Scholarship Contest

The Campaign for College Opportunity would like to invite your PTA to join us as a partner in promoting our Save Me a Spot in College scholarship contest with your local youth.

The Save Me a Spot in College scholarship contest will award more than $100,000 in scholarships to over 100 students across California ! The contest provides all California 6th – 12th grade students an opportunity to share why college is important to them by answering the question, “Why should California leaders save you and your peers a spot in college?” Students may submit a written word, poster, and/or a 30-second TV ad that answers this question. Help us ensure that youth in your community are informed about this contest by becoming a Partner. All students who participate in the contest will receive recognition for participating and information preparing them for college, along with their chance to win a $500 to $2,500 scholarship.
As a formal partner in this scholarship contest we will be able to formally recognize you for (1) distributing materials to your students, (2) helping your students register and enter the contest, and (3) coordinating a presentation by a Campaign representative at your local PTA meeting or school who can give your students information about the contest and the importance of going to college. There is no fee or long-term commitment of any sort.

Additionally, we are pleased to offer you access to a new resource recently featured in La Opinion newspaper titled, "Road to College: Know How to Go." This 16-page bilingual (English and Spanish) supplement includes important information that we hope will inspire and inform readers to understand the steps necessary to prepare for college and that college is possible!
We are excited that this publication includes information about California 's community college and university system, steps on how to prepare for college and access financial aid, and inspiring profiles of students and professionals. We hope that this material will serve as an excellent resource for students, parents, and future college goers and are happy to provide copies for distribution.

Your PTA Council, District or Chapter can help us by promoting the scholarship contest in your community. To become a partner and find out more information about this scholarship contest, please visit us online at www.collegecampaign.org/contest. Additionally, if you have any questions or would like to schedule a presentation you may contact Stephanie Romero-Crockett at 800-459-9586 or http://us.f522.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=stephanie@collegecampaign.org. Thank you for your time and consideration. Respectfully,
Michele Siqueiros and Stephanie Romero-Crockett
Associate Director Program Associate
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REMINDER: The deadline for scholarship contest entries is March 15, 2008!
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Web-Wise Kids

WEB WISE KIDS, ESA FOUNDATION AND CALIFORNIA STATE PTA
HELP MAKE TECHNOLOGY SAFER FOR CALIFORNIA’S CHILDREN
Organizations Partner to Provide Parents with the Resources to Keep Kids Safe Online

SANTA ANA, CA - February 12, 2008—Web Wise Kids and the ESA Foundation today announced a joint effort with the California State PTA designed to make California’s children safer online. The initiative, funded by a grant from the ESA foundation will provide WIRED WITH WISDOM, a one-of-a-kind Internet safety education program to the parent members of the California State PTA.

“We believe ‘Wisdom Begins With You’ and we know that it is critical that parents play an active role in their kids’ safety while online,” said Judi Westberg Warren, president of Web Wise Kids. “We are grateful to the ESA Foundation to be able to provide this important educational tool to California parents empowering them to keep their children secure.”

Today’s culture bombards families with new parenting challenges in the field of technology. Making even basic decisions about the family’s computer and Internet usage can be quite a hurdle for parents whose kids are often more Internet-savvy than they are. The need to educate parents is critical and WIRED WITH WISDOM helps to do just that.

WIRED WITH WISDOM is an online, interactive safety program designed for busy parents. The program is comprised of five independent learning segments each of which can be completed in less than 20 minutes. WIRED WITH WISDOM addresses a variety of online issues including: social networking, personal Websites, the World Wide Web, chat rooms, instant messaging, email, cell phone dangers, cyber bullying and emerging technology. The program is being made available to parent members of the California PTA online so they can access it anytime and anywhere.

“The California State PTA works to prevent, control, or eliminate hazards to the health, safety and well-being of all children and youth. We are grateful to Web Wise Kids, and their sponsor for this project, the Entertainment Software Association Foundation, for providing California PTA members cost-free access to WIRED WITH WISDOM to help them protect and guide their children in the careful and proper use of the Internet”, said Kathy Moffat, Vice President for Community Concerns for the California State PTA.

WIRED WITH WISDOM has been uniquely designed to provide parents, teachers, law enforcement officers and youth leaders with useful information and solutions related to the problems faced by today’s e-generation. The program is comprehensive without being complex and the format is attractive and easy to navigate so that even the least Internet-savvy adult can enjoy learning.

“The ESA Foundation is proud to partner with Web Wise Kids and the California State PTA to make the Internet safer for youngsters,” said _________ ESA. “The entertainment software industry is committed to keeping kids safe while using today’s technology through educating parents about resources such as WIRED WITH WISDOM and the ESRB Ratings.”


About Web Wise Kids
Web Wise Kids (WWK), established in 2000 is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization that receives partial funding from the U.S. Congress through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs. WWK is dedicated to empowering today’s youth to make wise choices online and specializes in providing easy to use, school-approved Internet safety education for youth ages 11 to 16. Today’s e-generation is taught valuable lessons in their own medium using computer games with high tech simulations based on real life criminal cases. For more information about Web Wise Kids please visit www.webwisekids.org.

Contact:
Mary Davis Dan Hewitt
Web Wise Kids ESA Foundation
714.435.2885 ext. 204 202.223.2400
maryd@webwisekids.org dhewitt@theESA.com

PTA January Membership Campaign!

Did you make any New Year's resolutions for 2008? In addition to helping yourself by "getting fit" or "getting organized," you have a chance to make a powerful difference for children: Resolve to help parents be more involved through PTA. The January Membership Campaign, "New Year… New Opportunities" can assist you.

Unlike dieting rigorously or trying to quit a bad habit, PTA membership is easy to sustain and results are immediate—PTA membership can assist many Americans' in keeping their top resolutions. In a November 2007 survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation:
Thirty-three percent of respondents chose making the world a better place as their top resolution for 2008.Thirty-two percent of those surveyed said spending more time with family would be their top resolution.

Membership in PTA achieves both of these goals.
PTA members spend quality time with family through family involvement activities at home and at school.
PTA members make the world a better place by improving education opportunities for all children.

The bottom line is that the resolutions of 65 percent of respondents can be easily fulfilled through PTA membership, an activity that is not difficult to sustain.

The "New Year… New Opportunities" campaign capitalizes on people's desire to be more productive and proactive in a new year. If you've made use of the online resources and campaign packet delivered in November and implemented a January recruitment plan, you should be experiencing the benefits of strengthening your PTA.
If you have not yet started, don't despair. As with many resolutions, it matters less when you begin and more how you follow through. Act now and you can still run a successful "New Year… New Opportunities" campaign.

Tools are available online, including:
Attention-getting handout cards designed to make parents think about the resolutions they've made for 2008.
Customizable fliers to alert families and community members about PTA's benefits—and that it's not too late to join!
Door hangs to invite your entire community to join PTA.
Fun stickers to start conversations about involvement and PTA.

Go to pta.org/newyear for these and other great resources.

Spanish Materials

The California State PTA is trying more and more to provide materials in Spanish. You can download all or part of the PTA Toolkit in Spanish. It takes quite a bit of time to translate the toolkit, so the newest 2007 one is not in Spanish but you can get the 2005 Toolkit in Spanish.

Also, there is a list of publications that you can order from the CAPTA in Spanish.

And, just recently, the Membership Committee of the CAPTA has released popular articles in Spanish. Take a look at:
Beneficios de la pertenencia a una PTA (Benefits of PTA Membership)
Lo que puede hacer una carta constitutiva de PTA (What a PTA Charter Can Do)
¿POR QUÉ UNIRSE A LA PTA? (Why Join PTA?)
¿POR QUÉ LA P T A? (Why PTA?)

Got Members? Have You Invited Everyone To Join?

Here are some simple tips to help:
1. Make sure you have a PTA poster at the entrance to your school inviting everyone to join.
2. Invite every student, teacher, and administrator to become a member.
3. Solicit business sponsorships to show community involvement.
4. Take a look at areas of your community that are not represented and create a plan to welcome them to PTA. If dads are not represented, focus on getting more dads involved.
5. Plan an evening or weekend father/child activity and don’t forget to set up a membership enrollment table.

How are your PTA association meetings going? Does everyone feel free to participate in the discussions? Here are some tips to help you run effective and efficient meetings:
1. Prepare an agenda and make sure everyone gets a copy.
To help keep the meeting on track, list the approximate times for agenda items.
2. Help members understand and follow basic meeting rules.
This assures that everyone is treated with courtesy, all viewpoints are heard, and the majority makes decisions.
3. Ask chairmen to prepare written reports, in place of lengthy oral reports, unless action must be taken at the meeting.
Written reports may be sent to members via email prior to the meeting.
4. Be sure members stick to the agenda item.
Bring the discussion to a conclusion when it becomes too lengthy or repetitive. Details for events, fundraisers, or programs should be decided in committee, not at association meetings.
5. Make sure members understand what they are voting on by repeating the motion
before taking a vote.

Need help?
We’ve put together ideas and resources you need to get started:

OMDR Webinars
Learn how your unit can use the Online Membership Data Reporting system to maintain officer and membership lists, communicate with members, and more!
http://tinyurl.com/yt9xwq

Membership Ideas
http://tinyurl.com/2v89ye

Membership Brochures
http://tinyurl.com/2ddfe8

Sample Meeting Agenda
http://tinyurl.com/3dhky4

Be a Good President from the Start
http://tinyurl.com/3dxxf2

PTA Meetings
http://tinyurl.com/2jmvpu

Collaboration and Decision Making
http://tinyurl.com/2fs794

Looking for more ideas?
Visit the Great Idea Bank to learn what other PTAs are doing to help welcome parents to their PTA.
http://www.pta.org/local_leader/idea