First District PTA Newsletter for Local Leaders | February 28, 2021
MEETING RECAP
February 22nd
Association Meeting

Check out all of the great information that was presented at the First District PTA association meeting!
IN THIS ISSUE
  • President's Message
  • Honorary Service Awards
  • Parliamentarian
  • Membership
  • Leadership
  • Auditor
  • Historian
  • Legislation & Advocacy
  • Community Concerns
  • Education
  • Reflections
  • Communications
Visit our website to see past issues of "You Heard it Here First!"
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Hello Local Leaders,

Each February 17th, we celebrate the creation of our amazing organization by our visionary founders. This year marks the 124th anniversary of the first official gathering of the National Congress of Mothers, which would eventually become the National Parent Teacher Association.

Our annual First District PTA association meeting and Founders’ Day celebration included a wonderful inspiration on the topic of perseverance by Patty Scripter, First District PTA VP of Education and Family Engagement. We also conducted our annual election and congratulated our First District Board-Elect, with Jessica Sheen (Glendale Council) at the helm of the 2021-2023 district Board of Directors.

Our program keynote speaker was Anna King, National PTA president-elect. She reminded us of our need to be deliberate and intentional in our work to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.

Geoff Albert, First District PTA VP of Legislation and Advocacy, presented the history leading up to the unification of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers and the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers in 1970, which make up today’s National PTA. Kitty Cahalan, First District PTA VP of Community Concerns, shared tools to help today’s local leaders with the work of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Links to the presentation and available tools are noted in their reports in this email below.

We must continue our vocal yet respectful collaboration with our school boards, superintendents, and public health and community leaders as we incorporate plans for the eventual safe and equitable return to in-person student learning. Please take a moment to read more about California State PTA's recommendations for reopening in the Education section of this email.

Take care,

Diane Hyland, President
First District PTA
HONORARY SERVICE AWARDS
NOMINATIONS BEING TAKEN NOW!
Our Honorary Service Awards (HSA) Chairperson, Ellen Torres, is asking for nominations for First District PTA Honorary Services Award recipients. We need your input!  

As a reminder, the HSAs are designed as a unique way for all levels of PTA to publicly acknowledge both individuals and organizations for outstanding contributions and service to children and youth. The HSA program includes the Honorary Service Award, the Continuing Service Award, the Golden Oak Service Award, the Very Special Person Award, the Outstanding Teacher Award, and the Outstanding Administrator Award.

Click HERE to view the California State PTA HSA brochure. Please download the HSA nomination form HERE.

The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2021, to our HSA Chairperson at [email protected].
PARLIAMENTARIAN
BYLAWS NEWS YOU CAN USE!
CAPTA e-Bylaws System
The CAPTA e-Bylaws system is still unavailable. We do not have a date for when it will be restored. As soon as we have more information, we will let you know.  If there is an update that cannot wait, you should submit your changes using the fillable bylaws templates available on our website.

Bylaws
Once your bylaws have been approved by the state parliamentarian, an electronic copy of the bylaws along with the additional signature pages will be emailed to you. The electronic version can be used as the original for the association to adopt. Once they have been adopted, please make sure that the president and secretary sign all the signature pages and that one page with signatures is returned to First District for our files.

Questions? Contact First District PTA Parliamentarian, Christy Brown, at [email protected].
MEMBERSHIP
MORE MEMBERSHIP CHALLENGE WINNERS!
First District PTA Membership Winter Challenge
We are celebrating membership increases of all sizes through the end of February with prizes of PTA merchandise. Please continue to promote the importance of PTA membership!

Membership trophy this month goes to South Pasadena Council with 90% of last year's membership. This month, the TOTEM Trophy goes again to Burbank Council with over 88% of their memberships via TOTEM.

We are happy to announce that 23 units have already met the One More Member Challenge 2020 – 2021. Congratulations to the following units:

In-Council Units
  • Alhambra Council – Fremont Elementary, Garfield Elementary, and Park Elementary
  • Arcadia Council – Longley Way
  • Garvey – Frances E Willard Elementary
  • Glendale Council – Monte Vista Elementary and Verdugo Woodlands
  • Monrovia Council – Santa Fe
  • Pasadena – Andrew Jackson Elementary PTA, John Muir High PTSA, Madison Elementary, and Sierra Madre Elementary
  • Pomona Council – Madison PTSA
  • South Pasadena Council – South Pasadena High School and South Pasadena Middle School
  • Temple City Council – Cloverly Ave, Emperor, and Londen Avenue
  • West Covina Council – Edgewood High School and West Covina High

Out of Council Units
  • Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall School PTA – OOC
  • Newton Middle School – OOC unit
  • Washington PTA in San Gabriel

Questions? Contact First District PTA VP Membership, Michelle Hurst, at [email protected].
LEADERSHIP
TRAINING + "OFFICE HOURS" + YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID COURSES
Leadership Training Conference
The Leadership Training Conference was announced as being held in April. My apologies, it will be held in June with details to follow. The New Presidents Orientation will be held in April.

"Office Hours" with First District PTA Officers
Be sure and check out "Office Hours" coming up in March. All are welcome to come to ask questions to the First District Officers!

Youth Mental Health First Aid Workshops
Please check our website and communications to sign up for Youth Mental Health Awareness First Aid courses. We will be holding two classes per month through May.

Questions? Email First District PTA VP Leadership, Sandy Russell, at [email protected].
AUDITOR
MIDYEAR AUDITS DUE
All associations are required to have a year-end and mid-year audit, according to your bylaws and the CAPTA toolkit.

  • For units with a May 31 year-end, the mid-year audit should cover the period June 1, 2020 - November 30, 2020. 
  • For units with a June 30 year-end, the mid-year audit should cover the period July 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020.  

Guidance for completing a PTA audit can be found HERE.

As you begin to think about doing your mid-year audit, there are a few things you need to keep in mind:

  • The auditor needs to be appointed by or elected to the Executive Board per your bylaws.
  • The auditor cannot be related to any of the check signers by blood, marriage, or live in the same household. 
  • The audit must be presented to the Executive Board as well as the General Association for adoption. 
  • The audit must be reviewed by an audit review committee unless the audit is conducted by a qualified accountant. A qualified accountant is defined as someone who has been trained/licensed to conduct audits and/or review accounting records, such as a Public Accountant or Certified Public Accountant (CPA). They do not need to be currently employed in the field.

Once your audit is complete and adopted by the Executive Board and Association, please upload ALL audit documents (Audit Report, Audit Checklist, Audit Recommendations, etc) in a single PDF to MyPTEZ.

If you have any questions, please contact First District PTA Treasurer, Jessica Sheen, at [email protected].
HISTORIAN
TRACKING VOLUNTEER HOURS
A reminder that your PTA is required to keep track of the number of hours that volunteers work on behalf of your PTA. Volunteer hours are a record of how much your PTA contributes to the school and the community. As a non-profit organization, it is also necessary to keep track of PTA volunteer hours for tax purposes.

The Annual Historian Report is due in the spring through channels. You can find blank Historian Reports on our website HERE as well as tools and information to help with the tracking of your PTA's hours.

Questions? Please contact our Recording Secretary and Historian, Lourdes Wang, at [email protected].
LEGISLATION & ADVOCACY
MEETING PRESENTATION NOW AVAILABLE
Founders' Day and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Presentation Now Available Online
Many who attended our association meeting were interested in having access to the slides presented by Geoff Albert and Kitty Cahalan at our association meeting. This presentation highlighted the history of Black PTAs and how to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in your PTA. Click HERE to view the presentation and notes.

Questions? Contact Geoff Albert, our VP of Legislation & Advocacy, at [email protected], or visit the California State PTA website HERE.
COMMUNITY CONCERNS
HEALTH & SAFETY + DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION INFORMATION
General PTA resources for Health, Safety, Diversity, and Inclusion

National PTA 

California PTA

Health and Safety

COVID-19






March is:

Diversity and Inclusion

February is:

  • All Month
  • Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
  • Irish-American Heritage Month
  • Women's History Month
  • March 8: International Women's Day
  • March 11: Maha Shivratri
  • March 17: St. Patrick's Day
  • March 21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
  • March 27: Pesach/Passover Begins
  • March 28: Palm Sunday
  • March 28 - 29: Holi

Questions? Email First District PTA VP of Community Concerns, Kitty Cahalan, at [email protected].
EDUCATION
REFLECTIONS + SCHOOL REOPENING + SCHOLARSHIPS FOR GRADUATING SENIORS
School Reopening
California State PTA has posted recommendations for safely reopening schools and urges the Legislature and the Governor to adopt them and move toward a timely and safe reopening of school sites.

Read more:



This is the time for local PTA leaders to work with their school districts to ensure that the process includes both input from parents and clear communications to parents and communities that are timely, transparent, and complete as to what steps schools are taking to open their sites and what in-person learning might look like for students and teachers. Remember that PTAs must remain neutral in any collective bargaining efforts. Refer to the ToolKit for more extensive information.


Commemorative Scholarship Applications
The Commemorative Scholarship application forms are now posted on the First District PTA website. Please promote this scholarship opportunity to your 2021 graduating seniors.

Commemorative scholarships in the amount of $750 each are awarded to acknowledge graduating high school students who have achievements, service, and involvement in the areas outlined in the application.

Council PTAs in good standing may submit one application for each council high school PTSA/PTA. Pasadena City College (PCC) PTSA and a Unit/Out-of-Council (OOC) high school PTA, if in good standing, may submit one application.

Completed application, transcript, reference form with a letter of recommendation and a copy of student's signed current PTA membership card are DUE to First District PTA NO LATER than noon on Monday, March 22nd. Please READ and FOLLOW the instructions for submitting the applications.

Questions? Email First District PTA VP of Education, Patty Scripter, at [email protected].
REFLECTIONS
RECOGNITION EVENT NEWS COMING SOON
There is no scheduled date yet for the First District Reflections recognition event but stay tuned. We are proposing a pre-recorded virtual program. First District will be mailing out the student certificates later in March to each of our award recipients. We hope to have results from California State PTA late in March also. First District winners are posted on the First District PTA website.

Questions? Email [email protected].
COMMUNICATIONS
SOCIAL MEDIA KITS + COMMUNICATIONS RESOURCES
California State PTA Social Media Kits
California State PTA continues to share its social media kits to help PTAs create impactful online communication with ease. The kits are updated monthly. The images in the kit may be used on your personal and PTA social media accounts. They are customizable and fun!

February's social media kit focused on family engagement. March's kit will be revealed on Thursday, March 4th, at 7:00 pm. Click here to register for the social media kit workshop.

Click here to see social media kits from prior months.

California State PTA Resources for Communications

National PTA Resources for Communications

Questions? Email First District PTA VP of Communications, Amy Kamm, at [email protected].
Be sure to follow us on social media! We want to see what amazing things your PTAs are doing for kids!

#FirstDistrictPTA
#PTA4Kids
#JoinPTA
#AllChildrenAreOurChildren
This email was sent to all unit and council PTA officers and chairpersons,
principals, superintendents, and the First District PTA Board of Directors.