One Thing – Over the next few days, I’ll be sending a One Thing email.  The idea is that you can forward this One Thing to the person or people on your PTA / PTSA board who can help you with this.

Friday Nov. 18 – Today’s One Thing – Council Special Funds (CARE / MCBRIDE).  The CARE fund is for ELEMENTARY schools and is given to the principal to use at their discretion to promote good behavior.  The MCBRIDE fund is given to the Middle School or High School Principal to use at their discretion for student need. Please have your principal fill out the appropriate form (see link above or below). Your PTA /PTSA needs to be in GOOD STANDING in order for the special funds to be approved.  If you are unsure or need help with this, please let me know.  We’ve already heard from some of you (McBride, Gray, Pittman, Holland, Wilder, Harrison, Glendale, Kickapoo, Hillcrest – please disregard this message).

The amount given is based on available funds. If you would like to make a donation towards this project, you may use our Paypal link on our website: we appreciate the help and support!

Care Fund (Elementary)

McBride Fund (Middle School/High School)

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Saturday Nov. 19 – Today’s One Thing – Reflections.  It’s not too late to implement this program in your PTA / PTSA.  See our website for details:  https://scptamo.com/reflections-dates/

!!New Date!!: Sunday December 11, 2022, 11:00am-3:00 pm – Turn in School Winners for Council Judging, Library Center Community Room A/B // 4653 S. Campbell Ave. 

December 15 – deadline to advance winners to Missouri PTA (online submission).  See Missouri PTA’s website for more information. https://mopta.org/reflections/

TBD – Council Winners Announced Via Social Media/Email Blast

January: Date, Time & Location TBD – District Reflections Awards Celebration

• Blank Entry Form/Permission Slip
• Reflections Program Judge Review Packet, Criteria, & Score Card

Reflections Program Contacts – please reach out if you have any questions:

Kimbala Ellis, Council Reflections Chair, reflections@scptamo.com

Allison England, Council VP of Programs, programs@scptamo.com

Reflections Remind Updates: Text @scptar to 81010 

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Sunday November 20 – Today’s One Thing – Council Dues

$35 Payable to Springfield Council of PTAs before December 1. 

Use this form and mail a check =>    Dues & Donations Form

Or pay via PayPal on our website:  www.scptamo.com

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.  

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Membership Monday – Remit to Missouri PTA $4.25 for each PTA/PTSA individual membership that you have sold, and $5.50 for each business membership that you have sold.

You may pay online with PayPal at this link: https://mopta.org/membership-dues-submission/ Or you may pay by check mailed to Missouri PTA along with this completed form: https://7f629d.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Membership-Dues-2022-2023-fillable.pdf

Membership dues should be paid monthly. If they are not paid monthly, the amount owed to Missouri PTA should be reflected in your monthly treasurer’s report.

Bylaws Article V # Section 10.

a. The local treasurer shall keep the record of the state and national portions of the membership dues separate from the record of the general funds of the local unit. All state and national portions arepayable to the state office the first of each month.

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One Thing: Tuesday Nov. 22 – The PTA Clothing Bank

Thank you to everyone for your help and support of the PTA Clothing bank and the students we support throughout the year.  We’ve served more students so far this year than we served all of last year. 

Taryn – our tremendous PTA Clothing Bank leader –  has set up this Amazon wishlist for you to share:  https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1M98YDRMIS9NG?ref_=wl_share

Our areas of greatest need:  girls tops (sizes 10 – 16), ALL sizes of boys pants (athletic pants preferred), and new socks and underwear.  Sock, underwear, jeans, and/or coat drives are always appreciated. 

You may also make $$ donations to the PTA Clothing bank via mail using this form:  (use this form and mail a check) =>    Dues & Donations Form   or on our website www.scptamo.com via Paypal. 

The operating schedule (days/times we are open for shoppers and volunteers) is also on our website (as well at FAQs): https://scptamo.com/the-pta-clothing-bank/

Having a donation bin at your school is a great way to collect gently-used clothes for the PTA Clothing Bank.  Make sure that it is in a designated spot and that it is well managed. Work with your principal to find the best spot for your school. SPS will bring your donations to the PTA Clothing Bank if they are packaged and well marked.  You can also bring donations to the CB anytime we are open or drop off at any Springfield Wash House location. 

Our suggested volunteer schedule for PTA/PTSA units looks like this (volunteers are welcome and appreciated any time we are open): 

December 1 – Parkview and Feeder Schools (Carver, Jarrett, Sherwood, Twain, Sunshine, McGregor, Cowden, Holland, Rountree, Delaware)

December 15 – Glendale and Feeder Schools (Hickory Hills, Pershing, Sequiota, Pittman, Bingham, Wilder, Field).

January 12 – Central and Feeder Schools (Pipking, Westport, Bissett, York, Weaver, Boyd, Weller)

January 26 – Hillcrest and Feeder Schools (Reed, Pleasant View, Truman, Fremont, Robberson, Bowerman, Watkins, Williams)

February 9 – Kickapoo and Feeder Schools (Cherokee, Wilson’s Creek, McBride, Gray, Harrison, Jeffries, Mann, Disney)

Feb. 23 – Parkview and Feeder Schools

March 30 – Glendale and Feeder Schools 

April 13 – Central and Feeder Schools

April 27 – Hillcrest and Feeder Schools

May 11 – All hands on deck for summer preparation

Follow the PTA Clothing Bank on Facebook for the most up-to-date information.

!!New Date!!: Sunday December 11, 2022, 11:00am-3:00 pm – Turn in School Winners for Council Judging

This year’s theme is: Show Your Voice! 

How to participate?

First register your PTA at PTA.org/Reflections

Check with your PTA President to make sure your PTA is good standing. If they are unsure, contact us at programs@scptamo.com and we check your standing.

Download the leadership guide at MOPTA.org You will also find the extremely useful social media images including promo reels, lawn signs, post cards, and flyers.

Determine your campaign plan and budget about sharing, inviting, and calling for Reflection entries including how you intend to recognize the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd recipients and other participants. Consider making all entrants feel special by sending a congratulatory letter and awarding with certificates, ribbons, medallions, buttons, plaques, trophies, art supplies, film, music supplies, gift certificates, books, and bookmarks. ShopPTA.com has a good collection of Reflections items which include the theme.

Set the deadline for the entries to be submitted to the school office. Meanwhile, start assembling a group of impartial and qualified judges to evaluate the entries. How many judges is up to you; however, 3 to 5 people works nicely. Reach out to professionals in the community as many enjoy supporting art programs in school.

Coordinate a time and way for judges to review entries and provide them with a welcome/thank you letter, instructions, entry rules, judging rubric, and score card. Remember to conduct blind judging where the students name and contact information is not revealed.

How to promote the Reflections program?

Share and publicize the Reflection program and theme to students, parents, principal, and school staff, while encouraging their support and participation. Talk about Reflections at a PTA meeting and have entry forms and rules available as handouts. Ask to include information about it in newsletters, social media, or announcements.

Additional ideas:

• Host a Reflections Program workshop (or Family Art Night) for students to work on projects and provide supplies.
• Talk to before/after school programs to host a Reflections workshop where students are invited to create or submit entries.
• Organize ‘Art Night’ to meet local artists to help and inspire students.
• Hand out flyers during carline.
• Send flyers home in student folders.
• Display posters and lawn signs.

Find posters, flyers, social media ready materials and video at the National PTA website. At any time feel welcome to reach out to the council as we are happy to help if we can. programs@scptamo.com

!!New Date!!: Sunday December 11, 2022, 11:00am-3:00 pm – Turn in School Winners for Council Judging

Reflections Program Contacts

Kimbala Ellis, Council Reflections Chair, reflections@scptamo.com

Allison England, Council VP of Programs, programs@scptamo.com

Reflections Remind Updates: Text @scptar to 81010 

A Letter from Your Council President

Council Goals:
1. To provide leadership development for local units and council board members
2. To serve as a resource for education, parenting information and legislative issues
3. To encourage parent and public involvement in the Springfield Public Schools

Welcome back to PTA/PTSA! Never say never…I said I would never do this again, but here I am! I served as SCPTA president in 2008 – 2010 and when I left office, I promised to be a resource on call. Never did I imagine serving as Council president again, but here I am and it’s an honor. My goal is to support our local PTAs and help each of you do your job. My experience includes serving as committee chair for various PTA projects, PTA treasurer, Missouri PTA Legislative Chair and Past President, and National PTA committee member. I say this to encourage each of you to reach out to me with questions so that I can make your PTA/PTSA experience easier.

At a recent National PTA governance retreat, National PTA emphasised 3 strategic focus areas: Growth in Mission and Membership; Leadership Development; and Organizational Effectiveness. I would like to adopt these strategies for Springfield Council as well. (1) Growth in Mission and Membership: at the council level we will share ideas that will help units grow membership numbers and stay connected to the PTA Mission; (2) we hope to encourage leadership development by shared experiences; (3) we will look for ways to change and become more effective and efficient as a council.

The Council provides many communication tools to help keep your unit on track and up to date with what is happening in the district, with Missouri PTA, and with National PTA programs. We also try to provide information and training through our newsletter, website, and Facebook. We also keep you informed about legislative issues that affect your children and their education with timely emails.

Our Council meetings will be held monthly on the 1^st Wednesday of the month.  We are planning to be back in person for most meetings, holding meetings via Zoom only in the winter months. Most meetings will start at 9:30am (with the exception of our November meeting which starts at 9:15am). A complete list of meetings and locations is on our website Calendar page. So please plan to attend the meetings and get to know us because we want to be there for you and your units.

See you soon!

Donna Petiford, President, Springfield Council of PTAs  president@scptamo.com

Council Minutes

As per bylaws, our monthly meeting minutes are approved by our Executive Committee and can be found on the Council website: https://scptamo.com/general-meeting-minutes/ We have found this to be a great time saver during our general meetings.

We looked through our training vault and found this great Secretary Training powerpoint from 2013 – it is still relevant and your Unit Secretary may find it useful: Secretary 101

Council Secretary: Brandi VanAntwerp secretary@scptamo.com

Back to School Treasurer’s Tips

When starting a new year, it’s important to make sure the previous year is completed and wrapped up nicely with a bow on top!   The ‘road to the bow’ includes:

 1-making sure all dues from last year’s memberships were sent to MOPTA; 

2-have in your possession all bank statements through June 30, 2021 (or your fiscal year end month);

3-create your ‘end-of-year’ report and be sure your ending balance matches the ending balance on the June bank statement; 

4-get a copy of the Financial Review form from MOPTA or SCPTA and fill in the blanks with the numbers from your end-of-year report and bank statement, give these forms along with your bank statements and checkbook register to your audit committee, after they approve the reports, your general membership votes to approve, then send both reports to MOPTA; 

5-file your IRS 990 at file990.org, have your unit’s EIN number handy, the form will typically autofill after you put in your EIN for your unit; if you don’t know it, ask a SCPTA officer (also send a copy to Missouri PTA); 

6-if a new treasurer is taking over, transfer all records including backup paperwork for expenses and income, bank statements, IRS past filings, forms and documents related to your unit’s financial transactions and history; treasurer reports and documents prepared for your unit, council or MOPTA, Missouri DOR Form 126, minutes from unit meetings recording votes for financial decisions, passwords to paypal or other online payment services and reports from these showing income and transfers or expenditures. Having a 3-ring binder with dividers and documents in sheet protectors works great for organizing and avoiding loss of important information. (Also, change passwords when changing officers).

Our SCPTA Treasurer is available for questions if you feel like a deer in the headlights. Email to treasurer@scptamo.com  

For More Treasurer’s Tips and Tricks: please see our website for Treasurer Resources and helpful information

We use MoneyMinder for our financial reporting. For a detailed report, please see Moneyminder.biz and login with username: council@scptamo.com  password: SCPTA.658

PTA Clothing Bank

For all shopping dates, volunteer schedule, and frequently asked questions, please see our website: https://scptamo.com/the-pta-clothing-bank/ and follow us on Facebook @ThePTAClothingBank. Email: clothingbank@scptamo.com

High Schools’ and Feeder Schools’ Volunteer dates at The Clothing Bank:

Glendale and GHS Feeder Schools: Sept 29, Dec 5, Mar 30

Central and CHS Feeder Schools: Oct 13, Jan 12, Apr 13

Hillcrest and HHS Feeder Schools: Oct 27, Jan 26, Apr 27

Kickapoo and KHS Feeder Schools: Nov 10, Feb 9

Parkview and PHS Feeder Schools: Dec 1, Feb 23

Reflections

Save the Dates!

We handed out Reflections packets to schools that participated in our Officer Orientation on September 20, 2022. Please let us know if you did not receive yours.

October 11, 2022,  4:30-6:00 pm – Reflections Chairperson Training, in-person option

Schweitzer-Brentwood Library Community Room // 2214 S. Brentwood Blvd.

October 12, 2022, 6:30-8:30 pm – Reflections Chairperson Training, in-person option

Library Station Frisco Room // 2535 N. Kansas Expy.

November 13, 2022, 11:00am-3:00 pm – Turn in School Winners for Council Judging

Library Center Community Room A/B // 4653 S. Campbell Ave. 

November 14-18, 2022 – Council-Level Judging Takes Place

December 19, 2022 – Council Winners Announced Via Social Media/Email Blast

January 2023, Time & Location TBD – District Reflections Awards Celebration

• Blank Entry Form/Permission Slip
• Reflections Program Judge Review Packet, Criteria, & Score Card

Reflections Program Contacts

Kimbala Ellis, Council Reflections Chair, reflections@scptamo.com

Allison England, Council VP of Programs, programs@scptamo.com

Reflections Remind Updates: Text @scptar to 81010 

Promotions

@SCPTAs #SCPTAMO

EMAIL: promotions@scptamo.com Kristina Wilmoth, VP Promotions

Organization and Development

Being a PTA / PTSA unit in Good Standing with Missouri PTA is necessary to protect your 501(c)3 status. If you are not in Good Standing, your unit will not be able to apply for grants, participate in the Reflections programs, or maintain your non-profit status.

Have you contacted Missouri PTA and given them your 2022-2023 officers’ names and contact information? Have you completed and sent to Missouri PTA your year-end (2021-2022) financial report, financial review/audit, and copy of IRS filing (990, 990EZ, or 990N)? (This should be done as soon as possible after your financial year-end and is considered past-due in December). Have you sent the state and national portion of your dues to Missouri PTA? Have you reviewed and sent updated copies of your bylaws to Missouri PTA within the last 3 years? Please check this list to verify if your bylaws are current. If you need help with any of these requirements, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

EMAIL: orgdev@scptamo.com or president@scptamo.com

At our September 20, 2022, we covered some basic Parliamentary Procedures. If you missed this Officer Orientation, please see this link for the slide presentations and corresponding web pages that we covered and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions.

You Belong in PTA Flyer. Editable file to create your PTA logo. Sample PTA Letterhead.