Individual Development

The mission of the Utah PTA Individual Development Commission is:

  1. To assist parents, teachers and PTA leaders in building future leaders, through art and music education, character development and programs that build self-esteem for all children.
  2. To take positive action to further the purpose of PTA in promoting the welfare of children and youth at home and at school.
  3.  To promote programs which benefit and strengthen arts and cultural education through parental involvement.

 

What is Your Job?

Oversee the Reflections program

  • Develop a committee
  • Determine how to promote it
  • Delegate assignments

 

Coordinate character development programs

  • Use the Utah PTA and National PTA resources
  • Improve the programs you already are doing
  • Put together a team

 

Create an Arts Grant Committee

  • Get the Art Grants forms and instructions from the Utah PTA Handbook

 

Work with your local PTA/PTSA board

  • Schedule events and get volunteers
  • Set a budget
  • Work on needs assessments for your school

 

Attend all board meetings

  • Report on needs and status of events

 

Create a procedure book. Include:

  • A copy of your local PTA Bylaws
  • A copy of your current membership sent to Utah PTA
  • A place for your budget and receipts
  • A contact section for:
    • Awards Recognition sources
    • Committee members
    • Board members

 

How to Get Started

  • Gather materials; for example, the Utah PTA President Handbook, Utah PTA Arts Education and Supplies Grant, Individual Development Handbook, the Reflections Handbook, the Arts Grant Awards Section from the Utah PTA President Handbook and records (procedure book) from the prior Individual Development Commissioner.
  • Become familiar with National PTA resources at pta.org
  • Attend leadership training at the annual Utah PTA Leadership Convention. Reflection e-learning courses are also valuable help with training. They can be found at pta.org
  • Organize your commission or committee. (You don’t need to work alone. Working with friends and neighbors makes your work easier and more fun.) Discuss with your commission members the information for this handbook and especially the steps on this page.
  • Develop a survey/needs assessment to determine the needs of your PTA membership, parents, teachers and students (this could be part of your school’s annual PTA Needs Assessment).
  • From the survey/needs assessment data, identify subjects that are high-ranking concerns to your PTA boards, parents, teachers, and students.
  • Choose two or three areas of focus for your Individual Development Commission.
  • Based on these areas of focus, clearly define reasonable goals and objectives you would like to establish for your commission.
  • Include school administrators in your planning (they can help you check for school policies or laws governing each area of focus on the local, district and state level).
  • Decide what programs and activities, in addition to Reflections, that will help meet your goals and objectives.
  • Develop an action plan for your programs and activities and make sure to delegate, delegate, and delegate!
  • Budget for these activities and submit your budget to the budget committee for inclusion in the overall budget.
  • Keep records of the programs and activities so that you can evaluate their effectiveness and move forward with the goals and objectives. Update or create the procedure book. These records will be valuable to the Individual Development Commissioner who follows you.
  • Express gratitude frequently to those who assist you!
Related Pages
The vision of Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Program (BTS Arts) is that All Utah children have access to quality learning in and through the arts as an essential part of a well-rounded education.
A list by year of PTAs and PTSA who have been awards an Art Grant from Utah PTA.
Links with helpful information for Individual Development Commissioners including Character Development, Ethics, Community of Caring, Kind Kids Blog, Reports, etc.
Information on Art Competitions: My BeUTAHful Community Student Art Competition, Poetry Out Loud, Utah State Senate Visual Arts Scholarship Competition
Suggestions of things your local PTA can do during the year.
By supporting arts education, you help foster young imaginations and facilitate children's success in school. Arts education also provides the critical thinking, communications, and creativity skills essential to 21st century success.
The social, emotional, and ethical development of young people is just as important as their academic development. It is, in fact, the precursor to academic achievement.
List of art and character resources at both state and national levels.
Americans need to disagree better. And by that we don’t mean that we need to be nicer to each other, although that’s helpful. We need to learn to disagree in a way that allows us to find solutions and solve problems instead of endlessly bickering.
The Utah PTA Pulse Podcast is an informative podcast to help parents and PTA leaders to make every child’s potential a reality.
Page Details
Navigation Pages: 
Tags: 
Individual Development