Florida PTA     1747 Orlando Central Parkway     Orlando, Florida     32809     407-855-7604     800-373-5782
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"New year, NEW me!" How many times have we said that right after we toast the dropping of the New Year's Ball/Pelican/Orange/Shrimp.  (Yes, there is a city that has a giant shrimp.  Bonus points if you can tell me!)  I'll be honest.  I've been guilty of making resolutions and not keeping them.  Well...most of them.  Okay, fine.  I've only kept one resolution but it is a huge one.  I resolved 15 years ago to always put up my shopping cart in the parking lot, regardless of how far away it was.  Life changing, right?  But I truly have let every single other one fall by the wayside.  From exercising daily to balancing my checkbook, even the year I decided to track every calorie that I put into my mouth, they have all received varying levels of effort, but nothing has stuck. Just the carts.  Why is that?  We all want change, even for ourselves, but it's so hard to make it part of our life.  It's hard to incorporate something different, especially if we don't see the immediate benefits or the results of our effort.  So, as most of you may have seen on my Facebook post, I only promised a few things for this year, and this time they will stick.

  1. To make this the year of bold and daring decisions.  Whether my knees are weak or I'm scared of failure, I will just follow my heart.  I've finally learned, after 50 years of doubting, that my instinct is solid.  My gut just knows what's right and I will step out into the unknown if it leads me there.
  2. To seek out truth.  It's easy sometimes to accept a watered-down version of reality.  It's more comfortable to turn a blind eye to fact and live in a world that appears fair to all, where everyone has enough, where the playing field is level.  That is simply not truth.
  3. To love the woman I'm becoming.  Face it.  We all get older and hopefully wiser.  Only one of those is guaranteed. I am not going to ever look like I did at 30 and I need to be okay with that.  My confidence cannot hinge on my appearance, but only on my character and desire to be the best ME I can be.  True confidence is beautiful.
Since I believe that the team is stronger than the individual, I hereby grant you permission to hold me accountable to these promises.  To call me out when I shy away from taking a risk, or avoid the tough topics, and especially if I belittle myself for the sake of humor.  Enough of the weakness.  Let's take on this year's challenges with our head a little higher, our back a little straighter and with a daring that only warriors can understand.

"One person can make a difference, and everybody should try."  John F. Kennedy

Cindy Gerhardt
President
Save These Dates!


Legislative Conference
Tallahassee
March 26-27, 2017
Leadership Convention
Innisbrook Resort & Spa
July 13-16, 2017
 Founder's Day
What is Founder's Day?  In 1910, Founder's Day was established as February 17.  This is the day we celebrate PTA's history - a time to reflect on the past and look toward our roots.  Florida PTA celebrated 93 years of advocacy at the July 2016 Leadership Convention.   

To continue reading about Founder's Day and the incredible history of PTA, please click here.
 Leadership
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Did you remember to relax, recharge and re-energize?  We certainly hope so! My favorite part of the holidays is being able to spend time with family and friends.  It seems no matter how busy we are in our daily lives, during the holidays we always manage to make extra time for fun with family.  Now that we have recharged, we are ready to hit the ground running!  Over the next few months you will hear about several events going on throughout the state and we hope you will be able to join us.  January will bring Community Stakeholder Events in Miami, Duval and Tampa; February will bring Founder's Day; March will bring the Legislative Conference in Tallahassee; April will bring our annual Reflections Ceremony in Pinellas County; June will bring the National PTA Convention in Las Vegas; and July will bring our Leadership Convention at Innisbrook Golf & Country Club. Wow...lots to come and we hope you are as excited as we are! Remember, we are here for you and no matter how busy life gets, it is always okay to reach out for support. 

Coming out soon from the Leadership Development Commission
  • Day of Service; remember to use the #LetThemSeeUs
  • Follow our students on Twitter: @flpta_student 
  • Leadership Convention July 13-16, 2017 
Jen Martinez
VP of Leadership Development
 Diversity And Inclusion
Happy New Year from the Diversity and Inclusion Committee! We want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year and hope that your holiday was relaxing and filled with friends and loved ones. It's that time of year when thoughts turn to self-improvement.  We vow to eat better, exercise more, and quit smoking, but I challenge you to be kind to yourself and towards each other. Don't know where to start, go to http://www.bradaronson.com/acts-of-kindness/ and get ideas and celebrate Random Act of Kindness Day on February 17th as an individual, with a group, or as an organization!
 
Throughout the next 18 months, Florida PTA will use social media via pictures and statistics to educate and advocate underserved children as they relate to LGBTQ students, our culturally diverse students, the importance that men play in our students' lives, and our military families. Please share these memes and articles on your Facebook pages and share this information with everyone you come in contact with and use the #weareallPTA.  


 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)


National PTA and its constituent associations and advocates across the country are seeking to empower all families to be active participants in the state and local implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to ensure equity and opportunity for all students.  This webpage offers road maps on how parents (and other education stakeholders) can get involved in ESSA implementation at the state, local, and school level, as well as background information on the law, links to state ESSA pages, and more.  
 Real Talk
#BeHeard


Inequality in education prevents our state from fulfilling its potential.  We cannot afford discriminatory barriers that unfairly limit or deny educational access to students based on factors like race, national origin, gender, disability or living status.  Florida PTA, the Florida Coalition on Black Civic Participation, and other organizations have initiated a dialogue around how to improve our state public education system for underserved and vulnerable students, including those facing homelessness and those in the foster care or juvenile justice systems.  In 2 017, we plan to continue our work to increase access, equity and accountability in our state public education system by recruiting more parents, teachers, and community leaders to become involved and we look to you to help us with this task. 

As they are announced, please help spread the word about upcoming RealTalk events to other civil rights and education advocacy organizations and community leaders you know.  Information on upcoming events can be found below or by visiting    floridapta.org .  Also, if you would like to volunteer to be a part of our effort to improve public schools or you want to share a story about your experience with our state public education system, please   sign up here to become involved.  
 Get Your Spirit On!


Make your 2017 New Year's Resolution to get more  members! Promote Your PTA (& PTSA) with our membership advertising materials. They are effective yet inexpensive tools to increase your membership numbers .

All Promote Your PTA items come in 8 different theme design options so you can coordinate a successful membership campaign.