The details for this page reflect the 2021-2022 school year. Stay tuned for updates for the new school year!
Medina PTA advocates for our children's health and wellbeing at the local, state, and national levels: from parent education events at our school to legislative action through WSPTA and National PTA.
Jump to: PARENT EDUCATION:
Parent Education Events: Mental Health Resources | Emergency Prep, Executive Functioning, Online Safety Webinar, Mental Health Strategies for Parents During COVID-19
Parent Education Resources: COVID, Anxiety in Children, Learning Disorders, ADHD
Jump to: LEGISLATIVE: Updates, 2020-2021 WSPTA Legislative Platform
Parent Education
2022-2023 Advocacy Chair: Maria Barrios
Medina PTA's 2020-2021 advocacy priority is supporting families through the challenging times brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. We aim to provide educational resources to help our families during these times.
Mental Health Resources
October 14, 2021 at 7:00pm
October is “Mental Health Awareness” month.
Join us in an important conversation with Medina Elementary’s Principal Dr. Laurie Harvey, Counselor Elise Geck and Child’s Mental Health Advocate Maria Barrios to learn about helpful resources and initiative in our school to support our student’s Mental Health wellness.
Nowadays it’s extremely important for our children to be aware that it is okay to struggle and learn how to properly deal with their emotions.
Emergency Preparedness
March 25, 2021 at 7:00pm
with Jan Bromberg of the American Red Cross
The current COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the importance of being prepared for all types of emergencies.
Floods, hurricanes and wildfires are becoming more frequent and can be devastating to our loved ones, homes and communities. Build confidence by learning simple steps you can take now, to help prepare and protect your family.
Hosted by the American Red Cross, Be Red Cross Ready is a national, standardized, FREE preparedness education curriculum for adults taught by certified presenters. The program is designed to help people understand, prepare for and respond appropriately to disasters.
Executive Functioning Webinar
January 28, 2021 at 7:00pm
with Dr. Robyn Kostowitz
Parents learn how to foster executive functioning skills in their kids and how to train children in habits and routines that will increase their learning and self-control capacities.
Online Safety Webinar
November 19, 2020 at 7:00pm
with Rebekah Brown
The Internet can be wonderful for kids. They can use it to research school reports, communicate with teachers and other kids, and play interactive games. But online access also comes with risks, like inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and online predators. What Parents should be teaching their kids before they use any app or go online?
What should be the rules when the kids are using these apps?, What are the potential risks of kids exchange personal information, such as address and phone number, pictures etc.
What are the Online Protection Tools to let parents monitor and control kids' access to adult material and help protect them from Internet predators.
Join us in a conversation with our own Medina parent Rebekah Brown, a cybersecurity professional specializing in threat intelligence & personal safety.
Mental Health Webinar
September 24, 2020 at 7:00pm
with Kathleen Goodman, Family Therapist
As parents, we are struggling to balance work, child care and self-care while keeping both your children’s worries and our own under control. You don’t have to do it alone! Join us for a Zoom Webinar with Family Therapist Kathleen Goodman.
Dr. Goodman will be focused on parent's own social and emotional well-being as we look to support the social and emotional development of our kids during remote learning. This unique opportunity will provide a 40-minute presentation and an hour to answer all your questions. Please email your questions in advance to: advocacy@medinapta.org. All questions will be answered anonymously.
A huge thanks to the Advocacy and I-Connect chairs, Maria Barrios, Maria Ortega, and Carmen Gomez Alzaga for making this much needed event possible!
COVID - Interviews with Experts:
- How to Handle Parent's Mental Health During COVID - Interview with Family Therapist Kathleen Goodman
- How to Support Your Child's Back-to-School Anxiety - Interview with Dr. Andrea Hartman, Clinical Psycologist, Seattle Children's Hospital
(Source: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention)
More resources (from community submissions)
- Free mental health services from UW School of Psychology Clinic: learn more
Anxiety in Children
Anxiety is a major problem interfering with kids’ emotional well-being. Learn and understand your anxious child’s reactions:
Learning Disorders
Today I want to share information about important learning disorders that can be part of your child’s life. Learning about these will help you see your child from a different perspective.
Here is a brief description:
📌Dysgraphia: A learning difficulty specific to writing
📌Dyslexia: A learning difficulty specific to reading.
📌Dyscalculia: A learning difficulty specific to Mathematics
📌Dyspraxia: A learning difficulty specific to fine & gross motor.
Sometimes we don’t know why our child is struggling at school and because of that it’s crucial that we learn about these neurological variations that can affect the way your child learns. Ignoring the signs will only hold back your child and your family.
Families can benefit from early intervention by being able to better meet their children's needs from an early age and throughout their lives.
Let’s Speak Up for our kids, they need to know that People with neurological differences are not broken or incomplete versions of normal people, they just learn and think differently and they only need to be accepted and understood.
ADHD
Legislative
CONTACTS
Local Contacts
2022-2023 Medina Legislative Rep: Fanny Xie
2021-2022 WSPTA Region 2 Advocacy Chair: Position open
State Legislature
Let your state legislators know how important funding our children’s education is to you via emails and/or phone calls! Click HERE to go to the Washington State Legislative page for contacts.
To check on the status of a bill or to comment, go to: http://app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/
Updates can be found in our Bellevue/WA/National PTA News Blog.
WSPTA
Focus Day: January 22, 2022
Focus Day is a day where Washington State PTA (WSPTA) members travel to Olympia for a day full of engagement around our mission. Members meet with legislators, tour the capitol, and demonstrate advocacy in action.
For 2022, WSPTA is dedicating an entire week to these important issues! Learn more about Focus on Advocacy week here and on the WSPTA website.
Legislative Assembly: October 23-24, 2021
Legislative Assembly is the official membership meeting where WSPTA’s members determine the endorsed platform for the association.
Next WSPTA Convention: May 20-22, 2022
Keep up with the latest Advocacy news at WSPTA Advocacy Blog.
National PTA
Next Legislative Conference: March 9-11, 2021. Learn more.
Find out about National PTA's Advocacy Programs & Resources on their website.
2020-2021 WSPTA Legislative Platform
A summary of the 2020-2021 WSPTA Legislative Platform can be found HERE.
Click on each of the following issues for a short summary:
TOP 5 Legislative Priorities for 2020-2021
Increase Access to Nursing, Mental Health and Social Emotional Learning Staff
Support Students and Preserve Education Funding
Increasing Educational Equity by Closing the Digital Divide
Supports and Funding for Students with Disabilities and Their Families
Prevent and Reduce Gun Violence and Suicide handout
2020-2021 WSPTA Supported Issues:
Equitable Identification and Services for Highly Capable Students
Mitigating the Adverse Impacts of Climate Change
Safe School Plans and Emergency Preparedness handout
2019-2020 WSPTA Legislative Platform
A summary of the 2019-2020 WSPTA legislative platform can be found HERE.
Click on each of the following issues for a one page summary:
TOP 5 Legislative Priorities for 2019-2020:
School Construction and Simple Majority for Bonds
Strategies to Address the Teacher Shortage
Strategic K-12 Investments to Close Gaps
2019-2020 WSPTA Supported Issues:
Best Practices for School Meals - Lunch
Best Practices for School Recess
Engaging Families in Student Success
Equitable Identification of Highly Capable Students
Increase Access to High-Quality Preschool
Raise the Age of Tobacco and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems to 21
Safe School Plans and Emergency Preparedness
Upcoming Events
- Monday, September 25
- Tuesday, September 26