Author Archives: Lauren Bartholomew

October 2018 Best Practices

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  • Make sure all of your elected officers are trained, and at least one of your elected officers has attended PTA and the Law.
  • Print these documents from the WSPTA website and become familiar with them. They will help remind you of the items you need to gather and complete to keep your PTA in good standing, and will help you keep your timeline on track.
  • Standards of Affiliation – This sheet should be filled in and complete by the end of November, with the possible exception of your PTA’s corporate renewal, which will be filed during the month that your PTA was first incorporated.
  • Standards of Excellence – Show your membership that your PTA is following best practices by applying for the Standards of Excellence Award (due March 1st). Refer to the timeline checklist each month to see what your PTA should be doing during this time, and gather/create documents as you go. If you put your notebook together a bit at a time over the course of the year, it’s quick and EASY!
  • Make sure your voting delegates have been turned in to the Council secretary, and that you or one of your delegates is planning to attend each Council membership meeting.
  • Register for Legislative Assembly here: https://www.pt-avenue.com/conference/  (October 21-22, Green River College, Auburn). Encourage your board members to attend. Make sure you have submitted the names of your PTA’s voting delegates to WSPTA (due Oct. 12).
  • Send the Legislative Principles, Issues and Resolutions Survey to your membership. Share the data with your Legislative Assembly delegate(s), so their vote will properly represent your membership at Leg. Assembly.
  • Brand and Market your PTA! Educate EVERYONE in your school community (not only your membership) about each and every program and event that your PTA supports. Show them how your PTA benefits your students. If you sponsored it, put a sticker on it! If you have an event, hang a banner! This is how you attract members and encourage donations. 🙂

Region 2 Back-to-School Conference with PTA and the Law – August 21st

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FREE training and leadership development for all PTA leaders! Come learn, network with your fellow PTA leaders, and meet part of your PTA support team. All Washington State PTA trainings and events are for PTA officers, board members, committee chairs, and interested members only.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018
3:00 PM – 9:00 PM PDT

Location
Bellevue High School
10416 SE Wolverine Way
Bellevue, WA 98004

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/region-2-back-to-school-conference-with-pta-and-the-law-tickets-47969309496

Training is vital for your entire board. Please join us for this FREE training and leadership development opportunity for all PTA leaders. PTA and the Law will be offered, and is one of the most important classes you will take every year. Come learn, network with your fellow PTA leaders, and meet part of your PTA support team.

Come start off your PTA year in the know! So many opportunities to learn, ask questions and network with other leaders in one location. Join us at Bellevue High School for a variety of class opportunities as well as PTA & The Law. New this year — we will be offering class sessions earlier in the afternoon, as well as a light dinner prior to the evening class sessions and PTA & The Law.

You are welcome to attend the entire event, or just stay for one session.

Session 1, 3:00 – 4:30 PM:

  • President 101: PTA Basics for First-Time Presidents
  • Navigating a Meeting: An Interactive Journey
  • Managing your Non-Profit PTA
  • Planning your PTAs Fall Membership Drive
  • Volunteers: Find them and Keep them

4:30 – 5:30 PM:

  • Dinner – we highly recommend that your RSVP for dinner so we can have a more accurate head count.
  • Networking
  • Concil Roundtables

5:30 – 6:00 PM:

  • Region Updates (all attendees in PAC)

Session 2; 6:00 – 7:30 PM:

  • Foundation of FACE
  • The Effective Vice President
  • Advocacy at the Local PTA
  • Secretary: More than Just Minutes
  • Treasurer Basics

Session 3; 7:35 – 9:00 PM:

  • Branding and Marketing
  • Managing your Nonprofit PTA
  • President: Plan to Succeed
  • Membership: The Ask
  • Pump Up your Communications

PTA and the Law: 6:00 – 9:00 PM

PTA and the Law deals with state and federal rules and regulations for running a charitable, tax-exempt nonprofit corporation in Washington state and will explain how these rules can and do affect your PTA.

  • Laws and regulations can change every year, so whether you went last year, have not been in a few years, or have never been to this class, this presentation is for any officer or committee chair.
  • Per the WSPTA Standards of Affiliation agreement, the annual training requirement states that at least one elected officer must attend PTA and the Law, and all other elected officers must attend at least one WSPTA-approved training before this year’s WSPTA convention. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet this requirement.

All Washington State PTA trainings and events are for PTA officers, board members, committee chairs, and interested members only.

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/region-2-back-to-school-conference-with-pta-and-the-law-tickets-47969309496

Issaquah PTSA Council Elected Executive Board for 2018-2019

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Congratulations to our newly elected Executive Board for 2018-2019:

President:  Leslie Kahler
Secretary:  Sara Carmichael
Treasurer:  Laila Collins
VP Elementary North:  Ina Ghangurde
VP Elementary Central:  Wendy Shah
VP Elementary South:  Korista Smith-Barney
VP Middle Schools:  Open
VP High Schools:  Dawn Peschek

 

We are still seeking a VP of Middle Schools.

2018-2019 Issaquah PTSA Council Executive Board Slate

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2018-2019 Issaquah PTSA Council Nominating Committee Report

The 2017 – 2018 Issaquah PTSA Nominating Committee places the following names in nomination:

For office of President: Leslie Kahler

For office of Secretary: Sara Carmichael

For office of Treasurer: Laila Collins

For office of VP Elementary North: Ina Ghangurde

For office of VP Elementary Central: Wendy Shah

For office of VP Elementary South: Korista Smith-Barney

For office of VP Middle Schools: Open

For office of VP High Schools: Dawn Peschek

The nominating committee has confirmed that all nominees have been a member of a PTA for at least 30 days prior to the election, and meet other requirements as state in the Washington State PTA Uniform Bylaws.

Respectfully Submitted by:

Laila Collins

Wendy Shah

Valerie Yanni

Laurelle Graves

Lunch For The Break – Midwinter Break Edition

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Lunch For The Break

Help families in the Issaquah School District during Midwinter Break when free/reduced lunches aren’t available. YOU can help make the vacation fun for kids and lower stress for parents!

We have three options for donating to Lunch for the Break, including one very exciting new option:

  1. Download the shopping list at lunchforthebreak.com, shop for the food, pack your boxes and deliver to your chosen drop off location. Register as a donor for this option here. This is a great option for families and groups to get involved for the Lunch for the Break!
  2. Donate money to help us purchase produce, bread and other items for Lunch for the Break.
  3. **New!!** We have a new partnership with Supply All Kids – purchase a food box online and it will be packed and delivered for you! This is a great option if you don’t have time to shop, pack and deliver a box, but want to give something tangible. Click here to donate via the Supply All Kids special Lunch for the Break site.

450 boxes are needed by February 14! Which donation option will YOU choose? 

Contact Rebecca with questions: rebecca@issaquahfoodbank.org or 425-392-4123 x11.

ISD Levy Info

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Hello to my fellow PTSA Council Members!

I wanted to give you a follow up on what is going on with the ISD Levy and VIS since we aren’t meeting this month.

After the Levy Committee completed their review and recommendation to the Superintendent back in the Spring 2017, the Washington State Legislature passed HB 2242 – funding basic education. This resulted in some funding uncertainty, but ultimately a positive outlook for what our state and local dollars can provide our students and Issaquah School District committee.

The Issaquah School District and School Board has put together a final ballot measure to go before the voters on Feb. 13th, 2018:

  • Educational Programs & Operations (EP&O) Renewal Levy (2 years)
  • Technology and Critical Repairs Capital Renewal Levy (4 years)
  • School Bus Renewal Levy (1 year)

The primary changes from what the committee reviewed last spring, is to reduce the EP&O Levy renewal from 4 years at full $1.50/$1,000 authority to 2 years at $1.13/$1,000 (in 2019) and $1.33/$1,000 (in 2020). At which time ISD will reassess what levy dollars will be needed to continue funding programs and will run another replacement EP&O levy.

Click here to see what these 3 renewal levies fund and why it is so important for all 3 levies to be approved: https://www.issaquah.wednet.edu/district/levy-issues-february-2018

The Issaquah PTSA Council has traditionally always been a strong supporter of our ISD bonds and levies, since we see each day how bonds and levies directly benefit all of our schools, teachers and students. As Issaquah PTSA Council Board members, VIS would appreciate if you would:

  • Personally endorse the (3) replacement levies here on the VIS website  (Endorse Here)
  • Make a motion to endorse the (3) renewal levies as a PTSA Council Board at our next meeting
  • Help share this information and encourage others to Vote Yes!
  • Request a speaker to present Levy information to a community group to which you belong
  • Donate to the “Yes for Issaquah Schools Feb 2018” campaign here: http://www.visvote.org/
  • “Like” us on VIS Facebook
  • Volunteer at a Local Honk & Wave event – Sign Up Here:

        www.SignUpGenius.com/go/60B0F4DA9A829AAF49-2018

You can endorse, donate, like, volunteer, or request info at http://www.visvote.org/

SAVE THE DATE!  You’re invited to a Community Information Night Event on Thursday, January 11, 2018 at 7:00-8:30pm at the Issaquah Swedish Hospital Conference Rooms. Please invite and share this with anyone who may have questions about the Levy and would like to learn more information about these 3 ballot measures.  The Superintendent, School Board members and VIS will be on hand to answer questions all evening!

**One more thing to note, VIS has prepared a district approved “PDC Guidelines for PTAs” which we have sent out to all of our PTA Presidents to help with questions of what you can email out, have on websites, etc. It is linked on the Council website under VIS and also on the VIS website here: http://www.visvote.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/PDC-Rules-for-PTAs.pdf

If you or others you know have questions about any of the replacement levy measures, please contact us at VIS info@visvote.org  or ISD at Levy2018@issaquah.wednet.edu

Visit the ISD website with levy information and tax impact facts: https://www.issaquah.wednet.edu/district/levy-issues-february-2018

Thank you for your support!

Dawn Peschek
Issaquah PTSA Council VIS Chair
Volunteers for Issaquah Schools (VIS) Campaign Co-Chair
dawn@visvote.org

Volunteer Opportunity with the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank

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The Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank will be introducing an additional client service time starting on Wednesday, December 13th, 2017 to help meet the growing needs in our community. IFCB currently offers Monday Night Food and Clothing Bank hours from 5 – 7 pm and we will be introducing additional Wednesday night shopping hours as well.

Client surveys indicate that families would like us to expand our service hours and Wednesday nights appear to be the perfect time to do that. We’re looking for volunteers to work Wednesday nights (4:30 pm to 7:15 pm.) in both the food and clothing bank, and we’re putting this ask out to our entire team. We need your help to make this happen.

If you’re interested in volunteering on Wednesday nights, please sign up online using the volunteer dashboard. HERE is the link to log in and sign-up. Please sign-up today. We’re hoping to fill the first three Wednesday shifts before we post more.

Questions can be directed to:

Megan Edwin
Volunteer Coordinator
Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank
425-392-4123, ext. 10