By Membership Services Commission
Adding student members to your association and having students serve on your executive board is great for them and great for your PTA.
PTA was established to be a powerful voice for all children. Having student and youth involvement in your PTA, or on your PTA board, brings an important and different perspective to your organization. It also helps students learn to speak for themselves in a safe, supportive environment. Who better to speak for students than students?
Can students become PTA members? Yes!
Per the California State PTA Toolkit, “Any individual who subscribes to the purposes and basic policies of PTA becomes a member upon payment of dues.” This includes students. Many of our units decide to become PTSAs to stress this focus on students.
Go to the Involving Students section of the PTA toolkit for more tips on how to successfully engage students as active PTA members and leaders.
Student leaders suggest points to share
The student representatives on our California State PTA Board of Managers tell their fellow students about these advantages to joining PTA:
- Gain leadership experience you’ll use for the rest of your life
- You have a voice in how your school can serve and affect you
- Receive access to scholarships
- Enjoy lots of member benefits and discounts
- Share your ideas and let your voice be heard
- Positively impact your community through service (most schools require community service hours in order to graduate)
- Make a difference for your generation and the generations to come
When reaching out to students, be sure to stress the ways PTA membership helps students. This website section has more ideas for what to say.