Back to School 2011-2012

Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful summer and are gearing up for the upcoming school year. A big thanks to those of you who attended our fall conference. I hope we gave you some valuable information for getting your PTAs started. If you were not able to attend, I have posted the minutes below. You can also email me at region5pta@hotmail.com and I can email you information we handed out at the meeting. I am excited to get started as the Regional Director, and will be happy to help in any way I can.
Thanks again, and have a great school year!
Lesli Schei, Region 5 Director


Region 5 PTA Fall Training Conference

Welcome, Introduction of Regional Board- Lesli Schei , Regional Director
Review agenda and important dates found on back of agenda. Encourage members to go to the State Convention in Boise. 990’s due to the IRS: November 15th
Packet includes Agenda, Unit Survey, PTA Insurance Handout, Conflict management handout, Why Join PTA Handout, District 25 calendar, PTA Region 5 Grant Application.
Presentation of the Budget- Kat Mottishaw Regional Treasurer
The budget was read and Brandi Barnes motioned and Sandra seconded, the budget was voted on and passed.
Insurance Presentation- Mary Kae Ryner, Regional Secretary

Introduction of Reflections Theme- Tonya Waton
Refer to hand out “Diversity is” December 8th Regional pick-up date. Schools will be able arrange an earlier pickup date.
State Remarks- Jana Hatch Idaho State PTA President
Raise membership so there is more of a voice through the legislatives. Facebook page and Tweeter page. Theme this year “Bridging the Gap”.
National PTA dues went up $0.50, The Idaho PTA will absorb the cost for this year. Leaving dues at $7.00
Conflict Management- Brandi Barnes, Hawthorne Middle School PTSA President
The Magic of Conflict- Refer to the handout
Ease the tension of the room at the beginning of the meeting.
If someone threatens to resign accept their resignation don’t give them the power.
Forward emails to the directors so they have a back ground.
Print off minutes have them in several places. Have by-laws and standing rules ready to use as a reference at all times to refer in times of conflict.
Thank you notes- keep people feeling important and needed.
Elections- Nominating committees Meet in January at least 3 people odd numbers- current president and principle may give suggestions but not be on the committee.
Make sure that the members only are voting. Principles and Teachers must join PTA to have a vote.
Lots of requests for money, have a goal and a focus for the year.
Money-
Committee members need to have a budget and stick to it, if they go over they need a vote.
Non-profit oraganizations money reports are not private and can be viewed anytime,
Agendas- have before the meeting and emailed out, nothing is added the day of the meeting.
Let the committees handle the assignment.
Q and A
Can we provide some drawings for those who sign up as a member? Yes

Eastern Idaho PTA Resource Fair- March 17th

This resource fair will be for all schools, non-profits, sports groups or any other entity who needs fund raising ideas. There will also be other non-profits who could benefit your organization. Who wants to choose a fund raising company with out sampling their products, meet their representative and talk to others who have already worked with these people. Save the Date- March 17th, Mountain View Middle School, Mitchell Ln., Blackfoot- 5pm -9pm. Light dinner, free admission, many samples, and DOOR PRIZES!!

Welcome Back!

We are about to start an exciting new year. I love this year's theme of "Together We Can". In a world of economic struggles, moral decay, and self doubt, we can rise above all this Together! Our children can have strong educations, safe homes, caring adults and positive self esteem as we work Together to make this happen. One step at a time, one person at a time, we will make it happen.

Regional Meeting March 4th

Please plan to attend our regional meeting and hear Secretary of State Ben Ysursa speak to us about Endowment Lands. These lands produce money for public education. Also we will be hearing from District 25 about their levy election coming up.
It is very important that our leaders know we are concerned and hear our voice.

Legislative Day

Please make plans to attend the state Legislative Day in Boise. It is on Feb. 11th starting at 7:30am and going to about 4pm. Check out the state website through our link on this blog for more information and to register. With very little revenue for our state government to work with, it is very important that our representatives see public education as an essential building block for our future. We can't pay for lobbyist to be at the capital, but we can have a voice. Our region has some money to pay for entrance fees if people need help with that. Please contact me, Brandi Barnes, at 238-2118.

Change in December Regional Meeting

Due to the Festival of Trees we will be moving our regional meeting to the next week. It will be held December 10th from 7pm- 8:30pm. We will be focusing on advocating for our students in our area. We will be putting together a panel to help every parent positively navigate advocating for their child and other children in our community.

Festival of Trees

We are excited to partner with District 25 and help with the Festival this year. We, the PTA, will be running the gift shop. We are in need of people willing to help us on the gift shop committee, help run the shop during the festival and donate holiday decorations to sell. If any of these things interest you or people in your PTA's, please contact me at region5pta@hotmail.com.

Check out the training powerpoints

Idaho PTA has put together these wonderful training tools to make sure everyone gets all the information to help them in their positions. We hope to add an OMDR membership training soon. The "PTA is for you" was put together to be shown to every local PTA group. Please plan to present this powerpoint at one of your first meetings or invite me to come and present it.

August Training

Who: Presidents, Vice Presidents, Treasurer, Secretary, Membership Chair, Reflections Chair, and Legislative Rep.

When: August 5th, 6pm- 8pm

Where: School District 25, 3115 Poleline Rd, Pocatello

We will be serving a light dinner, answering many questions, giving you the training and skills you need to run an effective PTA or PTSA, sharing ideas from other schools, and much more. Don't forget, all the schools who have at least 5 people attending will be awarded refreshments at a local PTA meeting of their choice.

Directors Message

I am Brandi Barnes the new Region 5 PTA director. I look forward to meeting and working with the many PTA members in our area and in the state. I hope everyone has put our August 5th training as a high priority this summer. We will start at 6pm at the District 25 office. It is so important that you have people representing each of the areas in our breakout sessions as the information to those specific positions will only be given there. For example, if your person over Legislative can't make it or you don't have one, ask someone from your school to attend that workshop to make sure that information gets back to your members. We want to pack a lot of information into a short time because we know everyone is busy and we value your time and service. Looking for a little extra insentive? Every school that has at least 5 members from their school attend will win! We will attend one of your local PTA meetings and bring treats for all who attend. Again, I look forward to meeting everyone and want you to know I am here if you have any questions or need and help. You can email me at region5pta@hotmail.com.