Lake Washington PTSA Council 2.8 News

Building Bridges Toward Belonging – Join the Conversation!

Are you ready to take meaningful action in fostering true belonging within our schools and communities? Join LWPTSA Council’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion meeting for an engaging and interactive discussion that will empower us to create welcoming environments where every student and family feels valued.

Guided by the powerful frameworks in Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity by Cobb & Krownapple, we’ll explore key dispositions, indicators and assessments that drive real change.

🎙 Featuring Special Guest: Courtney Wooten

Courtney Wooten is a dynamic organizational consultant, educator, and activist specializing in equity and cross-cultural inclusion. Raised in the Berkeley/Oakland Bay Area, she grew up immersed in social justice movements, embracing community organizing and intersectional coalition-building as part of her lifelong mission for change.

A Stanford alumna and PhD Candidate in Sustainability Education, Courtney pairs education and activism to create real impact. She has led community-driven initiatives through organizations such as Edmonds School District, Sno-Isle Libraries, and UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute, fostering dialogue and equity-focused action.

She is the founder of Suburbia Rising and Stories of Self & Solidarity and co-founder of the Justice & Faith Collective, where she brings creative, educational, and community-led programs to life. Beyond her advocacy, she is a Peacemaking Circle Keeper, speaker, and homeschooling mother of two.

Her latest project, Folktale Forest, is an inclusive wellness retreat focused on nature-based education, intergenerational dialogue, and sustainable permaculture, centering queer, Black, and brown wellness.

🌟 Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, engage, and take actionable steps toward fostering dignity, equity, and belonging in our schools and beyond!

REGISTER FOR THE ZOOM LINK (Limited to 30 participants)

Council’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee meets one Wednesday each month of the school year (with the exception of September and June) at 11:30 am. During the 2024-2025 year, meetings will be held online via Zoom. DEI chairs and other interested leaders from PTAs and PTSAs in the Lake Washington School District are invited to these monthly meetings to discuss DEI issues and advocacy initiatives that impact our students and families.

All local PTA leaders are invited to attend our monthly membership meetings, typically held the first Thursday of the month during the school year. Meetings will mostly be during daytime hours, with occasional evening meeting times, and will be a mix of in-person and virtual Zoom meetings. At least one elected leader from each of our area PTA/PTSA units is expected to attend each meeting. Additional leaders are always welcomed.

In-person membership meetings will be held at the Lake Washington School District Resource Center in Redmond Town Center. The LWSD Resource Center address is: 16250 NE 74th St., Redmond WA 98052. Zoom meeting links for our online meetings will be available in the Weekly Waves newsletter that all local PTA leaders receive.

This is the most important and useful class of them all, as it will prepare you and your fellow officers to run your PTA with an eye toward the important legal and fiscal requirements in running a nonprofit. PTA and the Law deals with state and federal rules and regulations relevant to running a charitable, tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation in the state of Washington, and will explain how these rules impact your PTA. PTA and the Law is a required class for at least one elected officer per PTA each year.

Don’t miss your PTA’s last chance to fulfill their requirement to have an officer attend for the 2024-25 term.

REGISTER HERE

REGISTER FOR ZOOM LINK

LWPTSA Council’s E-Prep Committee meetings for 2024-2025 will be held online via Zoom, except for the October meeting, which will be held in person at the LWSD Resource Center (16250 NE 74th St., Redmond WA 98052). E-Prep Committee meetings are from 10 am to noon. An email with a meeting reminder and Zoom link will be sent to e-prep chairs prior to each meeting.

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Our Vision: Achieve a whole-community approach of emergency management, set forth by the Federal Emergency Management Association, as it relates to our school communities throughout the Lake Washington School District. The whole-community approach is a concept that emergency preparedness is a shared responsibility, and calls for the involvement of everyone in order to attain a secure, resilient community.

Our Mission:  To provide training, networking and support to emergency preparedness chairs from each school in order to encourage the PTA management of supplies, preparedness education, community engagement and facilitation of drills through building a relationship with the school principal.

Welcome to the final session of WSPTA’s three-part leadership workshop! This final event will have a brief overview of the preceding sessions and then we’ll work on in-person presenting and facilitating. We’ll cover preparation and the actual events. The culmination of this series will help your confidence in some of the public-facing tasks a leader in PTA often performs. Again, space is limited, so register now!

REGISTER FOR ZOOM MEETING