Livonia PTSA Council Courier

Cleveland PTA had a successful holiday event that benefited their staff, and took the guess work out of gift giving for parents. The Festive Fireplace of Giving! Each staff member was asked to compile a list of items they NEEDED for their classrooms, items they WOULD LIKE for their classrooms, and PERSONAL gifts they enjoy receiving. They were also asked to include stores they would enjoy receiving gift cards from. We displayed these lists in our front hallway and also created a sign up for parents to use. EVERY SINGLE staff member received items from their lists! In fact, the response was incredible! Our staff were simply in awe, especially our specials staff. It's not often they would receive gifts during the holidays, and they were completely overjoyed! And the parents? Well, we received so many compliments from parents on how it was such a great idea and that they appreciated knowing exactly what teachers needed or wanted. Happy staff AND happy parents? It's WIN - WIN! We will definitely be bringing this event back next year!

Andrea Malenfant

Cleveland PTA Vice President

We had a terrific turnout on January 18th at the new Stevenson Performing Arts Center, recognizing the work of some of Livonia's finest artists, authors, photographers, musicians, choreographers, and film makers! We are so proud of the skill and creativity these students showed!

We had 114 participants this year, with entries from each of these schools: Buchanan, Cleveland, Coolidge, Grant, Hoover, Roosevelt, Webster, Riley, Emerson, Frost, Churchill, Franklin, Stevenson. Their projects brought to life their impression of the theme, "Within Reach."

Please join us on Saturday, May 19th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Stevenson High School, for the Michigan PTA celebration of those projects that advanced to the state level. We will find out at that event which projects will be advancing to the national level.

We would like to thank Cyndi Pierzynski for over 10 years of leadership in the Reflections program! She will be hanging up her organizer hat at the end of this season, and handing the district chairperson baton over to Debbie Yates. We appreciate all that you've done for the young artists in Livonia!

We are looking forward to next year's theme: Heroes Around Me. This topic will surely inspire some great art and some touching moments. If you would like more information about how your school can participate, please contact Debbie Yates at debbie.yates@livoniaptsacouncil.org.

This fall, the Cleveland PTA hosted its first family art night. The purpose was originally to bring attention to the Reflections project, since this was only our second year participating. But the more we planned, the more the event turned into something even bigger and better! It was a great event that promoted the community feel we strive for at Cleveland. And we even managed to incorporate two Youth Making a Difference projects into the evening!

We set up seven stations around the school, and had at least one volunteer per station, including a number of terrific students from the high schools. We greeted the families at the door, and showed them which stations were where, and invited them to roam from station to station, participating in whichever activities interested them.

The stations included:

• Reflections Information
• We had a whole section of the gym dedicated to Reflections. My co-chair, Christine Gorden, was there to provide promotional materials and guidelines about the program. We had tables set up for kids to actually work on a Reflections project on the spot. Our intention was to provide the kids and parents everything they needed to walk away that night with everything they needed to participate.
• Make a Postcard for Your Teacher (Youth Making a Difference project #1)
  
• This project was a sneak attack of kindness for our staff members. We didn't tell them it was coming. Students could write or draw whatever they wanted. Our volunteer sorted the postcards and we had the postcards waiting in the teachers' mailboxes the next morning.
• Learn How to Draw Animals & People
• We used step-by-step drawing instructions from some Usborne drawing books, and spread them out on desks in the first grade hallway. We left paper and colored pencils on the desks, and families could learn how to draw things like koalas, jellyfish, and penguins.
• Group Mural
• We had a pre-made design for kids to write and draw on, and then we hung each drawing up on a bulletin board to make a group mural.
• Kindness Rocks (Youth Making a Difference project #2)
• We capitalized on the popularity of the painted rock craze that many students participated in over the summer. Families were encouraged to paint rocks and then hide them where a stranger might find them, to brighten their day.
• To prep for this station, we spray-painted a couple hundred rocks in advance, so the students wouldn't need to wait for their background to dry. We had one table with volunteers set up to distribute the rocks and the paint. We had tables set up in the gym with brushes and water, where the families could paint their rocks. And we had one volunteer stationed outside with a spray can of clear-coat to seal in the paint.
• Crafting With Odds & Ends
• For this station, we solicited donations in advance from any families who had spare arts and crafts supplies that they didn't need anymore. We ended up with a huge donation of just about any kind of craft supply you could hope for. One parent volunteer printed out a few ideas of things to make with odds & ends, and helped the students figure out what to make. It was amazing to see the things that everyone created!
• Newsletter Graphic Design Contest
• At that point of the school year, we were running a contest for the students to design the banner graphic that we would use in our monthly electronic newsletter. This station had entry forms for the students to draw and submit their ideas.

As an overall event, this was a terrific night. We had lots of families there, and they all seemed to have fun. From the perspective of our original goal of bringing awareness to the Reflections program, I think we didn't get the impact we were hoping for. In the future, we would probably make the Reflections part of the event be a more formal presentation that engaged the students more. It was too easy for people to give that station a quick look and then move on to something that was more familiar.

We had a budget for the event of $100. We spent just under that amount to buy paint and a few painting supplies. We had probably another $100 worth of supplies that were donated, plus all the odds and ends that were donated. All of our rocks were donated by two families, who had landscaping projects that created a surplus of rocks. We ended up with roughly 50 families in attendance. It left us with lots of leftover supplies, but it was a great amount in terms of families having space to work.

If you would like more information about how we set up this event, please contact Debbie Yates at debbie.yates@livoniaptsacouncil.org.

Our very own Clothing Depot is in the news. Check out this article in the Livonia Observer: http://www.hometownlife.com/story/news/local/livonia/2018/01/28/clothing-depot-food-pantry-win-win-students-families/109772782/

The Clothing Depot was begun over 50 years ago by two dedicated PTA members, Gloria Root and Pat Renwick, in the old Newburgh School. It has recently relocated to Franklin High School. See the above article to see how the Depot has partnered with the Franklin High School Transition Program.

The Clothing Depot gladly accepts donations of gently used clothing in all sizes. New undergarments for men, women and children are also needed.

Clothing donations can be dropped off during Franklin school hours (M-F, 7:30 am - 2:30 pm) Please call the CLothing Depot at 734-744-2655 x79691 to set up a time to make a donation and ensure someone will be available to assist. All donations are tax deductible.

For more information, contact:

Lynda Scheel, LPTSA Council Clothing Depot Chair lynda.scheel@livoniaptsacouncil.org

To schedule a donation, contact:

Elizabeth Santer, LPS Coordinator of Student services esanter@livoniapublicschools.org

Mary Jarvis, LPS Program Specialist, mjarvis@livoniapublicschools.org

The second membership challenge of registering 100 MORE members than last year is still open until February 28th.

No special forms are required. The Michigan PTA will recognize all who achieve this level.

Questions? Contact the Michigan PTA office at membership@michiganpta.org

Scholarship applications are due April 1, 2018 and are available to graduating seniors.

https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/michiganpta.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/scholarship/MIPTA_FranAndersonScholarshi.pdf

Have you ever thought about attending a National PTA conference, but thought to yourself "I'm not...involved enough...knowledgeable enough...experienced enough..." STOP RIGHT THERE! PTA is only successful when it has ACTIVE volunteers and participants, no matter your experience level - and that means YOU! Just bring your passion and desire to learn and to make a difference!

Conference Schedule

Pre-LegCon

Wednesday, Feb. 7

8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Federal Legislative Chair (FLC) Webinar (Invitation only)

Thursday, March 1

8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Capitol Hill Day Prep Webinar (all participants)
Logistics and details for Capitol Hill Day, including the Hill Ask

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Registration Open

Official LegCon Start

2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

General Session: LegCon Kickoff

2:40 p.m. – 3:25 p.m.

Workshop 1: Federal Legislative Hot Topics

Get up to speed on current education legislation and policies before Congress

3:40 p.m. – 5:35 p.m.
Workshop 2: Step Up to the Plate

This two-part workshop will feature best practices and success stories from PTA leaders in the field. Attendees will practice specific skills through interactive workshops.

Highlighted skills in each workshop:

• Telling Your Personal Story
  
• Building a Team
  
• Expanding Your Reach: Working with Coalitions & Partners
  
• Hitting Your Legislative & Advocacy Goals
  

5:45 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Workshop 3: Capitol Hill Day Prep

Recap the pre-LegCon webinar, Capitol Hill Day logistics, the Hill Ask and Q&A with Government Affairs team.

6:45 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.

Advocacy Awards Dinner

Hill Day

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

Grab & Go Breakfast

9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Capitol Hill Day

4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

National PTA Voice for Children Reception

Thursday, March 15, 2018

7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
Breakfast
8:05 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Workshop 4: Capitol Hill Day Debrief
Debrief your Hill meetings and learn new skills to make the most of your visit once you’re back at home.

9:25 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.

Workshop 5: Make a Game Plan
Learn best practices to grow your state’s advocacy capacity and hear about upcoming issues where you can use your new advocacy skills.

11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Closing Session

11:30 a.m.

LegCon Concludes

Questions?

Contact National PTA at GovtAffairs@PTA.org.

Interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at the 2018 Legislative Conference? Please contact Kris Carey Prevatte at kprevatte@pta.org.

Click here for more information about the Michigan PTA

Are you looking for PTA logo merch? Check out the Michigan PTA store here: Michigan PTA Online Store

To access the PTA Tool Kit, click here:

Check out the PTA One Voice Blog here:http://onevoice.pta.org/

Welcome to One Voice, the Official Blog of National PTA. A powerful voice for all children, PTA launched this blog as another platform for our leadership, ambassadors, staff and members to share the work they do on behalf of all children. You’ll read about dynamic programs happening at the local level, commentary on news and issues impacting the everyday realities of children, as well as live action from our conventions and events.

Check out the PTA Our Children Magazine here: http://ptaourchildren.org/

Our Children Magazine is the unique voice for parents.

Go to PTAOurChildren.org for:

• Tips to help parents best support your child’s academic success and well-being
• Relevant and timely stories about the successes and challenges of students, schools and families
• Inspiration from everyday heroes who work to make every child’s potential a reality

Want to contribute to Our Children? View our Editorial Calendar.

Share any comments, story ideas and questions with our editorial team at ourchildrenmagazine@pta.org.

February
1- Webster PTA Meeting
2- Niji-Iro PTA Meeting & Movie Night
3- MI PTA President's Webinar
6- Rosedale PTA Meeting
7- Cleveland PTA Meeting
-Grant PTA Meeting
8- Rosedale PTA Valentine's Dance
-Emerson PTSA Meeting
9- Buchanan PTA VIP Dance
-Cleveland PTA VIP Dance
12- Hayes PTA Meeting
13- Cleveland PTA Packzi's with Pop
-Randolph PTA Meeting
-Hoover PTA Meeting
19- LPS NO SCHOOL (President's Day)
20- Cooper PTA Meeting
21- Livonia PTSA Council Founder's Day Dinner @ VisTaTech Center
-Holmes PTSA Meeting
22- Buchanan PTA Meeting
23- Hayes PTA Movie Night
26-FHS PTSA Meeting
27- CHS PTSA Meeting
28- LPS HALF DAY

March:

1 - Hoover PTA Bingo Night

6 - Rosedale PTA Meeting

7 - Cleveland PTA Meeting

- SHS PTSA Meeting

- Grant PTA Meeting

12 - Hayes PTA Meeting

13 - Hoover PTA Meeting

- Randolph PTA Meeting

15 - Emerson PTSA Meeting

- Webster PTA Meeting

20 - Cooper PTA Meeting

21 - Livonia PTSA Council Meeting & Workshop @ Rosedale

- Holmes PTSA Meeting

22 - Buchanan PTA Meeting

23 - Hayes PTA movie night

26 - FHS PTSA Meeting

27 - CHS PTSA Meeting

30 - LPS NO SCHOOL (spring break begins)

The Livonia PTSA Council is a group of 22 local PTA/PTSA Units within the Livonia Public Schools District. The Council is organized under the authority of the Michigan PTA for the purpose of promoting conferences, communications, leadership development and coordination of the efforts of the local Units.

Email: newsletter@livoniaptsacouncil.org
Website: www.livoniaptsacouncil.org
Location: 15125 Farmington Road, Livonia, MI, United States
Phone: .
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LivoniaPTSACouncil
Twitter: @LivoniaPTSAC