Lake Washington PTSA Council 2.8 News

REGISTER FOR THE ZOOM LINK

As part of LWPTSA Council’s continued commitment to building welcoming, inclusive school communities, we invite you to join a timely and thoughtful learning session: “Advancing Inclusion in Evolving Times,” with guest speaker Ilsa Govan.

Pre-Reading:

• Small Works by Sarah Lazarovic
• Advancing Racial Equality: Legal Guidance for Advocates from the Othering & Belonging Institute (UC Berkeley)

In today’s rapidly shifting social landscape, families, educators and community members are called to reflect on how we stay rooted in our shared values—ensuring all students and families feel respected, supported and connected.

This session is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB), and explore how we can nurture inclusive environments in ways that are thoughtful, informed and responsive to the moment.

🌟 What to Expect:

Guest speaker Ilsa Govan will guide us through:

• A practical overview of relevant civil rights considerations and current guidance
• Approaches to sustaining inclusive practices and healthy community dialogue
• Tools for responding to uncertainty with clarity and collaboration
• Insights on grounding equity work in care, trust and shared purpose

At the heart of this conversation is a simple belief: Every student deserves to feel safe, seen and valued.

We hope you’ll join us for this meaningful opportunity to reflect, connect, and grow together.

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Council’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee meets one Wednesday each month of the school year (with the exception of September and June) at 11:30 am. During the 2024-2025 year, meetings will be held online via Zoom. DEI chairs and other interested leaders from PTAs and PTSAs in the Lake Washington School District are invited to these monthly meetings to discuss DEI issues and advocacy initiatives that impact our students and families.

At our final Lunch & Learn of the year, join us as we welcome Jon Kollman, LWSD Director of Transportation Services, who will discuss district transportation. Are you concerned about school bus route cancellations and driver shortages? Safety and bullying on the bus? Accessibility? Health and sustainability? Bring your questions, grab your lunch, log on, and learn with us!

Register for the Zoom link: https://bit.ly/May25-LL

LWPTSA Council’s Lunch & Learn series consists of short presentations and Q&A on topics of interest to our school community, from noon – 1 pm on select Thursdays online via Zoom. Grab your lunch, log on, and learn with us! Event links will be shared on our website calendar, social media and newsletters close to the event dates. Topics and featured speakers are subject to change and will be updated as they are finalized.

Please join us for our virtual roundtable to discuss the important topic of safety at school. We will discuss different types of drills in LWSD, the importance of multi-option responses to human-made threats, an overview of emergency preparedness supplies, and how to respond to issues after hours or during PTSA-sponsored activities.

This roundtable will be an open discussion led by Dr. Brooke Gialopsos, LWPTSA Council E-Prep Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, Criminology and Forensics at Seattle University. In addition, Dr. Brooke is a certified ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) instructor.

Register for the Zoom link here: https://bit.ly/LWPTSA-safety

This WSPTA-approved training session will help all PTA/PTSA board members understand the basic responsibilities of their positions—and everyone else’s! We will review the basic elected PTA positions (president, secretary & treasurer), and we’ll also cover topics such as advocacy, fiduciary responsibility, membership and outreach. This training is ideal for anyone new to a local PTA board, as well as any board officer who could benefit from a comprehensive overview of the board’s responsibilities in the PTA realm.

This official training will be led by LWPTSA Council, and will count toward your 2025-2026 training requirement.

REGISTER FOR THIS ZOOM TRAINING