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STEM + Families Science Festivals

June 22, 2018 - August 26, 2018

National PTA and Bayer have teamed up to promote Science Festivals with two unique grants available depending on your type of PTA. The 2018 - 2019 National PTA STEM + Families Science Grants sponsored by Bayer will award $1,000 to 30 local PTAs to host a STEM + Families Science Festival, and $3,000 to five State, District, Council or Region PTAs to partner with local PTAs in hosting Science Festivals. Learn more and apply.

STEM + Families Math Grants

June 22, 2018 - August 26, 2018

National PTA and Mathnasium are partnering to empower families to support student success and fill a critical gap in STEM education. The 2018 National PTA STEM + Families Math Grants sponsored by Mathnasium award 35 local PTAs $1,000 to host one STEM + Families Math event with students and families at their Elementary School. Learn more and apply.

Healthy Lifestyles Grant

June 22, 2018 - August 26, 2018

National PTA and GOYA-Move are partnering to support Healthy Lifestyles month by offering $1,000 to 15 local PTAs who commit to hosting a "Get Off Your Apps" Physical Activity Event at their elementary and middle schools during the month of November. Learn more and apply.

National PTA Executive Director Elected Chair of Learning First Alliance Board

National PTA Executive Director Elected Chair of Learning First Alliance Board

ALEXANDRIA, Va., (July 17, 2018)—The Learning First Alliance (LFA), a partnership of leading education associations representing more than 10 million parents, educators and policymakers, has elected Nathan R. Monell, CAE, executive director of National PTA, as chair of its Board of Directors for the 2018-2019 term.

“Nathan has a strong record of leadership and excellent association management skills, which will guide LFA as we work toward the continual, long-term improvement of public education and helping every student succeed,” said Richard M. Long, executive director of the Learning First Alliance. “His knowledge of the issues facing public education, students and families will help LFA work to advance public education at this critical time.”

As chair, Monell is committed to furthering the collaborative work of LFA’s diverse membership.

“I am very pleased to lead the Learning First Alliance at this important time for public education,” said Monell. “The voice and leadership of all stakeholders in the education community are needed more than ever to ensure that all students receive a high-quality education in a safe, healthy and supportive environment. I look forward to working with the Board of Directors, members and partners of LFA to advance public education and make sure every child has every opportunity to succeed and grow into a happy and healthy adult.”

National PTA's mission is to make a difference for the education, health, safety and well-being of every child and make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.

Monell has spent his career working to improve the lives of marginalized individuals, including work with youth and adult mental health services, educational and employment outcomes, health and substance abuse prevention service, and housing and social services for families. Prior to joining National PTA in 2015, he served as president and CEO of the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships, the advocacy, technical assistance and training organization for the federal GEAR UP program (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs).

In addition to Monell, LFA’s Board of Directors also elected Marla Ucelli-Kashyap, Assistant to the President for Educational Issues at the American Federation of Teachers, as its 2018-2019 secretary/treasurer. JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals and 2017-2018 LFA chair, also will serve on the executive committee as immediate past president.

Since it was incorporated in 1996, LFA has brought together the leading national education associations, which collectively represent 10 million parents, educators and policymakers, to collaborate on a variety of issues. Monell and Ucelli-Kashyap were instrumental in the development of LFA’s most recent publication, The Elements of Success: 10 Million Speak on Schools that Work, a compendium of research and best practices for building successful schools that is being used at schools and school districts across the country. Over the next year, LFA will convene several meetings between its members, business, policy and philanthropy communities to further the research and ideas presented in the Elements of Success.

About the Learning First Alliance

The Learning First Alliance is a partnership of leading education organizations with more than 10 million members dedicated to improving student learning in America's public schools. Alliance members include: American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education; AASA, The School Superintendents Association; American Federation of Teachers; American School Counselor Association; Consortium for School Networking; Learning Forward; National Association of Elementary School Principals; National Association of Secondary School Principals; National Education Association; National PTA; National School Boards Association; and National School Public Relations Association. To learn more about LFA, visit http://www.learningfirst.org/.

Membership Matters: Focus on the Mission

Source: National PTA One Voice Blog

FastCompany recently published an article asking, “Which brands inspire consumers the most with their missions?” The article, written by Adele Peters, reports on an annual survey called the World Value Index. The World Value Index evaluates companies, nonprofits and some social movements that have come to be identified as brands–and studies how well their purpose or mission succeeds in inspiring consumers. Do you think your community knows the PTA mission by your activities and actions? “To make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.” Enso, which published a list of the top 10 brands on the World Value Index, identified two questions that you can ask yourselves and your board to improve your community’s awareness of the PTA mission: Are we inspiring our parents to use their power to support the mission? What could we be doing more of to inspire and engage people in our purpose and create more value? Take some time this summer to answer these questions with your board. This past year, National PTA served 16.5 million children out of the 50 plus million children in the USA. Out of all PTAs, more than half—55%—are in Title 1 schools. A recent PTA study asked parents if they believed that their local PTA lived up to the mission. The response was eye-opening as many participants were unaware of the mission. Once they heard the mission, they felt that ours is a cause that they could support. We have a great deal more work to do to secure our children’s future. You are our grassroots ambassadors and we need you to live the mission. PTA is about advocacy, family engagement, and student success. As PTA, we believe in speaking up for all children and our members lend their support on all advocacy efforts both federally and statewide. PTA is the oldest and largest volunteer child advocacy association and has been for the past 120 years. And we’re not slowing down. Over the last year, National PTA endorsed 17 bills and sent over 70 letters to Congress to advocate on behalf of children and families. We know that parents first want information to help them raise their children. Please take a few minutes to check out the PTA website, where you can find a wide variety of information under the Family Resources tab, such as our parent guides, health, safety and special education information. Or, feel free to share the Our Children Online Magazine, which offers more general parenting advice. As PTA members, you can take those resources and deliver them to your community. Family engagement resources and activities can be found on our website as well.  The School of Excellence program embodies the values of PTA—school and community improvement through effective family engagement—and can bring the home and school closer together.  The program provides a roadmap on how to implement change in your school. Enrollment starts now and ends Oct. 1, 2018. National PTA also offers grants for other activities, including arts education and STEM programs. It is important to check the PTA website often. As you plan for your year ahead, take a hard look at our PTA mission and plan activities that promote student success and family engagement. Our education systems and schools are facing difficult issues such as school safety and budget cuts—so get involved. We need YOU. Thank you for all that do in the name of PTA for families, children and educators each and every day. Mary Jo Neil is a national service representative for National PTA.

Membership Matters: The Annual Report

Source: National PTA One Voice Blog

Ending the year right is as important as getting it started right. One important and valuable step for wrapping up your PTA year is putting together and offering your members some type of Annual Report. This is an end-of-the-year report that sums up all of the great work your PTA has done and is a powerful resource to inspire support for your association.

Among other things, the Annual Report allows:

• Everyone recruiting members to easily show what your PTA has done and what their membership will support.
• Everyone who is or has been a member to see what their membership helped to support.
• Everyone in your community to see what your PTA accomplished.
• Your PTA to show appreciation for everyone who supported your initiatives with their attendance, volunteer work, support or sponsorships.
• Your school to show how family engagement contributed to making a difference in your school community.

Putting an Annual Report together is not difficult. You may want to include the following:

• The total number of members for the year.
• The PTA mission-related activities/initiatives organized or sponsored by your PTA to support the students, the teachers, the families and/or the community—every group impacted by your work. List all your PTA did throughout the year:
  • to welcome all families
  • to promote two-way meaningful communication
  • to empower families to support their children’s academic achievement
  • to empower families to secure their child’s safety, well-being and best learning, social and emotional opportunities
  • to work alongside your school leaders to secure public funding and resources that support the best learning conditions in your school or community
  • to work collaboratively with the business, faith-based organizations and various other communities your school is part of?
• A list of all activities organized or sponsored by your PTA that raised funds to support the mission-related activities or initiatives
• A thank you section with:
  • A list of all volunteers who helped to make possible all activities or initiatives of the PTA.
  • A list of businesses, individuals and/or organizations who supported the work of your PTA.
• Other special accomplishments of your PTA.

Your annual report document doesn’t need to be wordy. Just a reflection of all the work that you did. I’ve seen annual reports in the form of a written document. I’ve seen annual reports in the form of fun videos with pictures of all the activities the PTA organized throughout the year. Because of this exercise, you may discover your PTA is already doing the work of a National PTA School of Excellence and would only need to register and complete the application process to be recognized.

Distributing your Annual Report via a short message with an attachment or a link to a simple PDF or video shared via social media channels or text is also a great way to inspire your members to renew their membership and to continue to support PTA. We can’t wait to see your annual reports!

Need some help? Check out these resources:

• Ready, Set, Lead Guide
• National PTA’s 2017 Annual Report

Thank you so much for all you do to advance the PTA mission for all children.

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Ivelisse Castro is a national service representative for National PTA.