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Hello PTA members,
We hope this message finds you staying warm on these colder days. We can not believe it is already mid January. These past few months we have loved spending time in community with each of you. Whether celebrating at the Fall Festival, sharing traditional cuisine and stories at Unity Night, or hearing your voices at our last general membership meeting, we have felt a deep appreciation for your engagement.
As many of you are aware, we continue to navigate the challenges of ensuring a high-quality education for our children with the backdrop of SPS budget cuts and ongoing challenges of funding public school education in Olympia. We expect the SPS budget cuts to only be deeper in the coming years. However, a key role of the PTA is to advocate for our kids. Through actively participating in advocacy, we can influence decision makers to prioritize and allocate necessary funds that directly impact our children's education. This is why your PTA Board set a goal to increase community engagement in advocacy. We wanted to take a moment to celebrate some accomplishments and highlight ways you can join us in this work.
This year, your Legislative Chairs have organized a new GHE Advocacy Committee. With the help of our amazing community, we have organized an advocacy pathway that will start with hosting the 1st West Seattle Elementary Public School Funding 101 event on February 5th at GHE at 6pm. Joining us that evening is Seattle School Board President, Liza Rankin and Advocacy and Policy Manager Vivian van Gelder
This past Monday, our committee also organized several families and their students on a trip to Olympia to meet with our State legislature representatives to advocate for appropriate school funding. These opportunities were also supported by our neighboring elementary schools. Michael and I have worked this year to organize the first WS Elementary School PTA Leadership coalition as an avenue to collaborate with our larger WS community and leverage the collective power of local PTA communities.
Throughout the year we invite you to join us on this advocacy engagement. You can expect more information on how to participate, whether you have a minute to spare or hours to donate. We will be sharing how to attend community meetings, connect with your local representatives, vote on important initiatives, attend SPS Board meetings, and share your personal narratives to uplift the transformative impact of a well-funded elementary education.
We believe that elementary schools serve as the cornerstone of our children's educational journey, shaping their academic foundation and nurturing their curiosity. Let us stand united, a force in numbers, working towards a common goal -- providing our children with the educational foundation they deserve.
Thank you for your commitment to this work and your unwavering support of every child at GHE.
Sincerely,
Lia and Michael, co-presidents
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