PTA Parent, Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Add Back-to-School Central to Your Summer To-Do List

Website addresses parents' needs for next schoolyear

PTA's newest resource Back-to-School Central, gives parents advice for the back-to-school season including ways parents can help teachers and ways to get kids excited about school. The site will be updated throughout the summer so check back frequently as the summer draws to a close.

PTA Calls You to Service

New Toolkit Complements President Obama's United We Serve Initiative

PTA's 100-plus years of mobilizing volunteer forces for the betterment of children, schools, and communities make it a perfect ally in President Barack Obama's United We Serve Initiative. PTA produced the PTA Call to Service Toolkit for creating successful and thoughtful service projects. It can be used as a complete package, or can be used to provide guidance on specific aspects of a project. Find out what United We Serve is all about and let PTA assist you by downloading the toolkit at PTA.org/calltoservice.

PTA Parent News

A new survey from National PTA and the National Center for Fathering shows that more fathers are involved in their child's education than there were 10 years ago, including double digit gains in the number of fathers taking their children to school, visiting classrooms, and attending school events.

PTA Resources

Studies show that students performed better when both parents are involved. The ABCs of Male Involvement can help get more fathers and male role models involved in schools. For more resources, check out the organizations in PTA MORE.

PTA Briefs

Tune in to PTA Radio

The latest PTA Radio broadcast features National PTA President Jan Harp Domene delivering a message about President Obama's "United We Serve" Initiative and a feature on the PTA Reflections Program (with winner announcements).

Share Your PTA Success Stories — Only 1 Week Left!

Send Us Your Stories and Get a $25 Gift Card!
The August/September edition of Our Children, PTA's national magazine, will become a Back-to-PTA Handbook filled with information on all of the programs, events, and resources PTA offers to parents. We want you to share how these PTA programs and resources affected you, your children, your school, or your community!

More information is available at PTA.org/share.

Last Chance to Enter Picture PTA Contest

Earn a chance to win a $50 gift card!
Picture PTA offers all adults a chance to show off activities and events in their homes, schools, and communities. The contest runs through June 30. Details are available at PTA.org/PicturePTA. Enter for your chance to win a $50 gift card and national acknowledgment online and in PTA publications.

Member Benefits Provider Message

Introducing Special Group Insurance Rates for PTA Members!

MetLife Auto & Home^® has worked with PTA to bring you auto¹ and home insurance at special discount prices.

PTA Members will receive:

Up to 10% savings for PTA members.
Identity Protection Services for your insured family members.²
Guaranteed Auto Repairs after an accident for as long as you own your vehicle.^{3, 4}
Guaranteed Home Repairs^{4, 5}

Have a Teen Driver?

15% savings with our Good Student Discount
Teaching your child to drive? Download your FREE booklet

Learn more about benefits available to PTA members or get your free no-obligation quote by calling 1-800-888-2308 (mention promotion code BMG). You can also get your auto quote online.

1: NC auto policies are issued with state-mandated industry-wide forms coverages. 2: Not available in NC, nor to NH auto customers. Not available with all policy forms. 3: Repairs guaranteed when a repair shop in our nationwide (xMA) Guaranteed Repair Program network is chosen. In MA, guarantee provided as part of Platinum Auto Service. 4: Only valid for losses covered on your insurance policy. 5: Repairs guaranteed for two years when using our Guaranteed Repair Contractor Program.

MetLife Auto & Home is a brand of Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company and its affiliates. See a list of affiliates.

100 Ways to Help Your Child and School Succeed

There are many ways that you can help your child succeed! A few small activities each week will pay huge dividends over the course of the year. Here are a few that you can do this week:

Request that information be available in all languages spoken by school families. — Solicite que la información esté disponible en todos los idiomas que hablan las familias de los niños que asisten a la escuela.
Notify teachers of any significant changes that have taken place in a child's life (such as death of a pet, family move, loss of income, family member's illness, or divorce). — Informe a los docentes acerca de cualquier cambio importante que haya ocurrido en la vida de su hijo (como la muerte de una mascota, una mudanza familiar, la pérdida de algún ingreso, la enfermedad de algún miembro de la familia, o un divorcio).

In the News