|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Georgia PTA Family
Engagement
Winter Newsletter | | |
|
| PTA
University - January 26 OR January 29 |
|
Report Writing - Learn
how to write effective reports and receive the
recognition that your PTA deserves! The workshop
focus will be on Model PTA, National PTA Hearst Awards
for Family School Partnerships and Georgia PTA Family
Engagement Awards.
It
will be offered twice in January -
January 26 OR January 29 - at the
state office in Atlanta. Sign in and
refreshments will begin at 9:00 AM. The workshop will be
held from 9:30 - 12:00. Space is limited so please RSVP
to Patty Yohn, include
your name, PTA, and which date you plan to
attend. |
| Georgia
Adopts Parent Engagement
Resolution |
By Donna
Kosicki, Georgia PTA President Elect
Wednesday,
November 10, 2010 was a historical day for Georgia. At
the State Board of Education Meeting in Atlanta, board
members voted unanimously to adopt the "Parent Engagement
Resolution", the first of its kind in our great
state. All local school officials are
urged to use this resolution and statement on parent
engagement as a guide in developing local school and
district plans and policies.
Several
members of the Superintendent's Parent Advisory Council
and members of the Georgia PTA Family Engagement and
Legislative Committees were in attendance.
President Elect Donna Kosicki spoke in support of
the Parent Engagement Resolution, citing "The National
Standards for Family-School Partnerships are identified
by states, around this country, as the qualitative
assessment data that schools, parents and community need
to include, along with quantitative date, when
determining the programs, projects and events that drive
measurable priorities for increasing student
achievement... to be used in the classroom and in the
local school community."
Read
more...
Watch the Webcast of the SBOE
Meeting - Michelle
Tarbutton, Georgia DOE, Donna Kosicki, Georgia PTA
President-elect and other Superintendents Parent
Advisory Council members speak on behalf of the Parent
Engagement Resolution.
At the
top right of the website select November 10 Board
meeting, then move the time on the bottom of the screen
to begin at 1:00 hour into the SBOE meeting.)
| |
 |
| FE
Committee |
Adam
Belanger
Kiddada
Grey
Donna Kosicki
Amy
Spiller
Jo Ann
Mitchell Stringer
Lori
Sweet
Specialists
Dr. Grant Rivera -
Principal Advisor
Bill Sebring
- Principal Advisor
Aarti Seghal
- Special Services
Caryn
Thornton - Military Liaison
Partners
Julie Hollis - Georgia
PIRC
Michelle
Tarbutton - Georgia DOE
Brenda
Williams - Title I
| |
|
| Parent
Involvement Certification |
|
To date 140
PTA leaders and Parent Involvement Coordinators from 18
different school districts have attended our PTA
University - A Leaders Guide to Engaging Families
and are eligible for Parent Involvement
Certification! The feedback from our attendees has
been overwhelmingly positive.
This
includes PTA leaders and PIC's from Appling, Atlanta,
Burke, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Dougherty,
Douglas, Floyd, Fulton, Gainesville, Gordon, Gwinnett,
Hall, Houston, Paulding, Savannah-Chatham
County. Congratulations!!!
To learn
more about training and strategies for effective
engagement in the classroom and in the local school
community, contact Patty Yohn, Family Engagement
Chair. |
| The
Call for PTA Leaders: To Support and Engage Military
Families |
| By Caryn Thornton Military
Liaison/Military Family Support Committee
Member
 For the second consecutive
year, President Obama proclaimed November as Military
Family Month, encouraging "all Americans to honor
military families through private actions and public
service" for their tremendous sacrifices to serve our
Nation. With this proclamation comes
the challenge of creating a country that increasingly
"supports and engages" military families as "America
asks ever more of military families."
What a wonderful opportunity for PTA - leaders
and members alike - to advocate for children and their
families who have sacrificed so much in service to our
nation!
In order to become better supporters of
military families, PTA leaders must become empowered by
learning more about military families and their
lifestyles.
Become Empowered.... Become
Knowledgeable.... Take the next
Step
Read
more... |
| Georgia
DOE's Parent Engagement Program |
| By Michelle Tarbutton, Georgia
DOE
The mission of the Georgia Department of
Education's Parent Engagement Program is to increase
student achievement by engaging and empowering parents
to become actively involved in their children's
education across all grade levels. While your
local school and community is the best place to obtain
information first, we are excited to inform you about
the following events that are taking place to recognize
the important role parents play in their child's
education.
Best Get Involved Parent
Videos
- In honor of Parent Engagement Month
(November) the Georgia DOE and the
Georgia PIRC have teamed up with Georgia Public
Broadcasting to create GET INVOLVED video scenarios that
capture real parents telling their real stories about
ways to get involved. These videos are available in
English and Spanish. View them today!
What is
your best GET INVOLVED moment? The
Georgia DOE needs your help in capturing parent's best
GET INVOLVED stories. There is no better way to
inspire other parents to get involved then by sharing
other parent's real life stories. Please use this
FORM to capture your
best GET INVOLVED moment and send your story
to:
Michelle
Tarbutton, Parent Engagement Program Manager, Georgia
Department of Education, 205 Jesse Hill Jr Drive SE,
1862 Twin Towers East, Atlanta, GA 30334 by Friday,
December 17, 2010.
Tips to share with the families
at your schools
Check out our
"Get Involved!"
brochure that lists 15 different ways parents
and families can get involved in their children's
education. To obtain copies of the brochure or locate
copies of the any of information mentioned above contact
the Parent Engagement Program at 404-656-2633 or visit
our GaDOE Parent Engagement
website.
|
| PTA's
Urban Family Engagement Initiative |
| By
Elida Perez Knapp, Community Development
Specialist
The
Urban Family Engagement Initiative (UFEI) launched its
Family Day Institute in the inner city of Atlanta on
October 16 of this year. The full day of learning
utilizes the Community Engagement Curriculum which is
adapted from MALDEF's Parent School Partnership
Curriculum. UFEI's goals in providing these free community-wide events and summits
are:
- to
remove barriers that prevents meaningful parent
engagement,
- to
train parents to better collaborate with schools and
other community agencies and
- to
mobilize parents and caregivers to support student
success.
Read
more... |
| Million Hours of
Power |
|
 "Give
a little, change a lot" is the
rallying call to action for the Million Hours of Power
grassroots campaign. The Million Hours of Power campaign
encourages men to dedicate three hours of their time to
the health, education and well-being of children in
their families and communities during the 2010-2011
school year.
PTA leaders,
please utilize the tracking tool so you can log
your hours and watch the campaign's progress toward 1
million hours. |
| Spotlight
on Garrison Mills ES for their Dad's Initiative
Program |
By
Melisa White, Garrison Mill PTA President
At Garrison
Mill ES in East Cobb County Council, the acronym F.B.I.
stands for 'Fathers Being Involved'. Last year, dads
were given the opportunity to sign up for FBI at Open
House. If they committed to volunteering at least 3
hours during the school year they received a black
t-shirt with the white FBI logo for $5 and were placed
on the "FBI List" to be contacted throughout the year.
They were also given the option to just buy the shirt
for $10 and wear it to school events whenever possible
with no specific commitment. The dads and the kids loved
the idea and the program was a great success last year.
"We had FBI dads at most events enjoying titles like
mentor, security, bouncer, computer genius, mystery FBI
reader, etc. This year we expanded the program and even
appointed a "Director of the FBI." This dad has
committed to serving on our PTA Board of Directors and
is excited about growing the program. Already this year
we have doubled the number of dads signed up to be on
the FBI list from last year!"
|
| Engaging
the Festival of Nations within our
Schools |
| By Kiddada Grey, Family Engagement
Committee
Are you blessed to be in a school that
represents the Festival of Nations? Do you believe
that the festival just comprises the different flags of
the world? I want to challenge you to move beyond
the different colors of the world but to also encompass
the social needs of our families allowing us to engage
them differently as you move forward in your
leadership. No longer are the different nations
within our schools ONLY geographically based. We
have families from all over the world, but we also have
parents with special needs kids, and parents who may
need help with transitions in their own lives. It is
important to recognize each one of these distinctions
that create the flavor of our schools. Our actions
can determine whether or not engagement is or is not
occurring in families.
We cannot solve all issues but we can
arm ourselves with tools to share with our families that
can make a difference in their lives.
Read
more... |
| New
People Bring New Ideas - Are You Creating a
Clique? |
| By Adam Belanger, Family Engagement
Committee
If we think hard and long enough, we can
remember all those different cliques that surrounded us
in high school. We all knew they were
there, whether we were in one (or the one that we wanted
to be in) or not, they were there. As
we mature, we find ourselves hoping that our children
are good and fair to others, have an outgoing
personality...you know the tale. But,
do we always practice what we teach to our children when
it comes to our PTAs?
Simple things can help break up the
appearance of cliques. Welcoming
every parent to a meeting or personally thanking every
volunteer that helps during an event are proven
winners.
Read
more... | |
|
|
Georgia PTA wishes you and your
family a safe and Happy
Holidays!
| | |
| |
