Livonia PTSA Council Courier
Winter is Here 2019
Founders Day RSVP's due by 2/1/19
65th Annual Founders’ Day Celebration
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
VisTaTech Center, Schoolcraft College
18600 Haggerty Road, Livonia, MI
Doors open at 5:30, Dinner at 6:00 pm
A few things to keep in mind:
RSVP's with payment are due by February 1, 2019.
Units should be inviting their honorees and a guest of their choice. Council pays for your honorees, so please include them in your RSVP count, but not in your payment.
Tables seat 8. You can purchase partial tables and Debbie will combine your unit with another unit that has a partial table. We are not allowed by the venue to have empty seats.
When we receive your RSVP and payment you will be given a link to the SignUp Genius to pick your table. We will do our very best to honor your selection, but sometimes we must move tables around to accommodate seating for the partial tables.
Payment and RSVP's can be mailed to or dropped off at Debbie Pline’s house (14520 Fairlane, Livonia 48154), dropped off in Debbie’s mailbox at Frost, or dropped off at the PTSA mailbox at Central Office. Please let Debbie and I know when you drop off or send your RSVP so we know to look for it. We will not go to Central Office unless we know there is something there to be picked up.
If you have any questions, please ask as others may have the same question.
We will again use the Reflections theme which is 'Heroes Around Me', so I hope you are all thinking of ideas for your amazing centerpieces.
Amanda Walworth Founders Day Chairperson
Livonia PTSA Council
WE NEED YOUR PTA PICTURES!!
Livonia PTSA Council Celebrates 50 Years of Reflections
The PTA's Reflections arts competition turned 50 years old this year. On Tuesday, January 15th, at Franklin High School, the Livonia PTSA Council recognized all of our student artists, who created works of art inspired by the theme "Heroes Around Me." A total of 104 students from 14 LPS schools created 133 works of art in the following categories: dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography, and visual arts.
We recognized all of the participants with a certificate, and awarded plaques and medals to the top four students in each category and age division. The students who won awards will advance to the state level judging, where they will compete against some of the best student artists from around the state. Michigan's top winner in each category and age division will advance to the national level. We are cheering our winners on and will share the state results as soon as we receive them.
We added some fun activities to our celebration this year to recognize the 50th anniversary. Andrea Malenfant, from the Cleveland Elementary board, made us a terrific photo backdrop with the 50th anniversary logo. Kellie Stark, art teacher from Coolidge and Buchanan, made two community art projects, including a post-it note patchwork quilt, where guests could draw a picture on a post-it and add it to the patchwork of everyone's drawings. We hope all of our guests on Tuesday enjoyed themselves and left feeling inspired!
And speaking of inspiration, next year's Reflections theme has already been announced. The 2019-2020 theme will be "Look Within." Have your students reflect on that for a bit and then see where their creativity takes them!
Now that we're looking ahead to next year, we're going to start using our Facebook page to engage the students and inspire them to use their creativity on a regular basis. We will be posting weekly creativity challenges, which will be small project starters related to each of the arts categories. They will be ideas that students of all ages can use to practice flexing their creative muscles, and hopefully build confidence leading up to next year's Reflections program. If you don't already follow our Facebook page, you can do so at https://www.facebook.com/LivoniaPTSACouncil.Reflections/.
On a personal note, as we are wrapping up the to-do list from my first solo year in the leadership role, I would like to thank everyone who has helped to make this a terrific experience. I spent a lot of time this year trying to take all of the great things that Cyndi Pierzynski has been doing for years and then improve them for everyone involved. My main goals were to simplify the way we communicated and shared information, and to simplify our processes through the use of technology. That sometimes meant I was only a half-step ahead of everyone else, but my team of volunteers was tremendous through it all. I was fortunate to have a number of people volunteer to be Reflections chairpersons at their schools, and I definitely had them hopping. I was able to assemble an enthusiastic team of judges from the community, including some who had never judged before. And we had a number of people step up to help before, during, and after the awards ceremony. To all of you who helped make this program happen for our kids, I sincerely appreciate you! I'm so proud to be part of a community that values the arts and is willing to give our students this opportunity. It wasn't an accident that this year's theme was "Heroes Around Me," because I was certainly surrounded by heroes.
Until next time,
Debbie Yates
Livonia PTSA Council Reflections Chairperson
Reflections Participants
Awards of Merit and Awards of Excellance
Creative Corner
Cleveland's Safe Treat Kids
Allergies, food restrictions, food sensitivities...these are REAL and are becoming more prevalent. Several years ago a Cleveland mom decided something needed to change in the way our events with food were handled, and she stepped up to make that change. She created "The Safe Treat Kids" and became its coordinator. And it's been in place ever since.
Now, not all of our events have food, but many do. Those students with allergies that could potentially cause harm or even death, were only left with one option when they attended these events: to have nothing. Now yes, some parents can bring something for their child to enjoy, but let's be realistic, not everyone thinks that far ahead, or forgets, or are unaware that there will be food. Our safe treats coordinator came up with a way to remedy this. She sent out flyers, emails, etc., stating her purpose and asking those families of kids with allergies or food restrictions (ex: diabetes), to contact her with all pertinent information. She would then make sure that if there was an event with food, those students would have something similar that was safe for them to have. The feedback received was extremely positive! These families were so grateful that their children would be able to fully enjoy our events like everyone else. So grateful in fact, that several donated money to the PTA to use towards safe treats. One father even donated $100!
As a PTA, we are to follow the motto, "EVERY child, one voice". This is just one simple way to make sure EVERY child is included. And it also shows our members how much we appreciate and value them being members. And we all know that when members feel appreciated, they are more willing to volunteer and help the PTA.
Now I should mention that neither of my children have allergies or food restrictions. But practically being in the school on a daily basis, I am around the ones who do. I see their struggles and their sadness when they can't enjoy what all the other kids are enjoying. So if we can help them enjoy like EVERY other child, isn't that worth it?
If you are interested in information on our Safe Treat Kids program, please feel free to contact me.
Andrea Malenfant
Cleveland PTA President
Chili Tasters!
Love the table decorations!
Winner, Russ with his trophy
Thank you to all our Sponsors!
Membership Goals & Contests
Continue your membership drive thru the winter. Council has a goal of 4800 members this year and we are at 82% .
Michigan PTA is running monthly membership challenges. Below are the next two you can focus on. SHOUT OUT to Kennedy Elementary who is tied for the lead in the state with 4 of 5 challenges complete!!
February: Family Engagement
Units that have increased membership by 19 or more families using the Family Membership option in MemberHub.
January-February (Bonus): Student Stampede
Units that recruit at least 19 more student members than 2017-18. New units for 2018-19: Units that have recruited 19 or more student members by February 28th.
Units that complete a monthly challenge must 1) use MemberHub to submit membership, 2) report the achievement to membership@michiganpta.org by the 28th of that month to be eligible for the drawing.
AWARD SEASON IS COMING
For more information about the Michigan PTA & National PTA:
Are you looking for PTA logo merch? Check out the Michigan PTA store here: Michigan PTA Online Store
Click here for more information about the National PTA Local PTA Leaders Guide- http://www.ptakit.org
About us...
Email: newsletter@livoniaptsacouncil.org
Website: www.livoniaptsacouncil.org
Location: 15125 Farmington Road, Livonia, MI, USA
Phone: .
Facebook: facebook.com/LivoniaPTSACouncil
Twitter: @LivoniaPTSAC