WSPTA President’s Power of Connection – March 2021
I recently used the term “PTA Flexible” in a conversation, and someone asked me to explain what that meant. It means that as PTA leaders, we need to be able to change plans quickly and nimbly. For the past year, I think everyone has been living a life of forced flexibility. It’s been exhausting, but…
Category:
Leadership
WSPTA President’s Power of Connection – January 2021
As I left the house to walk my pugs this morning, I noticed that our Texas Bluebonnets are poking up through the soil. It seems early, but it was a welcome sight that made me smile. Those bulbs were given to me by a friend when our kids were in preschool together about eighteen years…
Category:
Leadership
WSPTA President’s Power of Connection – September 2020
I am so inspired by you! The creativity and innovation I’ve seen lately is off the charts! It just goes to show that PTA really is a verb, and you’re all finding new ways to improve the lives of students and families in your communities. Something true about the pandemic is that is has forced…
Category:
Leadership
WSPTA President’s Power of Connection – August 2020
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Do not follow where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” To be a leader in these times means that we must be innovative and imaginative. We can’t use the templates so often used by our predecessors. With that in mind, now is…
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Leadership
WSPTA President’s Power of Connection – June 2020
The pain of the last several weeks is real and may affect each of us differently. For me, the outcry of the nation gives me hope that my black son and everyone else’s black children might face a better future. When my husband and I adopted him, we were told that our lives would be…
Category:
Leadership
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
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
WSPTA President’s Power of Connection – March 2020
Despite restrictions on our ability to gather in person, I see a huge surge in our need to connect with others and lift each other up. We are all in a different place than we were when we began our PTA leadership roles. You may be reading this in a house full of children that…
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Leadership
WSPTA President’s Power of Connection – February 2020
How can you tell if your PTA is “healthy”? One fairly easy and fun way is to apply for one or more of WSPTA’s Awards of Excellence. These are a celebration of how much impact a PTA has in their community, and recognizes PTAs for the great service and programs they provide to their members.…
Category:
Leadership
WSPTA President’s Power of Connection – January 2020
The newness of the year and decade feel like a blank page, just waiting for us to write the next chapter in the history of WSPTA. I testified on behalf of our members recently. As I stood in front of the capitol, I reflected on all those who have advocated for children and families, all…
Category:
Leadership