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Florida PTA e-News
September 2021
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Wow, September is here already? September is PTA Membership Month and PTAs/PTSAs across the state are focusing on kicking off their Membership Drives. You may be asking yourself how they are doing this as we continue to move forward in the pandemic. A few school districts have let volunteers back in the buildings but a few have not. Remember PTA is more than a building! You may use local civic centers, libraries, parks, etc. to hold your meetings or programs, or you can continue to hold them virtually. Either way allows you to showcase the value of your PTA and engage your membership. Check out the resources included in this newsletter to help you with your membership drives. Many are also finding success with the MemberHub platform. We have a few units and counties reporting an increase already! Remember when we are asking people to join PTA, we need to be inclusive and ask EVERYONE. PTA represents ALL children; in turn, your PTA membership and board should be reflective of your community.
We continue to engage our families and communities, building relationships and having real conversations about real issues across the state, all in the best interest of our children and families. We may not always agree but we will stay steadfast to the mission of Florida PTA. We invite you to join us as we continue to offer our Get Engaged Wednesdays. We will continue with the ZOOM meetings most Wednesdays with a variety of topics to engage and inspire our leaders and members. We hope to see you for our next one on September 1st...oh wait that's today!! If you were unable to join us, you can check out our website for previous recordings by clicking here https://floridapta.org/get-engaged-wednesdays/
I am looking forward to coming around to visit our members at local units throughout our counties. Until then, stay safe and well, and thank you for ALL that you do!
Jennifer "Jen" Martinez
President | Florida PTA
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Leadership Convention 2022 |
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We are excited to share the news that the 2022 Florida PTA Leadership Convention will be held at a new TIME and a new PLACE next year! Please save the date and plan to join us on this new path!
July 21-24, 2022
The Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate
Registration will open on April 1, 2022
Early bird pricing $99 April 1- June 1, 2022
**You MUST register by June 1, 2022, to be a delegate**
A delegate is a registered attendee with voting privileges and is elected by your membership
and/or PTA Board.
Average room prices will range from $159-$309, depending on size, location, and style.
Stay tuned for more details and information!
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Join us for our LegCon 2022 - January 30-February 1. In-person registrations are limited to 35 people; virtual attendance is unlimited! Registration will open October 6th! |
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Schedule:
January 30: Meet & Greet Dessert Reception
January 31: Workshops and advocacy training
February 1: Tour the Capitol and meet with legislators
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Where in the World is Jen Martinez? |
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Meet "Flat Jen"!
Where in Florida is Jen Martinez? The real Jen Martinez is on the move, visiting PTAs across the state. As our Florida PTA President, Jen would love to be everywhere and participate in each of your PTA events; unfortunately, there’s only one Jen, but we found a solution - Meet Flat Jen! Flat Jen is our fun way to make sure that President Jen never misses an event, meeting or PTA function. We want PTAs across the state to include Flat Jen, and her trusty sidekick Flat Miss Mary, in your trainings, take her to your meetings, and make her a part of your parent events. Keep Jen on the move year-round and take pictures. Post your pics on social media using hashtag #FLPTAJEN so that we know where Jen has been spotted - make sure to share your local unit name!
The unit that has the most hashtag appearances with Flat Jen will receive a special award at the 2022 Florida PTA Convention. If you didn’t receive a Flat Jen during our convention this year, you can use the template attached and create your own happy cutout. All participants are encouraged to keep Jen going! Let’s make sure that Flat Jen has an educational, fun, interactive and inclusive experience this year!
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National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Listening and Learning Session |
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National PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships have transformed family engagement at all levels of the educational system. PTA leaders like you were an integral part of the adoption of the standards and now we invite you to engage in this work again. Since the last revision of the standards, we have seen changes that call upon PTA to invest in their relevance and impact – and we’re inviting you to be a part of this legacy!
How have you used the Standards to enhance family engagement in your community? What do you want the future of family engagement to look like? Join us for a 60-minute focus group to share your thoughts and opinions about family engagement, as well as your experience using the National Standards for Family School Partnerships.
Times: You can choose to attend one or more of the following sessions.
Sep 29, 2021 07:00 PM
Oct 13, 2021 08:00 PM
Times shown are Eastern Time (US and Canada)
We have also requested information on a specific Florida Listening event; stay tuned for more information.
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All forms and instructions for this year's Reflections program are on our website, as well as due dates for each county. Please join our Facebook Reflections page to join in the conversation, ask questions, make suggestions, and bounce ideas off of each other!
In order to participate in this program, you must register your local unit with National PTA. Click here to start!
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Calling all Volunteers!
As we begin planning to celebrate 100 years of PTA service to the children and families in Florida, we are looking for energetic, enthusiastic, and creative volunteers to join Florida PTA's Centennial Celebration subcommittee. Are you crafty, good at planning events, a whiz at sponsorship acquisition, a good negotiator, graphic designer, marketing guru, grant writer, or phenomenal at creating engaging experiences . . . if so, WE NEED YOU!! If you are interested in joining our efforts to serve any of the workgroups mentioned above, please email us at centennial.celebration@floridapta.org.
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Do You Host Inclusive Meetings?
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125 Ways to Increase Membership
Are you looking for ideas on how to engage your school community to grow membership? In celebration of the National PTA’s upcoming 125th anniversary, check out the new 125 Ways to Increase Membership resource. There are many ideas for both in-person and virtual ways to increase membership.
New Local PTA Membership Resources!
National PTA wants to make things easy for local PTA leaders and help support a positive PTA membership experience. Since the number one reason why people do not join PTA is that they are never asked, we’ve developed a suite of customizable templates (under the Market Your PTA section of the Membership Recruitment Resources webpage) to help local PTAs ask their community to join PTA using the PTA Membership Campaign. The recruitment letters are branded for PTAs and PTSAs. They will be translated into Spanish in the coming weeks.
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Mark your calendar for these upcoming Florida PTA Dates. Watch for more details about each event as the date comes closer.
11/6: Leadership Summit (virtual)
11/12: Reflections Theme Search Deadline
11/15: IRS 990 due on or before
1/11/22: Florida Legislature begins
1/14/22: Reflections due to the state
1/30-2/1/22: Legislative Conference and Capitol Visits, Tallahassee, Hybrid event, limited in-person attendance
1/30-2/4/22: Children's Week in Tallahassee
2/1/22: Scholarship Applications Due
2/17/22: Founder's Day
2/19/22: Leadership Summit (virtual)
3/12/22: Leadership Summit (virtual)
4/23/22: Student Reflections Celebration (virtual)
6/14-6/19/22: National PTA Convention with the Legislative Conference, National Harbor, Maryland
**7/21-7/24/22: Florida PTA Leadership Convention, Orlando, Florida (new dates and location!)
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We look forward to seeing you throughout the year at our various events, whether in-person or virtual, there is sure to be something for everyone! If you have any questions about any of the events, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at: info@floridapta.org
This upcoming year is also an election year for Florida PTA so be sure to be on the lookout for the Nominations form to come out soon.
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Follow us on social media! |
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ShopPTA.com sells official PTA and PTSA logo apparel, membership items, awards, gifts and more. All products are offered through each of the participating State PTA organizations. Visit shoppta.com for all your PTA needs!
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