![]() The 2021-2022 school year is upon us and the PTA year is about to get into full swing! By now your PTA has held its summer board retreat and has begun planning a membership campaign. So what's next? Now it's time to plan your first general membership meeting of the year! While some PTAs may be planning for in person meetings, many will plan for their meeting to be held virtually, which may require a little additional preparation. If you are new to hosting virtual meetings, get to know your virtual meeting tool’s online support – there should be tips for setup for all the features, including screen sharing, enabling closed captioning, and login requirements. TIP: Host one or more practice meetings with a few board members ahead of time to get accustomed to the online meeting tools and platform you'll be using. Whether the PTA meets virtually or in person, the same items of business must be done.
Bonus Tip: Plan on having something additional to offer your members once the business is complete. The first meeting is a great opportunity for your principal to give an update on the start of the year – there are lots of things about this school year that are different! Plan ahead with your principal and make sure you know what format for taking questions they are comfortable with. During the meeting, act as the moderator by setting ground rules and expectations for how members will participate and ask their questions. Questions about planning your 1st general membership meeting of the year? Contact Council - We are here to help! Information provided in this blog was originally posted by WSPTA in a 2020 article. Click here to read that article. Please join us for our first general membership meeting of the year on Monday, September 20, 2021 via Zoom! In addition to our regular business items, we’ll also be voting on updated standing rules, goals and budget, and hearing updates from community leaders. *Update* We'll also be offering breakout rooms for networking and Q&A with Council members. The breakout rooms offered will be (1) elementary level PTAs, (2) secondary level PTAs, and (3) general questions regarding running your PTA.
Council meetings will build your PTA knowledge, give you the opportunity to network with other PTA, school district and community leaders, and they can be a lot of fun, too. Each PTA may send up to 4 voting representatives - but we encourage ALL who are interested to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!
*A meeting passcode is required to join. It will be sent to local leaders via email. You can also request the passcode by emailing Council PTSA Communications VP, Rachel Fitzgerald. Northshore Council is continuing to provide Online Meeting Hosting for local PTAs/PTSAs this school year!
This can be used by any local PTA/PTSA that wants Council to host a Zoom meeting for them. Please note that max number of attendees is 100 and that this service is offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Here is how it will work:
Questions? Contact us! ![]() Council recommends local PTA leaders do two important things this summer:
A board retreat can be a powerful way to kick-start your PTA's new year. If fact, it can be such a powerful tool that Washington State PTA considers having one to be a PTA best practice. A retreat is more than just a regular meeting; it is an opportunity to:
![]() There are many things to consider when planning for your retreat. While board retreats can take place in person, due to Covid guidelines or the individual needs of your board members, it maybe be best to plan a virtual retreat, which adds a few more items to that list.
![]() Great retreats also include a few key social elements that serve as ways to allow board members to connect, bond, and get to know each other, all of which work to help build a more cohesive team:
The extended nature of a retreat means that a board can have time for conversations and discussions with more breadth and depth. Consider some of the following discussion areas and questions as you build your board retreat agenda:
![]() Finally, remember that some of the most important work will happen after the retreat ends as ideas are put into action. Take time through the year to reflect and check-in with one another regarding discussions, action items, and progress toward goals. Additional Resources:
Thank you to everyone that attended our fifth and final membership meeting of the school year! This meeting was especially impactful as there were over 55 attendees from our local PTA’s and community partners in attendance. Council Business: The meeting kicked off with an approval of minutes from our March general meeting, before moving on to hear the Treasurer’s Report for the month of May from the Council Treasurer, Liz Nord. May’s report reflected income from membership service fees, as well as expenses related to the Spring Recognition Event, Moneyminder software renewal, WSPTA scholarship funds, WSPTA convention registration fees and awards. Next on the agenda was an update to the Northshore Council PTSA Standing Rules. Changes recommended were:
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, 2021. 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 into memberplanet as well! District and Community Reports: School Board Director David Cogan shared an update in regards to Northshore School District that included, but was not limited to:
Lauren Lewis, acting NSD Partnerships and Volunteer Coordinator, reported the following:
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 25th. Our Council President, Jane Chiodo, then shared a personal message of thanks to the council as well as the local leaders and community partners. Click here to read that message. ![]() Last, but certainly not least, the evening ended with our 2020-2021 Spring Recognition Event! This event was hosted by our Co-VP of Events, Mary Khouzam and Karrie Palis. The theme was "Thank You for Making Lemonade". This was such a fitting theme since all of our local PTA’s did exactly that this year, when handed lemons, they made some lemonade! The event included performances from Skyview Middle School's symphonic band, orchestra, and choir as well as a performance from the Bothell High School Bel Canto Choir. The highlight of the event was celebrating all the achievements of our local PTAs/PTSAs as well as the recipients of their Recognition Awards. Council was also honored to present this year's Council Recognition Awards. Congratulations to: 🌟 Outstanding Educator: Natalie Campbell 🌟 Outstanding Advocate: Cathi Davis 🌟 Outstanding Student Advocate: Diya Gupta 🌟 Outstanding Service: Melissa Kline 🌟 Golden Acorn: Lauren Lewis 🌟 Golden Acorn: Liz Nord 🌟 Honorary Life Membership: Nancy Chamberlain Click here to learn more about each of our 2020-2021 Council Award Recipients. Thank you to our Council Awards Committee Members Diana Christiansen, Rachel Fitzgerald, and Karrie Palis for the beautiful awards presentation and speeches given during the event! Thank you to all that attended this fun evening! It was a fun night with lots to celebrate for making it through this unprecedented school year! Looking forward to our next membership meeting in the fall. Have a wonderful summer and enjoy this much deserved time to relax with your families.
Please join us for our 5th and final general membership meeting of the school year on Monday, June 7, 2021 via Zoom. In addition to our regular business items, during this meeting we will be holding our annual Spring Recognition Event. At this event we will celebrate the contributions and achievements made by Northshore PTA/PTSA’s best and most accomplished volunteers and supporters. We will also be announcing Council PTSA’s award recipients during this event. **Attention Presidents: Please check your emails for additional information on the Spring Recognition Event. Response is needed by Friday, May 7th. Email [email protected] if you have questions.**
Council meetings will build your PTA knowledge, give you the opportunity to network with other PTA, school district and community leaders, and they can be a lot of fun, too. Each PTA may send up to 4 voting representatives - but we encourage ALL who are interested to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!
*A meeting passcode is required to join. It will be sent to local leaders via email. You can also request the passcode by emailing Council PTSA Communications VP, Rachel Fitzgerald. Thank you to all that attended our fourth membership meeting of the school year! Each general meeting provides us with an opportunity to connect with our wonderful local PTA leaders and community partners and learn more about the great things happening across our district.
A little bit of fun: We started off our meeting with a 30 minute “social” time. We invited all to join us to chat with Council and other local PTA leaders. We had great conversations and learned that “Flight” was the most desired superhero power in our fun poll! Guest Speaker: Our guest speaker this month was Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid who graciously answered questions regarding the upcoming shift to hybrid learning in NSD. A great range of questions were asked including but not limited to: how PTAs can support the return to classrooms, the thinking behind the hybrid model, vaccination progress for teachers, when the learning model will be decided for Fall, what hybrid will look like for those 100% remote, and the latest updates on SBAC testing. We thank Dr. Reid for taking the time to join us during such a busy and stressful time. Council Business: After approving our minutes from our January general meeting, we moved on to hearing the Treasurer Report for the month of February. We then moved on to learning about our 2021-2022 preliminary budget. Our budget committee worked along with our Treasurer, Liz Nord, to evaluate what our needs would be for next year taking into consideration the decrease in memberships that we had experienced in 2020-2021 possibly continuing next year. A few changes were recommended, such as lowering our income expectations and cutting costs where we could (obtaining a smaller PO Box, lowering line items such as hospitality, grants, office supplies, etc.). We also added line items for our new DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) position and our new Mental Health committee. The preliminary 2021-2022 budget was approved by a unanimous voice vote. Next up on the agenda was electing our 2021-2022 officers! Thank you to our hardworking Nominating Committee, Grace Jurado and Liz Nord, for putting together a rocking slate for next year! Liz Nord read the Nominating Report. The self-nomination period was held with no others submitting their names for nomination. The election script was followed with a reading from the WSPTA bylaws. A motion was cast to accept the slate as presented, seconded, and unanimously approved by a voice vote. Congratulations to our incoming 2021-2022 officers!!
Council Reports: Tracy Jokisch, our Emergency Prep and Safety Co-Chair, gave us an update regarding the bulk purchase of Stop the Bleed kits for district schools. There will most likely be over 500 kits ordered in total, which will include 2 kits per school contributed by Council. In conjunction with the Stop the Bleed effort, Clark Combs, district Eprep specialist on the district Safety and Security team, has been offering virtual ACT training to staff. Diana Christiansen, our Council Vice President of Advocacy, gave us an update regarding the exceptional attendance by WA State PTA members at this years National PTA Legislative Conference. It was great to see big representation especially at “Hill Day” when attendees met directly with legislators and their staffers. Check out our NPTA LegCon recap here! We got an update on the Reflections program. 55 pieces were forwarded to the state competition and we were waiting to hear results. (Results now in - check them out here!) The Council Reflections Celebration website was a big hit allowing many families – as well as family and friends around the country! - to experience all the works of art from artists all over the district. Next year’s theme was announced as, “I Will Change the World By…”. Diana Christiansen and Karrie Palis announced that our Council Recognition Awards Nominations were open. They are looking for nominations for the following awards: Outstanding Educator, Outstanding Advocate, Outstanding Student Advocate, Outstanding Service, Golden Acorn, Honorary Life Membership. They are also looking for members to join their committee to review nominations and select winners. Melissa Kline gave an update regarding membership. Three (3) PTAs had reached 100% staff membership and, in total, we have reached 4,826 members which is 62% of last year’s number. Melissa also gave an update about the newly formed Mental Health Committee. The committee had their first meeting recently, at which they discussed goals and things they would like to work on which included communicating about mental health awareness programs. Lauren Lewis, our Council F.A.C.E. (Family and Community Engagement) Chair, talked about the Equity Inventory Committee, which was established to assess where our Council stood in regards to equity and diversity. The goal of the committee was to look at all facets of our operation through a DEI lens and then to make suggestions on areas that we could improve on. Lauren was also working on finding a presentation about how to navigate the US high school system that could be offered to families in our district that speak other languages or who have moved here from other countries. Natalie Campbell, the District Partnerships and Volunteer Coordinator, said that we could partner with her and Elizabeth Meza to bring something like this to the district. It was also noted that through the Council Educational Speaker and Community Events Grants program, Woodin Elementary was offering "Guide to Helping Your Children Succeed in Elementary and Beyond", presented by Sistema Escolar, USA, to district parents. District and Community Reports: School Board Director David Cogan presented an update in regards to Northshore School District that included, but was not limited to:
Natalie Campbell, NSD Partnerships and Volunteer Coordinator, reported the following:
Carmin Dalziel of the Northshore Schools Foundation gave updates regarding her organization and their work to support NSD:
Our last guest was Patsy Treece of the Citizens for Northshore Schools group to talk about Bond and Levy support. Her group’s purpose is to give citizens information about the bond and levies on the ballot and to urge them to vote. Bond and levy votes only happen every four years. Bonds need 60% to pass and levies need 50%. She was looking for volunteers to serve the group and was particularly interested in adding diversity so that all voices could be heard. She also asked if PTAs could add a line item to their budgets to help support the Citizens group. Learn more about Citizens for Northshore School here. Our next membership meeting will be held on Monday, June 7th. We hope to see you there! Northshore Council PTSA will be holding online elections for the eleven (11) positions on its 2021-22 Executive Committee on Monday, March 15, 2021.
Slate of Candidates: In the 2021 Nominating Committee Report, the following slate of candidates were put forward for 2021-2022:
The period for self-declared nominations for these positions closed on Friday, March 5, 2021. Qualification Requirements Per the 2020-2021 Council Standing Rules: All Candidates:
Candidates for the office of President and First Vice President shall also:
Candidates for the offices of VP of Elementary Support and VP of Secondary Support shall also:
Each of the slated candidates meets all qualification requirements. Election Information: As there is only one candidate per position, the election will be conducted via voice vote at the next General Membership Meeting, on Monday, March 15, 2021: Topic: March 15, 2021 - Membership Meeting - Northshore Council PTSA Time: March 15, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/95442068687 Meeting ID: 954 4206 8687 Passcode: *Available upon request. One tap mobile +12532158782,,95442068687# US (Tacoma) +16699009128,,95442068687# US (San Jose) Dial by your location +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C) Meeting ID: 954 4206 8687 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/adRhsyzKXK Information about Northshore Council PTSA online elections procedures is available in its Electronic Voting (E-Voting) Policy. Questions? Please contact Northshore Council PTSA President Jane Chiodo. *A meeting password is required to join. It will be sent to local leaders via email. You can also request the password by emailing Council PTSA Communications VP, Rachel Fitzgerald. Below, please find the report from the Northshore Council PTSA Nominating Committee which lists the nominees for each of the officer positions for the 2021-2022 Executive Committee. The election will take place during the Northshore Council PTSA Membership Meeting on Monday, March 15, 2021. WSPTA Bylaws permit the nomination of candidates from the floor* at the meeting before the vote takes place. *Since meetings are currently held virtually, "nominations from the floor" will be done using an online submission form prior to the meeting. See our post on Self Declaring for 2021-2022 Board Positions for more information.
Please join us for our 4th general membership meeting of the year on Monday, March 15, 2021 via Zoom. In addition to our regular business items, during this meeting we will be holding elections for our 2021-2022 officers. For more information on elections, visit our 2nd Notice of Elections post. We'll also be hosting a brief Q&A session with Dr. Reid during this meeting. ![]() We've added a 30 minute social time before our meeting!! Join us before the meeting to chat with Council & other local PTA Leaders! Come say hi, ask questions, or just hang out for social time before the meeting. Topic: March 15, 2021 - Membership Meeting - Northshore Council PTSA Time: March 15, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/95442068687 Meeting ID: 954 4206 8687 Passcode: *Available upon request. One tap mobile +12532158782,,95442068687# US (Tacoma) +16699009128,,95442068687# US (San Jose) Dial by your location +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C) Meeting ID: 954 4206 8687 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/adRhsyzKXK Council meetings will build your PTA knowledge, give you the opportunity to network with other PTA, school district and community leaders, and they can be a lot of fun, too. Each PTA may send up to 4 voting representatives - but we encourage ALL who are interested to attend. We look forward to seeing you there! *A meeting passcode is required to join. It will be sent to local leaders via email. You can also request the passcode by emailing Council PTSA Communications VP, Rachel Fitzgerald. |
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Northshore Council PTSA is a welcoming organization that works to support our Local PTAs and serve the children and youth of our community through advocacy, collaboration, education, engagement, leadership, and mentorship.