Dear Thurgood Marshall Families,

Friends of Thurgood Marshall Elementary would like to welcome new and returning families to our school community. While the start of the 2020-21 school year is very different than normal, we know collaboration between parents/guardians, teachers, and school administration will continue to be incredibly important to make this a great year. We would like to make you aware of a few updates as well as a few upcoming virtual events.

What is “Friends of Thurgood Marshall Elementary”?

• During the 2019-20 school year, Thurgood Marshall PTA Board members proposed a transition from a formal Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to a type of Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) known as a site council. This change was approved by PTA members at our June 9 meeting. Our PTO site council is named Friends of Thurgood Marshall Elementary (FTME) and operates under our former non-profit 501c3.
• Changes to the structure of our organization include the following:
  • Instead of registering members and collecting dues, our site council automatically includes every parent, guardian, teacher/staff member and administrator at our school.
  • Membership is free. This is one important step towards our goal of equity and inclusivity, and we hope you’ll be inspired to participate.
  • FTME will continue to do the things families have told us they value most: coordinating bulk purchase of school supplies, coordinating our after-school enrichment program and scholarships, holding community-building events, providing classroom grants for every teacher, and more.
• We are working on updating our website, email addresses and accounts to reflect our name change. We ask for patience during this transition.
• We will be working to draft updated bylaws for our 501c3 and a charter for the site council. We are looking for community input and help- if you would like to learn more or help out, please let us know!

Upcoming events (Zoom links have been sent by Katie May- check your email for these!)

Please feel free to attend either session (or both!) that makes the most sense for your family!

• Thursday, September 3rd at 6:30 pm
• Tuesday, September 8th at 6:30 pm, especially families with students in Kindergarten

Actions to take:

• Pay for remote learning/classroom supplies (pay if/what your can)! (Pay by credit card/EFT at tmlink.orghttps://tmlink.org/school-supplies/)
• Read about our Annual Giving Fund and consider donating! https://tmlink.org/fundraising/annual-giving-fund/
• Sign up to receive our occasional emails. (if you have not already) https://tmlink.org/newsandevents/pta-e-list-sign-up-updates/
• Consider Volunteering! We have many different opportunities for getting involved and volunteering, many of which take less than 1 hour per week and can be done via email or phone. Please email pta@tmlink.org if you’d like to learn more.
• Keep checking our website, tmlink.org, for the latest event information, to subscribe to an electronic calendar for all school events, and to learn about our organization. events, and to learn about our organization.

Feel free to contact any of us with your questions. We look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Best regards,

Friends of Thurgood Marshall Elementary Board

Chantel Hazlewood, President – chazlewo@gmail.com or PTA@tmlink.org
Aaron Schneider, Vice President – durstann@yahoo.com
Kristi Hendricksen,  Secretary – khendrickson33@yahoo.com
Todd Roehl, Co-Treasurer – treasurer@tmlink.org
Sandra Millard Fundraising Co-Chair – giving@tmlink.org
Melissa Carper, Fundraising Co-Chair – giving@tmlink.org
Donna Dugan, PEACE Academy Teacher Liaison – ddugan@seattleschools.org
Sarah Gese, Teacher Liaison – sdgese@seattleschools.org

The 2020-21 school year is certain to be an interesting time, when collaboration between parents/guardians, teachers, and school administration will continue to be incredibly important!  Our PTA sees the start of the new school year as an opportunity to make some changes in our own structure to be more representative of our whole school community.  We also recognize the need to plan for limited funding, but increased needs.

Please join our meeting on June 9 at 6:30 pm to participate in a discussion about an important change to our structure (see below), our 2020-21 officers, and 2020-21 budget.  The Zoom link was shared in a school-wide email, please contact pta@tmlink.org if you did not receive it.

Background on proposed changes to our structure:

• We are looking into transitioning from a formal Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to a type of Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) known as a site council.  Instead of registering members and collecting dues, our site council would automatically include every parent, guardian, teacher/staff member and administrator at our school.  And it would be free.  This is one important step towards our goal of equity and inclusivity, and we hope you’ll be inspired to participate.
• With a site council model, our non-profit 501c3 would continue under a new name, “Friends of Thurgood Marshall Elementary.”  It would continue to do many of the things families have told us they value most: coordinating bulk purchase of school supplies, coordinating our after-school enrichment program and scholarships, holding community-building events, providing classroom grants for every teacher, and more.
• We are working to draft updated bylaws for our 501c3 and a charter for the site council.  If you would like to learn more or help out, please let us know!  This work will continue over the summer.
• We have many different opportunities for getting involved and volunteering, many of which take less than 1 hour per week and can be done via email or phone.  Please email pta@tmlink.org if you’d like to learn more, and please also join us for the June 9 meeting.

Information from Washington Middle School regarding music auditions for students entering 6th grade in fall 2020.

Welcome to the music program at Washington Middle School! We’re all very excited to welcome our incoming 6^th grade class and we look forward to working with you for the next 3 years! Below, you’ll find information for auditions in the WMS music program. You are not required to audition if you are planning to enroll in Debut Choir, Beginning Band, or Beginning Orchestra since these classes are for “first-timers” or kids that want a fresh start on their instrument. If you will be enrolling in one of those 3 classes, you don’t have to read any further and we look forward to seeing you next year! If you would like to audition for a more challenging ensemble, please follow this link for details and links to the audition music for each instrument.

Questions? You can email Mr. Sundt (Band) at mjsundt@seattleschools.org or Mr. Kolk (Orchestra) at brkolk@seattleschools.org

Dear Thurgood Marshall Families,

As you may know, two of our staff members recently lost a relative, Cora Jean Howard, to COVID-19.  Shari Howard-Powell lost her beloved mother and Deron Bryant lost his beloved grandmother.  To honor the matriarch of their family, Cora Jean Howard, a retired educator from Emerson Elementary, the family has created “The Howard Family Memorial Fund” through The Alliance for Education.  Please consider donating to this fund to honor the memory of Cora Jean Howard.

You can donate directly via The Alliance for Education by clicking on this link.  When donating please scroll down and select “The Howard Family Memorial Fund.”

The Seattle Times published an article on Cora Jean Howard’s life, and if you would like to leave a memory or condolence for the family please visit the Dignity Memorial page.

Sincerely,

Donna Dugan on behalf of the Thurgood Marshall Social Committee