips for Getting More Fruits & Veggies into your day! The 6 Basics
LEADERSHIPThank you to everyone who came to the WCPTA Summer Leadership Conference on August 29! We hope that you went home with valuable information and that you feel empowered to have a great year as a PTA leader. We are posting slides from the workshop presentations on our WCPTA website so that you can go back and reference the material that was covered. If you do not see the presentation you are looking for, please check back soon. We are always looking for ways to make training more helpful and relevant, and we value your feedback! For those who attended SLC, please look for an email with a brief survey. You can also send suggestions and feedback to leadership@wakepta.org. NATIONAL PTA Enrollment for the 2019-20 program is now open. Enroll your PTA now to start the process and gain access to our online toolkit. What Does it Take to Become a National PTA School of Excellence?By enrolling in this program, your PTA and school administrators are making a year-long commitment in identifying and implementing an action plan for school improvement based on PTA's National Standards for Family-School Partnerships. NCPTA Let’s Talk Membership: September 9 at 7:30pm A thriving membership is a critical component of a successful PTA. We’ll share how to use NCPTA tools to help increase your membership and create a vibrant community. Register now! REFLECTIONS Reflections is a 50+ year old National program that encourages the students to explore their creativity through 6 DIFFERENT CATEGORIES:  This year we are happy to announce Reflections is going digital. The process for Reflections has been made simpler for students and reflection chairs. In addition, we have been fortunate to have PTA Presidents and WCPSS Art/Music teachers signed up as Reflection Chairs. Please DO NOT LET THIS WONDERFUL ART OPPORTUNITY pass you by!! It is not too late to register, email Manjri Lall, WCPTA Reflections Chair at reflections@wcpta.org Wake County Submission deadline for artwork: November 8TH 11:59PM We are here to guide you and assist you at every step. Find more information on our website. SEICPlease welcome our new chair, Beth Chartrand. You can reach her at seic@wakepta.org
Dear PTA Leaders, Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year! The Wake County PTA Council thanks you for your commitment to your children, the children of your school, and the children of Wake County. Please know that we are here to help you with any questions or challenges and to share and celebrate your successes as a PTA (PTSA). The mission of Wake County PTA Council is to unify, promote, and strengthen PTA units in Wake County, North Carolina. As a part of our mission, the Council models and educates local units in the best practices of a PTA. We are an all-volunteer organization that provides training, networking opportunities, county-wide events, and support to PTA units across the county. In this packet you will find:
WCPTA 2019/20 Welcome Packet School is almost out and Summer is almost here!!! YEAH!!! Let’s celebrate!! On behalf of the entire board of directors of the Wake County PTA Council – THANK YOU!! Our mission is to unify, strengthen and promote PTA units in Wake County. It is a challenging position with 187 schools in the district and four new opening up in August!! We have done a lot this year and we are proud to serve you. We started our year off with our Summer Leadership Conference back in August and in between that time, we have answered hundreds of questions from our units, generated position statements of support for Immigration, the Teacher Rally, and finally the 2019-2020 WCPSS budget. Our Advocacy Chair, Lisa Mead, attended the National PTA Legislative Conference in March to learn more about advocating for our students and schools! In April, we helped charter PTAs at three new schools: Alston Ridge Middle School, Green Level High School and Parkside Elementary School. We hope to help charter Southeast Raleigh Elementary soon. We held our annual Night of Stars on April 25th, highlighting and recognizing some of our greatest PTA “stars”. Also, on that night, we presented the slate and voted in our new board of directors for 2019-2020. Several of our board members attended the North Carolina PTA Conference in May, with two of them presenting. And finally, we have ended the year with New Officers Training, which was held in May. We have had a busy year, but it was a good year. I hope that we can continue to serve you – by unifying, strengthening and promoting your units. Our plans for the next year include to hold more trainings in different venues and help promote more family engagement. We are here to help you – reach out. Thank you AGAIN for all that you do to make every child’s potential a reality, by engaging and empowering families and communities to ADVOCATE for ALL children!! Together we can do so much!! Kassandra L. Watson President, Wake County PTA Council ADVOCACY Well done Wake County Advocates! The Wake County Board of Commissioners voted 6-1 on June 3 to adopt a $1.47 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2020, which includes $515.9 million in operating funds to the Wake County Public School System. That is a $45 million increase from FY19. While it falls short of the $48.3 million increase requested by Superintendant Moore, it is a great improvement over the $36.5 the County Manager originally proposed. June 2019 North Carolina lawmakers are scheduled to approve a state budget, which provides the school system with about 60% of its funding. Find your legislator here and encourage their support of public education. FINANCES Don't forget to complete your end-of-year financial review by August 31st. Find details on the financial requirements of the NCPTA here. LEADERSHIPThank you to everyone who attended the Spring Leadership Training. There were over 150 leaders in attendance representing 63 Wake County schools. If you were not able to attend, you can find the slide presentation on our website.
Recently an article appeared on the Locker Room, a blogging website hosted by the John Locke Foundation. In it, Terry Stoops accused PTAs of "taking a hard left turn", and declaring "War on Charter Schools". Below is the response from Wake PTA Council.  Greetings PTA Family & Friends, The year is almost over!! It is time or past time for your annual officer elections. I hope that everything went well for everyone. Please be sure to contact us if you have any questions. Our new officer training will be held on May 30, 2019 from 6 pm to 8:30 pm at Crossroads II. Whether you are a new officer or one needed a refresher, please do join us for this training. It was a great month to start PTAs. The council helped start 3 new PTAs for three new schools opening up in the Fall. Let us welcome and congratulate, Green Level High School PTSA, Alston Ridge Middle School PTSA, and Parkside Elementary School PTA. We will be assisting Southeast Raleigh Elementary School in the near future. We celebrated all of our PTA volunteers with a “Night of Stars” on Thursday, April 25th, held at the Poe Center. Congratulations to all of these “superstar” volunteers and thank you for all that you do!! We also held our general membership meeting on this night and elected our officers for 2019-2020. They are as follows: President – Kassandra Watson VP of Communications – Teresa Jones VP of Leadership – Amy Jones Treasurer -Sonya Reid Secretary – MariaRosa Rangel We are still looking for council members to help us try to fulfill our mission statement to unify, strengthen, and promote PTA units in Wake County. With 187 (+4 new) schools in our district we are in need of assistance to make this possible. Please contact me at president@wakepta.org. We are here to help you as best as we can. Please do reach out to us. Let us help each other so that we can be strong advocates for all of our Wake County families and communities. Congratulations to the 10 finalists for Wake County Teacher of the Year. We honor you and salute you. Remember Teacher Appreciation Week is May 6 – 10. Show them your love and appreciation. National PTA has many ideas and suggestions on their website. www.npta.org. NCPTA will hold its annual convention on May 17-18 in Charlotte. There is still time to register to attend. Past national officers will be in attendance. The theme is “Celebrating the Legacy and Continuing the Journey”, and our focus is on Leadership Matters — because it does! We will be looking at Diversity and Inclusion, Special Education, and PTA Leadership and Governance. Please go to www.ncpta.org to register. Wishing you all a great end of the year and remember to reach out to us if you need to. Thanks for all that you do to ensure that every child’s potential becomes a reality……. Advocating always, Kassandra L. Watson ADVOCACYThank you to everyone who came out for NCAE's May 1st Day of Action. An estimated 20,000 plus educators and supporters were in attendance. Signs referencing popular culture from Ms. Frizzle to Game of Thrones called for increased funding for public education. Governor Cooper began his remarks by commenting on the tragic shootings in Charlotte, “But now we need to put the same type of coordination into preventing these shootings in the first place and telling legislators that school safety is vital,” he said. “And that doesn’t mean putting guns with teachers in the classroom.” Mr. Cooper also highlighted his proposed budget with increases to teacher and principal pay, hiring more school nurses, counselors, psychologists, social workers, and school resource officers, and new funding for schools to purchase more textbooks, digital resources, instructional supplies, and enhanced digital learning opportunities for students. Wake PTA Council and many PTA units throughout the county created resolutions in support of the May 1st event. Resolution to support North Carolina Association of Educators May 1st Day of Action 2019 HEALTH AND WELLNESS There are currently 18 schools in Wake county signed up to participate in the MAY 8TH, Bike to School Day. Communities celebrate Walk to School Day and Bike to School Day for a variety of reasons, but safety is always at the core. This year, use your event to promote the importance of walking and biking safety for the entire community, starting with the trip to school. “Seven Ideas for How Walk and Bike to School Days Can Promote Road Safety for Youth and Everyone.” May is Mental Health Awareness Month   NCPTAPlanning for Your New PTA Year/Officer Transition:
May 13, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. It is that time of year when PTA leaders work tirelessly to finish the school year strong. What if finishing strong is really the key to next year’s success? How do outgoing and incoming officers work together for a seamless transition? Join us as we discuss financials, elections, board of director elections, membership, and more. Whereas, Wake County PTA Council, supports advocacy efforts that ensure every school system has sufficient funding to provide every child with an opportunity for a sound basic education.
Whereas, Wake County Public School System, will not hold classes on May 1, 2019, so that teachers and staff can elect to participate in a statewide education advocacy day coordinated by the North Carolina Association of Educators; and Whereas, Wake County PTA Council is dedicated to empowering and encouraging its members by modeling best practices of a PTA and by collaborating with others be it Resolved, that the Wake County PTA Council supports the May 1, 2019 Advocacy Day, coordinated by the North Carolina Association of Educators; be it further Resolved, that the Wake County PTA Council supports the Wake County Public School System’s decision to cancel school for students on May 1, 2019, enabling educators to participate in the Advocacy Day; be it further Resolved, that Wake County PTA Council fundamentally supports our educators’ right to assemble, advocate, and be heard; be it further; Resolved, that the Wake County PTA Council will provide the community with information on local resources to address access to food, childcare and academic resources on May 1, 2019. This resolution is adopted by the membership of Wake County PTA Council on April 25, 2019. |
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