A Message from California State PTA President
I still remember the first PTA I joined. It was back in 2000 and I was a first-year teacher at Valley View Community School. I turned in my membership envelope with my check inside on the very first day of the school’s membership drive. I dutifully went to their association meetings, because PTA had the “T” for teacher in it and I wanted to be a part of that!
Twenty-five years later and I still join a PTA each and every year. Why? Because the work done by the PTA is so important! We advocate so that every child has access to a high-quality, free public education. We help families see the importance of their engagement on their student’s school campus. We train leaders at over 3000 school sites across the state to bring much-needed programs to our schools. We have a community of half a million members who all believe in the mission of positively impacting the lives of all children and families.
Your membership matters. It gives us a voice as we advocate in Sacramento and Washington D.C. It shows your school district that you value family engagement and the work done by your site’s executive board to bring programs into your school. Your membership also helps support PTA at all levels. Your council and district are able to provide more support and programming and it allows State and National PTA to continue to offer grants and scholarships, to offer training opportunities both online and in-person at Leg Con and Convention, and to provide amazing publications, like the one you are reading. As the oldest and largest child advocacy membership organization in the country, our members keep us strong!
Your membership also offers you some perks and benefits besides what I’ve already listed. Did you know that both California State PTA and National PTA have member perks offered on their websites? As a member, you receive discounts on items from produce boxes to birthday parties at chain restaurants to savings on your back to school clothes shopping. Want to learn more about these special offers? Watch our Member Perks webinar to see how you and your fellow PTA members can take advantage of these amazing offers.
Finally, I’d like to ask you to help all of our schools meet their membership goals. Share their social media posts on membership to amplify their reach. Ask your friends to join a school you care about. Tell others why PTA is important to you on your social channels and ask them to join. If every current PTA member gets one more person to join, our voice would be that much stronger. Let’s do all we can to keep PTA thriving – today, tomorrow, together!
Sincerely,
Heather Ippolito
California State PTA President
A Message from California State PTA President-Elect
As a State PTA leader, I get to attend other statewide association meetings. Recently, I attended the California Association of African American Superintendents and Administrators meeting. It was exciting to be in a room of individuals who are focused on improving the lives of all students by improving the lives of those that have been traditionally underserved or marginalized – children of color. By focusing on providing support for African American and other teachers of color, our students of color can see themselves in a positive learning environment. There was also recognition of the need to support teachers of color. Here are some key messages and thoughts from our meeting:
- If you have power, then you have the responsibility to empower others! Building and supporting others to find their voice is something we all need to support.
- It is easy to get distracted by all the noise that is currently around us. Stay focused on the goal, providing and promoting positive learning for all children. As the old saying goes, “A rising tide floats all boats.”
- Finally, “Education and learning is the path to freedom for everyone, so let’s support a free and public education for all.”
I walked away inspired by the commitment and desire of an organization that has and continues to overcome many obstacles, barriers, biases and lack of faith in their abilities to perform. We need to support efforts to ensure that all of our children see teachers who reflect who they are.
Sincerely,
Will Sanford
California State PTA President-Elect