Livonia PTSA Council Courier
April 2022
Founders’ Day Thank You!!
I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who was able to attend our 68th Livonia PTSA Council Founders’ Day celebration. Everyone on Council was very excited about the return to our normal in-person gathering and the evening was as splendid as we had hoped. There was great energy in the room as teachers, parents, students and community members mingled with others from different schools, chatting with people they may not have seen for a couple of years. I thank everyone for being so flexible as we changed the venue and changed the date, mid planning. The centerpieces were fabulous, the food was good, and the cake was sweet!
I would also like to thank Superintendent Oquist and Michigan PTA Secretary McMechan for speaking along with Council President Mandy Gerstenbrand and Robb Drzewicki for keeping the evening’s speeches lighthearted and funny. Thank you to Mr. Van Ham from Churchill and Matt G. for the music while everyone arrived. Thank you to Laura Ulaszek for creating the program, Andrea Malenfant for the table decorations and the historic PTA displays, Mandy Gerstenbrand for the photo cards, and Debbie Yates for the photos. Thank you to Debbie Pline and Stacy Jenkins for taking photos and Nicole Dant and Sara Bennett for checking people in at the front. Thank you to everyone on Council who helped during the event, even if your contribution was small, it was meaningful. The teamwork of this group is amazing and should not go unrecognized. Each member has strengths and uses them for the benefit of the Council, just as each of your PTA units does at your schools.
Kellie Dummer
Livonia PTSA Council 2nd Vice President, Founders' Day Chairperson
Slate of Officers for 2022-2023 Livonia PTSA Council Executive Board
The PTSA Council Nominating Committee is pleased to present the following slate of officers for the 2022-2023 Livonia PTSA Council Executive Board. Voting will take place at the April 20th general membership meeting!
President: Andrea Malenfant
1st Vice President: Sara Bennett
2nd Vice President: Mandy Gerstenbrand
Treasurer: Debbie Pline
Corresponding Secretary: Mike Testa
Recording Secretary: Kellie Dummer
2021-22 Reflections Celebration
Tuesday, April 12th at Franklin High School PAC
for all students who participated in this year's contest
Gallery viewing begins at 6:30 p.m. with the ceremony at 7 p.m. Please remind your participants to take home their art after the ceremony, with the exception of the Michigan PTA winners.
Youth Making A Difference
We are so happy to announce that we will have an in-person YMAD ceremony this year!!
Thursday, April 28 at Churchill's Performing Arts Center, 6-8 p.m.
Chairpersons –
- Set up your school's projects in the Churchill cafeteria from 3-5 p.m. You will need to bring your own tablecloths and any decorations for your table that you would like. Please let your families know when you would like projects turned into the school for you to have for the ceremony.
- You will be filling out participants' names on the certificates. We will enclose a couple extra certificates for errors, please be careful as we only order so many extras.
- You received your packets at Founders' Day containing certificates, the letter from Mrs. Oquist congratulating students and invitations for you to pass out to students.
Mrs. Oquist will speak at 6 p.m. and then we will have a magician show. We plan to clean up and be finished by 8 p.m. or a little after. We have decided not to serve any treats at this celebration as we have in years past for safety reasons.
If you have any questions, please email ymad@livoniaptsacouncil.org.
We look forward to seeing all of you and all the students' projects!!
Nikki Watson & Debbie Pline, YMAD Chairpersons
Spree Ticket Sales!
PEP – Last month to rack up points!
It's April! This is the last month to earn PEP points for this school year! Yes, there are still things that can be done in this last month to earn more points. Don't forget to cc PEP when you submit a newsletter article or invite your liaison to your meetings. Did you have a membership drive and gain more members? If you achieved last year's membership numbers and/or exceeded those numbers, that's more PEP points!
To make sure that I have not made any human errors, please review the spreadsheet picture above by clicking on it and later this month check the breakdown on Livonia PTSA Council's website to verify your numbers are correct. If you notice any errors, or have any questions, please email PEP@livoniaptsacouncil.org and I will look into it. Since the PEP program runs from May 1st through April 30th every year, the numbers as of May 1, 2022 will be the final PEP scores for the 2021-2022 school year.
As a reminder, those with the top points will receive a gift from Livonia PTSA Council. Also, Council will be using these scores when it comes time for all PTA/PTSA units to select their liaison for next year. The unit with the highest score gets first pick, and so on.
Good luck to all of our PTA/PTSA units! You have done an amazing job this year. Let's end this year on a high note!
Sara Bennett
Livonia PTSA Council – PEP Chair
Membership
Can you believe it's already April!?! At this point in time, you should either be reaching out to your members for next year's board or have your slate already selected. Remember, those on your slate should currently be members of your PTA/PTSA.
Are you getting ready for and having celebrations that will carry on throughout the remainder of the year? Those who are volunteering to help, are they members of your PTA/PTSA? If not, get them to join. It's never too late to join! Just remember, if you become eligible to receive PEP credit for those new members, they have to become members in April to be counted.
There are still a couple of months left of school. Plenty of time to gain more members and to make a difference.
Sara Bennett
Livonia PTSA Council – Membership Chair
Frost RoboFalcons headed to Worlds!
Please share this donations link with your units, families and friends: https://www.schoolpay.com/pay/for/Frost-Middle-School--Robotics-Donations/SejcOf1
Council Advocacy Report
The Advocacy Summit was held Saturday, March 19, 2022. The recordings from this webinar are on the Michigan PTA website under michiganpta.org/advocacy-summit-2022, and are also available on the Michigan PTA YouTube channel. You can view and share videos of the entire summit or any of its individual parts. We particularly want to bring your attention to the Asks - there are videos of the presentations for each Ask individually, or one combined video of all four (linked below). Please share these with your membership.
Michigan PTA Advocacy Summit 2022: Asks 1-4 https://youtu.be/K82rcHp3Z3c
From Michigan PTA
Michigan PTA Annual Convention
The Michigan PTA board is excited to announce that the date and location for the convention have been finalized. We will be at the Best Western Premier Detroit Southfield Hotel on Friday, July 22, and Saturday, July 23. No member will pay more than $100 for registration, which includes 2 days of sessions and all meals. There will be something for everyone from youth members (middle school and up) to unit leaders to parents and guardians, and even council leaders. Get a group together to save on registration and get the most information possible.
Click here for more information: michiganpta.org/newsflash-newsletters
State Awards
Michigan PTA offers a wide variety of awards to recognize the remarkable work of volunteers. Awards are intended to honor exemplary leadership and service for children. Winning project ideas may be used as examples for other PTA/PTSAs. Award nominees must be part of a unit or council in good standing with Michigan PTA.
You can find the awards available once you’ve logged in at michiganpta.org. Hover over the “More” tab on the far right, scroll down to the section for PTA Leaders, and select the State Level Awards.
Completed applications will be due electronically by 11:59 p.m. on May 1, 2022.
COUNCIL'S UNIT SPOTLIGHT
Kennedy Elementary
Family Fun Event Coming Soon
Kennedy Elementary is trying a new family fun event this year. Since we were unable to hold our Hearts A-Glow dance in February, we are holding a family event on Friday, April 8 outside on our blacktop. (Fingers crossed for good weather.) We will have a DJ, balloons, glow sticks, food truck, face painting and an egg hunt! AND, it's all free! We did ask families to donate plastic eggs, but everyone will be able to participate in the egg hunt and receive a goody bag filled with candy and novelties. Rather than filling each egg, we are handing out pre-filled goodie bags to encourage students to pick up the correct number of eggs and return them to us. We are dividing students into 3 different age groups to also make the event more manageable and fun for all involved. Several eggs will contain bonus prizes, including passes to the Rec Center, mini golf passes, and other prizes. Face painting will also be free. We will have Detroit Mini Donut food truck on site and some outside games for students, as well. We hope this event is "egg"stra fun for our families.
– Kennedy PTA
Webster Elementary
Webster's PTA has had a very busy March. We had two guest authors, one virtual and one in-person. We hosted a book exchange where students were able to leave with upwards of 3+ "new to them" books. Our student art club put their creative minds to the test and made our amazing Founders' Day centerpiece. We have even started working on our April Abilities Awareness month, with our own Karlee Kerr designing new shirts.
Founders' night was a fun way to connect with other PTA units across the district and celebrate our honorees, Liz and Jeremy Biddle as well as our building supervisor, Aaron Quinn.
Next up is educating the Webster community with Ability Awareness month and our annual Science Fair.
DATES FOR 2022! PUT THESE ON YOUR CALENDAR!
Please note that these dates and times could be subject to change due to any change in COVID-19 regulations. We will inform all units of any updates or changes as soon as possible.
2022
4/12 - Reflections Celebration | 6 p.m. | Franklin High School
4/20 - LPTSA Council Executive Board Meeting | 6 - 7 p.m. | Central Office
4/20 - LPTSA Council General Meeting (Elections) | 7 - 8 p.m. | Central Office
4/28 - YMAD Celebration | 6 - 8 p.m. | Churchill High School
5/18 - LPTSA Council Officers Training | 6 - 8 p.m. | TBD
6/15 - LPTSA Council Executive Board Meeting | 6 - 7 p.m. | Central Office
7/20 - LPTSA Council 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! 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 Mandy Gerstenbrand at mandy.gerstenbrand@livoniaptsacouncil.org
Email: newsletter@livoniaptsacouncil.org
Website: www.livoniaptsacouncil.org
Location: 15125 Farmington Road, Livonia, MI, USA
Phone: .
Facebook: facebook.com/LivoniaPTSACouncil
Twitter: @LivoniaPTSAC