Northshore Council PTSA is pleased to announce that we will be hosting a 2021 Northshore School Board Candidate Forum just in time for the 2021 School Board Primary. This forum is being held to educate voters within Northshore School District about the school board candidates that are running in the Primary election. We will be sharing this pre-recorded event on July 15th. We will use social media as well as our website to promote the forum to the voters within Northshore School District. It is a great chance to get to know the candidates! The format will include 3 separate videos, one for each of the three seats that are up for election. Candidates from each seat will appear with their opponents. The moderators will be from the Northshore PTSA council’s advocacy team. There will not be an audience. We have offered each candidate two minutes for an opening statement. Following that will be a short question and answer period rotating between the candidates. The questions are being solicited from citizens of Northshore. Concluding, we will offer one minute to each candidate for a closing statement. If you have questions you would like asked during this forum, please email them to [email protected]. Keep an eye out for this important resource arriving on our website and social medias around July 15! Ballots should be arriving around the same time. See below for more information on the Primary and voter registration. This is a great resource for your PTA members and school community - please share it out! Diana Christiansen and Jennifer Drury Co-Vice Presidents of Advocacy Northshore Council PTSA 6.10 Voter information and registration can be found at http://vote.wa.gov/.
![]() We are living through a difficult moment in history and it is natural to feel anxious. For most, the uncertainty surrounding a worldwide pandemic is the hardest to handle, and it's easy for anxiety to build and run rampant much like a virus. Many adults have been providing emotional support to others for a while now, and this level of support can deplete our resources quickly. It’s important to realize that some of the anxiety that kids are experiencing may be inadvertently passed on by the worried adults in their life. Dealing with our own anxiety can be the most powerful way to make sure our kids feel secure. It’s critical to understand and monitor our own mental health temperature, especially if we want to help those around us. We can't share with others a resource that we lack ourselves. If we don't prioritize taking care of ourselves, and continue to ignore the fatigue, headaches, insomnia, irritability, or worrisome thoughts... eventually our bodies find new ways to tell us to stop. What can we do? Begin with self-care and establish a routine around it. Routines that involve mindfulness, exercise, regular meals, and healthy amounts of sleep are crucial to regulating our moods and our worries. Additionally, activities such as spending time in nature, reading for pleasure, talking with people we care about, listening to music that makes us happy, or even scheduling time to do nothing, can help to support ourselves daily. By focusing on just one small thing that we can do right now, it can often provide the peace of mind that we seek in these uncertain and unstructured times. We can't control the future, but we can take charge of the present. Additional Self-Care & Coping Tools Resources:
If you have noticed these behaviors in your child, especially if they are a change from your child's baseline behaviors, they could be suffering from anxiety.
What does anxiety look like in children? Anxiety can feel overwhelming to your child and to you. Children with anxiety manifest their fears in many different ways. Some act out becoming angry, aggressive, and defiant. Some withdraw, becoming disinterested in activities and family outings that used to give them pleasure. Parents often describe an anxious child as "not themselves", "overly worried" or "overly angry at the smallest thing". If this sounds like your child, know that anxiety is very common among adolescents and children and it is highly treatable. What can you do to help your child with anxiety?
Northshore Council PTSA is excited to offer this Parent Education Event on the conversation of screens & teens. This event is FREE for all Northshore parents and guardians.
Join us for a virtual movie* presentation of the film "Screenagers NEXT CHAPTER: Uncovering Skills for Stress Resilience". Filmmaker and physician Dr. Delaney Ruston takes the conversation around screens and teens to the next level with a film that examines the science behind teen’s emotional challenges, the interplay of social media, and most importantly, what can be done in our schools and homes to help them build crucial skills to navigate stress, anxiety, and depression in our digital age. Click here to register and view a trailer for the film! *Once registered, you will be given access to view the film virtually from home. This can be done "On Demand" anytime between the viewing period of March 8th-23rd. ![]() What is a Nominating Committee? Who can serve on it? Why is it important to have one? We've put together this resource to help you learn more about how to establish your local PTA’s Nominating Committee and how to be sure to operate the nomination process in accordance with your standing rules and the Washington State PTA (WSPTA) Uniform Bylaws. Much of this information is adapted from the WSPTA Nominating Committee Handbook, available on the Leadership Resources page of the WSPTA website. (Note: login and password are required. Find them in the latest issue of WSPTA Leadership News or Contact Council.) Why have a Nominating Committee? The Nominating Committee serves the vital role of finding and recruiting the most qualified people to fill your PTA’s elected positions. Because of this, this committee can shape the nature of your PTA and can help set your PTA up for future success. The executive committee (the elected roles on your PTA board) are in office for a one year term (with a term limit of two consecutive years). This means that there are new PTA officers entering into leadership every year! Finding passionate and qualified volunteers for these roles is the work of your Nominating Committee. Who can serve on a Nominating Committee? The Nominating Committee consists of three PTA members who are elected at a membership meeting at least 30 days before the officer elections take place. Things to keep in mind when electing your Nominating Committee: • Members of the Nominating Committee must be elected. They may not just volunteer for the job and they cannot be appointed by the board of directors or president. • A candidate for the Nominating Committee must be a member of the local PTA for at least 15 days preceding her/his election. • The Nominating Committee cannot include the current PTA president or school principal. Neither the PTA president nor the school principal may participate in the committee’s deliberations. • Nominating Committee members may not serve on the committee for more than two consecutive years. Additionally, the members of the Nominating Committee members should have a strong knowledge of the PTA’s goals, needs and culture as finding qualified PTA officer candidates can be a challenge. Connections within the school community are helpful in reaching potential candidates. Don't forget - Nominating Committee members are still eligible to be nominated for an elected office! When should your Nominating Committee be elected and start work? The goal of the Nominating Committee is to present to your membership a signed and dated report stating the names of one or more candidates for each office to be elected at least 15 days prior to the election. Giving your Nominating Committee time to locate candidates allows for the best possible slate of candidates. State guidance suggests that the Nominating Committee be elected at the first general membership meeting of the school year. This may be difficult for PTA’s that are still getting their year organized. Having the committee in place by the first of the year is a great goal, this way the committee will have a few months to work prior to the election. How can your current board support the Nominating Committee? Setting up your Nominating Committee for success is very important! It is recommended that the PTA president conduct an orientation meeting shortly after the committee is elected. Topics to discuss at this first meeting include: 1. The president must not be involved in the Nominating Committee process or selection of officers. 2. The committee must hold its own counsel and have honest discussions about individuals being considered for nomination. 3. The committee must keep their work confidential and the group should discuss what confidentiality means. 4. Develop a committee calendar and double-check relevant dates and deadlines paying special attention to your electronic voting policy if needed: • Dates of PTA events for the year. • Dates of local PTA membership meetings. • Date of the meeting during which the election is to occur. • Date the nominating committee report is due to the local PTA members. At this orientation meeting, the president can assist the committee by providing: • The PTA’s current membership roster • The WSPTA Uniform Bylaws* • The current WSPTA Nominating Committee Handbook* • The local PTA’s standing rules • Job descriptions for all elected positions • A sample “Nominating Committee Recommendation Form”* • A sample “Nominating Committee Report”* *These forms can be found on the WSPTA PTA Leaders webpage under either Governance or Leader Resources. What does a Nominating Committee need to consider when choosing a candidate? Nominating Committee meetings give committee members the opportunity to review the roles that need to be filled and any potential candidates, including recommendations from board members and/or their PTA community. All candidates must be given the same scrutiny and evaluation. Candidates who wish to be considered for co-officer positions can be considered together as long as the opportunity to serve together is something that both candidates agree to prior to the election. According to the WSPTA Uniform Bylaws, there are also some minimum qualifications for any role under consideration. The Nominating Committee is the responsible for confirming the following for each candidate being considered: • Candidate is a PTA member (though not necessarily a member of the pertinent PTA) at least 15 days preceding the election for local PTAs. • Candidate must be willing to attend required PTA training for the position to which he or she will be elected. • Candidate must be enthusiastic and supportive of the local PTA. • Candidate must believe in the purposes of PTA. • Candidate should have previous experience in PTA, though other association work may also be considered. • Candidate should have knowledge of PTA and its role in the school and community. • Candidate should be relied upon to give PTA a satisfactory level of priority and commitment. • Candidate should have good relationships with people. • Candidate must be fair, objective, able to subordinate personal interests to the interests and well-being of the local PTA or council. • Candidate should have vision and be innovative. • Candidate must be at least 18 years old. ![]() Frequently Asked Questions Q: If I make a recommendation to the Nominating Committee, will that person automatically be on the Nomination Report? A: All recommendations received by the Nominating Committee are recommendations rather than nominations. Think of these recommendations as suggestions that the committee will then take and use to help inform their decision-making process. Q: Does the Nominating Committee elect the officers? A: The Nominating Committee is the group that will NOMINATE someone for election via its report to the members. The members of your PTA will be the ones who officially elect officers during a general membership meeting. Q: Should the Nominating Committee find someone for every role? A: That is the goal, however, the Nominating Committee should only put forward individuals they feel are well qualified for the position for which they are running. Individuals who are not well-suited or who are not qualified for the position should not be nominated by the committee, even if that position must be left open on the nominating committee report. Just because someone is interested in a position does not mean the committee should put the name forward. Q: If someone isn't nominated by the Nominating Committee, can they still be elected to a role? A: Every qualified person has the right to be “nominated from the floor”, whether in-person or virtually, in the event that they want to run for an office and is not on the Nominating Committee Report of presented slate of candidates. Q: Is the Nominating Committee obligated to nominate a current officer for a second term? A: Current officers are not guaranteed a nomination the second year. Current officers should be evaluated just as you would any candidate. If the committee finds a more qualified candidate, that's who they should nominate. Q: Can a member of the Nominating Committee run for an elected position? A: Yes! However, the committee member should recuse themselves from and leave the room during all discussion about their nominations, including discussion about other potential nominees for that position. Q: What do you do if you cannot find a candidate for a position? A: This is an especially relevant question this year! Because we have been virtual with no in-person events in which to meet and greet with those in our community, it could be harder than ever to find candidates for PTA officers. Here are a couple of ideas to broaden your reach when searching for candidates:
What if you STILL can’t find a candidate for a position?
Have another question about the Nominating Committee that wasn't listed here? Contact Council and we can help! ![]() Additional Election Information: As stated earlier, elections of officers will happen during a general membership meeting. The Washington State PTA offers a script for the proper language to conduct elections in the Nominating Committee Handbook. In the case of an in-person meeting, additional nominees from the floor can be submitted at the time of the election if the candidate was not part of the presented Nominating Committee report. In the case of a virtual election, there will be a stated time that self nominations may be submitted prior to the meeting. Please referrer to the handbook for more information on holding elections. Resources: • Nominating Committee Handbook • Nominating Committee webinar • Sample Recommendation for Nomination (pdf) • Sample Nominating Committee Report (pdf) Special Note from Council: Make sure to express your appreciation to all the leaders who take on the important role of Nominating Committee Member. Being a part of it helps to ensure the strength and viability of your PTA for another year. That is the reason Washington State PTA calls the Nominating Committee, “the most important committee we have”! Northshore Council PTSA is excited to share information about two upcoming Parent Education Events; one on mental health awareness and the other around the conversation of screens & teens. These events are FREE for all Northshore parents and guardians. Check out the details for each of these events below!
![]() Legislative Assembly is over and Focus week is not until mid January… so what now? Well, it is time to cuddle up with a warm cup of coffee (tea or cocoa also work!) and write a story. A story? Yes. It is time to look around and think deeply about what your students need, why they need it, and to develop your persuasive story about these needs to share with principals, school board members, and our state elected leaders. How can you find inspiration? First, go back to your members and ASK what needs their children and families have and what their stories are. You can create an online member survey or even schedule an online chat to gather feedback. Once you have that feedback, you will want to check in with Washington State PTA’s new Legislative Platform which was voted and approved by members at Legislative Assembly in November. Do any of these issues speak to you and your PTA's needs? Once inspiration has struck, build your pitch to legislators. WA State PTA has provided a document to help you do just that! Click here to download. Don't forget to visit our Advocacy Page for more resources to help with developing your PTA story including signing up for Action Alerts from Washington State PTA which will keep you aware of upcoming issues in Olympia this coming year. Questions about Advocacy? Contact Council's VP of Advocacy, Diana Christiansen. It was great to see so many local PTA leaders in attendance for our 2nd meeting of the 20-21 school year!
The meeting kicked off with a Q and A led by our Superintendent, Dr. Michelle Reid. In addition to mentioning that the current plan with online schooling is to stay the course, she also answered many questions regarding topics such as homework, updates on the NSD curriculum resource web page, communication strategies for teachers and parents and building access for PTA’s. There was also a discussion regarding ideas for the district to provide some morale boosting activities for students and families to help with community building while we are still isolating at home for online learning. Dr. Reid welcomed ideas from the group and will investigate how to best provide some community building activities in the district. During the Council Business portion of the meeting, the membership elected Grace Jurado, Liz Nord and Jane Chiodo as the 20-21 Nominating Committee. Next on the agenda was a financial report given by Council Treasurer, Liz Nord. Her report included the Treasurer’s Reports for both September and October, presentation of the newly adopted money handling policy and an update regarding the fulfillment of the Standards of Affiliation. Liz noted that any PTA that needs to create or update their current money handling policy is welcome to use the council’s as a template found here. Lastly, there was an update regarding council goals which involved renaming the goal previously called Leading and Developing our Northshore PTAs and Leaders to Communicating with our Northshore Local PTAs and Leaders. Grace Jurado, Nancy Chamberlain and Melissa Kline worked together to create a new title and verbiage surrounding the elements of the action items in effort to create goals that are concrete and attainable. The membership unanimously voted to update the proposed changes to the council goals as presented. During this meeting we also heard from Northshore Nourishing Network (NNN) Director Sue Freeman. She shared information and tips for PTAs looking to start a successful food drive for their local units. Sue noted that the Northshore Senior Center needs canned vegetables, tuna and chicken for those looking to donate. It was suggested by a member that coordination for a food drive combined with school supply pick up days or porch pick up to gather food donations. Sue also shared that she has created helpful documents for suggested items to donate as well as how to start a free pantry. Learn more about NNN here. We then heard from community leaders including School Board Director Jacqueline McGourty, NSD Partnerships and Volunteer Coordinator Natalie Campbell and the Northshore Schools Foundation Executive Director Carmin Dalziel.
Lastly on the agenda was Council updates on Advocacy, Membership and F.A.C.E. as well as an update from our First Vice President, Jane Chiodo, regarding the WSPTA awards and the Speaker and Events Grants.
Council meetings are a great way to reach other PTA leaders and learn about what is happening in the district and PTA. We hope you will join us for our next general membership meeting on Thursday, January 21st! ![]() The Northshore Nourishing Network (NNN) is a network of partner organizations and individuals. They work to gather information about local and even hyper-local food security resources across Northshore. Their organization aims to not only be a place to find food security resources for those in need, but also a place to find ways to help contribute by volunteering or donating. NNN has put together the documents below as handy reference guides for donating to food banks and little free pantries as well as a list of suggested food bank donation items that most needed. For more information and resources the NNN has put together, visit their website at http://www.nourishingnetworks.net/networks/northshore/
Join us virtually on October 21st at 6:30PM for this upcoming Parent Education event: Parenting on the Same Page! Guest Speakers, Kira Dorrian and Deana Thayer, co-founders of Future Focused Parenting, aim to support parents and caregivers doing the best they can to create a safe loving environment for their children, where everyone works together as a team. This presentation is for any parent or caregiver that wants to thrive rather than just survive throughout their parenting journey. This session helps families get on the same page with their parenting partner or other adults in their children’s lives. Learn strategies for communication, preparing for parenting curveballs, and how to parent with unity even when you disagree. Presentation includes a Q&A for attendees. Talking points of this presentation include:
Register to attend at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/parenting-on-the-same-page-registration-123364748283 Zoom link will be emailed to those who have registered before the event. Note: A Spanish translator will be available during the presentation. Email [email protected] if you would like to utilize this service so we can connect you with the translator before the presentation begins, or if you would like to request translation in another language. Acompañenos por Zoom para nuestro primer evento de KEPTA Parent Education, organizado junto con Northshore Council PTSA! Nuestros oradores invitados desean apoyar a padres y guardianes que quieren crear un ambiente seguro y cariñoso para sus hijos, en el cual todos trabajan como un equipo unido. Parenting on the Same Page (Criando Niños Juntos) Miercoles, el 21 de Octubre de 6:30pm a 8:00pm (incluyendo preguntas y respuestas) https://www.eventbrite.com/x/parenting-on-the-same-page-tickets-123364748283?utm_term=eventname_text Antes del evento, conozcan a nuestros oradores: Kira Dorrian, CHt, HBCE y Deana Thayer, M.Ed. https://futurefocusedparenting.com/ El enlace de Zoom se enviará antes del evento. Un traductor de español estará presente durante el evento. Por favor envíe un correo electronico antes del evento si le gustaría estar asignado al traductor para el evento. Si su PTA está interesada en compartir con su comunidad la grabación de esta presentación, por favor comuníquese con este correo electrónico para obtener una licencia. This event is co-sponsored by Northshore Council PTSA and Kenmore Elementary PTA. ![]()
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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.