Livonia PTSA Council Courier
October 2023
Way to Go!
Keep up the great work!
Laura Ulaszek
PTSA Council, newsletter chair
Please note: @livoniaptsacouncil.org emails are up and running!
Council Meet and Greet
Please Pass on to Your Kindergarten Families
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Committee
The Livonia PTSA Council Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) Committee is looking for new members. Members of the committee would act as the DEIB chair of their unit and meet with the committee on a monthly basis. Our goal is to ensure that all PTA/PTSA events and programs are inclusive and that everyone in our school communities feels like the PTA/PTSA is a place where they belong. This year we will also be working with the district to provide the parent/guardian perspective in their DEIB work. We would love to have a DEIB chair for each unit this year. Please send the name and email address for your DEIB chair(s) to DEI@livoniaptsacouncil.org. Our first meeting will be October 3 at 6 p.m. via Google Meet.
Debbie Yates
Livonia PTSA Council Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Committee chair
Membership
The school year has started - our students are back into the swings of things, activities have started up, and this year is in full swing! Have you had a membership drive yet? If so, let us know what you did and how you did in the next newsletter. We'd love to know how it went for your PTA/PTSA.
Your membership numbers could already be growing. Remember to send your dues to Michigan PTA by the 28th of every month for all new members that month.
Have you had your first PTA/PTSA meeting yet? Has your budget been approved? If so, don't forget to send in your Livonia PTSA Council annual dues and a completed form. The address to send/deliver this to is on the form. Please DO NOT send this form or payment to Central Office. The form is below. Every email address on the form will receive an email when the form and funds have been received for your records.
We can't wait to see how many members you can gain this year!
Nicole Dant
Livonia PTSA Council, membership chair
PTA/PTSA Excellence Program (PEP)
PEP email is working again! You can now send everything PEP related to PEP@livoniaptsacouncil.org to receive credit, ask questions, or for anything else PEP related.
PEP is off to a great start this year! Submissions are coming in and those points are adding up nicely! Be sure to check the PEP Checklist to make sure items are submitted on time to receive PEP credit for them. There were some items that are due by October 1st. If you have not already turned those in, please still do so as they are important. Don't forget to invite your liaison every month to your monthly meetings, and CC PEP for an easy 100 points. Also, when you submit a newsletter article, be sure to CC PEP and receive another easy 100 points.
The year has just begun! There are a LOT of PEP opportunities yet to come. Keep doing amazing work with your unit and sending in those submissions.
Sara Bennett
Livonia PTSA Council, PEP chair
COUNCIL'S UNIT SPOTLIGHT
Buchanan Elementary
We also hosted our first color run. This has been our first fun run event since before covid and we had a record number of fundraising and great incentives from our community.
The PTA is happy to welcome all of our new special teachers and we're happy to provide shelving for the gym as well as new curriculum development for music.
Cleveland Elementary
Cleveland PTA held our first ever SCHOOL-WIDE color run on 9/29! This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and our Eagles are well on their way to reaching their goal! We're using Givebacks to collect and track donations, and the PTA is providing every student with a race kit that contains a shirt and sunglasses. We're extremely grateful to BJ's Brewhouse for donating cookies for our event, as well as several other local sponsors whose generosity helped us knock this event out of the park!
Coolidge Elementary
Our year at Coolidge is off to a great start! Kids and teachers are settling into the new routines of the new year. Our PTA had their first meeting of the year in September and voted on our budget. We talked about fundraising and some events to come around Coolidge.
The PTA and school will be kicking off the year with a joint fundraiser … and we couldn’t be more excited! The students had a special assembly to get excited about selling World’s Finest Chocolate at the end of September and it will run through the first couple weeks of October. Chocolate bars only cost $1 so if you have friends or family that are part of Coolidge Elementary School, we would appreciate your support!
The kids are working hard to earn the chance to have our Family Fall Festival this year as
an incentive! Our fall festival is a special night where we bring Coolidge families together for food, games, and it’s a chance for the kids to dress up in their Halloween costumes.
Be on the lookout for information from our special committee chairs ...
This month Coolidge’s DEI committee will be putting up an informational bulletin board for students to learn about National Hispanic Heritage Month. Students, staff, and families are encouraged to check it out and learn something new!
The BUZZ is our Youth Making a Difference program will be rolling out near the end of October. Students are encouraged to BEE the change they wish to see in the world with various community service activities they may complete over the next several months.
Reflections is a wonderful program to get involved with and for students to learn the importance of fine arts. Our chair Mrs. Stark is a wonderful resource for students and families, and we look forward to having so much involvement from our Coolidge Cougars.
Grant Elementary
School is in full swing and so is our PTA. We had our Welcome Back BBQ on Thursday, September 14 and it was well attended. The PTA was delighted to have numerous LPS staff from Grant help in serving food and handing out beverages.
In September, we started our largest fundraiser for the year, World's Finest Chocolate.
Hoover Elementary
Wow! September flew by at Hoover! We have been busy!!
We started on Wednesday, September 6th with curriculum night, in which 80% of our families attended! Our PTA set up an informational bulletin board, along with our PTA table in the main vestibule to welcome people and inform them on exactly what the PTA does for our school! We also had Heavenly Hot Dogs food truck there as well as Dan the Kona Man!
We also hosted Outdoor Movie night on Friday, September 8th. This was always a pre-covid event at Hoover, and we were so happy to be able to bring it back! It was very well received and attended, definitely more than we expected! The kids had a great time running around, eating snacks, popcorn, kona ice and watching Super Mario Brothers, of course!
Also had our first PTA Meeting September 13th!
We also had our 2nd Annual Color Run fundraising in full swing! Our event was at the end of September!
Kennedy Elementary
Back-to-school at Kennedy has been nothing short of fun!
The PTA offered a yummy dine-out at the Plymouth Depot on 8/25! It was a perfect way for students to catch up after finding out their classroom assignments the day prior.
Our PTA’s annual Chalk-the-Walk was a success as well! Many students and their families wrote encouraging messages and drew fun pictures the Sunday before the first day of school. The chalk brings smiles to the faces of students and staff alike and continues to be highly anticipated year after year.
In addition, our staff was provided a Back-to-School luncheon sponsored by the PTA to enjoy before heading into curriculum night. As always, it was appreciated and a hit.
Kennedy’s annual color run took place at the end of September and students took home prizes for the money they’ve earned.
The PTA has also paired up with Garden City Miniature Golf to offer a fun family outing opportunity in September. Students and their families happily enjoyed a discounted game of putt-putt while benefitting Kennedy at the same time.
Overall, it’s been a great start to the school year at Kennedy Elementary.
Randolph Elementary
We had a fantastic beginning of our school year! The PTA helped welcome our students and families back at our Randolph curriculum night. We had Crazy Craig who entertained our students while the parents and teachers met. He is always a fan favorite! We had a table set up for teachers and PTA. Parents were able to sign up for the PTA or offer to help with our teacher wish lists! We are excited to note that as of 9/6 our membership number was 76 and it is still growing. We ended last year with a membership total of 109 and we are on trend this year to go beyond that number. Thank you to all the parents and teachers who always show support to our PTA.
Our Color Run fundraiser took place on 9/22. This will be our only big fundraiser this semester and we are excited about the success we had! On 9/30 we had our drawing for some awesome prizes. It was fun for all!
Rosedale Elementary
We’ve hit the ground runnin’ … Raptor Running into our largest fundraiser of the year, our newly revamped Fun Run. We are celebrating our school’s mascot change from the Risso's (dolphin) to Raptors! We will be providing every student that participates a Rosedale Raptors silicone bracelet, and we’ve added a color run portion to this Rosedale Tradition.
Up next will be our annual Trunk or Treat night, which is always a fun night for our families!
Our meeting attendance has been fantastic and we are really appreciative of the positive feedback, ideas, and volunteering our families are providing! We know its going to be an amazing year here at Rosedale!
Webster Elementary
2023-24 LPTSAC Calendar
Mark your calendars NOW for Founders’ Day, Officer’s Training, and the Audit Party!
2023
9/20 – LPTSA Council Meeting |6 – 8 p.m. | Central Office
10/3 – Costume Closet | 6 – 8 p.m. | Franklin High School
10/16 – Council Meet and Greet | 5:45 p.m. | Central Office, Patriot Room
October – IEP Binder Organization Event | TBD
11/15 – LPTSA Council Meeting & Workshop |6 – 8 p.m. | Central Office
11/16 – Food Service Appreciation
December – LPTSA Council Family STEM Event | TBD
2024
1/17 – LPTSA Council Meeting | 6 – 8 p.m. | Central Office
1/20 – LPTSA Council Chili Cook-Off | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | TBD
January – Reflections Ceremony | 6 p.m. | TBD
2/21 – Founders’ Day | 6 p.m. | TBD
3/20 – LPTSA Council Meeting & Workshop | 6 – 8 p.m. | Central Office
3/21 – Transportation, Maintenance & Warehouse Appreciation
4/17 – LPTSA Council Meeting & Elections | 6 – 8 p.m. | Central Office
4/24 – YMAD Celebration | 6 p.m. | Churchill High School
5/22 – Officer’s Training | 6 – 8 p.m. | TBD
6/12 – LPTSA Council Meeting | 6 – 8 p.m. | Central Office
7/17 – Audit Party | 6 – 8 p.m.| Central Office
Livonia PTSA Council Officers Forum Facebook Group
If you are a PTA/PTSA officer or committee chair, please make sure to join our group for important information, discussions, and more! Be sure to answer the questions when you request to join. A lot of great information is shared on this closed group page. It's also a great way to network with other units, share ideas, and ask for help.
Getting Connected to Michigan PTA and National PTA
Michigan PTA Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/everychildonevoice
National PTA Website: https://www.pta.org/
National PTA Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ParentTeacherAssociation
National PTA Blog: https://onevoice.pta.org/
About us...
The Livonia PTSA Council is a group of 22 local PTA/PTSA Units within the Livonia Public Schools District. The Council is organized under the authority of the Michigan PTA for the purpose of promoting conferences, communications, leadership development and coordination of the efforts of the local units.
Interested in joining Council? There are chair opportunities available! Contact President Andrea Malenfant at andrea.malenfant@livoniaptsacouncil.org
Email: newsletter@livoniaptsacouncil.org
Website: www.livoniaptsacouncil.org
Location: 15125 Farmington Road, Livonia, MI, USA
Phone: .
Facebook: facebook.com/LivoniaPTSACouncil
Twitter: @LivoniaPTSAC