Fundraise, Reuse, Recycle: Turning Old School Apparel into a Fundraiser

Is the Principal asking for your PTA to clear out your old spirit wear closet? Rather than adding those goods to the 11.3 million tons in EPA estimated textile waste thrown into dumps each year, you can use those items to boost your fundraising efforts. In a year where the pandemic has led to budget shortfalls, getting creative with fundraising becomes even more important and this episode will share some tips on how to turn old apparel items into fundraising dollars for your school.

About Our Guest: Nathan Rothstein, President, Project Repat

Nathan Rothstein along with Ross Lohr, started Project Repat in 2012, as an easy way for people to preserve their t-shirt memories and upcycle them into t-shirt quilts. Repat now is one of the top Shopify sites in the US, and has been featured on CNN, the Today Show, NPR, and MSNBC. After graduating from UMass-Amherst, Nathan joined Americorps in New Orleans to work on Hurricane Katrina recovery projects. He now lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife, and two year old daughter. 

This show is brought to you by K-12 Clothing. K-12 Clothing is a PTA-Dad created business focused on providing high-quality school apparel while increasing access to educational resources through fundraising in schools. Learn more at https://linktr.ee/k12clothing

How to Meaningfully Advance Equity in Your School’s Curriculum

Did you know that White and Asian students are 1.8 times more likely to enroll in AP and IB courses versus their Black and Latino peers regardless of grades and desire? Schools, teachers, principals, superintendents and PTOs/PTAs can help to address this disparity. Today’s episode shines a light on some of the inequities that exist in K-12 schooling, how they manifest, and how school districts, teachers, and PTA/PTO can address these inequities. 

About Our Guest: Dolores Caamano, Managing Director, Partnership Development, Equal Opportunity Schools

Dolores Caamano knows what it feels like to have to work six, and most times, 10 times harder just to be seen, just to be heard. As a Latina student who grew up in poverty in a single-parent household, nothing came easy. Not the nice clothes. Not the home-cooked meals. And definitely not the perfect family. She did well in school – in fact, school was the only place where she didn’t have to be the poor girl from an unstable family. At school, she could be the smart, aggressive, go-getter. That had a better ring to it, so she went with that.

Dolores thrived off her positive adult interactions with her teachers. Why? Well, because she didn’t get them at home. And even though her teachers thought the world of her, she never quite fit the mold of the ideal student. Maybe it was the smell of smoke on her clothes or the fact that her mom never showed up for a PTA meeting, but Dolores realized that there was only so much she could do alone. Fortunately for Dolores, all that changed her freshman year. Mrs. Padalecki (P for short) was her journalism teacher. P pushed, encouraged, and supported Dolores in ways no adult had ever done before. She didn’t lower the standards for Dolores because she knew life was hard at home. No, she did the opposite. She made sure Dolores was involved and had access to every opportunity that she knew would get her to where she wanted to be. By senior year, Dolores was a Bill Gates Millennium Scholar, which gave Dolores a full-ride scholarship to any university of her choice.

Dolores always had a passion for journalism, but once she graduated from The University of Missouri, she knew she wanted to be to students what Mrs. Padalecki was to her – their Trusted Adult. After 8 years as a high school teacher, Dolores joined Equal Opportunity Schools as a Partnership Director to ensure schools all over the country had the tools and support they needed to truly SEE students who so often go unseen – outside of GPA and test score – a full, 360-view of who they are and who they want to be. EOS was the only thing that could take Dolores out of the classroom. Now, as the Managing Director for Partnership Development, Dolores uses her lens as a low-income student of color, teacher, and Partnership Director to guide her conversations with prospective districts across the country.

This show is brought to you by K-12 Clothing. K-12 Clothing is a PTA-Dad created business focused on providing high-quality school apparel while increasing access to educational resources through fundraising in schools. Learn more at k12clothing.com

Tips on Using State and National PTA Resources

PTA, PTO, “National”, State PTAs - what’s the deal? This episode will demystify the multitude of PTs as well as give tips for the best way to leverage the resources. If you are a PTA leader, PTO leader or parent wondering how to navigate the PT system or how to leverage the resources, this episode is for you. 

About Our Guest: MaryBeth Weeks, New Mexico PTA President

MaryBeth Weeks is currently the New Mexico PTA President. Her term of office began on July 1, 2019 and goes through June 30, 2021. She served as a local PTA President and as a member of the NMPTA Board of Directors before assuming the office of New Mexico PTA’s President. MaryBeth has participated as a member of the New Mexico Public Education Dept Family Cabinet, the Rio Rancho CPAT and as a member of her elementary school’s SAC. She is the mom of seven children ranging in age from nineteen to six. Four of her children receive special education services through her children’s school district. MaryBeth is an advocate for equitable education for all children and believes that every student can succeed when education is provided in an appropriate learning environment.

This show is brought to you by K-12 Clothing. K-12 Clothing is a PTA-Dad created business focused on providing high-quality school apparel while increasing access to educational resources through fundraising in schools. Learn more at k12clothing.com

A Fun and Unique Way Schools Can Address Children’s Emotional Well Being

Schools have typically supported our students’ emotional needs in real time through counselors, educational programs, and direct teacher outreach. Over the last challenging 12 months, those needs have heightened and, especially in remote learning, addressing them has been a challenge for our educators. Today’s episode shares a unique way that schools can support children’s emotional needs as well as remedy Zoom fatigue! Make sure to listen all the way through for a special treat at the end of the episode.

About Our Guest: Jared Campbell, Singer/Songwriter

Jared Campbell is an award winning singer/songwriter from Upstate New York and has been traveling the country performing for thousands of people and hundreds of schools over the past decade. He’s shared the stage with Jason Mraz, The Zac Brown Band and even Journey!  His music has also been featured on MTV and he’s been acknowledged by Billboard Magazine as one of the top independent musicians in the northeast. 

His main focus is allowing his music to impact the lives of his listeners by experiencing joy, finding comfort through pain, and looking past obstacles towards living a better life.  His songs are said to be uplifting, thought provoking and emotionally heartfelt.  Jared mixes humor, stories of life on road and personal experience to relate to the audience set before him. Young people have walked away with life changing experiences such as finding their true passion in life, appreciating others around them and ceasing to bully those that are different, stopping their attempts at suicide and forming life lasting relationships with the friends and family surrounding them.

He pursued a career in music from an early age, which earned him spots on national stages with many top performers. He was thrust into the school system in 2006 when he saw the need for character education through the power of music.  He recognized that his songs spoke to the heart of the issues that many young people were facing including suicidal thoughts, self harm, bullying, troubles at home etc.  Since he began performing in schools he has literally crossed state lines from the northeast to California speaking for thousands of young people and has had the opportunity to be the keynote for many national and state conferences with groups like HOSA, 4H, FBLA, Prevention Links, School Counselor Associations, HOBY and the list goes on. You can find him at jaredcampbell.com.

This show is brought to you by K-12 Clothing. K-12 Clothing is a PTA-Dad created business focused on providing high-quality school apparel while increasing access to educational resources through fundraising in schools. Learn more at k12clothing.com

#PTALegCon: Summary of 2021 Legislative Conference

Are you a PTA member who missed the 2021 legislative conference? Are you a curious parent who wants to know what our PTAs are advocating for on behalf of our children? This episode will summarize this year's National PTA legislative conference, outline the top 5 legislative asks related to schools/education, and share how you can advocate for our students as a PTA or PTO leader or parent.