Making Every Child’s Potential a Reality November 2014 News to Use 1126 Russell Cave Road, Lexington, KY 40505 www.fcps.net/pta [email protected] 2013-2015 Officers President - Kathy Smiley 1st VP - UFEN - James Brown nd 2 VP Membership - Ruth Revis Secretary - Adrienne Thakur Corresponding Secretary - Denise Bauer Treasurer - Liz Hill Greeting, leaders Congratulations to all on an amazing PTA 5K! I am so proud of our 5K committee for putting together this amazing event! This was more than just a day of fun – this event had multiple impacts: promoting a healthy lifestyle, creating new Healthy Lifestyles Committees in each school that participated, engaging lots of families in a healthy and fun activity, raising funds for our PTAs to implement programs for their families, making a great statement about what PTA is and can be in the eyes of the community. WAY TO GO! November is Healthy Lifestyles Month. We also have Parent & Family Involvement Week, American Education Week and Unity Day this month. I hope your PTA/PTSA can find a way to celebrate these events. We listened to our local PTA/PTSA units and the November roundtable is an evening meeting. It will be at 6 p.m. Nov. 20 at “It’s About Kids” Support Services in Conference Room C. This month’s training will be about parent engagement in our schools. Come out and bring a friend to this worthwhile event. As we approach Parent & Family Involvement Week, think about the support your PTA/PTSA has provided. I have often heard our superintendent praise our PTAs/PTSAs for being such a valuable resource and support to our schools. Keep up the great work! In this month of giving thanks, remember to thank all our parents, families and community members who have helped make our events and programs successful. Have a great month and Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for everything you do. Kathy Smiley, 16th District PTA president Did you know … All our chapters can benefit if we take the time to share what has worked for our individual PTAs. Submit your stories to News to Use so we can spread your successes! If you have photos, we’d love to use these, too! Send stories (MS Word format) and photos to [email protected]. You asked for it, you got it The 16th District holds monthly Roundtable meetings that usually include a speaker with a Q&A opportunity, along with some training and an update on what’s happening in our wonderful district. These meetings are usually held during the day, but this month’s meeting will be in the evening instead. This month we’ll feature FCPS Superintendent Tom Shelton, who will talk about the state of our schools. This month’s Roundtable will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20 in Conference Room C, second floor of the FCPS Central Office. We love to see school PTA/PTSA board members and key volunteers at our meetings, but these Roundtables are open to everyone. Please spread the word and encourage everyone to come. It’s a great way for families to find out what’s happening in our district. Hope to see everyone there. As a bonus, we’ll have a few prizes to give away! November Dates to Remember: November is PTA Healthy Lifestyles & Arts & Heath Month 11/2 – Daylight Savings Time ends 11/4 – Election Day, no school 11/6 – 16th District PTA Board Meeting 11:30am 11/6 – Equity Council Meeting, 6:00pm 11/11 – Veterans Day 11/13 – Special Education Advisory Council Meeting, 5:30pm 11/14 – Mary Todd Elementary Vendor Fair/Craft & Bake Sale 9:00am-4:00pm 11/15 – LexKage Super Saturday, Clays Mill Elementary, 10am-3pm 11/16-11/22 – American Education Week 11/17-11/21 – Parent & Family Involvement Week 11/20 – 16th District PTA Roundtable Meeting 6:00pm, IAKSS Conf. Room C Did you know the PTA publishes a monthly magazine? You can view it online here. 11/20 – Newsletter Information due In this issue of Our Children, television personality and mom Meredith Vieira talks about her work to help bring awareness to bullying. She talks about the concerns she had for her children in their youth as well as her own experience with bullying in her childhood and how she overcame it. “It was devastating,” Vieira says of being bullied as a child. 11/24 – Unity Day Also in this issue: Understanding arithmetic with Common Core 11/26-11/28 – Thanksgiving Break, no school For a peek at what’s coming up in future months, the complete 2014-2015 calendar is at the end of this newsletter. Learning isn’t just for kids! National PTA E-Learning courses allow you to gain the knowledge and skills needed to effectively serve your community. Here are some additional benefits of National PTA E-Learning: To access our e-learning courses, you will need an online National PTA profile. To create a profile, follow the directions provided in the e-learning registration guide. As a PTA member, you have access to a wide selection of online learning courses that allow you to develop the skills that matter most to you. Each online course includes interactive activities and assessments to make the learning process more engaging. With easy online access 24/7, members can develop and hone leadership skills when, where, and as they need them. National PTA E-Learning courses cover a wide range of PTArelated topics that help you be a better leader. Check out our full course offerings at PTA.org/elearning. To be in good standing, your PTA must: Adhere to the purposes and basic policies of PTA Pay 16th District PTA, Kentucky PTA and National PTA membership dues. One payment must be made on or before Oct. 15. Review treasurer’s books and submit the PTA Financial Review form to 16th District PTA and Kentucky PTA by Aug. 15 of each year. File 990 with the Internal Revenue Service and send copies to 16th District PTA, Kentucky PTA, and Attorney General on or before Nov. 15. Have bylaws approved by the Kentucky PTA every five years. Have an IRS Employer Identification Number (EIN) on file at the 16th District PTA and Kentucky PTA office. Maintain a minimum of 10 members. Submit names and addresses of officers to the Kentucky PTA. Remit liability insurance premiums by Sept. 1 each year. You experience awesome every day, and PTA wants you to share it! Snag a photo and tag it with #ShareAwesome anytime from now until Nov. 30 on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter for a chance to win a tablet or $2,500 scholarship. #ShareAwesome is a new campaign from National PTA with the support of LifeLock that celebrates students and families who use digital media and tools for good – good for themselves, their families, their friends and the whole world. Visit ShareAwesomeNow.org to learn more about ways your family can make better, safer decisions online and to access official contest rules. Good luck, and don’t forget to smile! 3 Ten reasons why your gifted child procrastinates Procrastination: that vexing time thief so many gifted children face. You watch as your bright, curious child, passionately engaged in so many interests, comes to a screeching halt when a project is due. You coax, cajole, demand, bribe, threaten, and stand on your head, yet nothing will budge. What gives? While most people procrastinate from time to time, some develop a chronic pattern fraught with avoidance, disorganization and frantic efforts as deadlines loom. Before you nag your child one more time, rush out and buy yet another self-help book, or hit your head against the wall, you may first want to sort out the reasons for the procrastination. Usually there are one or more contributing factors, and if you sort these out, you may be better prepared to tackle the problem. 1. Distractibility - Some gifted children are so immersed in their interests that they have difficulty focusing on the task at hand. They become easily distracted by more engaging ideas or projects. Overscheduling can exacerbate this problem; however, distractions can arise even without competing demands once the child's passions and interests take hold. 2. Disorganization - Gifted children can struggle with poor organizational and planning abilities and can lack time management skills. Despite motivation to complete a project, they may become overwhelmed when it involves more attention to details or long-range planning than usual. Difficulty managing their time and structuring how they will work is frequently the root of this problem. 3. Apathy - Sometimes gifted children have become so bored and disgusted with school that they lose interest and don’t really care about the quality of their work. They delay completing assignments because the work seems meaningless. They would rather engage in a multitude of other activities than “waste” their time on rote paperwork or assignments that seem too easy. 4. Past success - Some gifted children procrastinate because they can get away with it. Many have learned that completing assignments at the last minute does not diminish the quality of their work or harm the outcome. They know they can do better, but with a track record of excellent grades behind them, they realize they don’t have to work very hard to just slide by. 5. Rebellion - Procrastination can be an expression of resistance or quiet rebellion against completing an assignment a child resents. It is a means of devaluing the project, minimizing its importance, and expressing anger about having to work on something unappealing. Even if the project is eventually completed, delaying it until the last minute is a form of silent protest that may feel empowering to the child. 6. Perfectionism - High expectations of achieving success can create anxiety and a desire to delay that which is distressing. When gifted children worry that they might not excel on a given task, they may put it off until the last possible minute. Clearly, this can be a recipe for increased anxiety and inevitable 11:00 PM melt-downs. 7. Self-sabotage - Some gifted children (and gifted adolescents in particular) try to hide their abilities from others. In an attempt to blend in, they may disguise their talents, perform poorly, and disengage from academics. Procrastination may reflect their ambivalence about confronting this dilemma and uncertainty about whether to minimize their abilities or live up to their potential. And if the quality of their work suffers, then they can perpetuate the image they want to convey. 8. Insecurity - Despite their apparent skills, some gifted children doubt their abilities. They may feel like "imposters" and worry that their inadequacies will be "discovered" at any time. They believe that they have an image to uphold and if they fail in some manner, they will be outed as a fraud. Delaying completion of a project is a means of avoiding the inevitable anxiety that arises when they confront this fear. 9. Shame - Along with insecurity, some gifted children experience feelings of shame if they fail to excel. They react as if this is an indictment against their intelligence and suspect that others will view them as inadequate. As a result, procrastination can be an excuse; if a less than perfect grade is attributed to a rushed, last-minute effort, then the child can believe that actual ability was never to blame. 10. Depression - Occasionally, procrastination may be a symptom of depression. However, it usually coincides with other signs, such as withdrawal and isolation from peers, apparent sadness, changes in eating and sleeping patterns, and irritability. In these situations, procrastination may be a reflection of feelings of hopelessness and a perception that school work lacks any meaning. Sorting out the cause of your child's procrastination is the first step toward working on the problem. A onesize-fits-all approach based on the latest self-help ideas may not work for your child's specific situation. Clearly, a child whose procrastination is the result of perfectionism and shame will need a different approach than one whose primary concern is apathy. Gather information, speak with your child, and listen to what your child thinks. Make a decision about whether the problem is behavioral (habits, distractibility, time management), school based (boredom, apathy), and/or the result of anxiety or depression. Determine whether intervention needs to occur at home, school, or both, and whether a counselor, school psychologist, or therapist would help to address the problem. Reprinted from Giftedchallenges.blogspot.com Healthy Lifestyles The goal for National PTAs Healthy Lifestyles programming is to help school and home environments make the healthy choice the easy choice. Nearly one in three children in America are overweight or obese. Obesity has potentially devastating consequences for youth, increasing the risk of health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Children who are obese also miss more school than other kids. If we don’t reverse the current childhood obesity trend, this will be the first generation to live sicker and die younger than their parents. PTA has an important role to play in reversing this trend. Problems exist both at home and school that could benefit from a stronger family-school partnership around advocacy, mobilization and family education—PTAs specific niche. The Healthy Lifestyles program provides family-centered education and tools to empower families to partner with schools and advocate for healthy changes around nutrition and physical activity, and create an environment at home that supports the positive changes happening at school. By advocating for nutritious school meals and quality physical education, ensuring healthy options are available at home, and modeling healthy behaviors, parents can create lifelong healthy habits within their families and school communities and foster their children’s academic, social, emotional and physical growth. Smart from the Start: Community Outreach Grant provides PTA Regions, Districts and Councils with funding and tools to educate families of children ages 3-5 and partner with a local neighborhood community to improve awareness of energy balance concepts. Healthy Lifestyles Energy Balance 101: Provides local PTAs with tools and resources to use in partnering with schools and engaging families in addressing an everyday healthy lifestyle practice known as Energy Balance. Childhood Obesity Facts: Research and statistics PTAs can use to encourage their schools and communities to improve student nutrition and physical activity, and also to create healthier homes and schools. Creating Healthy Schools: Information on how to improve school nutrition, increase physical activity and develop and implement school wellness policies. Creating Healthy Homes: Tips for promoting healthy eating and being physically active as a family. Celebrating Healthy Lifestyles: Learn about National PTAs Healthy Lifestyles month, ideas for celebrating and best practices for integrating healthy lifestyles into your school. Fire Up Your Feet: A physical activity program that encourages families, students, schools and PTA groups to work together and create active lifestyles which inspire our children to be healthy and physically active. A healthy fundraising option is available to all schools and PTA groups in the country and an Activity Challenge program is available is selected areas around the country Source: www.pta.org 5 Membership news Members, involvement and programs are each a part of an ongoing process of strengthening your PTA. An involved PTA membership is a valuable resource to help you start and maintain meaningful programs and projects to benefit children, youth and the community. Remember not just Parents can be members of the PTA. Anyone who has an interest in the school or the students can become members. So encourage your students to ask any or all family members to become a member. Keep this in mind when mailing membership information to the student’s home use “to the family of…” instead of “to the parents of…” Faculty and staff involvement Your principal, faculty, and school staff are the keys to your effectiveness. Creating a working relationship with your administration and staff requires the creation of an ongoing positive partnership. An effective PTA will establish two-way communication with its school staff to determine issues of mutual concern. Community involvement Your community is the PTA’s backyard—work with it and you will benefit. PTA involvement is not limited to parents, teachers and students. An open-door policy should be established with local businesses, places of worship, service organizations (like Kiwanis and Rotary) and government agencies (like your health or police departments), as well as other youth and community service groups. Building these relationships will assist overall community efforts to expand parent and community involvement. Your community has senior citizens and other sources of volunteers who can benefit your PTA. But someone must ask for their help and other specific opportunities for their contributions. Business sponsorships and involvement Business partners and your business community can provide a variety of resources for your PTA. Many of your students are their children, as well as future employees. A good education for all children is critical for their business future. Don’t hesitate to take the opportunity to offer membership and other PTA involvement opportunities to your business community. The Big Bang - Fall Book Fairs, academic events, open houses, etc. ation in the school newsletter and on the web page Source: www.kypta.org Did you know … Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has a wonderful section on its website devoted to School-Based Decision Making. Click here to link to learn more about SBDMs in general. In addition to the general information, they now post their SDBM newsletters online. The October newsletter contains articles about minority data, training verification guidance, FAQs about minority elections and links to new resources You can view them their current and past newsletters here. Dixie Magnet Elementary School found a fun way to advertise for their recent Fall Festival. Creativity catches people’s attention! Nice job, Dixie! Are you looking for new volunteers? Host a Volunteer Opportunities Open House: Make it interesting with door prizes, if possible. Include other groups within the school. Make sure to know the requirements for your school for volunteers and have the forms ready for people to fill out. Provide Volunteer Orientation/Training: Provide detailed information on what they can expect and what impact the project will have on the school. Host a Brown Bag Lunch or a "Stop In Before Work" Breakfast: An information session where volunteers can come during their lunch hour or before work to hear about volunteer opportunities. Spread the Word: Talk about the volunteer project with everyone you know. Wear a PTA shirt and let people know that you're involved. Presence is everything! Newsletters Feature: Include volunteers and opportunities in your newsletter - have a column. Send Reminders: Make follow up announcements of those who have volunteered and/or make a call to remind volunteers of their commitment. Invitations: Ask the volunteers who have already signed up to help recruit additional volunteers. Invite people to join you year around, not just at the beginning of the year. Make the ask! Provide Meaningful Work: Don't waste volunteer's time. Create positions that are diverse in tasks. Show them Respect: Never require something from them that you won't do yourself. Provide them with clear instructions and the necessary tools to perform the work expected. Accept their recommendations and take their advice. Support Career Enhancement: Help volunteers acquire new skills. Provide opportunity for advancement. Even if they are not an officer, bring them to training they may become an officer in the future. Offer Personal Growth: Let volunteers grow with the program. Give them opportunities they might not get in the workplace. Be flexible if you find out someone has a talent or an interest in learning something, ask them to help in that area. 7 Putting the spotlight on wonderful FCPS staff In years past, Fayette County Public Schools invited principals and department supervisors to submit names for Staff Spotlight recognition on the district’s website and Channel 13. Starting in 2014-2015, the selection process and the criteria have changed. Nominations are now welcome from the entire FCPS community – staff, students, families and community members – to highlight specifics of how employees and schools have gone “above and beyond” expectations in a particular situation. Nomination form A selection committee at “It’s About Kids” Support Services considers the submissions and determines who is featured in the Staff Spotlight. For questions, email Heidi Reihing or call (859) 381-4794. Ashland Elementary PTA Look at Mrs. Jones with 288 brand-new books for the library, courtesy of her PTA! Ashland’s PTA lives into the mission of making every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children. They are proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish with the support of all their parents, grandparents, caregivers, teachers and staff! Thank you for all you do for the children of Ashland Elementary! This would not have been possible without YOU! GO EAGLES! Open committees on the 16th District PTA board - Advocacy chair: This committee keeps alive PTAs roots in social justice. It keeps membership informed of proposed local, state and federal legislation that will affect the welfare of our children and encourages members to communicate with their local, state or national legislation, education and/or general welfare of children issues. It encourages voter registration and voter participation among the local unit membership. And it exposes students to the importance of participation in the legislative process by offering student programs such as Kids Voting. - Diversity and Inclusion chair: It is important that PTA include all parents and advocate for all children. This committee looks for new and creative ways to encourage diverse populations to feel welcome and become involved in PTA and their schools. - Academic Initiatives chair: This committee assists local units who wish to plan and offer specific PTA programs that support the Kentucky Core Academic Standards and student achievement in the classroom. This committee is developing an accessible database of academic enrichment ideas and/or program work plans that enhance the regular school curriculum. This committee will also help local units stay informed about public education academic initiatives at our local, state and national levels. If you are interested in serving on any of these committees, please contact Kathy Smiley – [email protected]. 9 PTA 5K WRAP-UP Healthy Lifestyles, Fun and Fundraising 2014 events The day dawned with beautiful weather and a range of activities provided by our wonderful partners, which kept the crowds active and engaged. The races were packed, and the Color Craze was a hit with all concerned. Schools from across the district will benefit from the great family engagement and the proceeds from the race entry fees they can invest in programs. 1,198 Participants! 150 Volunteers! 12 Sponsors 16 Partners Lots and Lots of Fun! 11 16th District PTA and Kentucky PTA 2014-2015 Calendar of Events August 2nd – Back to School Rallies 7th – 16th District PTA Board Meeting 11:30am 15th – Mandatory Financial Review due to KYPTA & “Back to School” Membership Dues 20th – Newsletter articles due 21st – Roundtable Meeting 11:30am January Happy New Year! 8th – 16th District PTA Board Meeting 11:30am 15th – Roundtable Meeting 11:30am & Membership Dues Payment 19th – Martin Luther King Day; No School 20th – Newsletter articles due September 4th – 16th District PTA Board Meeting 11:30am 15th - “Early Bird” Membership Dues 18th – Roundtable Meeting 11:30am 20th – Newsletter articles due 23rd – Kentucky Kids’ Day February 5th – 16th District PTA Board Meeting 11:30am Kids Advocacy Day @ Capitol & PTA Founders Day 15th – Membership Dues Payment & Scholarships & Self Esteem (KYPTA) 19th – Roundtable Meeting 11:30am 20th – Newsletter articles due October Safe Schools Week – October 19th-25th 9th – 16th District PTA Board Meeting 11:30am 15th – Required Membership Dues Payment 16th – Roundtable Meeting 11:30am 19th – PTA 5K Embassy Suites 20th – Newsletter articles due 23rd -31st – Red Ribbon Week 31st – Reflections deadline for district judging March Read Across America, March 3rd 5th – 16th District PTA Board Meeting 11:30am 15th – Membership Dues Payment & Awards due to KYPTA 19th – Roundtable Meeting 11:30am 20th – Newsletter articles due 30th – 31st – Spring Break; No School November Parent Involvement Month 4th – Election Day; No School 6th – 16th District PTA Board Meeting 11:30am 7th – 8th- Kentucky PTA Advocacy Training 15th – 990 Filing or Forms due to IRS & Membership Payment Dues 20th- Roundtable Meeting 6:00pm 20th – Newsletter articles due 21st – Reflection entries displayed at Gallery Hop 24th – Unity Day April SBDM Parent Elections PTA Officers Elections 1st – 3rd – Spring Break; No School 9th – 16th District PTA Board Meeting 11:30am 15th – Membership Dues Payments 16th – Roundtable Meeting 6:00pm 20th – Newsletter articles due December 7th – 16th District PTA Reflections Ceremony at Norsworthy 2:00pm – Elementary School Ceremony 4:00pm – Middle/High School Ceremony 20th – Newsletter articles due May Submit names of new officers to State/District PTA 4th – 8th – Staff Appreciation Week 7th – 16th District PTA Board Meeting 11:30am 13th – Annual Recognition Luncheon (tentative date) 15th – Membership Payment Due June 26th- 28th – 119th National PTA Convention in Charlotte, NC Note: Roundtable Meeting is held at the Central Office – 701 East Main Street – Conference Room C
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