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Council Connection Newsletter |
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Council Connection
Lewisville Council of PTAs
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November 2006
- Vol 1, Issue 2
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In This Issue
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Quick Links
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Servicing Our Members
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Now that you have
completed a successful membership drive, and your dues
have been mailed to TXPTA, what happens next?
Be sure to get those PTA Membership Cards in the hands
of your members! Each member who joins your
association has the right to a membership card, and
will want to start accessing the benefits available to
them in the Members Only sections of the Texas PTA and
National PTA websites. The password and username is on
the back of the Membership Card.
What services are you providing to your members? This
is a good time of year to evaluate the programs and
services your PTA offers. National PTA recommends
offering 3 services to your members for every
fundraising event. Does your PTA reflect the PTA
Mission: Parent Education, Parent Involvement, and
Child Advocacy?
Also, don’t stop recruiting new members to your PTA
just because the Fall Membership Campaign is over.
Recruiting members is a year-round effort. Have a
membership table with opportunities to join at every
event and PTA meeting. There is always the opportunity
to reach new people in the community, new families who
have just moved in to the school, and grandparents
too! Leave welcome packets in the front office for new
families that include information about your PTA and
how to join.
Have a Membership Minute at each PTA meeting to give
an update on how many members have joined your local
unit. Don’t forget to highlight the accomplishments of
your members! People love to be acknowledged and
thanked for their work.
Let us know of your accomplishments and successes with
recruiting and servicing your members. We’d love to
highlight your success stories and great ideas in
future editions of The Council Connection.
- Your Council PTA |
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Register now for Texas PTA Convention in San Antonio
Feb. 9-11! Registration materials and hotel
information can be found at
TXPTA.org. Training should be a top priority for
each PTA, and Convention is one of the best places
to get it! Come take workshops, parenting classes,
stroll the vendor fair, check out parent education
programs, vote on legislative resolutions, and meet
PTA leaders from all over the state! Early bird
registration ends Dec. 15, and hotel rooms
book up early, so be sure to register today!
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Look for exciting and informative events and programs
ahead from LISD’s Special Education PTSA. This month
their presentations included Advocating for your
child: Building success and Parents supporting parents:
A shared story. More presentations are planned after
the new year, so stayed tuned for those announcements
and remember to visit LISD SEPTSA’s
website. In addition, the Special Education PTSA is
in the process of developing a Parent Mentor Program,
which will match parents experienced in the special
education “journey” with parents who are new to special
education. Lastly, one of the goals of the Special
Education PTSA is to have a liaison on every campus to
facilitate communication and share information. If you
or someone you know would be interested in serving in
this capacity, contact
Amy Turner.
On another note, did you know that there is a very
special event toward the end of the year called the
Exceptional Students School Performance (ESSP) Awards
Ceremony? This ceremony honors a special education
student from each grade level from every elementary
campus in LISD. Plans have already begun for this year’s
ceremony, which will be held at 7:00 PM on
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at Marcus High School's
Sigler Auditorium.
Lastly, look for exciting developments in summer camp
offerings from the Adult and Community Education
department which will certainly appeal to many students
in our district with diverse learning needs. While
planning is in the very early stages at this point,
potential offerings may include handwriting,
keyboarding, social skills, and speech courses.
Submitted by
Stacey Amick
Special Needs
972-874-1199
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Diane Pierce, Past Texas PTA President and current
Chairman of the Nominating and Leadership Development
Committee for National PTA, presented the Texas PTA
Program True Colors at our November General Meeting.
Four personality "colors" were described in detail.
Attendees were broken up into groups based on their
"color" and discussed their similar likes and dislikes.
We had fun learning and understanding personality
differences to enhance our family, friend and PTA
relationships. This is a very popular workshop at Summer
Seminar and State Convention. Be sure to sign up! Here
is information regarding the four colors from the
workshop handouts:
Your Character, Attributes
A donation to the
National PTA Endowment Fund was given in Diane's
name for appreciation of her service to Lewisville
Council.
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Arts in Education's Reflections program is off to a
flying start. We have well over 1,000 entries turned in
at our local units. That's an inspiring number!
Dance Choreography and Film/Video Production were judged
on November 5. We had six Dance and fifteen Film
entries! Scores were returned directly to the Arts in
Education chairmen at each campus. The hard part is up
to them as they decide which works will be in the 20%
they send to Council on November 30.
ALL campus entries are due on November 30. We
will be at the LISD Administrative Office on Timbercreek
Lane from 8 a.m. to noon to make the process as
easy as we can. Please ask your Chairmen to bring the
students' works and a file folder containing copies of
entry forms, a list of the pieces submitted to Council
level, the Local Unit entry form, and a cd containing an
excel version of the list. All entries need covers over
the face of the work; a sheet of bulletin board paper
taped to the back and folded over to cover the front is
fine. Please don't send us shrink-wrapped pieces. We
just have to tear that expensive stuff off! Also,
entries need to be submitted in an art portfolio with
handles. Due to the volume of materials we handle, we
really need portfolios used.
This year, I have asked each Reflections Chairman to
take on one task at the Council level. The group who
helped on November 5 did a wonderful job! My thanks to
Laurie Lutz and Keri Holzschuh, without
whom this event couldn't have gone as smoothly as it
did. On November 30, the A-F section of the alphabet
will help with entry intake (as it were), and then G-M
will work with our judges that afternoon and Saturday
morning.
Our Council Reflections Reception will be January 7,
2007 at 2 pm, in Flower Mound High
School's Auditorium. All students who participated in
Reflections are welcome to attend.
I'm excited about this year's Reflections program, and I
hope you are too!
Carolle Cox
Arts in Education
972-355-6713
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The theme this year is “Don’t Mess With Texas”. Visit
txpta.org for contest rules and downloadable forms.
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Saturday, October 21st was the annual Silver Star Gala
sponsored by Lewisville ISD Education Foundation. The
proceeds from the event will benefit the students and
teachers of LISD with grants and scholarships. I was
very proud to represent the LISD Council of PTAs and am
pleased to report that the silent auction baskets
donated by 35 PTAs were a huge part of the evening's
success. We received special recognition and
appreciation from the LEF Board for our participation
and donations. Once again we have shown how we can work
together as a community to benefit the students and
staff of LISD.
Kris Vaughn
1st VP - Programs
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Attention Program Chairs! When planning your Spring
Calendar please keep in mind that your Council can
provide a free program through Arnold Tobacco Education.
This program was developed for students in the
classroom. Several members of the Council Board are
trained and can present the key points as a parent
education program at your PTA meeting.
Contact me for scheduling or questions.
Kris Vaughn
1st VP Programs
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The Lewisville Council and Communities In Schools
partnered together again to bring the Texas PTA program
“Building the REAL American Idol – 40 Developmental
Assets” to our community. The first event was held
September 21st at Hedrick Elementary and October 18th
was our second event at DeLay Middle School. Thank you
to DeLay Middle School and Central Elementary PTAs and
staff for helping make the night a success. We had great
feedback from those attending regarding the program and
I encourage partnerships with PTAs in your area to
provide members this free program.
Be sure to thank Will at the Cici’s Pizza in Lewisville
off Main Street the next time you visit for helping us
provide pizzas at both events.
Kris Vaughn
1st VP - Programs
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40 Development Assets are important building blocks to
help young people grow into healthy, caring and
responsible citizens. The more assets children have the
more likely they are to succeed in school and less
likely to participate in risky behaviors. We will
highlight eight assets in each newsletter this year for
your information and benefit. Feel free to include in
your local newsletter. A handout will also be
distributed at the Council General meetings including
this information to copy for your members and/or post on
a bulletin board. See November's highlighted assets in
English or Spanish.
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Founder’s Day is a time to honor the founders of PTA and
take pride in the accomplishments and renew our
commitment to an organization whose mission is to
support and speak on behalf of our children, to help
parents develop the skills they need to ensure the
welfare of our children, and to encourage involvement of
not only parents, but the community. It is an important
part of every year’s program to honor and recognize
those who have volunteered many hours for the welfare of
our children and youth.
The Founder’s Day dinner will be held on Thursday,
February 22, 2007, 7:00 p.m. at the DFW Marriott
located at 8440 Freeport Parkway, Irving.
Tickets will be $20.00 per person and will go on sale
Monday, January 8, 2007. Tickets will be sold in
advance only.
We are excited about this year’s event and hope you plan
to join us. Come celebrate YOU!
If you have any questions or need additional
information, please feel free to contact me at 972-
317-2840 or by
e-mail.
Mary
Halliburton
Founder’s Day Chairman
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"When you find yourself judging
someone, silently say to yourself, 'They are doing the
best they can right now.' Then mentally forgive yourself
for judging." ~Marsh Sinetar
Council Newsletter Board Position Available.
E-mail for more information.
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