GOOCHLAND
HANOVER
HENRICO
RICHMOND
PTAS
January 2015 2015
Important Dates Jan 6th Reflec on Deadline for Councils Jan 12th Richmond District Mee ng Bylaws, Nomina ons, Elec ons Jan 23rd VA PTA Bylaw amendments due Jan 25th Training for PTA Day Jan 26th VA PTA Day Feb 1 Ci zenship Essay Deadline March 1 VA PTA Scholarship Deadline March 2nd VAPTA Power Plates Deadline March 15th District Reflec ons & Ci zenship Essay Ceremony DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE Dear Local Units, The me has passed quickly as we’ve worked over me to get oﬀ to a great start this year, promote advocacy for children, educate parents, and support the staﬀ. A er taking a moment to catch our breath, we realize we are passing from one month of the holiday season and rushing into another. However, I want to take the opportunity to provide a few reminders amidst the excitement of the season. Congratula ons to all units who pushed to submit dues by the early deadline (Oct. 31st). The first oﬃcial dues deadline was Dec. 1st. If you have not submi ed dues for your unit, please do not delay; send them to the State PTA Oﬃce along with your audit and a copy of your 990. Dues submission and a record of your financial documents are part of the criteria for good standing with Virginia PTA. Service to our local units is the number one priority. Please contact your Council President if you have ques ons or need further assistance with paperwork. If you have ques ons regarding your unit status, email your ques ons to [email protected] or www.vapta.org. Thank you for a ending our Fall General Mee ng and Training at Wilder Middle School. Please mark your calendars to a end our Winter General Mee ng and Training. The focus will be nomina ng commi ees, elec ons, and bylaws. Our mee ng will be held Monday, January 12 at 6:45 p.m. in Richmond City. Registra on will begin at 6:30 p.m. Looking ahead, please mark your calendars for PTA Legisla on Day 2015. There will be training on Sunday, January 25th and Legisla on Day will be Monday, January 26th. Please be sure to check with your local unit president, read The Voice, or go to the Virginia PTA site for more details. Informa on will also be posted to the Richmond District website. (www.richmondpta.com) Richmond District Board Director: Tonya Meyers Assistant Director Ali Brown Sec/Treasurer Wendy Logan I am thankful for all of the energy you expend to ensure a healthy, safe environment for our students, for being parent leaders in the areas of student advocacy, parent educa on, and educa on at large. During this holiday season, take me to rest and enjoy your families. Thank you for all you do to make our children’s dreams a reality. Tonya Meyers Richmond District Director 2014-2016 Hanover Council: Sharon Abernathy Henrico Council: Tammy Gartrell Richmond Council: Sarah Gross RICHMOND DISTRICT WINTER MEETING/TRAINING TOPIC: Nomina ng Commi ees, Elec ons & Bylaws Diversity Inclusion: Darryl Massenburg Reflec ons: Stephanie Livingston‐Thornton Date: Monday, January 12th Time: 6:30 p.m. Registra on Loca on: To be announced Website: Wil Swingle Richmond District Website: www.richmondpta.com Council News
HANOVER
Hanover County Council of PTAs— Sharon Abernathy, Council President We have a great year of ac vi es planned during which we hope to achieve our goals to increase the relevance of our Council and help increase the support we provide to our local units. This fall gave us opportuni es for our general membership to meet with our School Superintendent, our School Board Members, and our local legislators. Sarah Gross , VA PTA, Legisla ve Chair, shared advocacy informa on from the VA PTA at our October mee ng. In the spring, the Hanover County Council will con nue to provide training to our local units through workshops and a fundraiser fair. We will celebrate our outstanding local units, volunteers, scholarship winners, and more at our Annual Banquet. All of HENRICO
Website: h p://hanovercountycouncilpta.org/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/hanovercouncilofptas Email: [email protected] Henrico County Council of PTAs—Tammy Gartrell, Council President Henrico County Councils of PTAs is oﬀ to a great start this year. We have 65 PTA's/PTSA's in Henrico County with 18,574 PTA members. All the PTA's have oﬃcers and elec‐
ons by November, so that is awesome. Boards who had no boards now have 6 to 8 people on their PTA board. Parents are stepping up to make a diﬀerence in Henrico County. Our Council is blessed to have had record a endance at each HCCPTA mee ng this year so far. In September we had School Board, Superintendent, Too Smart Too Start Coali on kick oﬀ our Back to School Night. In October we oﬀered training for all PTA posi ons, as well as Principal Training, we had 184 in a endance. Also in October our educa onal program was from Commonwealth A orney for Henrico, Shannon Taylor. In October all PTA presidents had dinner with Dr. Kinlaw School Superintendent and shared concerns of their schools. For November we had educa onal training from GRASP and Henrico Educa onal Founda on, presenta on from the School Board and Dr. Kinlaw, Superintendent. We had break out sessions with each School Board Representa ve to ask ques ons to each district. In December we are holding an Advocacy Training for students and parents to learn how to advocate on issues locally, with 35 students pre registered and 20 Adults, it will be a great night of training. 2 our mee ngs will feature brief round table discussions aimed at providing training and answering ques ons from local unit board members. Each of our mee ngs will be hosted at a diﬀerent school, and the host schools' PTAs have generously agreed to provide refreshments to be enjoyed while sharing fellowship at the conclusion of each mee ng. We are also excited to give away a few donated door prizes at each mee ng, which we hope will add to the fun of a ending. Other highlights so far this year, we provided a Directory of all PTA's/PTSA to all PTA Presidents, Delegates and Principals. We are oﬀering some type of educa onal program at each Council Mee ng so PTA's will have ideas for free Programs. We have a newsle er that is sent out to PTA units, principals and other County oﬃcials each month including School Board and Superintendent. In our newsle er we give useful dbits of informa on for PTA units and at our mee ngs a chance to win gi card by knowing the answer to the useful infor‐
ma on ques on. We are also giving door prizes at each mee ng to increase a endance. Our HCCPTS goals are to help each PTA unit to be in good standing, to be trained and to increase involvement. We have had 4 meet and greets with PTA's so far, individual training at schools and lots of help via emails and phone calls. We have lots more planned for the rest of the year, check out our calendar on our website at hccpta.com. We are blessed in Henrico County to have such wonderful volunteers all working to make a diﬀerence for our children. Website: h p://hccpta.com Email: [email protected] Council News
RICHMOND
Richmond City Council of PTAs—Sarah Gross, Council President This fall and winter have been busy for Richmond City Council of PTA’s! Since August, RCCPTA has assisted 9 units in their eﬀorts to get back in good standing. We are happy to report that several units were able to a end district training and 5 units received intensive city training in No‐
vember at Lucille Brown Middle School. RCCPTA would like to thank Jennifer Young, VAPTA Treasurer, for her con n‐
ued support and reless work to get so many of our units compliant. informa on needed to advocate for smaller classes and be er funding. If you are interested in being a part of all this ac on, please contact Sarah Gross, President of RCCPTA. We are seeking oﬃcers and commi ee chairs ‐ so if you are part of a Rich‐
mond City PTA and have a few hours a month to help other parents get involved in PTA, please email [email protected]. RCCPTA will be holding a special BYLAWS training in early February. Stay tuned for dates and mes! Congratula ons to GH Reid ES PTA! In December, they held elec ons and now have a full execu ve board! Email: [email protected] Special shout out to Broad Rock ES PTA! They have restart‐
ed their PTA and are very busy equipping their parents with Committee News
Legisla ve/Educa on Commi ee Sarah Gross, Chairperson legisla [email protected] Congratula ons to Hanover County Council of PTA’s! This fall, they invited all their elected oﬃcials to speak with their members. It was a great evening where parents and students were able to speak di‐
rectly with their oﬃcials and get answers about local issues that ma er to them the most. Great work keeping parents educated and connected, Hanover! Public schools are ge ng into BUDGET season! Now is the me to start advoca ng for funding and programs for 2015‐2016. Start with your principal and teachers. Be er understand the needs of your school. Gather real‐life stories about the eﬀects of budget cuts. Then get these stories to your school board! Check out your school district website for dates and mes of school board mee ngs and get on the schedule. Tell your story and make it meaningful to your elected oﬃcials. 3 Reflec ons Stephanie Livingston-Thornton, Chairperson [email protected] As we wrap up the Local and Council Level of the Reflec‐
ons Program, I want to thank you all for the work that you have done this year on behalf of our immensely crea ve and talented children. This year’s theme, “The world would be a be er place if…” clearly resonated with the children in our district. I have been overwhelmed by the diﬀerent ways that they have finished this phrase with their artwork and believe that, if these kids are any indica‐
on of the future, we will be pleased with the world in which they seek to live. As you know, the Richmond District Deadline for entries is Tuesday, January 6th. These may be dropped oﬀ at the Virginia State PTA oﬃce, 1027 Wilmer Avenue, Richmond, VA 23227, between the hours of 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM. The District Reflec ons and District Ci zenship Essay Program to honor the work of this year’s par cipants will be held on March 15, 2015 at 3:00 PM at Atlee High School. Par cipant invita ons will be distributed by mid February. District Board and Virginia PTA Information
Treasurer Notes for Richmond District Jennifer Young, VA PTA Treasurer By now all of you should have provided us a copy of your 2013‐2014 audits (adopted by the general membership) and provided us with a copy of your 990! CALLING ALL ADVOCATES! 
Have you been to the General Assembly?  Can you name your state legislators? If you have not paid your dues, please do so as soon as possible. The dues form is available on the web‐
site at www.vapta.org. For good standing, you need to have provided us with a list of your oﬃcers, too. If you have not, you can fill out the form online at our website. If your local unit has lost their tax exempt status and does not know what to do, please contact Jennifer Young, VA PTA Treasurer, at [email protected]. We have all the resources and help you need to walk you through the process! VA PTA Ci zenship Essay Theme: “I can posi vely influence my peers by…” All entries for the Ci zenship Essay contest are due Feb. 1, 2015. Submissions must be postmarked on or before 2/1/15. Please mail to: Tonya Meyers A n: Richmond District Director 429 Airport Ct. Highland Springs, VA 23075 Go to the Virginia PTA website for entry forms. www.vapta.org Contest open to students in grades K‐12. **No faxes. VA PTA Bylaw Amendments Do you have an amendment to suggest for the Virginia PTA Bylaws? Mail, fax, or email your suggested amendments by January 23rd to: Virginia PTA 1027 Wilmer Ave. Richmond, VA 23227 (804)264‐4014 – fax [email protected] *Faxes and emails must be received by 4:30 p.m. on 1/23/15. Mail must be postmarked by 1/23/15. 4 Come get informed at PTA Day at the General Assembly. We will host important training on Sunday, January 25 in prepara on for our Lobby Day at the GA on Monday, January 26. For more informa on and to register for PTA Day, check out www.vapta.org. VA PTA Scholarship Applica ons The Scholarship Applica on Package is now available. Please see your unit president or visit the Virginia PTA site to obtain informa on on how seniors in your school could receive scholarships to the sum of $1,200. Applica ons must be postmarked by March 1, 2015. **No faxes. Please mail to: Virginia PTA A en on: Scholarship Chair 1027 Wilmer Ave. Richmond, VA 23227‐2419 VA PTA Power Plates Recipe Contest Please encourage students to enter the Virginia PTA Power Plates Recipe Contest. Ques ons? Email [email protected]. All entries are due by midnight, March 2, 2015. Contest open to Grades Pre‐K – 12 and a Special Chef category will be included. 2015 VA PTA Annual Conference Date: Loca on: Website July 16‐18th Richmond, VA www.vapta.org