National PTA State Champions

National PTA created the State Champions program to promote and share their family and student programs with the states. Washington is one of only a handful of states selected for the champion program. Washington State PTA is proud to have two state champions in our midst – Betty Gibbins and Julee Seibel, who champion the PTA Connected and Healthy Minds initiatives, respectively. These programs can make a real difference in your PTA and community.  Betty and Julee are available to assist PTAs with implementing these programs.

The work of the state champions is funded by the proud national sponsors for National PTA’s PTA Connected & Healthy Minds initiatives.

PTA Connected

National PTA’s PTA Connected initiative connects families with tools, research, and support to help them navigate the digital world and have proactive, open, and ongoing conversations with their children to help keep them safe online and build good digital habits. National PTA has been a partner to parents on digital parenting topics for over 5 years, exploring in-depth the issues that are on the minds of today’s families, and connecting parents with tools, research, and support to make the best decisions for their children.

Program and grant opportunities offered through PTA Connected include: Be Internet Awesome, The Smart Talk, and Ready Tech Go!

National PTA has selected Betty Gibbins of Maple Valley to serve as a state champion for the association’s PTA Connected initiative. As a state champion, Betty will educate other PTA leaders about the program and empower families in the state with resources and tools to help them interact safely in the digital space. Parents and educators alike can make a huge impact on children’s digital safety and healthy navigation of technology, and Betty’s role is to support those efforts.

Interested in learning more about PTA Connected? Do you want to put on a PTA Connected program at your school? Reach out to Betty here.

Healthy Minds

Life is full of ups and downs and when our minds are healthy and strong, we are more resilient to these challenges. You can improve your overall well-being by making mental health a part of your family’s daily life. Small changes can make a big difference and National PTA’s Healthy Minds program makes it easy to put routine practices into action!  National PTA’s Healthy Minds program provides tools for families and PTA leaders to help raise awareness about the value of mental health, social and emotional learning, and resiliency while equipping families with the information they need to build healthy minds and healthy lifestyles.

Healthy Minds materials are available in Spanish, Tagalog, Somali, and Mandarin. Find the resources in the For Families and For PTA Leaders sections of the National PTA website.

National PTA has selected Julee Seibel of Bellevue to serve as a state champion for the association’s Healthy Minds program. As a state champion, Julee will educate other PTA leaders in Washington on National PTA’s Healthy Minds program, as well as empower families in the state with resources and tools to help make mental health a daily priority, build healthy minds, and healthy lifestyles.  Julee will also support other PTA leaders in Washington in conducting Healthy Minds programming for families in their communities.

Want to learn more about Healthy Minds? Do you want to incorporate Healthy Minds resources into your programming? Reach out to Julee here.