Source: National PTA / IVELISSE CASTRO
Membership is a year-round effort. It never ends. As PTA ambassadors, leaders are to constantly promote the value of PTA, and with it, ignite interest in our mission for people to join in. Our PTA voice is more powerful, and our PTA advocacy is stronger the more members we have.
The new year is full of additional opportunities to invite everyone to join PTA this second half of the National PTA membership year (7/1-6/30.) What are those opportunities?
- To begin with, all of your remaining meetings and activities in your PTA calendar for this year.
- To continue, all National PTA programs and activities to celebrate Take Your Family to School Week (TYFTSW). Choose one of the National PTA program categories (Health & Safety, Literacy, Digital Learning, STEM) to plan your event and create a theme for your week. On February 17, 2018, PTA celebrates 122 years of existence advocating to improve the education and well-being of all children. At your Take Your Family to School Week activities, enthusiastically and confidently invite everyone in your community to “Be part of our PTA history and join our PTA.”
- In March, take advantage of our PTA Family Reading Experience resources available at PTA.org/FRE to celebrate National Reading Month. This is a great opportunity to work with your local librarians to get families (adults and children) to visit their local public libraries, encourage them to sign up to obtain their library cards and borrow books to read at home. In the process, don’t forget to invite all families and community members to support similar PTA efforts by joining your PTA.
- Our PTA Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit and the PTAKit.org guide for organizing a PTA Program are great resources to help you plan and celebrate national awareness on issues such as:
- In March: National Nutrition Month, Women’s History Month, Youth Art Month, National Music in Our Schools Month, National Poison Prevention Month
- In April: Autism Awareness Month, Earth Month, Month of the Military Child, Financial Literacy Month, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, National Volunteer Month, National Youth Sports Safety Month
- In May, National PTA Teacher Appreciation Week, Mental Health Awareness Month, National Bike Month, National Foster Care Month, National Skin Cancer Awareness Month, Clean Air Month, Healthy Vision Month, National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month, Haitian Heritage Month,
- Jewish American Heritage Month In June: National Safety Month, African-American Music Appreciation Month
These are only possible ideas for which multiple resources are already available. In the end, all will depend on what the needs of your students and school community are, as PTA you want to be relevant. If your families need to be empowered to help their children with test taking, that should be your focus at that time; look at our PTA resources on assessment and coordinate with your school administrators. Making our PTA mission relevant to your students and your community by responding to their needs should be the north that guides the focus of your work.
Just remember to always have a way of inviting all to support our PTA work with their PTA membership. And then, share your work with your state congress PTA. They have multiple ways to recognize your membership and mission advancement efforts. So, reach out to them, and share and celebrate your accomplishments with all of us for the benefit of all children.
Thank you for all you do to grow membership “To make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.”
