Founders' Day is in 2 weeks! We are so excited!

How are those centerpieces coming? Don't forget, they should be based on the 2022-23 Reflections theme - "Show Your Voice." Best centerpieces will win a prize!

Also, we need your pictures to display during the evening! Link at the end of this newsletter and every newsletter. Let everyone see the cool things you've been doing! Pictures must be uploaded by February 8.

The Livonia PTSA Council's 7th Annual Chili Cook-Off was a huge success! We had 17 chili entries, the competition was fierce, and even the hottest chili winner came down to the tie-breaker judge. Congratulations to Nicholas M. representing Niji Iro PTA with his chili "The Rassa" for winning the Best Overall Chili!! Niji-Iro will receive a $500 grant from the Livonia Kiwanis Early Risers for winning!

We'd also like to congratulate the other winners!

The Hottest Chili Winner was Jay B. representing Johnson PTA with his "Sinners Stew!"

The Best Dressed Table Winner was Matt D. representing Niji-Iro with his awesome talking robot! The People's Choice Winner was Jason M. representing Holmes PTSA with his "Bellaire Brisket!"

Thank you to all of our donors. Without your generosity, we would not have had such great raffle baskets and prizes for the winners.

Thank you to the Kiwanis Livonia Early Risers for the grand prize of $500. They have been partnering with our Chili Cook-Off for years, and we cannot thank them enough for their generosity!

Thank you to the members of the Livonia City Council who stopped by and City Treasurer Lynda Scheel. We were also excited to see Superintendent Andrea Oquist and several members of the LPS School Board and the LPS Education Foundation.

Thank you to everyone who made this day possible, including several student volunteers from Emerson, Franklin, and Stevenson. Thank you to Mrs. Olsen and the Franklin Choir students who sang, mentors and a student from the Livonia Warriors who hosted a STEM activity table, our judges, and members of the LPTSA Council.

We want to give a huge shout-out to Au-Some Student Designs from Garfield Community School for etching the mugs for the winners! We were happy to have the opportunity to showcase their work!

We were so excited to bring this event back after being off for two years. We are already looking forward to next year and we hope you will be a part of it!

DEADLINE IS TODAY, FEBRUARY 1 - ADMIN AND UNITS PLEASE PUSH OUT TO K FAMILIES ONE LAST TIME SO THEY DON'T MISS OUT!

Last chance to register for the Competitive Edge program! This is a 529 saving account that the Foundation sets up for every kindergarten student who enrolls in the program. FREE to you! Sign up and then you do nothing until your student graduates from an LPS high school. They will receive the money when they graduate and are accepted to an accredited college, university or trade school.

Here is the link to register for the program: https://bit.ly/CompEdgeSignUp. Current LPS kindergarten students have until TODAY, February 1, 2023 to register – do not miss out on this wonderful program that is totally free to you!

We are so proud of the students who participated in Reflections this year. We had 190 entries from 18 schools. Our students showed great creativity as they interpreted the theme, "Show Your Voice."

We recently announced the winners at the district level. Sixty entries won awards and have advanced to the state round of competition. (Click below for a list of winners)

We are working on selecting a date in the spring for our awards ceremony.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who have served as unit Reflections chairs!

Debbie Yates & Monique Cadoret

Livonia PTSA Council Reflections Co-Chairs

Can you believe it's February already? Don't think you can't continue to gain more members. There's still a lot of school year left to plan events and do some amazing things for your students and staff. Members can help with these ideas, planning events, decorating, organizing, and so much more! Is someone new interested in joining your Executive Board next year? Make sure they are a member this year and eligible to be on your slate. There are still so many options of what can be done before the end of the school year.

Remember, for all new members, please remit your Michigan PTA dues by the 28th of every month.

Nicole Dant

nicole.dant@livoniaptsacouncil.org

Livonia PTSA Council, Membership Chair

Happy February!

As winter finally hits us, it's time to start looking toward brighter and warmer days. There are only a few more months left to earn those PEP points for this school year. PEP points can be earned through the end of the day on April 30th. Keep those points coming in! How, you may ask? Are you going to Founders' Day? Will there be a centerpiece on your unit's table at Founders' Day? Have you invited your Livonia PTSA Council liaison to your general meetings and cc'd PEP? Did you submit a newsletter article and cc PEP? All of these are easy ways to earn more PEP points. Have you achieved last year's membership totals? Have you exceeded that number by at least 25? These are more ways to earn more PEP points. Want to know more? Check out the PEP Checklist for more information on how to earn more points. There's still time!

Don't forget to look at the breakdown of your unit's PEP totals. This is posted on Livonia PTSA Council's website every month. Do you have any questions about your unit's totals? Have you noticed any possible errors? If so, please email PEP at PEP@livoniaptsacouncil.org.

Sara Bennett

Livonia PTSA Council - PEP Chair

Cleveland Elementary PTA hosted a family night out at Riverside Arena on January 17. Skate nights have been a big hit this year, and we have one more planned for March.

In January, we also invited our Founders' Day staff and parent honorees prom-posal style during an Eagle of the Month ceremony.

They said “yes!”

Return of One Program and One New Program

January saw the return of one program and a new program added at Frost Middle School!

The annual 8th grade trip to DC is returning this year for Frost, so the PTSA was proud to support students attending by offering TEN $100 scholarships. The scholarship application was open to all students attending, and they had to be members of the PTSA. Students had to write an essay indicating why they were looking forward to the trip and how they were helping to pay for the trip. The PTSA is glad to help these ten worthy students with this incredible opportunity.

The PTSA was also approached by Frost staff about helping with a new incentive for students to improve their iReady scores, called the "Smart Cookie." The PTSA funded cookies for all students who showed improvement in their January scores and/or were already at grade level. The students were excited about the cookies, and the PTSA was proud to support this idea from the staff.

The months of December and January have been special for our Kennedy students and staff!

Prior to the holiday, our PTA community gifted the staff with a luncheon from Luigi’s and a brand new ice maker for the staff lounge. We are beyond grateful to our families who contributed delicious desserts and beverages.

In addition, each student received a special Kennedy shirt before going on break. Each grade has its own color and this year a new original design is featured. The students look forward to wearing their shirts for school wide “Spirit Days” and other events.

Kennedy students were super excited for the surprise visit from the PTA Elf! Each classroom was presented with a gift filled with books for every student! This was a collaborative effort with our PTA and Gymnastic Dreams!

Our students have also recently had opportunities to experience dine outs, a Kennedy Skate Night at Riverside Arena, and a USA Hockey Night.

In addition, the Kennedy PTA is sponsoring STEAM Days on Tuesday, January 25th and Wednesday, January 26th. This hands-on workshop from Ann Arbor Hands On Museum will give each class the opportunity to experience up to 10 hands-on experiences that follow the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) principles.

Overall, it’s been a fun-filled start to the winter season here at Kennedy.

Happy New Year! What a great start to the year! We are beginning the year with our PTA membership count at 109! We had a great start to the year with a nice group for the first 2023 meeting; so nice to see the new faces at our meetings! To start the year, we had a fun event planned at the end of January, Randolph rock and roll night with USA hockey. We welcomed families to come to watch a game and enjoy skating on the ice after the game. This is a newer event that we planned, and the best part was that we had our Randolph kiddos getting the chance to sing the national anthem. We also have a few Dine-to-Donate dates scheduled for this month.

A big shout out to Sonja Vigil who has led our "Youth Making a Difference" program at Randolph! She has put together some fantastic events for us and our students. Last year we had a food drive and this month we will be making Valentine's cards for senior citizens in the local area. We look forward to recognizing these students and their commitment to our community! We've only just begun, but we are excited for the new year and all the fun things coming our way!

In December, Riley held a Dearborn Ham fundraiser. With minimal work, we were able to raise over $1400.

The PTA has recently purchased two big ticket items for the school, one being the 9 In the Air Game for our beloved gym teachers and we have also provided funds to help kick start the reopening of our school store.

To go along with what the 5th graders have been learning about in science, the PTA sponsored the kids with the experience of the Sky Dome.

Stevenson PTSA has been busy these first few weeks of January. We treated the staff to a hot cocoa/coffee bar just before break with all the toppings they could imagine! We set up a table at our incoming 9th grade night and were happy to meet new families, students and encourage PTSA membership and meeting attendance. We had one entry at the PTSA Chili Cook Off. Lots of fun was had by those that competed and attended. 2023 is off to a great start!!

Some events have set dates while others have tentative months. Please watch for finalized dates or any date changes.

Please mark your calendars now for Founders' Day, Officer Training and the 2022-23 Audit Party.

2023

2/15 - Founders’ Day | 6 p.m. | St. Mary's Cultural Center

March - Transportation Appreciation

3/15 - LPTSA Council Meeting | 6 - 8 p.m. | Central Office

Spring - Reflections Ceremony | TBD | TBD

4/19 - LPTSA Council Meeting & Elections | 6 - 8 p.m. | Central Office

4/27 - YMAD Celebration | TBD | TBD

5/24 - Officer Training | TBD | TBD

6/7 - LPTSA Council Meeting | 6 - 8 p.m. | Central Office

7/19 - LPTSA Council Audit Party | 6 - 8 p.m. | Central Office

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.

Use the link below. Please include school in the comment.

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 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

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 Andrea Malenfant at andrea.malenfant@livoniaptsacouncil.org

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