Livonia PTSA Council Courier

Where did the 2024-2025 school year go??? It seems like we were just welcoming students back into the classroom, and in the blink of an eye we were celebrating our graduating seniors (this mama included!). On behalf of Council, I'd like to thank all of our unit officers who served during the last school year - your passion, enthusiasm, advocacy and countless hours of work are much appreciated!!

As we transition into the new school year, please reference the info that was presented at our annual officer training a few weeks ago to help get your new boards up and running! A few key things to keep in mind are: updating your officers in Givebacks, attending our annual audit party on July 16th, and once that's completed, updating the signers on your bank account.

On August 9, MI PTA will be holding their Summer Leadership Academy in Rochester - Council has two FREE registrations available! If you would like to attend, please reach out via email at amandagerstenbrand@gmail.com and we'll get you set up! More info below in this newletter.

I hope you have a great summer break (turn the sprinkler on and throw those kiddos outside!!) and I can't wait to see all the great things you'll do in the 2025-2026 school year!

Mandy Gerstenbrand

LPTSA Council President

As the current school year comes to an end, now is the time to focus on next year and how to earn members in the upcoming school year. Do you have a Membership Chair? Do you have any membership incentive ideas? Are you planning on encouraging families to sign up to become members at the beginning of the school year? It's never too early to start thinking about how to earn more members.

As a reminder, the funds you collect for all new members not only makes them a member of your unit's PTA/PTSA, but it also makes them a member of the Michigan PTA and National PTA. For every new member starting July 1st, the price has been increased by $1. The new member remittance will now be $6.50 per new member due to the Michigan PTA by the 28th of every month.

Kindly,

Nicole Dant

Treasurer and Membership Chair, Livonia PTSA Council

Summer Leadership Academy (SLA) returns Saturday, August 9th in Rochester – This event is completely focused on PTA leader training. Registration discounts are available for you to bring your whole board. We are also planning a track for Council leaders. More details coming soon, but you can register at any time!

It's crazy to think that we are already at the end of the school year! We have had so much fun in so many different ways! This year has been amazing and we couldn't do it without all the support of our members!

During our music concert, we sold flowers and the money went to Cleveland's music program. We also had our last dine 'n' dash of the year where students' families could come and eat lunch with them. We also helped set up the art show!

Teacher appreciation week is probably one of our favorite weeks during the school year. Each day, we had a different theme that matched the food provided! Each staff member received a Star plus other goodies! PTA family members are always great with supporting donations!

We just held Field Day and our amazing YEAR END PICNIC! We had food trucks, a splash tank, cake walk, inflatables, face paintings, a robot demo from our Livonia Warriors Robotics team, raffle baskets (each class picked a specific theme and the students and families provided donations)!! Seeing all of the Cleveland families have a fun night out is always the best!

Our Water Wars will be happening this week. During the school year, students had the optional opportunity to run laps to and earn charms. Our top 6 runners will get to pie staff and PTA board members in the face and each student who qualified will get to participate in each station. At the end, we will have a Livonia Fire Truck spray all the kids in the school.

We hope everyone had an amazing school year and enjoys summer vacation!

May was a non-stop month full of fun activities for our students and staff at Coolidge Elementary! We wrapped up helping our media center run their summer reading book fair at the beginning of the month. This book fair was sponsored by a grant secured through the district and we are thrilled to report that ALL students walked away with five new, free books! Watching students shop without having to worry about whether or not they brought money from home was something special.

Next up was Staff Appreciation week! We celebrated ALL of our Coolidge Cougar staff! This year, we went with a literacy theme. Monday was the "Thank You Book" by Mo Willems where staff received their bundles of hand written thank you cards (we had 1000s!) that the students created in February and provided breakfast to kick off the week. Tuesday was "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie." We treated the staff to cookies from So Delish bakery, drink gift cards, flair pens, popcorn and more cookies! Wednesday was "Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party." We brought in lunch from Livonia Italian Bakery and set up a hydration station where staff could create a fun drink to go along with their lunch. Thursday was "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and we stocked the staff lounge with our very own chocolate and candy wonderland. "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" finished the week with an assortment of fruits and desserts that the caterpillar enjoyed.

We brought in Animal Magic for an in-school assembly for all grade levels. This was a great experience for our students as they met and learned about a tarantula named Legs, a three-banded armadillo named Poly, a snake named Slithers and the famous Nico parrot.

Kindergarten round up and gardenfest were next! Gardenfest was set up by our amazing art teacher, Mrs. Stark. Classes were invited down to the habitat where they could go on a scavenger hunt and play with chalk, bubbles, games and a giant Connect Four game that was supplied by the PTA. The PTA also purchased popsicles for each student to enjoy. The colder weather did not stop our students from having fun!

Our DEI chair updated our monthly bulletin board with a mental health theme. This bulletin board shows "Coping skills from A-Z" with illustrations and descriptions on different ways to cope through life's challenges.

The month finished up with our long awaited Field Day that was led by our gym teacher, Mr. Franklin. The PTA purchased materials for some of the newer stations that the classes rotated through. A lot of fun was had by students, staff and the many volunteers who helped run the numerous stations!

Emerson PTSA has been busy wrapping up the year with literacy night and concessions at the track meets. We also want to say congratulations to the Class of 2025.

May has been a fun-filled month for Kennedy Elementary.

The month kicked off with “Teacher Appreciation Week” where the PTA spoiled our staff with a Chipotle Luncheon, a stocked lounge, two days of chair massages, in addition to gift card donations from our wonderful Kennedy families. And the cherry on top, of course, was the S’mores and Coffee truck that made an appearance too!

In May, our PTA offered our last family dine-out for the school year at Red Robin. The food is always a hit and there was a good turnout due to a lot of families grabbing carry-out on their way home from various after-school extracurriculars.

Our Kennedy Board is happy to welcome three new board members for the 2025-26 school year! However, we will also miss the three board members who are moving on to their newest adventures.

Our PTA paid for a portion of our 4th graders' most anticipated field trip of the school year - attending a Mudhen’s Game! Many parents chaperoned and everyone had a wonderful time making special memories together.

Speaking of baseball, our PTA also offered a Tigers Game Outing the weekend following the last day of school and the tickets for our section have sold out! Everyone is looking forward to an additional fun event together.

The PTA provided every student a yummy treat from the Kona Ice Truck in May. It was a memorable way to kick-off the long holiday weekend.

Mileage Club wrapped up for the school year and the top two students from each grade were given awards. Great job everyone!

To close the month of May, our PTA put together our beloved Spring Fling. Families were able to enjoy hands on experiments, food trucks, inflatables, a DJ, petting farm, a balloon artist and the fan favorite escape room.

It’s been a wonderful and fun-filled school year over at Kennedy Elementary!

Have a great summer vacation!

Mark your calendars NOW for Officer’s Training and the Audit Party!

2025

JUNE

6/11 – LPTSA Council Meeting | 6-8 p.m. | Central Office

JULY

7/16 – Audit Party | 6-8 p.m. | Central Office

AUGUST

8/20 – LPTSA Council Meeting | 6-8 p.m. | Central Office

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