308 Beyond the Basics Presidents Class

1. Ninth District PTA Summer Leadership Conference June 4, 2011 Jennifer Zaheer Ninth District PTA VP of Education & Parent Involvement jen.zaheer@gmail.com 308 Beyond the Basics Presidents Class

2. What ARE the PTA “Basics”? • What is PTA? Nonprofit national organization of 5+ million parents and adults supporting parent involvement in schools so children succeed and their learning environment improves • PTA History: Alice McLellan Birney, Selena Sloan Butler, Phoebe Apperson Hearst founded 1897 in Washington DC as National Congress of Mothers, joined with National Congress of Colored Parents in 1970

3. PTA “Basics” cont'd • PTA mission and goals: to be a powerful voice for all children, a relevant resource for families and communities, a strong advocate for education and well-being of every child • PTA structure: local PTAs include Early Childhood PTAs, Elementary/Middle School PTAs, Parent Teacher Student Associations, Special Education PTAs, Council of PTAs, District PTAs, State PTAs, National PTA

4. ...and Beyond? • Assessment—taking your board's temperature • Leadership—where is your board headed? • Training—tools for success • Goals—planning and implementation • Awards—sharing your success with others • Celebration!

5. Assessment • CAPTA Toolkit: PTA Management Guide to Leadership • 2.3.7e SELF ASSESSMENT • It is useful to reflect upon one’s performance to identify areas for improvement and acknowledge the development of new skills. Evaluate the following as a 1 through 5 (1 = lowest in practice, 5 = best): • As PTA President-- • Do you invite the principal to all PTA meetings and activities? • Do you consult the principal on all plans early in the school year? • Do you constantly seek to understand your school better?

6. Assessment cont'd • Do you build some of your PTA programs around the school programs? • Are you careful not to make excessive demands on the time of your school personnel? • Are you careful not to interrupt or interfere with the school program? • Do you keep personal matters and personality conflicts out of the PTA? • Are you a good manager? • Are you friendly with everyone—school personnel and PTA members? • Do you work well with others and give credit where credit is due?

7. Leadership Are You a LEADER or a MANAGER? ◊The manager administers; the leader innovates. ◊ The manager is a copy; the leader is an original. ◊ The manager maintains; the leader develops. ◊ The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people. ◊ The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust. ◊ The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. ◊ The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. ◊ The manager has his eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his eye on the horizon. ◊ The manager imitates; the leader originates. ◊ The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. ◊ The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his own person. ◊ The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing. On Becoming a Leader, Warren Bennis, Inc.

8. Leadership • Do the members feel comfortable asking questions or requesting to have information clarified? • Are the members called upon in a fair manner? • Are the decisions made during the meeting? (not in parking lot after meeting, over email, etc.) • Are interruptions kept to a minimum? • Does the meeting end on time? • Do the meetings start on time? • For the most part, does everyone stick to the subject? • Is the agenda available ahead of time? • Does everyone have the opportunity to request time on the agenda? • Do all members have an opportunity to be heard without fear of being “put down?” Score your meetings: Mark YES/NO answers based on meetings you attend. See score below. • 10 YES: These meetings are surely a pleasure to attend and the planned work gets accomplished. • 6 - 9 YES: You are doing a pretty good job but need to work on a few items. • 1 - 5 YES: You are committed but should ask for help from your council or district to make your meetings more effective before you and members of the executive board get frustrated.

9. Leadership—Where Is Your Board Headed? • Do you have an active membership? • Does your membership grow each year? Decline? • Do you set goals, announce them, advertise them and attain them? • Does your board respond to your requests? • Do you have a hard time finding volunteers? • Is your board riddled with conflict?

10. Training—Tools for Success • Do you attend council trainings, in-services, workshops and covention? Do you share this information with your unit/council members? • Do you send your officers for similar trainings? • Is there a budget line item for convention and Summer Leadership Conference? • Do you often find that you rely heavily on what happened before you took office, rather than capta.org, pta.org or ninthdistrictpta.org information?

11. Training—Free Resources • Suscribe to pta.org and capta.org e-newsletter resources and blasts • Pay attention to the email, Facebook and Twitter information that comes regularly from Ninth District and State PTA • SHARE what you LEARN in Summer mailings, newsletters, websites and emails • TRAIN your key officers in finance, taking notes, bylaws and parliamentary procedure

12. Goals—The Path to Success • Set goals with incoming executive officers • Assess programs, needs and attainable measures • Set achievements high enough to make change, low enough to do in a year • Advertise when goals have been met • Report successes to board, council and district

13. Awards • A way to congratulate you on a job well done • A means to fund future and current programs • Know what's out there: ~Council Awards ~District Awards ~State Awards ~National Awards • Grants and Scholarships can also be applied for

14. As a Leader... • Avoid BURNOUT: take time FOR YOU, give your board time to prepare and plan, and be sure everyone gets a PAT on the BACK • Avoid CONFLICT: plan ahead, be honest about time commitment and clear about expectations, settle disputes with honor and care • CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESSES: everyone likes to be appreciated—it's the oil for the gears!

15. Extraordinary Measures • Movin' on up: seek council and even district PTA positions as your unit president term ends • Identify your successor: look to those with high levels of organization, initiative and ideas • Identify gaps in your organization: where people need to fill in for others constantly, where programs are left lagging because they are headless, where there's top-or-bottom-heavy organization

16. Extraordinary Measures cont'd • Can't find the answer? Seek help upline! • See a need for a new PTA resolution? Do the research and write it! • Everyone can lead—start small and finish with pride • Have great ideas you want to share? Come to council and district and let us know!