State PTA leader enjoys advocating for children

Matt Bower
Posted 2/24/15

Whether serving on the Long Term Facilities Planning Committee and the Safety and Security Committee for Warwick Public Schools (WPS) or participating in various Parent Teacher Association (PTA) …

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State PTA leader enjoys advocating for children

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Whether serving on the Long Term Facilities Planning Committee and the Safety and Security Committee for Warwick Public Schools (WPS) or participating in various Parent Teacher Association (PTA) organizations, Amie Galipeau understands the value of education and wants to ensure students receive the best available. She has also spent many years volunteering with the VOWS [Volunteers of Warwick Schools] organization.

With two boys enrolled in WPS, a seventh-grader at Winman Junior High School and a ninth-grader at Toll Gate High School, Galipeau is well aware of the challenges students and school departments face and has been doing her part as president of the Rhode Island PTA to assist local PTAs throughout the state to meet those challenges.

“There are different levels of PTAs: local, council, state and national. We all advocate for the children,” she said during a phone interview on Friday. “The state PTA is here to help in guiding local PTAs through trainings and workshops to help them become leaders. There are a lot of rules to follow that they may not be aware of, being that they are a nonprofit.”

Galipeau said local PTAs fall under the umbrella of the state’s 501c3 status, and therefore do not need to apply for their own. She said the RI PTA currently embodies more than 4,000 members, many of which come from Warwick.

Prior to becoming RI PTA president, a role she’s held for the past year-and-a-half, Galipeau served as president of the Harold F. Scott Elementary PTA as well as president of the Warwick Council PTA for four years.

When asked how the experience of being president of the Rhode Island PTA is going, Galipeau said it’s been very busy but good.

“I put in 40-plus hours a week on PTA work,” she said. “It’s my full-time job.”

Galipeau said now is especially a busy time, as the group prepares its annual spring convention.

“We’re in the midst of planning the spring convention, which will be held in Warwick this year at the Radisson,” she said. “The National PTA president will be in attendance, and new this year we will have an exhibit hall, which is coming together nicely.”

The spring convention is just one of many that Galipeau attends throughout the year in her role as RI PTA president. Be it the National PTA convention held in June or the legislative convention in Washington, D.C. in March, both of which she’ll be attending for the fourth time, Galipeau said she enjoys the travel and meeting new people.

“I travel a couple times a year, so it’s great meeting people throughout the country,” she said. “It’s been a wonderful experience, especially the trainings and workshops, which help me become a better leader.”

Galipeau said last year at the legislative convention, she was able to work with Rhode Island senators and representatives and get them to co-sign on protecting family engagement provisions within the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act-No Child Left Behind (ESEA-NCLB), which was instrumental in establishing schools and districts with low-income students as Title 1 schools and procuring increased funding for them to help fight poverty and improve education.

“That was a huge accomplishment,” Galipeau said of getting legislators to co-sign. “I’ve accomplished a lot here. Getting the word out about what the PTA is, as well as the leadership trainings; I try to respond to people with questions within 24 to 48 hours.”

Galipeau is also instrumental in organizing and hosting forums to assist parents, teachers and community members, such as the forum that was held last fall on Common Core.

“We hosted a forum last fall on Common Core with representatives from RIDE [Rhode Island Department of Education] to explain to people what it is,” she said. “The National PTA and RI PTA are behind Common Core. We have resources on our website for parents, which we’ve also shared with PTAs and schools.”

Galipeau said while there wasn’t a huge turnout, they still received great feedback.

“I wish there was a bigger turnout, but the people that attended were very thankful and appreciative,” she said.

During her time as president of the Warwick Council PTA, Galipeau said she hosted a general information forum for parents that featured a question and answer session with Education Commissioner Deborah Gist.

“That had a very good turnout,” she said.

She expects graduation rates to continue to increase throughout the state, as recently reported.

“I enjoy meeting people and hearing what the local PTAs are doing at their schools and I like that I’m able to help them because I know what it’s like to be in their place and I was glad that I had someone to go to for help and guidance,” she said. “I’m happy to help out; it’s all for the children.”

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