Livonia PTSA Council Courier

On February 15th, Livonia PTSA Council hosted their 69th annual Founders' Day celebration at St. Mary's Cultural Center. Almost 300 attendees gathered from across the district to help us celebrate our staff, student and parent honorees, as well as our LPS Educators of the Year. Our evening started with a beautiful performance by the Franklin Bel Canto Choir, followed by dinner (and cake!). We handed out over a dozen unit level awards for things such as best membership campaign and highest membership increase. We capped off our evening by honoring Council President Andrea Malenfant as our Council Member of the Year. A big THANK YOU goes out to everyone who joined us for Founders' Day, from unit executive boards, to honorees, to our guests from MI PTA and representatives from LPS and the City of Livonia. I would also like to thank all of the Council members who kept everything running smoothly behind the scenes! It was a great evening, and I hope everyone enjoyed celebrating the accomplishments of our hard working units.

Mandy Gerstenbrand

Founders' Day chair

Congratulations to Council member Debbie Yates for being awarded with the Livonia Chamber DEIB Changemaker Award at the 2023 Leadership and Awards Celebration on February 28!

Debbie is the DEI chair for Council among all the other hats she wears!

We are so proud of you Debbie!

Some of what was printed in the awards program:

Debbie Yates has emerged as a diversity and inclusion champion for the Livonia Parent Teacher Student Association Council during her five years on the Council and nine years involvement in the PTSA.

She has volunteered much of her time developing appropriate social media posts and coordinating diversity, equity and inclusion workshops for the PTSA, aiming to combat discrimination. She is also active with PFLAG, a Livonia advocacy and support group for the LGBTQ+ community.

She said it is important for people to realize that DEI exploration involves more than race and culture, but to ensure everyone has a seat at the table. "Our students and families come from a wide range of life experiences, and my goal is to ensure that each of them feels like they are included and belong," Yates said.

From the MI PTA:

The first 70 people registered will receive a limited edition Michigan PTA Takes Action notebook! Please join us! We invite you to have a voice in developing the focus of Michigan PTA’s 2023-2024 Legislative Platform and learn about emerging issues.

Michigan PTA’s Advocacy Day is focused on grassroots advocacy – the cornerstone of PTA! Since our founding, PTA has recognized the importance of advocacy in improving the lives of our nation’s children. Attend Advocacy Day to become more effective advocates, and to share your knowledge with others. This is a great opportunity for adults and students to learn new skills.

It's that time of year when we start looking forward to those end of the year celebrations, festivities, events, etc. What better way to gain more members? Maybe have an incentive for those who are members at these events. Are you looking for future board members for your slate? Make sure they are members of your PTA/PTSA. There's still time!

Please remember to send Michigan PTA their dues for all new members by the 28th of every month to remain in compliance.

Nicole Dant

nicole.dant@livoniaptsacouncil.org

Livonia PTSA Council, Membership Chair

Happy March! Can you believe we only have two more months left to gain PEP points for this year?! That's right! The very last day to earn PEP points for this year is April 30th. Do you have some fun things planned for March and/or April? Don't forget to write a newsletter article about them and CC PEP. As you're hosting your general membership meetings, presenting your slate for next year and hosting your elections, don't forget to invite your Livonia PTSA Council liaison and CC PEP. Is your PTA/PTSA unit participating in Youth Making A Difference this year? If so, that's another 200 PEP points. There are still ways to rise in the PEP standings, just don't forget to CC PEP.

Please note, the PEP standings that are attached do NOT reflect Founders' Day yet. Those numbers are still coming in. They will be added to the PEP standings as soon as possible, but the numbers won't be uploaded until next month. In the meantime, please review your numbers and contact PEP, at PEP@livoniaptsacouncil.org, if there are any questions or errors.

Sara Bennett

Livonia PTSA Council - PEP Chair

February was a busy month at Buchanan planning for our upcoming VIP dance, as well as all our March is Reading month festivities.

Both events have been a true collaboration of the PTA, staff volunteers, and are wonderful teachers.

Our VIP dance will include decorations from many of our classrooms as well as our STEAM room.

March is Reading month is a collaboration between the classrooms and the PTA to help record reading minutes and create an avenue for fun incentives and prizes for the children who read the most minutes.

Cookies and Canvas Night

We had a busy month of February with our first big event of the year. The Cleveland PTA hosted the Cookies and Canvas night with our own Ms. McDougall as our lead instructor! Our Eagle families enjoyed painting a Valentine's Gnome and were treated by Ms. Vroman's famous cookies while painting!

HERE is what some of our Eagles Families said about our first cookies and canvas event of the year ...

“How fun & laid back it was”

“It was made for children to enjoy.”

“Getting to know other Cleveland families”

“Spending time with my daughter and seeing her creativity.”

“Creative, engaging and social.”

Walk-A-Thon prize winners

We also welcomed Ms. Wysocki’s class at Riverside Arena for their well-earned Walk-A-Thon prize. Thank you, Riverside Arena, for hosting our Eagles! Ms. Wysocki's class had a blast!

Founders' Day

Our staff honoree was Mr. Skaggs and our parent honoree was Natalie Brown. We are incredibly thankful for their hard work, volunteer time, thoughtfulness for our Eagles, and their kind hearts.

The Franklin High School PTSA has been busy the last couple of months focusing on our students. Each year the PTSA offers a $500 Senior Scholarship to a student who is a PTSA member and has volunteered within the PTSA and the community. Our PTSA budgets this money and feels it is important to recognize students for their volunteer efforts during high school. Our PTSA also shares information with students about other scholarships they can apply for like the Michigan PTA Fran Anderson Scholarship or local community scholarships. Helping high school seniors find scholarship money to further their education or learn a trade is a small way we can support them.

Our PTSA would also like to thank all the parents who volunteered during the Coming Home Dance at Franklin on February 18th. Having a place for students to check their belongings while they dance and keep them hydrated at the water table is just another small way our PTSA helps out in our school.

Lastly, we have started preparations for the Senior Breakfast and the Senior All-Night Party. At Franklin, these events are run by the PTSA. We solicit donations from local businesses to be able to purchase the breakfast items and keep the party ticket relatively low. These donations also help to purchase prizes for the kids on the night of the event. It is always a lot of work but a great way to send the seniors on their way to the next chapter of their life. If you know of a business that would like to donate to our SANP please contact us at livoniafranklinptsa@gmail.com.

Frost is Busy Planning
The Frost PTSA has been busy gearing up for spring programs and planning for next year. We are excited for our annual Frost Frenzy, which is held the day before Spring Break. The PTSA has provided the inflatables for the event in the past. This year we are expanding our support to still include an inflatable, but also supporting a new activity: a silent disco! We are also expanding the food offering beyond sweet treats, per the request of the students.

Additionally, the PTSA is preparing for auditions for the student music scholarships we offer. And believe it or not, we are planning for the 2023 Craft Show, with applications sent to vendors who want to secure their spots early.

We are excited for the return of so many of our programs this year!

During the month of February students and staff felt the love.

The PTA sent home Valentine’s for each student in addition to holding another positive message campaign. This time the lockers were adorned with hearts stating something positive. The students absolutely loved receiving both the Valentine and special heart. As always we are beyond thankful for our parent volunteers who help behind the scenes.

The PTA also stocked the staff lounge with special treats and made sure each staff member received a special encouragement heart as well.

The Hearts Aglow Dance took place in February and was a huge success. Due to the pandemic, this dance had been put on hold that past few years. It was an absolute hit and almost the whole student body attended with their families. There was face painting, a fun photo booth and of course our beloved DJ from Marihugh Entertainment.

Thanks to help from the PTA, Kennedy’s 2nd graders also experienced their first field trip ever during February. They went to High Velocity on Valentine’s Day and participated in team building activities together. They are still smiling if you can believe it.

The PTA Board, selected staff, and our honoree PTA parent from Kennedy all had an absolute blast at Founders' Day. We are beyond humbled and excited that our school came in 1st place for the centerpiece contest. We continue to be grateful to be involved with such a wonderful school and community.

Overall, February was a month that reminded staff and students alike that our school truly shines.

Stevenson PTSA enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the 69th Annual Founders' Day Celebration. It’s amazing to see the room filled with PTA officers, staff, parents and students who support the values of the PTA, volunteer their time and support our schools throughout the district.

A special shout out to our SHS honorees:

Chessa Turcott – staff

Kathy Pominville – parent

Halle Hunter – student.

Thank you for all your help and support!

We were surprised and honored to win the Best Membership Initiative Award. We came up with ideas, put a plan into action and have exceeded our membership from last year!

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 Officer Training and the 2022-23 Audit Party.

2023

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

4/20 - YMAD Celebration | 6 - 8 p.m. | Churchill

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.

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