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Beaming with Pride

I can’t think of a better place to volunteer than with PTA. As I reflect on this past school year, I am so incredibly proud of the accomplishments of all our volunteers.

Texas PTA is leading the nation in membership growth.

This year’s Rally Day saw record attendance with over 2,500 public education advocates including 1,000 students – a turnout envied by many associations and advocacy groups.

The robust response to legislative alerts and calls to action by our volunteers warms my heart. PTA does so much more than talk the talk – we walk the walk!

I beam with pride with each volunteer post on social media – showcasing the great work our Council and Local PTAs are doing. I was in awe of everything our campuses did to make Texas educators feel special and appreciated during Teacher Appreciation Week.

This past school year was indeed an incredible year for PTA in Texas. And we never stop, not even during the summer. We are on a destined path for success. I am so excited to see our volunteers at our state’s premier summer event – LAUNCH, this year at The Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. The Gaylord is one of my very favorite staycations in Texas and our attendees are in for a real treat!

Several years back when we unveiled the new branding campaign, back the future, we had great expectations and aspirations for growing PTA membership in Texas. Not only have we grown membership, but we have also heightened awareness about the PTA brand and the value we bring to Texas public schools. As we close out another school year, we do so with great hope and optimism for our future. And to those who say, “I’m just a volunteer,” let me say you are not just a volunteer – you are a role model, a leader, and someone a child is counting on to be successful.

Here’s to the 2019-2020 school year!

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An Original

To mark the centennial anniversary for a woman’s right to vote in Texas, KUT Austin spoke with “civic-minded Texas women who are changing our world today”, including Texas PTA President Sheri Doss. Listen to Sheri’s segment (“An Original”) online at the Texas Standard.

Audio transcript:

My name is Sheri Doss and I am the President of Texas PTA.

When I was going through high school and learning about the struggles that women and African Americans were going through just to even gain the right to vote, I made a promise to myself, that when I turn eighteen, I would definitely go vote. If for no other reason than just out of respect for the sacrifices they made [for me] to have this privilege. I really became passionate about voting and advocacy and civic engagement when I was elected to the State Board of Texas PTA.

I witnessed Texas PTA on one of our Rally Days. We were able to be successful in advocating to reduce the number of end of course exams for our students, and that’s when I realized that our voice matters. We can make a change if we do our research, advocate, and actually go to the polls and vote to have those decision makers in office that will make the decisions that we would like them to make.

PTA is really a network of millions of families, including parents, community members, and business members. Texas PTA is the second largest PTA with over half a million members. Those membership numbers matter in PTA because that is the power of our voice influencing any type of legislation.

It did start off as a mother’s club many many years ago in 1909 for Texas PTA. And we will be celebrating our 110th birthday, our anniversary, in October – October 19, 1909 is when we were initially established at the State Fair in Texas.

[Women] were being very influential with different laws around our kids, even before we had the right to vote. So when the suffrage came to a point where the women were really ready to do something about their own right to vote, naturally PTA was right there with them.

Now you see us in positions, like Congress which has the most women ever. And [Texas PTA] has a youth advocacy program coming up at UT in June and overwhelmingly the majority of the applicants were girls. So, I think it matters. We get the right to vote, we were able to influence and make a real difference in this country.

I happen to be the first African American President for Texas PTA and so those things are changing as well in terms of demographics for Texas PTA. So, everyone should be able to see a place for them to be a leader and have some influence on our children’s education and just their overall well-being.

REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF KUT AUSTIN.
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Who’s Missing?

Last summer at Launch in Dallas, I was privileged to hear Sheri Doss give her acceptance speech as the new Texas PTA President. There was one part of her speech that really resonated with me. She told us to ask ourselves: who is missing from our PTA?

It has been two years since the Wiley Middle School PTA in Leander ISD established the first Inclusion Committee in our district. And since then it has grown into more than a committee for special needs parents. It is a committee to ensure every child at Wiley has a voice. It has created a culture of inclusion within our school community, allowing parents and students to be heard. It is changing the attitude parents and teachers have toward PTA. And the committee has even inspired us to ask: who is missing?

This past year, I was elected to a second term as President and our goal as a PTA was to truly represent every student, parent, and teacher at Wiley Middle School. Our efforts began by making the Inclusion Chair an Executive Board position and working to make our events accessible to all.

Wiley is a Title 1 school with some families living paycheck to paycheck. So, $30 to participate in an event is not feasible for everyone. The entire Executive Board agreed to make 1 cent the minimum cost to participate in our Color Blast. Not only did we still meet our fundraising goal, but we made sure every child at Wiley could participate in this fun-filled event.

Wiley Middle School has a dedicated group of parents who attend Spanish speaking parent meetings held by our Vice Principal, Lara Hutchinson. With her guidance and support, and with the help of our book fair coordinator Sandy Perez, the PTA was able to transform the Wiley Middle School book fair into a truly welcoming night for all families. Sandy supplied Spanish titles and even stayed late to make sure every family had a chance to visit the book fair. And with the help of both Lara and Sandy, I was able to speak with a group of parents about the mission of PTA. After the meeting, we walked away with seven new members, but more importantly, we started a dialogue with parents who had felt a disconnect from our school community. We found who was missing from our PTA.

In May, I was appointed to the Leander ISD Council of PTAs as the Inclusion Chair. Little did I know that this single committee that formed at Wiley two years ago would quickly lead to a community-wide movement. The role of Council Inclusion Chair had not been filled since 2012 and I began with the expectation that it would take significant time to spread my message. I started with the goal of having five schools establish an Inclusion Committee on campus. I soon realized there was very little information available for PTAs to help guide this process. For a state as diverse as Texas, with 52% of students identifying as Hispanic, we needed to do more to support our PTAs with inclusion education. With the help of Texas PTA and National PTA, I was able to create an Inclusion Resource Guide for Leander ISD to help guide Local PTAs.

Despite the large size of Leander ISD, we now have over 25 schools in the district who have implemented an Inclusion Committee on campus or started the conversation. In addition, Leander ISD Council of PTAs has been assisting schools across Texas to include this committee in their PTA.

Even with the success of Inclusion Committees across our district and Leander ISD elementary schools rolling out the Texas PTA KIDS FIRST program, I was still met with some resistance to change from people within our community. I had to demonstrate to our PTAs, schools, and parents that we have one mission – to make sure our community and events are inclusive for all, to be the voice for every child.

Though frustrating, these conversations allowed me to dismantle the misconception of PTA shared by so many people watching from the sidelines – that only a few select moms “run the show”, focused on baked goods, class parties, and fundraisers. Sure, these activities are as important to PTA as marching to the Capitol, but people miss the true mission of PTA – to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children. I still get the occasional eye roll when I say P-T-A, but the public perception is slowly changing, and I will continue to have these conversations to propel the mission of PTA.

As I finish my last year as President of Wiley Middle School PTA and as Council Inclusion Chair, I am filled with joy and happiness and confidence in the future of inclusion across our district and the state – one PTA at a time.

Once a Coyote, always a Coyote!

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From SpaghettiOs to Spaghetti Squash

Growing up in a small town that couldn’t even support a fast food chain, our options were … limited. Both of my parents worked long hours and our meals had to be easy to heat and serve. I attribute our rush-rush-hurry-go family life to why I could count on one hand the number of vegetables I liked growing up. Don’t get me wrong, my parents tried! But this was also one of the first generations facing a tremendous amount of junk food. And our pantry clearly reflected this – stocked with cream-filled yellow sponge cake, blue bags of chips, and red cans of circle shaped pasta. Colorful, yes. Healthy, not so much.

As I approached my adolescent years, I began to excel in sports and even went on to run track in college. I was athletic, I was active, but I did not eat healthy. Fortunately, I ended up on a career path that led to working with registered dieticians to create wellness resources for schools. From my own personal journey, I want to provide hope and guidance for anyone wanting to go down a similar path. No gimmicks or programs. Just a long journey I’m happy I stuck with!

Realization

Have you heard the tip “shop the perimeter” of the grocery store? That’s because you will always find the fresher items like produce, meat, and milk products – the items with one ingredient – around the outskirts of the store. The inside aisles are reserved primarily for non-perishable or prepacked foods. You can find healthy items in the middle, but most of this food is riddled with ingredients we can’t pronounce and our body doesn’t really need. The first step is realizing what is healthy and what is not. And that can mean different things to different people. Just try to stick to as natural as possible and don’t get caught up in too many fads. It will make you dizzy trying to make sense of everything.

Education

I used to read just the front of the box and think, “That’s low-fat? It must be healthy!” But manufacturers are clever. They tend to put “hot-topic” wording on the front of the box to make their products seem healthier. So, what are those ingredients I can’t pronounce? Well, it’s complicated. The good news is there are lots of websites to help teach you what to look for. For example, ingredients are listed in descending order (the largest amounts are listed first). And did you know there are 61 names for sugar? Manufacturers can add multiple types of sugar to ensure it’s not listed as the first ingredient. I said it was complicated! Thankfully, there are new label guidelines that must be implemented between 2020-2021. Look for the number of calories in a larger font, updated daily values, and even the amount of added sugars.

Investment

Investing the time to meal plan can be a scary thought. But meal planning can be as simple as cooking a chicken on the weekend and using the leftovers throughout the week for different meals like chicken soup or chicken salad. I also keep a mental list of dinners my family likes best. Hmm, we haven’t had that in a while! There are sophisticated grocery shopping apps, but my old-school list includes meals for the upcoming week with extracurricular activities or time constraints listed next to them; ingredients listed by grocery store section; and any foods I’m running low on. Having any list is critical to meal planning. Find what works best for you!

Training

Expect to train your taste buds to like most new foods. You wouldn’t run a marathon the first time you lace up sneakers. And you might not love Brussels sprouts on the first try!

Baby Steps
Look for items low in sugar but without artificial sugars. And use more spices or herbs instead of salt to add flavor.

Try and Try Again
It can take the body 10-15 times to see, smell, and taste new food before you decide if you like it. That doesn’t mean eating something every day for two weeks to make yourself like it. But it does mean you should keep trying something even if you remember not liking it the last time.

“Money Bite”
In my house, we combine something we dislike with something we do.

Mix It Up
Combine one flavor bag of oatmeal with one regular bag, mix brown rice with white rice, or mix regular noodles with spaghetti squash.

Savor Your Favorites
Training your taste buds doesn’t mean you have to give up all the foods you once craved! If you want chocolate, eat a piece of chocolate. But take time to smell it, eat it slowly, and appreciate the flavor. You’ll feel less deprived and inclined to keep trying new things.

Model Good Behavior

How we eat in front of our children is just as important as eating as a family. It is a crucial time to set a good example. Remember, “Do as I say and not as I do” does not always apply with kids! As you start to explore new foods, you may find things you don’t like and that’s completely understandable. But consider the faces you make in front of your kids or the words you use to describe foods. We have a “no, thank you” bite in my house. Everyone must try one bite of something before they can say “no, thank you”.

Don’t Give Up

It’s easier said than done, but try a few of these tips to stay on course. You may never like kale and that’s okay. But if I can learn to like spaghetti squash, anyone can!

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The Beauty of Boredom

Summer! The word immediately brings back memories of snow cones, chlorine, backyard grills, and being so bored that I would volunteer to sit with my dad while he got the car inspected. We look forward to summer as soon as the holiday lights come down off the house. And that last week of school feels like an eternity. But then BOOM! There it is, summer. The first few weeks are a glorious fog of staying up late, sleeping in, and eating frozen burritos. Then what? You lay in bed at 10 am on a Wednesday. You stare at the ceiling fan in your messy room thinking “there is nothing to do” but dare not mention “there is nothing to do” to your mother out of fear she will suggest you pick up your messy room.

When my kids were younger, I made the choice to stay home with them during the summer months. Though staying home meant loads of time with my girls, it also meant foregoing a paycheck for three months. I so badly wanted their summers to be memorable, but there was no way we could afford a fancy vacation. Despite this snag, I was still determined to create a fun and memorable summer for them.

The summer when my girls were three and five years old, I made a giant checklist of things we could do. One week in and we were all exhausted and I was broke. My dream of a fun-filled summer was quickly fading because tiny things for tiny people add up to not so tiny amounts of money.

“Summer burnout happens and boredom creeps in, but it can be beautiful.”

Undeterred, I planned something to do nearly every day. At the beginning of June, there were playdates and trips to the museum. By the end of June, we were going to free movies. And by mid-July, we tapped into household errands for added excitement! (Until my kids turned ten and the car wash no longer served as a drive-thru water park.) Summer burnout happens and boredom creeps in, but it can be beautiful.

One of my favorite summertime mom memories was when my girls were five and seven. That was the summer the girls could go downstairs, prepare breakfast, and turn on cartoons without needing to wake me up. One morning shortly after this new phase of our lives began, I rolled out of bed 45 minutes after first hearing the pitter patter of little feet. When I got downstairs, the television had already shut off (automatically after 30 minutes) and the girls were side by side drawing in a sea of post-it notes all over the living room floor. They were drawing tiny food and meticulously cutting them out like paper dolls. There was even a paper fridge … adhered to the floor with packing tape. For hours they worked on a replica of our fridge and all its contents. Boredom had led to this unguided, unplanned creative play. Like so many times before, I learned a lesson from the girls. Boredom can be beautiful … and packing tape is near impossible to remove from laminate flooring.

My girls are older now and paper fridges have given way to more complex arts and crafts. The television still shuts off after 30 minutes, maybe an hour if I’m feeling generous. And of course, we still go to museums and the movies and there’s always someone sleeping over who doesn’t live here. I just don’t feel the need to schedule fun like I used to. I now just take a deep breath and let summer wash over us like a wave, pushing us in the direction we need to be. So infrequently in life do we give ourselves permission to move slowly.

Summer is our slow season.

Part of me used to wish that their childhood was filled with exotic travel and adventure. I so badly wanted their summers to be memorable. I sometimes felt that our lack of fancy vacations was a failure on my part. Maybe a big trip would have been financially possible if I didn’t choose to stay at home in the summer.

A few years ago, I was cleaning the living room for my oldest daughter’s “End of Elementary School Party”. We were preparing for a lot of kids so I moved the couch. As I was sweeping, I noticed tiny bits of tape still stuck to the floor. We may have not made it to Disney World, or Europe, or taken a cruise to a faraway island, but we had a refrigerator on our living room floor. We made movies and turned a shed into a tiny house. We dressed up in formal attire for no reason and went to the grocery store. We had many, many parties. We went on a queso tour. We had lemonade stands. We were together. And that memory will last even longer than packing tape on an old laminate floor.

VECTOR GRAPHICS BY VECTEEZY.COM.