KAC general membership meetings are the fourth Monday of each month at 7:00 pm in the Kent School District Administration Building board room at 12033 SE 256th Street. At our meetings, we provide information, networking and training in a variety of formats for officers of local unit PTA/PTSAs. Our first meeting for the 2014-15 year will be on August 25th. There are no general membership meetings in December, June and July.

Clothing Bank Summer Work Parties
The KAC PTA Clothing Bank will be holding summer work parties during July and August on the following Thursday mornings from 10:00 a.m. to noon: July 17, July 31, August 7 and August 14. More dates will be scheduled in August. We continue to take donations through the summer and high need items include tennis/gym shoes in GOOD conditions and pants in smaller sizes, although all clean, gently used clothing items for youth are greatly appreciated. Questions — e-mail clothingbank@kacpta.org or check the Clothing Bank page.

• Region 9 Fall Training will be held on Saturday, September 13 at Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way. More information on this will be coming soon.

• PTA & the Law is tentatively scheduled for October 9. More information will be coming soon.

PTA and the Law and Region Conference Schedule Announced(August 1, 2014) - PTA offers vital training for your entire board through region conferences and PTA and the Law workshops. PTA and the Law deals with state & federal rules and regulations for running a charitable, tax-exempt nonprofit corporation in Washington State and will explain how these rules can and do affect your PTA.Click here for upcoming dates for region conferences and PTA and the Law workshops.

WSPTA Joins up With Washington Traffic Safety Commission to Keep Kids Safe on the Road - Many careful parents think that they’ve done their job when they get their child to simply buckle his seat belt, but until a child is 4’9” tall, the seat belt doesn’t fit correctly and a child could be ejected from the vehicle in a collision or suffer severe internal injuries or a broken spine. This short (3 minute) video, a joint project with the PTA and the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, will provide you with the knowledge to make the best choices for your children. Click here to watch video. For more information, go towww.nhtsa.gov or www.wtsc.wa.gov 

PTA Leaders Share Common Core Advocacy Strategy

The National PTA recently released a Common Core video series to educate parents on the standards and empower them to support the transition at school and home. The series features 14 videos—developed in partnership with the Hunt Institute—to dispel the myths and provide accurate information about Common Core. One video "PTA Reflections on Advocacy" includes a discussion about the importance of having an advocacy strategy when implementing Common Core. The videos also provide various perspectives from educators, administrators, PTA leaders and others on the positive changes they've seen with the standards. Watch the series at PTA.org/CCSSVideos. For more info, visit their Common Core website.

Our Children Magazine, Back to School Issue

Read the latest issue of the National PTA's Our Children Magazine! As another school year approaches, we are getting back to PTA. Find out some creative ways to help your PTA get off to a great start and some tips to get your membership numbers rising to the top. The August/September issue also features what a few of the top education reformers and teachers think about the Common Core State Standards.

Also in this issue:

• 2014 National PTA Convention recap

• Maximizing teachable moments at home

• Celebrating 40 years of juvenile justice

• Building family-school partnerships