Awards, Grants, and More Awards...Oh My!

Ohio PTA and National PTA offer grants, school recognition, and awards. Will you participate this year or plan to participate next school year? Has your unit, current high school seniors, or YOU applied (or plan to apply) for any of these awards (grants)?

Achievement

Special Recognition
http://www.ohiopta.org/Portals/0/PDF/Fillable_Achievement_Award__2016.pdf


Advocacy

Ohio PTA
http://www.ohiopta.org/Portals/0/PDF/Advocacy_Award_Application_2012_gjc_app.pdf

National PTA
https://www.pta.org/home/events/event-list/event-detail/2017/10/24/default-calendar/2018-advocacy-awards-submissions-open


Arts in Schools

National PTA Mary Lou Anderson Grant
https://www.pta.org/home/run-your-pta/Awards-Grants/Mary-Lou-Anderson-Grant


District Awards

Helping Hands
http://www.ohiopta.org/Portals/0/Fillable%20PDFs/for%20fillableHELPING%20HandsAward_draft2017.pdf

Outstanding District Educator
http://www.ohiopta.org/Portals/0/Fillable%20PDFs/for%20fillable2017-2018AwardsOutstandingDistrict.pdf


Diversity and Inclusion

M.A.C.K.
http://www.ohiopta.org/Portals/0/PDF/MACK%20Award%20Rules.pdf
http://ohiopta.org/PROGRAMS.aspx#45752-diversity--inclusion

NPTA D & I Award
https://www.pta.org/home/run-your-pta/Awards-Grants/Jan-Harp-Domene-Diversity-and-Inclusion-Award


Family-School Partnership

FSP Award
http://www.ohiopta.org/Portals/0/PDF/NEW_REVISED_OHIO%20FAMILY%20SCHOOL%20PARTNERSHIP%20%20%20AWARD_Certificate_of_Achievement_March_15_2015-lam%20%20approved%20(1)-1.pdf

The Phoebe Apperson Hearst Awards
https://www.pta.org/home/run-your-pta/Awards-Grants/Phoebe-Apperson-Hearst-Awards

School of Excellence

https://www.pta.org/home/programs/National-PTA-School-of-Excellence


Take Your Family to School Week

https://www.pta.org/home/events/event-list/event-detail/2017/11/09/default-calendar/pta-live-take-your-family-to-school-week-grants

Congratulations to the Take Your Family to School Week (Feb. 11-17) Grant Recipients

• Holly Lane Elementary PTA -- Westlake, OH 
• Falls Lenox & Early Childhood Center PTA -- Olmsted Falls, OH 
• Hilliard Elementary PTA -- Westlake, OH

Health, Welfare, and Safety

D.E.S.C. DRUG EDUCATION SCHOOL CHALLENGE AWARD
http://www.ohiopta.org/Portals/0/PDF/DESC%20Application%20Final.pdf

School Nurse
http://ohiopta.org/Portals/0/PDF/AwardsSchoolNurse.pdf


Membership

Bronze
http://www.ohiopta.org/Portals/0/PDF/Bronze_Award_smh_2017%20(1).pdf

Try to qualify for the following?
#MembershipMatters
http://www.ohiopta.org/Portals/0/PDF/OHIO%20PTA%20MEMBERSHIP%20AWARDS_smh.pdf


Scholarships

Academic
http://www.ohiopta.org/Portals/0/Fillable%20PDFs/Acad_Scholarship_Apps_2018-%20fillable.pdf

Technical
http://www.ohiopta.org/Portals/0/Fillable%20PDFs/Tech_Scholarship_Apps_2018%20-%20filable.pdf

Special Needs
http://www.ohiopta.org/Portals/0/Fillable%20PDFs/Special_Need_Scholarship_Apps_2018-fillable.pdf

PTAs Celebrate in February!

February will be a time of celebrations for PTAs in Ohio! Calling all units/councils/schools to get ready for Take Your Family to School Week, Public School Shout Out Week, and Founders’ Day. 

     

•      First, we have Take Your Family to School Week during February 11-17. Hope you have some events planned to bring families into your school. There are great ideas for programs and events at pta.org.

•      February 11-17 is also Public School Shout Out Week. This is a week to show your pride in your school and all public schools. Ohio PTA and the other large education organizations in Ohio worked together to develop this new campaign to promote public education in our state. Please make plans to share your Take Your Family to School Week activities using #PublicSchoolShoutOut. Your principal and superintendent are part of this effort too, so please coordinate your plans with them.

•       It is also Founders’ Day on February 17. Please use this occasion to share your pride in public schools and your dedication to PTA as well. Check out the Ohio PTA website, ohiopta.org for ideas for Founders’ Day celebrations.

Inbox your pics to us from February celebrations. We would love to place them on our FB page. 

Upcoming February Events!

Happy 2018 PTA Leaders!

February will be a time of celebrations for PTAs in Ohio! First, we have Take Your Family to School Week during February 11-17. I hope you have some events planned to bring families into your school. There are great ideas for programs and events at pta.org.

February 11-17 is also Public School Shout Out Week. This is a week to show your pride in your school and all public schools. Ohio PTA and the other large education organizations in Ohio worked together to develop this new campaign to promote public education in our state. Please make plans to share your Take Your Family to School Week activities using #PublicSchoolShoutOut. Your principal and superintendent are part of this effort too, so please coordinate your plans with them. The attached letter explains more about the Public School Shout Out campaign. A toolkit will be sent to you soon.

It’s also Founders’ Day on February 17. Please use this occasion to share your pride in public schools and your dedication to PTA as well.  Check out the Ohio PTA website, www.ohiopta.org for ideas for Founders’ Day celebrations.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday break. Stay warm and get ready for Take Your Family to School Week, Public Schools Shout Out and Founders’ Day!

Susan Hans

Ohio PTA President

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear PTA Leader,

Thank you for the work you do for students. We have come together to let you know that we are proud of you. And we are grateful for your passion and dedication to helping our students succeed.

As your professional organizations, we are uniting around an effort to lift up the great work you do, highlight it and celebrate it by telling and sharing stories from our public schools in which everyone in our communities can be proud.

Whether you are a teacher, janitor, bus driver, cafeteria worker, school nurse, classroom aide, principal, superintendent, school board member, treasurer, business manager, parent or any number of other people who make schools work well, the role you play is critical to student success. We are proud of the work you do for students and want to invite you to be part of our celebration of that pride.

Our statewide groups are gathering stories and information for our #PublicSchoolShoutout campaign. We invite you to use #PublicSchoolShoutout to post photos and videos on your social media explaining the great work and cool things happening in your schools and classrooms every day. #PublicSchoolShoutout is a way for us all to showcase why we are proud of Ohio's public schools. Please join us by using the hashtag.

While our #PublicSchoolShoutout campaign will continue throughout the year, our efforts will culminate in a week of activities in schools and classrooms Feb. 11-17, PTA Take Your Family to School Week. Mark your calendars - we'll ask you to join us by hosting a walk-in before school starts, invite members of your community in to see your school or plan special classroom activities to celebrate and show why you are proud of your neighborhood public school with a #PublicSchoolShoutout. Use your own ideas or one of ours - we'll provide toolkits with easy-to-follow steps on how you can celebrate with us. Then post your photos and videos on your social media with the hashtag #PublicSchoolShoutout so we can all see how you're celebrating your pride in Ohio's public schools and like and retweet your posts.

The campaign goal?

Simply to generate and expand a positive, wonderful pride in our public schools.

You work hard. So do your students. You all deserve to be celebrated. Won't you join us?

Sincerely,

The organizations uniting in the #PublicSchoolShoutout effort:

Buckeye Association of School Administrators - Kirk Hamilton, Executive Director

Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators - Julie Davis, Executive Director

Ohio Association of Public School Employees - Joe Rugola, Executive Director

Ohio Association of School Business Officials - Jim Rowan, Executive Director

Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators - Ken Baker, Executive Director

Ohio Education Association - Becky Higgins, President

Ohio Federation of Teachers - Melissa Cropper, President

Ohio PTA - Susan Hans, President

Ohio School Boards Association - Rick Lewis, Executive Director

Ohio School Public Relations Association - Crystal Davis, President

Get Ready for February 11-17!

Ohio School Breakfast Challenge

Announcing the Ohio School Breakfast Challenge Statewide 2018 “Champions of Breakfast Awards”

It’s time to share your school breakfast best practice! Nominate your school for the “Champions of Breakfast Award.” This award recognizes individual schools or districts that demonstrate collaborative efforts to create, enhance or expand their school breakfast program.

Nomination forms and a description of the award are available here. Nominations will be accepted through January 31, 2018. Email completed nomination forms tobreakfast@drink-milk.com. Awards will be announced during National School Breakfast Week, March 5-8, 2018.

Celebrate Take Your Family to School Week All Week Long

Source: National PTA One Voice Blog

Take Your Family to School Week (Feb. 11-17) is more than just a one-night event, it is a weeklong celebration of family engagement and the great work PTAs have done to support the school community.

This year we came up with an easy way for every family to participate in celebrating PTA—Daily themes!

Maker Monday: Celebrate the arts in your school community.

• Showcase the artwork of your 2018 Reflections participants by creating a display in the school entryway. Share pictures of students, teachers, and parents enjoying the display using #PTAProud.

Try-it Tuesday: Help create healthy eating habits by encouraging families to try a new food or recipe.

• Pick a fruit or vegetable to be an honored guest! Set-up tasting stations throughout the cafeteria where students can try your featured ingredient prepared in different ways. Share the recipes that you used with your school community.

Writer Crush Wednesday: Share your love of reading!

• Set up an area before or after school for students to read classic love poems and to write their own. There is no better valentine then one that comes directly from the heart! Check out this list for some school appropriate poems.

Techie Thursday: Use this day to highlight the “T” in Stem

• Share an interview with the school technology administrator or robotics coach and ask them what things they wish the greater school community new about the technology opportunities within your school. Even better, set-up an online chat where parents or families can ask the questions live!

Family Celebration Friday: Celebrate all the families in your school community!

• Use this day to take the time to thank everyone for celebrating with us this year!

With these themes, every PTA member and school can participate in Take Your Family to School Week. We cannot wait to celebrate the founding of National PTA with you all week long! Remember to use #PTAProud to show how you are celebrating Take Your Family to School Week on social media! And, Make sure to share your events with us!

Alyssa Montchal is a Programs & Partnerships Program Manager at National PTA.

4 Reasons to Attend the 2018 Legislative Conference

Source: National PTA One Voice Blog

By Marques Ivey, Vice President of Advocacy

At our core, National PTA is an advocacy association working to improve the lives of children and families. Attending the National PTA Legislative Conference (LegCon) March 13-15 is a great way to enhance your advocacy skills to be more effective in your community. I have attended LegCon before, and each year I still find myself learning something new, or hearing a perspective I never would have encountered otherwise.

This year’s theme is “Get in the Game” to celebrate the Olympic spirit. We are excited to showcase how you can incorporate the spirit of sports, teamwork, and sense of accomplishment into your advocacy work during this year’s conference.

LegCon will be bigger than ever this year! There are the top four reasons you should attend:

1. Workshops that will help you influence education policy

At LegCon, participants will get a chance to learn from PTA leaders and experts who have used advocacy skills to improve public education in their communities, states and at the federal level. Participants will engage in interactive skills-building workshops to improve their own advocacy abilities and will go home with best practices to share within their PTA network.

2. Discussions and networking to better understand how PTA advocates shape public policy

At last year’s LegCon, I was able to network with a lot of great PTA advocates from around the country from Alaska to Puerto Rico and even some from Europe who work with our military families. It was interesting to hear from them about their challenges in their communities and share ideas on how to improve our kids’ education. This year will be no different. I am excited to join other PTA members and learn how we can advocate more effectively in our school districts and states.

3. Meetings on Capitol Hill with your Senators and Members of Congress

My favorite part of each LegCon is the opportunity to speak with federal policymakers about issues facing our schools and families during National PTA’s Capitol Hill Day. I was very excited to discuss these issues with members of Congress and their staff and to have them hear from us—America’s parents, teachers and community leaders—about ways to improve education. They want to hear directly from people like you who know their schools and communities best.

4. Improved Capitol Hill Day Schedule

This year, Capitol Hill Day will be on Wednesday instead of Thursday. This new schedule will allow us to debrief and have follow-up workshops with each other on Thursday morning. The goal is for PTA advocates to walk away with even more skills and understanding on how to impact policies in their communities.

I can’t wait to “Get in the Game” and continue PTA’s legacy of advocating for every child to have the opportunity to reach their full potential. I hope you will join me and hundreds of other PTA advocates and me at this year’s LegCon.

Register here to attend the National PTA Legislative Conference.

Marques Ivey is the Vice President of Advocacy, Chair of the Legislation Committee, and member of the board of directors for the National PTA. He is married to Stacey, an educator for almost 19 years and together have three children.