On July 1st the new fiscal year began for all of our units. New board members, new committee chairs and more are all coming to fruition. But the question still remains. . . what is this year going to look like? As we wait for the Board of Education meeting this evening to receive more guidance, Council is already looking into different and creative ways to conduct our monthly meetings, events, workshops, and more. We encourage you to do the same! I know it can be overwhelming. Struggling to parent, work, and PTA in a pandemic, but we can do it!

If you haven't already, I would suggest creating a survey for your families to complete. Getting feedback on how your PTA/PTSA can have a successful year is crucial. What are your members expecting from your unit this year? If you can create safe events, would they attend? Are they more interested in virtual events? How can your unit make sure that they are including all students, especially those attending virtually? What unique ways can your unit improve your membership as this year will pose a challenge for it unlike any other year?

Above all else, families/members need to know that their PTA/PTSA is there for them. That their PTA is still advocating for their children especially during this time. PTA doesn't quit for a Pandemic!

Remember, Council is always here to help give guidance. Your liaison is always available regarding any concerns you might have. We are committed to helping you all have a successful year. This may be a year unlike any other, but we accept the challenge!

Stay healthy,

Andrea Malenfant

Council Newsletter Chair

In many of our newsletters, we share information that is not only important for you to know, but your members as well. In an effort to get more important information out there, any titled article with the * symbol after it is an article we encourage you to share on your unit's Facebook/Twitter pages or in your own newsletters. Be sure to keep an eye out for it!

My PTA experience began at Garfield Elementary when my son was in kindergarten. Going to PTA events at the school made me realize just how much the PTA does for the school. I started by volunteering every time we were able to attend an event. Then, when Garfield closed, we were redistricted to Kennedy Elementary. Our first year at Kennedy I was the 1st VP on their PTA. The next two years I was their PTA president. During that time, I also became involved with Livonia PTA Council. My time on the PTA board and being involved with Council has taught me so much about the PTA world and how much the PTA does for our students, schools, families, and community. We truly are the voice of our children. As the PTA motto states, "Every Child, One Voice."

Currently, I have just finished my second year as the PTA president on Kennedy Elementary's PTA. This coming school year, I will be the Membership Chair on the Council level. I really look forward to continuing to learn, grow, and become more involved with the schools and Council.

When I'm not working on PTA related activities, my kids keep me rather busy and entertained. I have a 10 year old son, Christopher, 9 year old daughter, Elizabeth, and 7 year old daughter, Victoria. My son is really looking forward to starting next year at Johnson Upper Elementary while my girls are looking forward to being in the 4th and 2nd grades at Kennedy Lower Elementary. My kids love to read, run around, play outside, play games, build puzzles, and just be kids. My daughters love dancing and being crafty while my son loves playing sports and tinkering around with things. My husband and I are also leaders in our kids' cub scout pack. I enjoy surprises and look forward to seeing what this next year has in store for us!

I have been a member of PTA for 7 years, serving on Buchanan's board as President and Secretary for 5 of those years. This coming year I will be President at Riley. This past year I was co-chair for Council's Youth Making a Difference committee. I have two daughters, Kayla (14) will be a freshman at Stevenson and Kourtney (10) will be a 6th grader at Riley. I am thankful for all the amazing people and friends I have met in my PTA journey! Outside of PTA and my day job, I enjoy spending time with family & friends, scrap booking and gardening. I'm looking forward to helping out and being of service this year, possibly in creative ways, during this unusual time.

Hello, because I am likely new to most of you, so I would like to share some of my background. I grew-up in Grosse Pointe Woods and graduated from North High School in 1994. This was just before Proposal A, so I was lucky to receive a well-funded public-school education – I wish my children were as fortunate. After graduating from Michigan State (where I met my wife, Christina) I started working for Toyota R&D as a Chassis Design Engineer. I moved to the area and have lived in Livonia for 20yrs (minus ~2yrs for a work assignment Japan). My current role at Toyota is as Senior Manager of a Material Engineering group. Christina and I have 3 daughters and 1 son; they are all proud LPS students (Kindergarten, 2nd, 6th and 7th grades). Our LPS journey started at Perrinville with our oldest who has Special Needs and health challenges. Along the way, we have been blessed with many great teachers and staff. Christina and I have been active with the PTA for several years. I am currently the Advocacy Chair for Hoover and Riley and recently took on the role for the PTSA Council. Christina has served on the E-Board at Hoover and is the President for the upcoming school year. My main interests are Advocacy and STEM. I also enjoy volunteering for Guest Reader Day, Blessings in Backpack, and running the Supply Closet for Livonia Public Schools Facebook Group. As Advocacy Chair, my main goal is to help inform about issues that impact our schools and share how members can take action (if that want to). Our kids keep Christina and I busy and on our toes. They are active in sports throughout the year and we enjoy watching them have fun. During the summer, we like to spend time as a family at Fairway Farms Swim Club. Thankfully the pool is open this summer and it has brought some feeling of normalcy. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or suggestions.

Since the audit could not be completed in one day, Council liaison choices for units had to be done a little differently. President Mandy Gerstenbrand sent out emails to unit presidents in order of PEP point standings to get each unit's liaision choice. We are still waiting for a few more units to respond so check your email and respond as soon as possible! As soon as all units have chosen their liaisons, an email will go out to all unit presidents with their liaison's contact information.

Registration for the 102nd Michigan PTA Convention Business Meeting is now open! This virtual event will take place Saturday, August 15 at 10:00 am and will feature keynote speaker Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

"We are excited to bring our members our annual update, amazing keynote speakers and the announcement of a Leadership University to be included as part of this event for dates to follow. This will also be the first time the annual convention will be held completely in an online platform.

While these last few months has not been ideal, we will do our best to offer a great convention in the online platform and we can’t wait for when we can return to our outreach of seeing you in person. Regardless of how we engage in the mission, our mission is always:

To make every Child's Potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.

For the details and documents for this event, check the Michigan PTA 102nd Annual Convention Website often. Important resources will be provided there."

Questions?

Email us at: convention@michiganpta.org

Call us at: 734-975-9500

https://www.michiganpta.org/102nd-convention-2020.html

Recently the PTSA Council & The Warriors Robotics Team collaborated to offer STEM kits for our Pre-K – 4th grade students. In addition, National PTA has added several STEM at Home Activities to their website.

[Don't limit the STEM fun to school—bring the STEM excitement home and get the whole family involved in the fun. National PTA and Bayer have developed a series of hands-on activities families can do. PTAs can package the activities into STEM @ Home bundles for families.]

These resources can be found at:

https://www.pta.org/home/programs/stem/at-home?fbclid=IwAR3qxeXNFWRuM9FYhCTggAWpb76nQwKjVOKmLJeYP1YfDluF3ZkV31JYKNA

The filing deadline to be on the November Ballot for the LPS Board of Education was on July 21st. Per the Wayne County Website (https://wccampaignfinance.com/Public/ViewFiledReports) there will be a total of 6 candidates running for the 4 open seats. The 6 candidates are the 4 incumbents and 2 newcomers…

- Madeline Acosta

- Tammy Bonifeld (I)

- Karen Bradford (I)

- Dan Centers (I)

- Crystal Frank (I)

- Nichole Hoskins-Goudreau

The November Ballot will also have a proposal to renew the Wayne County Enhancement Millage. We will share more information on both in the upcoming months.

Michael Testa

LPTSA Council Advocacy Chair

In case you missed it, Council voted to make unit dues to Council a flat fee versus a per member fee.

- All Livonia PTA/PTSA units (with the exception of Niji-Iro Elementary PTA and Jackson Center PTA) will pay a membership fee of $100 to LPTSA Council by October 28th of each year.

- Niji-Iro Elementary PTA and Jackson Center PTA will pay a membership fee of $75 to LPTSA Council by October 28th of each year.

It is our hope that this will make membership dues to Council a much easier item of business for all units. Council has updated our Bylaws to reflect this change.

**Each unit should update their bylaws with regard to this change and upload them to Memberhub. Also, be sure that your Budget for the upcoming school year reflects this change as well.**

*This fee DOES NOT include dues to MI PTA or National PTA so those should be paid accordingly.**

The Return to Learn Task Force has been working hard this summer to create potential scenarios for a safe return to school in the fall. A special website has been established and it will serve as a dashboard for the Return to Learn Task Force's work. LPS is posting updates as they are available. Please check back often at: www.livoniapublicschools.org/return.

Michigan PTA Website : https://www.michiganpta.org/

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