Region 3

WSPTA's Region 3 covers Clark, Cowlitz, Skamania and Wahkiakum Counties. It also includes the Lyle, Trout Lake and White Salmon School Districts of Klickitat County.

Director's Message

Well, it's that time of year again. It's time for our nominating committees to be working on finding next years leaders, for our membership to elect our new leaders and for transitions to begin. How can we make a seamless transition from one year to another? Is it possible to have a positive experience as an outgoing or incoming PTA officer? The answer is Yes.

Yes it is possible!

To begin this process it is important to get off on the right foot. Following the proper procedure to elect your nominating committee helps put everyone on the right track. Nominating committee members should be elected at a general meeting. This is a good idea to do in December or January at the latest, in order to give the nominating committee enough time to watch your board and see who would be the best person for the specific offices, and then to get their work done.

You can find the proper procedures in your leadership books you received at the training in August. Remember that if the procedures for electing your nominating committee and officers are not followed exactly, your election may at any time during the year be contested. There is no real grey areas in this process. To protect your board and the volunteers that give of their time for the nominating committee, please read the nominating committee booklet and become familiar with the procedures. After the nominating committee is elected give the committee the nominating committee book and a binder with sample letters from previous years.

As soon as the officers are elected, it would be a great idea to allow the incoming officers to “shadow” the outgoing officers (if this is the case, that is). For example allowing the incoming treasurer to meet with the current treasurer while making the monthly financial reports a few times prior to the end of the year will give the new treasurer the confidence and knowledge to do the job when the new year begins. The same can be done with the other officers. Allowing the incoming president the time to see what you do while preparing for a meeting helps ease the anxiety the incoming president might feel. Of course, the incoming officers should respect the outgoing officers and not try to take over too soon, but observe and ask questions in a positive thoughtful manner. See “Transitions” on page 5 for more information!

One of the most important things we can do for our new officers is training. Make sure that you have a line item in your budget for convention and the region fall training. Convention is not only a time for your leadership to bond, is the BEST training available. As a nonprofit it is our duty to make sure our leaders are trained. If your PTA cannot afford to pay for convention you can volunteer at convention and have part of the cost offset. If it’s the hotel room, you can split the cost between 4 of you and it will keep the cost down. Make sure you call for a room reservation as soon as you receive the convention booklet, even if you don’t know for sure you are going, you can cancel the reservation or let someone else take it who is going.

As always, if you have questions or good news to share, give your Region 3 Team a call!

Jeanette Muck
Region 3 Director
Washington State PTA

Click here for more information on Convention

Region Meetings

Region Newsletters
Spring 2008
Summer 2007
November 2004
Fall 2004
December 2002
October/November 2002

Jeanette Muck
Region 3 Director
    ptareg3@wastatepta.org

Region 3
 Service Delivery Team

Region Legislation Chair
Jon T. Haugen
rlc3@Wastatepta.org
360-907-8340

Service Specialist
(Programs)
Rachelle Beatty
360-571-9426
fourwomen1dude@comcas.net

Service Specialist (Newsletter)
Christine Gillingham
360-546-5177
christinegillingham@hotmail.com

Service Specialist
(Money Matters)
Debra Arbuckle
360-326-3769
dlarb@comcast.net

Service Specialist
(Membership)
Victoria Thomas
(360) 887-2294
usandkids@comcast.net

Council Representatives
Stephanie Dukart
Vancouver PTA Council 3.7
360-735-8988
mskbdukart@comcast.net