The 7th Annual Chili Cook-Off is on Saturday, January 21st at Franklin High School! We are so excited to be able to host this much-beloved event once again! The school with the winning Chili will win $500 from Kiwanis Early Risers. Remember, anyone can enter as long as they are a PTA Member of your school! All entries must be received by January 14, 2023.

NEW THIS YEAR! Entrants can now sign up online through our MemberHub store!

https://lptsacouncil.memberhub.com/store/items/806480

Entrants can also mail in their entry forms with the $10 entry fee. They can download the entry form and the complete set of rules on our website at livoniaptsacouncil.org. Printable entry form and rules are also below.

Please be sure to share the Chili Cook-Off flyer and paper entry form on your social media pages!

We are looking forward to tasting some fantastic chili! And don't forget, we will also have raffle baskets, a 50/50 raffle, a bake sale, and more! So start getting those winning recipes together! Let's see who takes home the win! Good Luck!

Andrea Malenfant

Livonia PTSA Council President

Before Christmas break, PTSA Council delivered just over 100 mini STEM kits to elementary schools. Parents had to fill out a Google form for their child to receive a kit. Students received a kit with a cupcake liner, index card, mini animal figurine, small sponge and 4 popsicle sticks plus an instruction sheet. Their goal - design and test several umbrella designs that would keep their small animal figurine dry. Check out the photos below of Colin testing one of his designs and how his little figurine stayed dry!

Special thanks to the Livonia Warriors Robotics team for helping assemble the kits!

If you have not turned in your honoree names, please do so ASAP (they were due 12/19/22). Use the Google form links below. No paper copies will be accepted.

Student Nominee Form (secondary only)

Staff Nominee Form

Parent Nominee Form

Start working on those centerpieces 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!

On December 8, PTSA Council hosted our 1st ever Family Engineering Night in the cafeteria of Churchill High School. The fun evening was filled with several brief engineering activities such as arches, packaging beans and how nature has inspired engineering innovations. Then the group of over 100 participants moved on to the main engineering challenges - designing a house that can hold up in hurricane winds and creating a prosthetic hand model. Check out some of the photos below with a couple of very proud students holding something in their prosthetic hand!

We had some help from high school members of the Livonia Warriors Robotics Team who very much enjoyed the activities. Our Engineering Night and the pizza dinner was made possible by a generous grant from Michigan Tech University and OHM Advisors in Livonia. Thank you Michigan Tech and OHM!

As a friendly reminder, please remember to submit your Michigan PTA dues for all new PTA members by the 28th of every month.

Nicole Dant

nicole.dant@livoniaptsacouncil.org

Livonia PTSA Council, Membership Chair

Happy 2023!!!

The school year is definitely moving along quickly now. You may be thinking about what the next few months could bring and what your PTA/PTSA unit could do for your students, school, community. Don't forget about what you could do to boost your PEP scores! By now, all of your Standards of Affiliation should be in, Reflections entries have been submitted, and we're now looking forward to January and February. What's due in January and February in regards to PEP, you may ask? There are a few things. Do you have any Chili Cook Off entries? That's 100 points per participant! Are you looking forward to Founders' Day in February? You should be. That's 100 points per attendee and 50 points for your centerpiece. There's always submitting a newsletter article for this newsletter and inviting your liaison to your general membership meetings. When you send those emails, don't forget to cc PEP for an easy 100 points every month. Do you have any Youth Making A Difference entries? If so, that's more PEP points for participation. Simply let us know by emailing PEP. There's still a lot of opportunities to earn more points before the end of this year's PEP on April 30th.

Want to know where your PTA/PTSA unit stands and what you've received PEP credit for? Simply visit Livonia PTSA Council's website and look at the breakdown. Do you notice any errors? If so, please email PEP right away and that will be researched.

2023 has just begun and the current PEP year isn't over yet! Let's see how many more points your PTA/PTSA unit can earn before the end of April!

Sara Bennett

Livonia PTSA Council - PEP Chair

PEP@livoniaptsacouncil.org

We’d love to have you join our team of wonderful volunteers! Please fill out this short form.

https://bit.ly/LPSEFVolunteer

If you have any questions, please email lpsfoundation@livoniapublicschools.org

DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 1

Hello K-4 PTA Units!

Please remind your kindergarten families to sign up their students for the Competitive Edge Savings Program, an exciting savings program offered to every kindergarten student entering the Livonia Public Schools. The goal of the LPS Education Foundation is to provide a unique opportunity for LPS parents to begin planning early for their children’s post-secondary education (such as eligible colleges or trade schools) and to help set aside money for their children’s future educational expenses.

The Foundation deposits $100 for every kindergarten student who registered into a pooled 529 account. This account grows over the course of the students' educational journeys. When the student graduates from an LPS high school and is accepted into an eligible post secondary school, they will receive a check from the Foundation after completing the claim form and submitting the necessary documentation.

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

December was a busy month at Buchanan Elementary. We hosted our annual Santa shop and many of our students had a great time shopping for the special people in their life.

We showed appreciation to our Buchanan staff with a fully catered lunch during their work day as well as holiday gifts in a reusable bag that supported a local business, Anastasia and Katie's Coffee Shop & Cafe.

The PTA also sold and distributed candy cane grams throughout the school selling a record number of almost 1500.

The Wednesday before winter break, the Franklin staff was treated to lunch and the PTSA was happy to provide the desserts. We collected donations of baked goods from Franklin families. There were plenty to enjoy at lunch and take a few home. The PTSA was happy to organize this and bring a little sweetness to the staff.

Staff Appreciation for Frost
After November's Craft Show, we had some supplies left over from the kitchen so we decided to give our staff a luncheon on Friday, December 16. All of the staff was appreciative of this free lunch during the craziness of the build up to break! Special shout out to Alicia Densel for making this lunch happen!

It's crazy that 2022 has already come to a close, but it's been an incredible year! December was no different for our Randolph Roadrunners! Early in the month, we hosted our Jolly Jamboree, which ran parallel to the Scholastic Book Fair and was a great success! We had cookies, music, and a movie. Santa and Spiderman even hung out with our students! This was a great way to kick off the holiday season. The Randolph PTA also partnered with Gleaners Community Food Bank this month and held a food drive to help feed people in need. At the close of the food drive, we had 15 students come in after school hours to help sort and box up the donated food. This was an event we offered as our first school-sponsored YMAD event of the year. We are focused on providing opportunities through the school to increase participation in the YMAD program.

We wrapped up the month with a fun Spirit Week! We saw some very creative, crazy hairstyles; fun, goofy hats on hat day; and the coziest PJs on our pajama day - we couldn't think of a better way to say, "see ya, 2022!" The Randolph PTA is excited about the fun events we have planned for the new 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 Founders' Day, Officer Training and the 2022-23 Audit Party.

2023

1/18 - LPTSA Council Meeting | 6 - 8 p.m. | Central Office

1/21 - Chili Cook Off | 11 a.m-2 p.m. | Franklin High School

January - Reflections Ceremony | TBD | TBD

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

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