Dear Members,
It’s the end of August and we have hit the ground running. There is so very much to do this time of year! Families are engaged in the annual “back to school” ritual, preparing children and youth for school. PTAs are gearing up membership drives and planning their events and activities for the year. WSPTA Region Directors and other leaders are holding conferences across the state to train and help local PTA leaders, preparing them for a successful 2019-2020 school year.
Adding to all this busyness, I am working with the state leadership to begin the 2020-2023 strategic planning process. As part of this, we are conducting a “Listening Tour.” We hope to visit all of the regions between now and March 2020 to hear about your concerns and the challenges you face in your PTA. We will integrate what we learn into the plan, which will be published next summer. For the following three years, we will use that plan to better meet your needs, improve our association, and improve the lives of children in our state.
About the time we wrap up the last of the region conferences we will dive right into the 2019 WSPTA Legislative Assembly. This year it will be held at Bellevue College on October 26-27. This annual conference provides PTA members a chance to influence, update, and change our legislative platform. Empower your PTA and send a delegate to this democracy-in-action event. You will be glad that you did.
Remember to breathe!
Andrew L. Estep
WSPTA Executive Director