WSPTA President’s Power of Connection – May 2020
As we wrap up our first virtual convention, I think about all the unknowns we are all facing in this uncertain time. In pivoting from our planned in-person convention, we had to solve problems we’d never had before. We had to think outside the box. This was new for all of us, and we asked…
Category:
Leadership
Transitions
Though the last couple of months have been a little bit of a blur, there are some things that haven’t changed. One of them is that dishes still need to get done every day—heavy sigh. Another is that the end of the PTA year is approaching and it’s time to think about leadership transition plans…
Category:
Leadership
Have You Checked Your WSPTA Standards of Affiliation (SOA) Checklist?
As we near the end of the year, it is a great time for local leaders to review their PTA’s 2019-2020 Standards of Affiliation (SOA) Checklist Agreement. Your board of directors should review what your PTA has accomplished and what still needs to be done, report it to your membership and record it in your…
Category:
Leadership
May 2020 – WSPTA Executive Director Message
Dear Members, I am so excited! In a few short days, we will be holding our first-ever virtual convention. Almost all state PTAs opted to cancel their spring conferences. We decided to jump into this virtual world with both feet. It has been an incredible challenge and far more work than the in-person convention would…
Category:
Leadership
WSPTA President’s Power of Connection – April 2020
I am inspired by Swiss Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross who said, “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” Our world has been shaken, and we are all trying to find…
Category:
Leadership
Virtual Staff Appreciation Ideas
National Staff Appreciation Week is May 4-8, and National Teacher Day is May 5. School buildings are closed, but staff members are still working hard – delivering learning online, connecting with families, preparing meals and delivering them, providing childcare, and cleaning facilities. Many PTAs have staff appreciation activities each year – but what can be…
Category:
Leadership
2020 Supplemental Operating and Capital Budgets Signed by Governor
Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Friday afternoon, March 27, Governor Jay Inslee signed the 2020 supplemental operating and capital budgets. The Governor acknowledged that in normal times he would have signed the budget with very few changes. “These are not normal times, however, and we need to look ahead to our falling revenues…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
April 2020 – WSPTA Executive Director Message
Dear Members, As we cope with the pandemic, I thought I would share with you some of the lessons I learned living through the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s. Like most gay men of my generation, I was greatly impacted by that awful disease, losing friends and a partner/husband. It was a terrible…
Category:
Leadership
Family and Community Engagement During This Time of COVID-19
Guest Post Provided by Judy East, WSPTA Family and Community Engagement Committee member COVID-19 has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. Daily routines interrupted. Shopping is a daily adventure now. Trips canceled. And our children are with us all the time as “social distancing” doesn’t include our own kids, sadly. (Only kidding…mostly!) Our PTA lives…
Category:
Family Engagement
Taking Care of Business Through Virtual Meetings
*Update 3/27/20:* WSPTA and National PTA are working hard to bring you the best possible information as quickly as we have it. New information has come to us from National PTA President Leslie Boggs. “After visiting with our legal counsel and parliamentarian, here is what we learned: In common law, the cy pres doctrine [a…
Category:
Leadership