“Beauty is Hilarious” by Daniel J. Fairbanks- – Livonia, MI

Arts program recognizes six students,
celebrates 40 years of student expression

Chicago, IL (May 11, 2010) – As National PTA® celebrates the 40th anniversary of Reflections, the country’s longest running arts in education program, the association announced this week the 2010 Reflections Outstanding Interpretation Award winners in six arts categories.  The winners were chosen from more than 500,000 submissions from students across the nation who participated in this year’s program, themed “Beauty is…” Each year the program provides …

Web Wise Kids in partnership with Attorney General John Suthers is providing the WIRED WITH WISDOM program available to all Colorado parents at no cost.
WIRED WITH WISDOM (WWW) was designed to give busy parents the confidence and skills needed to manage their family’s Internet environment.
WWW will bring you
up to date on current Internet concerns.
The issues addressed include:
• e-mail safety;
• personal websites;
• social networking;
• cyberbullying;
• sexting and many more issues.
WWW teaches you practical solutions to ensure that your children’s Internet experiences are fun, positive and safe. Real life stories, videos and interactive activities illustrate and reinforce …

Congratulations to the following Colorado State Reflections finalists!!!!!! All regions and councils are represented.
Names appear in alphabetical order by age group within each category. E-mail addresses are provided if available.
Invitations will be mailed Feb 9th for finalists to attend the Colorado PTA Reflections Ceremony on Feb 21 at the Arvada Center.
To all local chairs, please contact your students asap to let them know they have been selected. Tell your PTA Presidents,
teachers, principals, superintendents, school board members and shout it from the rooftops!!!!
Please send any name corrections you see …

McDonald’s Donates Over $ $43,500 to Schools for Various Programs;
$1,000 Bonus Goes to Each of Three Winning Schools – Pine Lane Elementary in Parker, Columbia Middle School in Aurora and William Roberts K-8 School in Denver
Principals, teachers, parents and administrators from 86 Colorado schools became McDonald’s employees for an evening to earn a minimum of 15% of sales for their local school programs. Local Colorado McDonald’s owners/operators donated over $43,500 to schools during the fourth annual Teachers Challenge event in October and November, which is an increase of over $15,000 …

Over the last 24 hours we have been asked about any effort(s) to help students, families and schools in Haiti. For now we would encourage our members to support relief agencies, like the Red Cross. Currently it is too early to develop or provide support other than those connected to search, rescue and recovery efforts.

The U.S. Census Bureau has created a Census in Schools program called 2010 Census: It’s About Us. The program will provide educators with resources to teach the nation’s students about the importance of the census so children can help deliver this message to their families. The program will engage America’s youth to help ensure every child and every household member is counted in 2010. Read more in the downloadable PDF

Since 1948 the Colorado PTA has managed a Scholarship Fund for graduating seniors who have attended PTA/PTSA affiliated high schools.  During this time we have been able to provide over 300 scholarships to deserving students who have met the criteria outlined here. And click below to download the scholarship form:
COPTA Scholarship

other scholarship opportunities

9Kids Who Care
Deadline: November 20, 2009
Xap/Bridges 2009 Video Contest
Deadline: December 4, 2009
Team CIC
Deadline: May 1, 2010

Colorado PTA and Panera Bread are calling all students, grades K-12 to nominate a teacher for the Annual “Rising Above Award” Honoring Outstanding Teachers.

Parents may opt out of giving information to schools.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 commonly known as FERPA or just the Privacy Act has changed. The No Child Left Behind in 2001 and the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2002 made changes to FERPA allowing military recruiters access to “directory” information of name, address and phone numbers of students, just as they allow it to higher education and employers. Recruiters are also allowed to come to high schools if representatives of higher education or …