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---------------------------------------- James Martinez La'Keisha Gray-Sewell First Lady to Speak to Parents, Child Advocates during National PTA Legislative Conference, PTA Takes to Capitol Hill, Builds Momentum Around Child Advocacy Issues-Education; Health and Wellness CHICAGO (March 8, 2010) – First Lady Michelle Obama will speak to parents and child advocates this week Wednesday, March 10, at 12:30 p.m. during the National PTA® Legislative Conference (March 9 – 11). The event will take place at the Doubletree Hotel Crystal City – National Airport (300 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA 22202, 703-416-4100). The First Lady is slated to speak about her national campaign, “Let’s Move”—a movement pertinent to the National PTA’s efforts toward fighting childhood obesity and promoting healthy lifestyles. “We are honored to have the First Lady speak to parents and child advocates at our National Legislative Conference as she is truly an inspiration and serves as a great role model through her tireless efforts in child health and wellness, an area of public policy in which PTA has been instrumental since our inception in 1897. PTA looks forward to working alongside the First Lady as we continue to seek improvements in federal child nutrition programs, including specific ways to improve the content and implementation of local wellness policies, increase access to healthy foods and beverages, limit access to the least healthy offerings in schools, and provide the supports needed for those implementing child nutrition programs to improve outcomes.” The three-day conference is designed to motivate ‘grasstop’ leaders from across the country and provide an in-depth look at the latest PTA Public Policy Agenda through a series of workshops, skill building trainings, panel discussions, and guest speakers. The conference will culminate with Capitol Hill visits with congressional leaders that will focus on 2010 public policy priorities: effective family engagement in education, equity and opportunity in education for children, and children’s overall health and wellness. As part of National PTA priorities, the association released a first-of-its-kind “State Law on Family Engagement in Education Reference Guide.” In addition, National PTA late last year received a $1 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to educate and mobilize parents to adopt the Common Core State Standards – an initiative supported by PTA to help ensure that all students become college and career-ready upon graduation. Following the First Lady’s remarks, the event will feature a panel discussion led by nationally recognized leaders who are key players in the common core state standards initiative. The panel will include:
Highlights of the event on Wednesday, March 10th include:
9:00 am – 10:30 am
10:45 am – 12:15 pm
1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. About National PTA
First Lady, Michelle Obama (click here to download image) First Lady promotes her "Let’s Move" campaign across the nation (click here to download image) View historical slideshow highlighting White House and FLOTUS support of National PTA over the years 2010 Legislative Conference details
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