Florida PTA Convention

I went to the Florida PTA Convention November 11-13. I got to network with other PTA members in my county as well as some from other parts of the state. I went to two workshops that had to do with Membership. They were very informative and I hope to be able to increase our local unit's membership using the ideas that I learned at convention. During the 3 days we had 4 meetings to debate and vote on 2 platforms. One is our position on Taser Guns/Stun Devices used by law enforcement. The second was our position on Youth Gambling. There was very much debate on both issues but we finally came to a decision based on a majority vote.

PTA now supports the use of Taser Guns/Stun Devices in lew of a gun in a time that warrants deadly force and that there be more research on the effects of a taser on the human body and also that there be guidelines and training for the officers in the use of the taser gun/stun device. One mother stated that if her child was in trouble with the law and needed to be "taken down", she would rather take her chances with her child being stunned with a stun gun than the other option of shoot to kill with a gun.

As soon as they put it out, I will get the exact wording of the platforms and post them.

I really enjoyed the luncheon and the scholarship dinner during the weekend. Scholarship Dinner included a live auction of gift baskets and all proceeds go to scholarships for graduating seniors. Each county also preformed a skit for our entertainment. My county had our men dress up as cheerleaders and dance to that song Mickey. It was really funny. But unexpectedly, all these women started putting money in their outfits. And requested an encore. The Marines where having a birthday ball next door, and when the guys came back for the encore, they brought a couple of marines with them. Then women started stuffing money in the Marine's uniforms as well! It was really funny. And they all were told what it was for. The wives of the Marines where having a good time and taking lots of pictures. I have some pictures that I will post later. The next day we were told that our county raised over 800 dollars during that skit. And it wasnt even planned to raise money. It just turned into a big joke with a bunch of dollar bills. Overall, we raised $7352.00 that night. All of that money is for scholarships. And considering we had between 200 and 300 people there that night, that is awesome!

Well I've got to go, I'll write more about it all later and add some pictures too!