Please share the facts about Covid-19.
Text FFXCOVID to 888777 for updates from Fairfax County.


In This Issue
  • GoToMeeting
  • FCCPTA Safety & Wellness Award Applications Due Tomorrow!
  • Scholarship Applications Due Apr. 15
  • Uniendos Familias Help Needed
  • 2020-22 FCCPTA Officer Slate
  • June 6 Training
  • Census 2020
Dear PTA Leaders,
 
Thank you for your leadership during these days of uncertainty. The drumbeat of news about the impact of Covid-19 on our schools, communities and livelihoods is upending the best-laid plans during the busiest time of the PTA year! Thank you for:

·       Communicating accurate and timely information from FCPS to your communities
·       Consulting with your principals about upcoming events
·       Building up your food pantry inventories and backpack programs to send extra food home this weekend
·       Looking out for ways to support school staff on the front lines, especially custodians, bus drivers, school staff and of course our teachers
·       Helping kids get answers to their questions (click here for a printable zine)
·       Staying flexible and calm in the face of countless questions :-)
 
During times of national uncertainty, the value of community and our local leaders takes center stage. We cannot overstate your importance in helping friends and neighbors get reliable and timely information and support. Please encourage your communities to rely on information from our local authorities at the Fairfax County Health Department and FCPS (and a quick shout out to Dr. Brabrand and the FCPS Leadership Team for giving us nearly a week’s notice to plan for March 16’s Student Holiday).
 
On behalf of FCCPTA’s Executive Board, I couldn’t think of a better group of peers with whom to live through this wild experience. Thank you for all that you are doing.
 
Jane
  Now for Some Good News!
Alternate meeting capabilities.
A number of presidents are trying to balance the need for conducting PTA meetings with the opportunity to slow the spread of Covid-19 through social distancing. To help, we are working with GoToMeeting to provide interactive meeting capabilities for your PTAs to use at no cost or obligation for the next three months. The company has developed Emergency Remote Work Kits for non-profits and FCCPTA has been granted 75 licenses for local PTAs to use. We are working on logistics today and anticipate sending detailed information to presidents tomorrow.
 
  • GoToMeeting is a user-friendly interactive video conference format that allows many participants to speak from their computers. Imagine a typical PTA meeting where you have several committee updates. Using GoToMeeting, your speakers may choose to appear on video and they can receive and answer questions from other participants on the conference. Up to 250 people may participate and you may choose to record the meeting so that others may watch at a later time. (At this time votes and elections must still take place during in-person meetings with a quorum present.)
  • GoToWebinar is more of a virtual auditorium. Imagine you planned a parent program about vaping. Your speakers can present remotely and even share power points.
 
Special thanks to GoToMeeting for supporting our PTAs!
FCCPTA 2020 Awards Focus on Student Safety and Wellness. Awards up to $1,000 will be granted to PTAs that demonstrate activities promoting one (or more) of the following categories:
* Alcohol, Tobacco/Vaping, and Drug programs
* Bullying Prevention & Intervention
* Digital Citizenship & Online Safety
* Food & Nutrition Programs
* Gang Prevention and Education
* Gun Violence Prevention and Education
* Mental Health and Resiliency
 
The application questions are designed to gauge efforts towards engaging the full school community in a student-centric manner. Applications are due March 15. Winners will be announced at the May 6 General Membership Meeting. Apply here .
FCCPTA to Award Five $1,000 Scholarships
Graduating seniors! Can you use an extra $1,000 toward college tuition? Has your volunteer work helped shape who you are today? Share your experience with us for a chance for a $1,000 scholarship from FCCPTA! Submission deadline is April 15. Winners will be notified before, and awarded at, the May 6 FCCPTA meeting. For more information and to apply, visit:   http://www.fccpta.org/programs-2/scholarship/
Bring Uniendos Familias to Life! Local PTA volunteers, we need your help! Uniendo Familias (Uniting Families) is nearly ready for implementation. If you're unfamiliar, Uneindo Familias for PTAs is a program that will connect Hispanic/Latino communities through in-person meetings sponsored by the PTA. It is designed to promote inclusion as well as provide information and resources, make connections, and bolster your PTA.

The program comprises five meetings; four of which are mini-lessons in a customizable PowerPoint Presentation. Our current conundrum is that this beautiful, welcoming, and informative presentation is written in English. If we are trying to include our Spanish-speaking population, it would be prudent to deliver the content in Spanish! Can you help us translate?

We currently have 63 pages of slides that need translation. Remember there are 4 presentations - so we could easily divide the work up into more manageable chunks. In addition to our slides, we have about 10 pages of additional information that also require translation.

Please contact Kara Jenkins at  vp.outreach@fccpta.org  if you can help.
2020-22 FCCPTA Slate of Officer Nominees. Thank you to all of the PTA leaders who applied to be slated as officers for our May 6 election, and/or who expressed interest in serving on the next Executive Board as Committee Chairs and Community Advisory Committee Liaisons.
 
The FCCPTA Nominating Committee presents the following slate:

President, Kara Jenkins
Vice President – Outreach, Shawna Garrett
Vice President – Advocacy, La Guardia Myers
Vice President – Programs, Larry Mills
Vice President – Training, Hamid Munir
Vice President – Communications, Michelle Leete
Treasurer, Jaime Yarussi
Secretary, Brett Fox
 
More details can be found here .
 
Nominees will be voted on during our May 6 General Membership Meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. with a Parent Briefing by Dr. Brabrand, and business meeting to follow at 7 p.m. All general membership meetings are held in the café of the FCPS Gatehouse Administration Building.

Save the Date: June 6 Training. Bring your newly elected Board members and P.T.A. – Prepare To Accomplish! We are designing this year’s training to help your new executive board kick off their summer planning – so please encourage your full boards to attend. If your PTA doesn’t hold elections until June, please send interested candidates. If you are returning leaders, we will have new offerings for you. Training is a low-cost expense that your PTA should cover for its volunteers. If your budget does not allow, please contact Michelle Leete, vp.training@fccpta.org .
Please Promote the Census. April 1 is Census Day. For each resident who does not respond to the Census, Fairfax County could lost $12,000 in potential funding over the course of a decade. This funding supports education, health care, housing, roads and other public needs. Please encourage your communities to participate in the 100% confidential census. You can find information and videos in English and Spanish here .
Important Dates
Mar. 15 - Award Applications Due
Apr. 1 - Census Day
Apr. 15 - Scholarship Applications Due
May 6 - General Membership Meeting & Elections
June 6 - Local Officer Training, Luther Jackson MS

Need anything? We’re here to help!

Jane Miscavage,  president@fccpta.org
Kara Jenkins,  vp.outreach@fccpta.org
Matt Dunne,  vp.advocacy@fccpta.org
Denise Bolton,  vp.programs@fccpta.org
Michelle Leete,  vp.training@fccpta.org
Ann-Marie Ward,  treasurer@fccpta.org
Terri Radziewski,  secretary@fccpta.org