National PTA Awards Over $1M to PTAs to Support Digital Safety, Healthy Lifestyles, Arts and STEM Programs Nationwide

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- National PTA announced today the recipients of over $1M in funding to support PTAs across the country as they engage families, support student success, improve the health and safety of students and families and increase access to arts education through PTA programs. The funding is made possible by AT&T, TikTok, Google and YouTube, Discord, Norton (a part of the Gen family of brands), the New York Life Foundation, Walmart, The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Bayer Fund and Huntington Ingalls Industries, as well as the family of Mary Lou Anderson, as part of the association's PTA Connected, Healthy Lifestyles, STEM + Families and arts education initiatives.

"PTAs work hard every day to meet the critical needs of students, families, schools and communities and make every child's potential a reality," said Yvonne Johnson, president of National PTA. "We are grateful to our generous funders for supporting the efforts of PTAs and helping them host programs for students and families in the areas of digital safety, mental health, healthy lifestyles, STEM and the arts."

Following are the program funding recipients:

• 350 local PTAs have been selected to receive $1,500 each, supported by AT&T, to host an interactive PTA Connected: Ready, Tech, Go! program for parents and caregivers. Attendees will engage in meaningful peer-to-peer conversations about the various aspects of screen readiness; become familiar with tools and resources that help determine screen readiness; and gain new ideas to promote a healthy digital home. The Ready, Tech, Go! program helps families build knowledge and skills to use technology safely and responsibly right from the start. 
• 87 local PTAs have been selected to receive $3,000 each and 13 district/council/region/special education/community PTAs have been selected to receive $5,000 each, sponsored by TikTok, to bring high school families together to engage in open and interactive discussions about their online experiences and equip them with practical information and resources to enhance online safety through the PTA Connected: Create with Kindness program.  
• 55 local PTAs have been selected to receive $1,250 each, sponsored by Google and YouTube, to host an interactive PTA Connected: Be Internet Awesome program to engage parents and caregivers in meaningful and interactive peer-to-peer conversations about raising children in an online world and create a shared understanding of healthy online habits and what it means to Be Internet Smart, Alert, Strong, Kind and Brave. 
• 25 local PTAs have been selected to receive $2,000 each, sponsored by Discord, to host a PTA Connected: Build Up and Belong program to facilitate meaningful and interactive discussions between teens and their caregivers about community and belonging. The goal of the program is to help families explore ways to foster positive relationships, learn healthy online habits and build belonging in our digital world. 
• 20 local PTAs have been selected to receive $1,250 each, sponsored by Norton, to facilitate PTA Connected: The Smart Talk digital safety conversations in their school communities. The Smart Talk is an interactive online tool that walks families through a series of guided digital safety and online privacy questions, helping facilitate open, positive conversations that result in a personalized family technology agreement.   
  
  
• 50 local PTAs have been selected to receive $1,250 each, sponsored the New York Life Foundation, to build the knowledge and skills of parents and caregivers to support and strengthen their children's mental health and build their children's social-emotional skills and resilience as part of National PTA's Healthy Minds program. The goal of the program is to empower families to make mental health an everyday priority.  
• 40 local PTAs have been selected to receive $1,250 each, sponsored by Walmart, to host a PTA Wellness Fair to provide students the opportunity to engage with health topics beyond the traditional classroom environment and in a fun, flexible and interactive way. The PTA Wellness Fair program is part of National PTA's Healthy Lifestyles initiative, which includes the three pillars of healthy bodies, healthy minds and healthy earth. 
• 41 local PTAs have been selected to receive $1,500 each, sponsored by The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, to help educate students and families that youth e-cigarette use remains a serious public health problem, raise awareness about the dangers of flavored tobacco products, and promote tobacco use prevention, including hosting Take Down Tobacco National Day of Action anti-tobacco campaign activities. 
• 40 local PTAs have been selected to receive $1,250 each and two district/council/region PTAs have been selected to receive $5,000 each, sponsored by Bayer Fund, to engage families together in hands-on science activities as part of National PTA's STEM + Families Science Festivals program. The goal of the program is to make science more accessible and less intimidating to students and their families.  
• 40 local PTAs have been selected to receive $1,250 each, sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries, to host hands-on engineering design challenges that bring students and families together as part of National PTA's STEM + Families Propelling Our World program. The goal of the program is to help all kids experience and explore activities and careers in STEM, especially those in skilled trades. 
• Two local PTAs have been selected to receive the 2024-2025 Mary Lou Anderson Reflections Arts Enhancement Grant of $1,250 each. The funding is designed to help PTAs provide new pathways for at-risk and underserved students to participate in arts education experiences, including National PTA's Reflections program. 

In addition to the program funding recipients, the following 10 state PTAs have also been selected to receive $10,000 each to support capacity building to advance the association's mission, increase membership and strengthen leadership development and organization effectiveness.

• Idaho PTA
• Indiana PTA
• Maine PTA
• Michigan PTA
• Minnesota PTA
• Montana PTA
• North Carolina PTA
• North Dakota PTA
• South Dakota PTA
• Utah PTA

"Growth in membership, leadership development and organizational effectiveness are the foundation for our association's ability to achieve our mission to make every child's potential a reality," said Nathan R. Monell, CAE, National PTA executive director. "By investing in these areas, we can improve our impact and continue serving our communities for the long term. We are grateful to our funders for making this funding possible."

About National PTA
National PTA^® comprises millions of families, students, teachers, administrators and business and community leaders devoted to the educational success of children and the promotion of family engagement in schools. PTA is a registered 501(c) (3) nonprofit association that prides itself on being a powerful voice for all children, a relevant resource for families and communities and a strong advocate for public education. Membership in PTA is open to anyone who wants to be involved and make a difference for the education, health and welfare of children and youth. For more information, visit PTA.org.

SOURCE National PTA