Please join us on Tuesday, February 9, and extend an invitation to your superintendent or principal, vice-principal, incoming PTA president, and site council chairman. Registration begins at 11:00 AM; the General Meeting will start at 11:45 AM, followed by lunch and the program at Noon. The event will take place at Dominic’s Restaurant at Oyster Point, 360 Oyster Point Blvd. in South San Francisco (view map). The cost to attend is $20 per person. Please make checks payable to 17th District PTA.

The deadline for reservations is Thursday, February 4. Please return the RSVP form [PDF] with payment to Olga Keeney, Founders Day Co-Chair; the address is indicated on the form. We hope to see you there!

Is PTA using “diversity” as the new buzzword? No, that is not the case.
Mrs. Alice McLellan Birney, one of PTAs founders shared her vision at the first convention held in Washington DC on February 17, 1897 with over 2000 new members. Her audience consisted of fathers, teachers, laborers, mothers, educators and legislators. Her message was directed to all mankind and to all woman-kind, regardless of race, color, or condition, to recognize that the republic’s greatest work is to “save the children.”
Fast forward 112 years and PTA is still concerned about diversity, and about saving and improving the lives of all children. PTA’s purpose is:

• To promote the welfare of children and youth in home, school, community, and place of worship;
• To raise the standards of home life;
• To secure adequate laws for the care and protection of children and youth.
• To bring into closer relation the home and the school, that parents and teachers may cooperate intelligently in the education of children and youth.
• To develop between educators and the general public such united efforts as will secure for all children and youth the highest advantages in physical, mental, social, and spiritual education.

What is PTA currently doing about diversity? National PTA has held four Emerging Minority Leadership Conferences designed to prepare ethnic minority parents and caregivers from across the country to assume leadership roles in their local communities and schools. California State PTA held its first such conference on September 20, 2008. The purpose of the conference was to increase PTA’s ability to serve all children by growing in inclusiveness. PTA is encouraging all units to become more inclusive and representative of their communities. In other words, to get everyone involved in improving the lives of all children. California State PTA formed its first Diversity and Inclusion Committee this fall. Its purpose is to advance inclusion and diversity within the membership and leadership throughout the organization.

So, what can you do about diversity? You can form your own diversity committee to identify the groups in your community who are currently not very active in your PTA. When surveying your community, consider gender, race, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, special needs, grandparents, foster parents, military families, individuals and businesses. Invite speakers to hold workshops about cultural, ethnic, or religious issues for the PTA board, membership, parents, and students. Include current and emerging issues from your community in your plans. Be responsive to the language needs of others; and provide assistance when needed. Work to understand and promote respect for the unique contributions of every family. By working together we can help to make PTA an effective voice for all children.

–Deborah Kemper
Chairman, California State PTA Diversity & Inclusion Committee
Past 17th District President

• $202.00 for each unit,
• $120.00 for each council.

Be sure to include your PTA unit (or council) name, address, contact person’s name with phone number and email address with your payment.

Units that are “out-of-council” should send all payments to Susan Bell, Financial Secretary (contact her or view the latest Seventeena to find the address to mail to. DO NOT SEND PAYMENTS TO CALIFORNIA STATE PTA.
Units that are “in-council” should send in their insurance premium payments to their council treasurer in December, so councils can forward the payments to 17th District PTA by the Jan. 15, 2010 due date.
(Am I in- or out-of-council?)

Any payment received from councils or out-of-council units that is postmarked after January 15, 2010 (postmarked) will incur a $25.00 late fee. Please submit the payment along with a remittance form.

Also due to Seventeenth District will be the Workers Compensation Form [PDF]. This form is due to your council treasurer, if “in-council,” in December.

All “out-of-council” units should send the form to Susan Bell, Financial Secretary by January 15, 2010 (postmarked).

If no one was employed or paid (even babysitters!) by your PTA in 2009, then fill in “NO ONE PAID” on the Workers Compensation form. If payments made to ALL employees totaled $1,000.00 or more, then your PTA will need to pay 5% of the amount over $1,000.00 to Seventeenth District PTA.

DO NOT MAIL THE FORM TO CALIFORNIA STATE PTA, even though their address is on the top of the form!

If you have any questions, please contact Susan Bell, Financial Secretary.

I am thankful for all of the efforts of PTA and PTSA volunteers in San Mateo County on behalf of children and families. Last year PTA volunteers in San Mateo County contributed at least 345,456 hours of their time, based on all reports received last spring. I am also thankful for the many PTA officers serving as Historian, and for Pat Targgart, last year’s 17th District Historian, because I wouldn’t be able to guess this number without you! This record of volunteer efforts helps support the nonprofit basis of PTA. Linda Benedetti, 17th District Historian for 2009-11, has provided information in the December issue of the Seventeena on recording and reporting the time your volunteers are serving for PTA.

Thank you to all who are contributing to a successful fall PTA membership drive. The total number of memberships in San Mateo County as of the end of October was 7,726, up 45% from the previous year! Our total annual membership last year was nearly 20,000 members, so please continue to send in all membership contributions monthly to keep us on track. Statewide, the goal for California is 1 million members this year. This supports PTA’s efforts to train officers, communicate information to members and advocate for children. Further information about submitting PTA membership dues is available here.

Thanks to volunteers and teachers who are helping students to participate in the PTA’s annual Reflections Program. Participation and appreciation for the arts is the Reflections Program’s goal. There are many opportunities to participate, but entries must be delivered to our Reflections Chair, Contessa Messiana, by Friday, Dec. 11 (with earlier deadlines for Councils).

I hope to see you on February 9 for the annual Founders Day Celebration! Please register early and encourage all PTA members to attend.

Sincerely,

Colette J. Rudd
17th District President

Speakers at this year’s luncheon will include Jo Loss, California State PTA President and Dr. Jean Holbrook, San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools.

The luncheon will take place on Tuesday, November 24th at 11:30 AM-1:30 PM. It will be held at the Seaport Conference Center in the Port of Redwood City, 459 Seaport Court, Redwood City (view map). Unit presidents and members are asked to contribute $10 each to help defray the cost of the luncheon, which can be paid at the door.

Please RSVP to Christine Semenza. We hope to see you there!

The conference will take place at the Embassy Suites Hotel (near Old Sacramento). Registration costs for the conference is $135, and hotel rooms are $159 per night. The conference fee covers all conference activities and materials, and dinner on Sunday and lunch at the capitol on Monday. The hotel serves a complimentary full cooked-to-order breakfast daily and a manager’s reception in the evening. Travel and hotel costs are not included. Visit the State PTA website for more information and to register.

The event will take place on Wednesday, October 28, 7:00-8:30 PM at the Hillsdale High School Cafeteria at 3115 Del Monte Street in San Mateo, located near the corner of Alameda de las Pulgas and 31st Ave (view map). Please RSVP for the event.

Funding for schools in California continues to be a major concern of the PTA, along with other issues affecting children and families. How can we influence the legislative process? Debbie Look, State PTA’s Director of Legislation, will share how she, as a volunteer, works to educate the state legislators to see the PTA point of view. The presentation will include a brief overview of key legislative issues for PTA, at both the state and federal level and an overview of the current status of education funding. The presentation will follow a brief business meeting starting at 7 p.m. All members of the community are invited to attend!

Please join us for 17th District PTA’s annual fall General Meeting this Wednesday, October 14 at the San Mateo County Office of Education, 101 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City (view map).

The Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) has a new facility at the San Mateo County Office of Education and will be giving tours until 7 PM. Join us before the meeting (at 6:30 PM) for a tour.

Our meeting begins at 7:00 PM with the following agenda:
Welcome and Introductions — Colette Rudd, 17th District PTA President
Business of the Organization

• Finance Reports
• Approval of the 2009-10 Budget and Release of Funds
• Approval of the 2009-10 Calendar

Guest Speakers

• Jean Holbrook, County Superintendent of Schools
• Lynda Dobyns, Director of Resource Area for Teacher (RAFT)
• Debbie Look, Director of Legislation, California State PTA

ALL community members and PTA members in San Mateo County are invited to attend! Please come and learn more about PTA and California and 17th District helps make a difference for students. Please RSVP to Colette Rudd, 17th District President, and we hope to see you on Wednesday!