Get Ready for Take Your Family to School Week

For over 120 years, PTA has been encouraging families to get more involved in their child's education. Help us celebrate during Take Your Family to School Week — February 13-17.

Not sure what event to host?

Check out these ideas for fun family education events:

• Family Reading Experience (Powered by Kindle): Engage the whole family in reading activities. (Grades K-5)
• The Smart Talk: Create a family agreement together outlining the ground rules for how children will use their smartphones and devices safely and responsibly. (Grades K-12)
• Host healthy events like a health fair, healthy cooking class or playground clean up. (Grades K-12)

Don't forget to promote your event!

Use our promotional fliers, posters, invitation letters and social media messages to generate excitement and awareness for your Take Your Family to School Week at PTA.org/TYFTSW.

Make sure to tag your social media posts with the hashtag #PTAProud so other PTAs can see them!

Don’t Miss Out!

Lori Fontana, Membership Coordinator and Dania Welch, Membership/Insurance Manager

Don’t miss out on your unit’s chance to win and grow membership at the same time. Your unit can become a part of the celebration for membership growth!

Membership Demographic Growth Award Contests:

• To qualify for the drawing in any or all categories, your unit must complete three out of the four ideas to grow membership in that demographic.
• Your unit will also need to submit proof of the activities to your Region Membership Chair (RMC) by May 31.
• Your unit will need to show at least 5% overall membership growth over last year by May 31.
• Check out this document for ways to increase your chances to win with even higher membership growth!

(All members must be registered on your portal to win.)

CONTEST DRAWING: Two winners in each category, a total of six winners, will be drawn at the 2017 Summer Leadership Conference in July to win $250 each.

You can find Membership Dues Payment Slips here.

Are your members registered on your Unit Portal? You can find all the training videos and learn how here.

Why PTA Advocacy Matters

Politics is always personal. After all, what could be more personal than creating a better future for your children?

The “Why PTA Advocacy Matters” series showcases the personal stories of PTA members who are changing lives across the country through their advocacy efforts. Read their inspiring stories here.

2017 National PTA Federal Public Policy Agenda + Legislative Checklist for the 115th Congress

Download: National PTA Guide to Impacting Public Policy

Download: National PTA Legislative Checklist

SLC Save the Date!

Carol Raymond, Operations/Events Manager

Summer Leadership Conference | July 21-23, 2017, Utica College

Utica College is a casual, relaxing and scenic environment where PTA members from around the state have an opportunity to network with state PTA leaders and one another, and to expand their leadership skills.

Past attendees have found the information interesting, useful, motivational and supportive. It is also a great opportunity to meet new PTA friends and share ideas.

This year we are looking to the future of PTA! Save the date to join us and learn how you can take your PTA unit to new and exciting places.

PTA…IT’S THE TIME, IT’S THE PLACE

Instagram Account + Website Update

Bonnie Russell, Immediate Past President and Technology/Communications Special Committee Chair and
Aimee Tweedie, Communications/Marketing Manager

In case you missed it:

We recently launched the NYS PTA Instagram account, so please follow us and share this great news with the members of your unit/council.

We are also kicking off a website redesign. We recently sent a survey to all our members asking for feedback on our website. The deadline for feedback is today, February 3, so please fill out the survey ASAP if you haven't already, and encourage your members to as well. The more information we receive from our members, the better the new website will be in meeting their needs.

Take the survey here!

Would You Like to Review Books?

Would you like to have input into educational materials, while earning free books for your own use and for your school? Now is your chance to have a positive impact on several million young readers, and receive 100 free books for your classroom plus a 300 book donation to your school.

Wilbooks occasionally asks professional educators to review selected titles. Teachers who have reviewed books in the past have told us that this process typically requires less than two hours to complete.

Educators who would like to earn 400 free books while being part of this exciting program should go to: www.wilbooks.com.

Attention:

You received this email because you are an officer of your PTA unit, a PTA council officer, or a region board member, and you provided your email address.