Letter from the President
Happy New Year! I hope this finds you healthy and recharged for the second half of the school year. I am looking forward to 2021 and the hope it brings with it. We will continue to hold our monthly meetings, learn new ways to PTA and be a support for your units.
Council Goals:
- To provide leadership development for local units and council board members
- To serve as a resource for education, parenting information, and legislative issues
- To encourage parent and public involvement in Springfield Public Schools
If you have any questions or need help with filing any end of year paperwork please let us know and we can help you.
Unfortunately there will be no formal Founders Day Banquet this year. We would like to recognize every unit and all your efforts for this historic year. Please send a picture of anything your unit has done. This could be a screenshot of your zoom meeting, a lunch you had delivered, an online activity you created, food or clothing drive – anything! Please send your picture and description to president@scptamo.com.
“No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.” – Buddha
Best wishes and take care, Mandy
Treasurer’s Report and Tips for Treasurers
The detailed Treasurer’s Report can be found at Moneyminder.com
Username: council@scptamo.com Password: SCPTA.658
Check out these 10 virtual fundraising ideas from our friends at Moneyminder:
- Create a Donation Page
- Set up a virtual 5K
- Start an online shop
- Host a virtual yard sale
- Sell food safely
- Partner with local organizations
- Have a virtual Movie Party
- Hold a contest
- Amazon wishlist
- Virtual celebrities
PTA Clothing Bank
2020 – What a year! We ended it with full hearts at The Clothing Bank. We were open December 3rd and 17th with no shortage of shoppers. A few parents and guardians were grateful to pick out items to wrap up in time for Christmas.
We were still seeing plenty of winter coats out the door in December- approximately 500 for the school year. Thank you to all the PTA units and individuals who continue to hold drives, donate, and spread the word to make this possible.
Donations are still currently closed at The Wash House, but we are working to open them back up very soon. In the meantime, units can make appointments to drop off items directly by messaging our Facebook page.
The Clothing Bank will start 2021 shopping on January 21st, 10-4:30. We hope to continue opening every other week until Spring Break but will also continue to monitor the stages of COVID-19 in our community and make changes to the schedule as needed. As always, we will update our Facebook page the week of. Your shares are always appreciated.
Thank you for your continued support of The PTA Clothing Bank and students of SPS!.
Taryn Raidel, VP of Health and Public Services
Congratulations Field Elementary PTA!
Congratulations to Field Elementary PTA for receiving the National PTA Programs at Home Grant – Healthy Hydration – sponsored by Nestle Waters! Field PTA was one of 30 PTAs in the country to be awarded this $1000 grant to educate families on the importance of drinking water.
Missouri PTA Membership Challenge
Missouri PTA is excited to announce a new contest open to all of our PTA units. Just sign up at least 25 members in a month and your unit will be automatically entered into a drawing. We will randomly select 2 units per month and they will win $25 in PTA swag AND will be featured on our Facebook page and website throughout the month. Contest will run every month through April and then we have something REALLY exciting planned for May (stay tuned!).
Missouri PTA Membership Matters Newsletter
Missouri PTA Teacher Education Scholarships
Do you know a high school senior who is considering a career in teaching? Missouri PTA awards Teacher Education Scholarships up to $500.00 per year for the purpose of educating students of outstanding ability and sincerity of purpose who will enter the teaching profession.
Missouri PTA Teacher Education Scholarships are open to any high school senior in a Missouri public high school with at least one PTA/PTSA unit in the school district in good standing. (All Springfield High Schools are eligible). Only one application is accepted from each school. The postmark deadline to apply is February 15.
These scholarships are awarded in May at recognition ceremonies and graduations. All scholarship applications must be submitted to your school counselor, not the Missouri PTA office. All scholarship applications should be turned into your school counselor by the deadline set by your high school counseling office. For more information on scholarships contact your school counselor.
You may email the Missouri PTA at scholarships@mopta.org with any additional questions regarding scholarship opportunities available through the Missouri PTA.
Download Scholarship Application
National PTA STEM+Families Home Experiments
Don’t limit the STEM fun to school—bring the STEM excitement home and get the whole family involved in the fun. National PTA and Bayer have developed a series of hands-on activities families can do. PTAs can package the activities into STEM @ Home bundles for families.
https://www.pta.org/home/programs/stem/at-home
National PTA Legislative Conference
You won’t want to miss this opportunity to join in the conversation via this virtual event. Mark your calendar for the 2021 National PTA Virtual Legislative Conference (LegCon) March 9-11, 2021. Network with fellow PTA advocates, virtually meet with your members of Congress, hear PTA advocacy success stories and learn how to shape public policy on Capitol Hill and at home.
You’ll be joined virtually by your fellow PTA members and other passionate advocates who will share advanced advocacy skills and tactics to help PTA meet our policy goals.
Don’t miss the chance to expand your knowledge of the ins and outs of federal law, grow your advocacy skills, explore National PTA’s legislative priorities for the 117th Congress and virtually meet with your federal representatives on Capitol Hill.
Registration information will be open soon on the National PTA website.
https://www.pta.org/home/events/National-PTA-Legislative-Conference
How to be an Advocate
Plan a voter registration drive, or distribute voter information updates before April’s school board election.
View http://www.pta.org/advocacy
Join the JC/DC Network – You can join online under the ‘Sign up for the JC/DC Network’ link at the bottom of the homepage on the Missouri PTA website for Missouri alerts and online at http://www.pta.org/advocacy for National alerts.
Share National PTA and Missouri PTA legislative alerts with your PTA network.
Check out the PTA One Voice Blog – onevoice.pta.org.
Follow National PTA, Missouri PTA, and Springfield Council of PTAs on Facebook.
Do you tweet? Follow Missouri PTA (@MissouriPTA) and National PTA (@NationalPTA).
Notes from the Backpack features real conversations with real parents, experts, and educators who offer real-life advice, ideas, and strategies parents can use to help their children succeed in and out of school.
Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform or listen at this link: https://www.pta.org/center-for-family-engagement/notes-from-the-backpack
From the Parliamentarian
The nominating committee is assigned the task of finding the best possible candidate to
recommend for each of the offices of the PTA to be filled. Such recommendations are based on
an objective evaluation of the needs of the PTA.
The committee should have copies of the bylaws, membership list, a realistic description
of the duties of each office, and a nominating committee procedure guide.
After the nominating committee is elected, the committee should review the bylaws to verify the
date of the election meeting, notice of the election meeting, when the nominating committee
report is published and requirements for additional nominations from the floor.
For more information about the nominating committee, see the website under Parliamentarian Tips (Nominating Committee Part 1 and Part 2).
Reading is Fundamental
We could use some help January to set out the books, help put in the book plates, and sort the books and motivational sheets into the bags for the 1st and 2nd grade classrooms . If your school has a person who would like to serve as RIF coordinator for your school and/or volunteer just email me. We have some funding from National RIF, but donations from PTAs would be greatly appreciated.
Contact Peggy Stepp at: rifspringfieldmo@gmail.com
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We’ve added a page to our website dedicated to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). This special page includes resources from National PTA, monthly calendars that include special celebrations for DEI, links to SPS resources, and updates from our DEI advisor, Toi Allen. Check it out: https://scptamo.com/diversity-equity-inclusion-resources/
Save the Date: March 4, 2021
For SCPTA’s School Board Candidates’ Forum
https://www.facebook.com/SCPTAs https://www.facebook.com/ThePTAClothingBank
SCPTA President’s Network: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1631362246972323
Springfield Council of PTAs 