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PTA National Convention 2007
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PTA NATIONAL CONVENTION - St. Louis, Missouri - June, 2007
I was fortunate to be able to attend the PTA National Convention in St. Louis in June. I had a wonderful time and received a ton of helpful information.
On Friday, June 29th, I attended a 1 1/2 hour workshop entitled: "Voices from the Field: Promising Practices That Support Health and Wellness in Schools and Communities". Participants learned strategies for engaging decision makers and how other PTA's organized school, community, and state resources to support health, wellness, and safety for students. One of the main focuses was on a group called "Watch D.O.G.S.". It's a "dad's club" where they get dad's to spend time at school. D.O.G.S. stands for Dads of Great Students.
On Saturday, I went to a 1 1/2 hour workshop entitled: "Perception or Reality? Attitudes and Behaviors That Impact the Healthy Development of Children and Youth". It explored general attitudes and perceptions youth have about a variety of health-related issues and presented action steps that schools, communities, and parents can take to improve the health and wellness of young people. Research was done by the Girl Scouts regarding girls' perceptions related to healthy living.
The rest of my time was spent on the exhibit floor. I received tons of information on fundraisers, safe schools, bullying, nutrition, spiritwear and other items.
Keynote Speakers
The keynote speakers were Craig Scott and Andrea Peterson. Craig Scott is a motivational speaker and founder of "Rachel's Challenge", a school assembly and training program created following the 1999 shooting tragedy at Columbine High School. It is named after one of the victims, Rachel Scott - a remarkable young lady who believed her life would have an impact on the world. Her younger brother and keynote speaker Craig Scott, was in the library the day of the Columbine tragedy, where he witnessed 10 of his schoolmates killed, including two of his close friends. Since then, he has gone on to speak out and educate children and adults alike with his inspiring and life-changing story. Craig has shared his story with people all across the country as well as making appearances on shows such as Dateline, Oprah, Good Morning America and CNN. He has been featured in Teen magazine as well as numerous newspaper articles around the nation.
Andrea Peterson, a music teacher at Monte Cristo Elementary School in Granite Falls, Washington, is the 2007 National Teacher of the Year. Because of her community focus, teamwork with other teachers, and a desire to see all students succeed, Peterson was named the 57th Teacher of the Year. The National Teacher of the Year Program is a project of the Council of Chief State School Officers and focuses public attention on teaching excellence. It is the oldest and most prestigious awards program for teachers. In her ten years at Granite Falls, she has revitalized the music programs at both the elementary and high school levels and created two auditioned elementary choirs, cross-curricular performances, and auditioned high school chorus, jazz band and marching band. Teaching music is only part of her instruction - she also introduced a cross-curriculum program, wherein she takes lessons taught in other classes such as English and math, and has her music students expand upon them.
Dawn Marolf
Wilton PTA President
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