Livonia PTSA Council Courier

Please note: We need a representative from EACH unit to pick up their bags from the Board Room at the Board of Education building after our meeting and packing on 11/19 and distribute to food service and custodial staff at your school on 11/20. Come help us pack! Or better yet, join us for the meeting and then stay and help us pack!

ONLY the schools listed on the graphic above will receive a donation bin(s) in their vestibule, which will be dropped off by a Council member on November 4th. Extra Bags will be in the bins in the event that your donation bin gets full. Let your office staff know that bins are being dropped off, so they are informed and can better assist parents who call with questions or inquiries about donations.

Schools that do receive a bin MUST bring the bin(s) and donated costumes with them to our November Council meeting on Wednesday the 19th, when they come to pick up the goodie bags for their food service and custodial staff. If your unit is unable to send a representative to drop off the donations and/or pick up the goodie bags, you must reach out to your Council liaison to make alternate arrangements. Goodie bags are expected to be delivered to your food service and custodial staff on Thursday, November 20th.

ATTENTION REFLECTIONS CHAIRS:

This year we have separate entry forms for each school. You can find the links for all of them here: https://forms.gle/6txg8iRsGtBr2Ewm6

Reflections project collection for Visual Arts and Photography entries will take place at 5:30 pm on 11/19, in the LPS Board of Education Board Room (downstairs).

If you need to make other arrangements for drop off, please email reflections@livoniaptsacouncil.org.

We can't wait to see your projects!

Can you believe October is already over? Have you encouraged families, friends, staff, students, neighbors, etc. to join your PTA/PTSA? If you haven't had a membership drive yet, it's not too late! With the holidays quickly approaching, now is a wonderful time to show your families what you're all about and why they should join your PTA/PTSA.

Please remember to remit your Michigan PTA dues by the 28th of every month for all new memberships. Also, if you have not submitted your Livonia PTSA Council annual dues yet, please do so as soon as possible as they were due on October 28th.

Kindly,

Nicole Dant

Treasurer and Membership Chair

Everyone is well on their way to fulfilling their requirements for PEP points!! Well done and thank you!

Please feel free to reach out with any questions and I will do my best to answer them or find the answer. You can email me at pep@livoniaptsacouncil.org

The current standings are below. If you feel like some points haven’t been entered please reach out and we can get any mistakes or omissions corrected.

Keadin Parish

Council Vice President 1 and PEP chair

Please include school and description of event for each picture.

As we move into November, our hearts are full of gratitude for the incredible support and spirit of our school community. October was one for the books — filled with color, energy, and togetherness!

Our annual Color Run was a huge success, and thanks to our amazing families and supporters, we met our fundraising goal! To celebrate, our most awesome principal dressed as an inflatable unicorn during one morning drop off — truly a sight to remember and the perfect way to cap off the event.

While our first attempt at Boo Bash didn’t go quite as planned (a downed power line during trunk setup meant we had to cancel), we’re so thankful that everyone was safe and that our community showed such patience, flexibility, and good humor through it all.

We’re endlessly grateful for our PTA members, volunteers, principal, school staff, and PTA board who bring creativity, heart, and teamwork to everything we do. As we head into this season of thanks, we’re reminded how lucky we are to be part of such a caring and spirited school family. Here’s to carrying that gratitude and joy through the rest of the year!

October has been a busy month with planning and promoting our Boo Bash dance-a-thon fundraiser which took place on Halloween! This fundraiser is the main source of our funding for the many student, staff and family programs that the PTA supports. We do not have our final results just yet, but are excited to announce that we have met our main goal of $15,000 and are currently working toward the stretch goal of $20,000. If this goal is met, the PTA will provide a Kona Ice treat for all students and staff at a date in the future. For the dance-a-thon, we had a special guest DJ, glow tunnel and even a photobooth for students to use while movin' and groovin' to the music.

The PTA provided lunch for staff to enjoy during their busy conference days. With the help of Biggby, we were also able to surprise staff with coffee and bagels on Friday morning after two long days and evenings of conferences.

We had our second dining for donations fundraiser of the year. This past month, we partnered with Red Robin on the day students were off school due to parent teacher conferences. We had an amazing turnout and were able to raise over $550. On Tuesday, November 4, we are partnering with Pita Way.

Our DEI chair updated our monthly bulletin board for October's National Bullying Prevention month. The board's theme is "step up against bullying." The board shows students how they can both help someone who is being bullied and also educates about what bullying is as well as the different types and locations where bullying may take place.

Our Youth Making a Difference committee is encouraging Coolidge students to lend KIND Hands & Hearts in our community by participating in and documenting their volunteer efforts. We are currently planning some in-school projects as well as a family night or two. We plan to bring back our "comfort for a cause" blanket making along with some new projects that students can work on during their recess time.

As we head into November, we are gearing up for an even busier month with our spirit wear sale, Pita Way dining for donations, Fall Festival, flower card sales, YMAD projects and preparations for our holiday shop.

Cooper had a busy October! We had so much fun starting out with Cooper's first ever Color Run! We hit our goal plus some! We had an amazing sponsor list from local businesses that allowed us to have extra gifts such as gift cards, gift baskets, tumblers, water bottles, and Franklin spirt wear. The top gifts for the top three winners were an electric scooter, a camera and a JBL speaker! We also had top three classes who won: an Ice Cream Party, a Pizza Party with Mr. Witherspoon, and a Glow Dance Party!

During conferences, we made sure our staff was taken care of and we provided tacos for lunch and dinner!! We also had a bake sale! We had so many amazing treats provided by Cooper Families!

You've been BOOED! Just in time Halloween, we had a fundraiser booing classrooms. A student could buy a boo for $1 and the winning class will receive a prize!

We finished the month strong with spirit week! Monday was PJ Day, Tuesday was 5th Grade Orange vs 6th Grade Green, Wednesday was Pink OUT, Thursday was Dress to Impress, Friday was Red/White/Blue/FHS Gear/Favorite team Jersey. We held our first skate night and Cooper's tailgate before the Franklin football game was on October 24! We had pizza sales, a sucker pull game and yard games for all the students!

We are excited this year to have active engagement from our National Junior Honor Society and Student Council students. Student leaders have attended our PTSA meetings and have jumped right in with thoughtful questions and ideas on how to best meet the needs of the entire student body.

Up Next: Don't miss the annual Frost Holiday Arts and Craft Show on November 8th. We have plenty of volunteer opportunities if you have some free time, or just come out to start your holiday shopping as we head quickly toward the end of the calendar year!

Grant PTA sure has been busy! We closed out our World's Finest Chocolate fundraiser, surpassing our goal with 613 boxes sold. There was a Dine to Donate at Panera, hosted another skate night, this time at Riverside Arena, with a Halloween theme. We provided lunch for the wonderful staff during parent/teacher conferences - delicious pizza and salad always hit the spot on those long days! The first Popcorn Friday of the year was a big hit, our Gators really do love popcorn Fridays, and we love being a part of it too!

Our annual Trunk-or-Treat was a delightfully spookish evening! Our Grant community and perfect weather made for a fantastic time with over 25 trunks, a dance party, and three food trucks. Congratulations to the 4th grade team for winning best staff trunk!

The Hayes Elementary PTA hosted its second annual Trail or Treat. Volunteers decorated stations around the playground for our Huskies to trick or treat. After hitting the trail, our Huskies and their families voted for their favorite candy stations and enjoyed an evening of fun filled with music, cider, donuts, and food.

Kennedy Elementary has enjoyed a fun-filled and festive October!

The month kicked off with our PTA Positive Note Campaign. Parent volunteers came together to create encouraging messages on stars that each student and staff member received. Volunteers also helped tape the stars to each student’s locker so they can see and enjoy them every day at school. The Kennedy community always enjoys this event and it coincides with the book fair and conferences so parents can see the special messages too.

Our PTA stocked our staff lounge in October to help the staff feel extra loved while preparing for conferences. The staff always appreciates feeling seen and we are happy to help thank them for all their hard work.

The Kennedy PTA held a dine-out in October at Olga’s. It was a great way to take a night off from cooking and to support the school. There was a nice turnout as well.

Kennedy PTA’s biggest and most anticipated event in October was our wonderful Fall Fest! We had a wonderful turnout! So many students wore costumes and families enjoyed food trucks, Marihugh Entertainment as our fun DJ, candy galore and beautifully decorated tables and tents from our wonderful volunteers.

To finish off a fun-filled month, the top three earners for our successful color run received a yummy McDonald’s lunch with Kennedy’s principal for all of their hard work! Way to go, ladies!

Overall, it was a great October at Kennedy Elementary.

Webster Elementary PTA celebrated surpassing our fundraising goals with a huge party on October 3rd. We kicked off with our walk-a-thon and then staff members dressed up in inflatable costumes and had a race, which everyone enjoyed. We closed the event with popsicles for all and a super-sized recess featuring lawn games, bubbles, music and lots of fun.

Bagel Day is back at Webster this year hosted by the PTA! Our students were thrilled and received their first delivery October 21st from Detroit Bagel Factory. This will supplement our fundraising efforts and we are happy to see the amount of students participating!

We ended the month with our annual Fall Fest on October 22nd. This is a family favorite and we had an amazing turnout. We had a treat trail for trick or treating, dancing in the gym, food trucks, arts and crafts, a quiet movie room, games and a Spooky Walk (like a cake walk) where students could win prizes. It was a fantastic night and showcased what the PTA does for our school community.

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.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/541318689333449/

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/

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 president@livoniaptsacouncil.org

Email: newsletter@livoniaptsacouncil.org
Website: www.livoniaptsacouncil.org
Location: 15125 Farmington Road, Livonia, MI, USA
Facebook: facebook.com/LivoniaPTSACouncil
Twitter: @LivoniaPTSAC