<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr" id="gmail-m_-4071731272483375050ydpc99e9853docs-internal-guid-f062e93e-7fff-572c-017b-70e70f3e780b" style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font color="#ff0000">Please do not respond to this message. If you have any questions please contact </font><a href="mailto:ptsaberkeleyhigh@gmail.com" target="_blank" style=""><font color="#0000ff">ptsaberkeleyhigh@gmail.com</font></a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Restructuring the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA)</span></div><br style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The needs of BHS students and staff have never been greater than they are this year. To ensure that BHS’s needs are understood and eventually addressed, parent and guardian involvement is essential. To better achieve this, </span><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">the PTSA is restructuring how it promotes advocacy and action by adopting a working group model.</span><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,255);background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></p><br style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">As of 2016 a small number of parents have worked to revive the PTSA with the goal of generating advocacy and resources for BHS students, families, and staff. There have been successes: bringing food trucks to campus on pre-pandemic Back to School nights, successfully lobbying to keep Counselor and Safety Officer staff positions from being cut from BUSD’s budget, and establishing an annual student Black History Month Art contest. Many PTSA meetings have been well attended, but none have led to ongoing parent/guardian participation, in part because there have not been clear avenues for parents to participate. Unlike K-8 PTAs, the PTSA does not fundraise for programs (this is the realm of the BHS Development Group) or recruit volunteers to assist in on-campus roles (BHS’s staff includes a volunteer coordinator). </span></p><br style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The PTSA is not alone in addressing the challenge of sustaining active parent/guardian engagement at Berkeley High. Last year long standing groups BOLD, Berkeley High Families Owning Learning Differences, and PCAD, Parents of Children of African Descent, both dissolved for lack of parents willing to carry the mantle forward. The PTSA could suffer a similar fate; in 2014 and 2015 one parent managed to preserve the PTSA’s charter, but there were no meetings or sponsored activities. </span></p><br style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Last semester the PTSA had meetings on sexual harassment and harm, advocacy for 504 students, and emotional support resources for BHS students. All of these meetings were well attended but fell short of coalescing advocacy and action. Lessons learned have led to the PTSA’s executive team to establish working groups in each these areas to make it easier for motivated parents to get involved. Announcements will be forthcoming soon.</span></p><br style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The PTSA will continue to have meetings to inform and hear from the BHS community, but working groups will become its means to address specific areas of need. Forming a working group requires the PTSA’s executive team’s approval and a leader who is committed to solicit participation, run the group, and ensure ongoing adherence to the national PTA’s institutional values* in the areas of collaboration, commitment, diversity, respect, and accountability. Working groups can go forward with as few as 2 participants for, as the PTSA’s past 5+ years have demonstrated, a few parents <span style="background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline">working through the PTSA </span>can accomplish a lot at BHS given the PTSA’s established position, infrastructure, and resources to utilize. We have built it and we invite you to come.  </span></div><br style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">2021-22 PTSA Executive Team</span></p><br style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Sandra Loving, Mimi Pulich, Bridgett Bernhardt, Steve Levine, Tatiana Guerreiro Ramos, Monique Buffer, and BHS Student Leaders Anaya Loving, Hanim Nuru, and Marco Levine </span></p><br style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><p dir="ltr" style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">* </span><a href="https://www.pta.org/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/images/visionmissionvalues2016.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line:none;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor"><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;text-decoration-line:underline;text-decoration-style:solid;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://www.pta.org/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/images/visionmissionvalues2016.pdf</span></a></p><br style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div style="color:rgb(80,0,80);line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><div style="color:rgb(70,103,157);font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;margin:0px"><span style="font-size:11px">Nicole Chee, Jenny Fosket, Chaghig Walker, and Charlotte Le Liboux are the parent-volunteer facilitators of the E-tree; please direct any questions about the E-tree to them at <a href="mailto:bhs-owner@lmi.net" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(12,97,171)">bhs-owner@lmi.net</span></a>.</span></div><p style="font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;margin:0px;color:rgb(62,0,63)"><span style="font-size:11px"> </span></p><div style="font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;margin:0px;color:rgb(12,97,171)"><span style="font-size:11px"><a href="http://lists.lmi.net/pipermail/bhs/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">BHS E-tree archives<span style="color:rgb(12,97,171)"></span></a></span></div><div style="font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;margin:0px;color:rgb(12,97,171)"><span style="font-size:11px"><a href="http://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">BHS website<span style="color:rgb(12,97,171)"></span></a></span></div><div style="font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;margin:0px;color:rgb(12,97,171)"><span style="font-size:11px"><a href="https://www.berkeleyschools.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Calendar-21-22-v71221.pdf" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">BUSD 2021-2022 Calendar<span style="color:rgb(12,97,171)"></span></a></span></div><div style="font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;margin:0px;color:rgb(12,97,171)"><span style="font-size:11px"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XoKaZIol254f7rDheAHhgr1FEJWfEOS2e4nU7_4LcqM/edit" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">BUSD Non-Discrimination Statement / la Política de No Discriminación<span style="color:rgb(12,97,171)"></span></a></span></div><p style="font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;margin:0px;color:rgb(62,0,63)"><span style="font-size:11px"> </span></p><div style="color:rgb(70,103,157);font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;margin:0px"><span style="font-size:11px">To post a message, send to: <a href="mailto:bhs@lmi.net" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(12,97,171)">bhs@lmi.net</span></a>.</span></div><p style="font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;margin:0px;color:rgb(62,0,63)"><span style="font-size:11px"> </span></p><div style="color:rgb(70,103,157);font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;margin:0px"><span style="font-size:11px">To <span style="color:rgb(251,0,7)">unsubscribe</span> from the E-tree, send an email to <a href="mailto:bhs-request@lmi.net" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(12,97,171)">bhs-request@lmi.net</span></a> with one word only in the subject line: unsubscribe.  The request must be sent from the email address that is subscribed to the list. If that does not work, visit the URL at the bottom of each message, or put your email address at the end of this URL:  <a href="http://lists.lmi.net/mailman/options/bhs/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(12,97,171)">http://lists.lmi.net/mailman/options/bhs/</span></a>, or contact the E-tree moderators at <a href="mailto:bhs-owner@lmi.net" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(12,97,171)">bhs-owner@lmi.net.</span></a></span></div><p style="font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;margin:0px;color:rgb(62,0,63)"><span style="font-size:11px"> </span></p><div style="color:rgb(70,103,157);font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;margin:0px"><span style="font-size:11px">To <span>subscribe</span> to the E-tree, send an email to <a href="mailto:bhs-request@lmi.net" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(12,97,171)">bhs-request@lmi.net</span></a> with one word only in the subject line: subscribe</span></div><div><span style="font-size:11px"><br></span></div></div></div></div></div>