September 2026 - Bennett PTSA Newsletter
Dear Bennett Families,
Happy back to school! The Bennett PTSA (Parent-Teacher-Student Association) Board is excited for the new year and has many things already in the works that we want to share with you, so this newsletter is a bit long. Here is the TL; DR (Too Long; Didn't Read) in case you can't read the whole thing at the moment:
If you are wondering what exactly PTSA is, see the "What is PTSA" section below.
Sign your student up for Walkathon here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/peer-to-peer/bennett-elementary-walkathon--2026, and share your fundraising page with family and friends to raise funds for Bennett!
Friday, September 19th is Walkathon Spirit day - wear your class color (see list in Walkathon section)
Sign up for before and after school clubs if interested (sign up as soon as possible to guarantee your spot!) - links below or at www.bennettptsa.org/clubs
Please join us at our first PTSA General Meeting of the year on Tuesday, September 15th at 6:30 pm at the Bennett Library. Anyone can attend! Please RSVP at https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=SgJHnRWlRkCnNuGRXKhCM-DEiInzh05JnUfH-VpNgNlUMDdDVE5KMTdEMThPWVg3SFUwQlJLVEE0Vy4u&origin=lprLink&route=shorturl
Parents, grandparents/family members, and teachers/staff are invited to join PTSA at https://bennettelementaryptsa.givebacks.com/shop - we are a member organization, so your membership is important!
Sign up to volunteer with PTSA here: https://signup.com/go/KFKayVZ
New fundraiser: UW Football Education Day - buy tickets to the 9/26 UW Husky Football game at this link, and half the ticket price (after fees) will be donated to Bennett PTSA! https://www.gofevo.com/event/Bennettelementary71
Bennett is accepting submissions for the Reflections Art Contest; information is available here: https://www.wastatepta.org/programs/Reflections/
See the attached Calendar of Events for important dates for this school year!
Letter from the President (see below)
Clubs
Lego Robotics 🧱🦾
Mondays 3:30-4:30 in the STEM room
Grades K-5
October 5th-December 7th; $228 for 8 classes
https://tinyurl.com/LegoRoboticsFall2026
Chess Club ♟️
Tuesdays 8:00-8:55am in the STEM room
Grades K-5
October 6th-December 8th; $220 for 10 sessions www.excelwithchess.com/bennett
Mad Science Club 🧪🥽🧑🔬
Tuesdays 3:30-4:30pm in the STEM room
Grade 1-5
October 6th-December 1st; $296 for 8 classes
http://www.madscienceregistration.com/
Nearby Nature Club 🌸🌲🌿🍂
Fridays 8:00-8:45 am; meet at the flagpole
Grades K-5
September 18th-October 23rd; Free!
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/eXpyGrVmc3
Drama Club 🎭
Info from Small Hands on Art coming soon!
Walkathon 2026!
Walkathon, Bennett's largest fundraiser, is coming up October 2nd! This is the 40th anniversary of Bennett's Walkathon!
Be sure to sign your child up for Walkathon at https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/peer-to-peer/bennett-elementary-walkathon--2026, and share your fundraising page with family and friends to raise funds for Bennett!
If you are interested in volunteering at Walkathon, sign up here: https://signup.com/mobileweb/2.0/vspot.html?activitykey=971714414057 (must have BSD Volunteer clearance to volunteer during school hours - apply here if you have not had a BSD clearance in the past 3 years: https://www.bsd405.org/community/volunteer)
Important Walkathon Dates:
Walkathon Assembly: Friday, 9/18
This will also be a spirit day! Just like last year, each grade will have an assigned color (see below).
Walkathon: Friday, 10/2 (during recess, and optionally after school 3:30-5:30 with parent supervision)
Fundraising Ends: Friday, 10/16
Here are the colors for Spirit Day and Walkathon for each grade:
Pre-K: Red ❤️
Kindergarten: Pink 🩷
1st Grade: Blue 💙
2nd Grade: Green 💚
3rd Grade: Orange 🧡
4th Grade: Yellow 💛
5th Grade: Purple 💜
See attached Walkathon Packet for more information.
What is PTSA? How do I Join? And why should I?
What is PTSA, anyway?
PTSA stands for Parent-Teacher-Student Association, and is an all-volunteer child advocacy nonprofit. Bennett PTSA provides community events, enrichment, and supplemental funding to the school, as well as participating in district and state PTSA's to advocate for the education, safety, welfare, and health of all students in Bellevue School District and in Washington State.
How do I join?
To become a member of Bennett PTSA, click here: https://bennettelementaryptsa.givebacks.com/shop
No volunteering is required - becoming a member is helpful even if you cannot attend meetings or volunteer. Membership ends on June 30th every year, so if you joined last year, you still need to join again this year.
Why should I join PTSA?
We operate legally as a nonprofit member organization. Having members gives us the legal right to run our nonprofit business. PTSA doesn't exist without members!
A large and diverse membership body helps us make sure everyone's opinion is heard and represented.
Membership makes you eligible to vote in elections regarding Bennett PTSA's budget, rules, elected positions, etc.
Membership comes with discounts! See https://www.wastatepta.org/get-involved/member-discounts/
Why is there a cost to join PTSA?
Much of your PTSA dues go to Washington State PTA, National PTA, and Bellevue PTSA Council, which provide our PTSA board and leadership with needed support, resources, and training to keep our all-volunteer organization running. The rest goes into Bennett PTSA's general budget to help support PTSA programs and events at Bennett.
PTSA Meeting Tuesday 9/15
Bennett PTSA’s first general membership meeting of the year is Tuesday, September 15th at 6:30 pm in the Bennett library.
Please join us to learn more about what PTSA is doing this year and how to be involved, as well as to vote on our budget and standing rules for the year (as a WA state nonprofit organization, we are required to hold these votes each year). Anyone in the Bennett community (parents/family members, teachers/staff, etc.) are welcome and encouraged to attend, but you must join as a member (see link in previous section) in order to be eligible to vote.
Please RSVP below if you plan to attend so that we can ensure we have quorum. We hope to see you there! https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=SgJHnRWlRkCnNuGRXKhCM-DEiInzh05JnUfH-VpNgNlUMDdDVE5KMTdEMThPWVg3SFUwQlJLVEE0Vy4u&origin=lprLink&route=shorturl
Volunteer Sign Ups
PTSA is always looking for volunteers to make our many programs and events possible. There are volunteer positions for any amount of time, from a shift at a one-time event, to chairing a year-long committee or serving as your child's class room parent for the year. No experience is necessary, and training is provided if needed. If you're interested in helping but not sure what position is right for you, respond to this email and we will be happy to help you find something!
Sign up here: https://signup.com/go/KFKayVZ
Note that Walkathon-related volunteering is on the separate signup linked in the Walkathon section.
New Event: UW Football game fundraiser 🏈
Bennett PTSA is participating in UW Football Education Day on Saturday, September 26th. Bennett families can buy a ticket from this link to see the Huskies play Minnesota, and UW will donate half the ticket price (after processing fees) to Bennett PTSA to support our programs: https://www.gofevo.com/event/Bennettelementary71 (note, only tickets bought from this link will benefit Bennett).
Reflections Art Contest
Explore the Arts and Express Yourself!
PTSA is calling for student entries in the 2026-2027 Reflections art competition!
This year, Bennett is excited to accept entries in both the Visual Arts and Accessible Arts divisions.
Create an original artwork inspired by this year's theme 'What My Culture Means to Me'.
Submit your entry at the Bennett front-desk.
Entry forms and further instructions available at:
https://www.wastatepta.org/programs/Reflections/
Get Creative! Entries close Monday 2nd November 2026.
Do you have great idea for next year's Reflections theme?
Every year students are invited to share their ideas for a chance to win national PTA prizes!
Keep an eye out for more details on how to enter.
Love art and want to help with the Reflections program at Bennett this year? Sign up at the link in the Volunteer Signup section above!
Your 2026-2027 PTSA Board and Leadership
Executive Board:
President Jaimie Martin: president@bennettptsa.org
Vice President of Communications Stefanie Wolf: vicepresident@bennettptsa.org
Secretary Katie Byers: secretary@bennettptsa.org
Co-Treasurers Emily Irish and Michael Rill: treasurer@bennettptsa.org
VP of Technology Sam Martin: techsupport@bennettptsa.org
Other PTSA leadership:
Walkathon Chairs Sarah Rankins and Taylor Tagge: walkathon@bennettptsa.org
Yearbook Chair Michael Hall: yearbook@bennettptsa.org
Clubs Chair Wai Man Chang: wmchang@bennettptsa.org
Fundraising Chair Allison Syms: asyms@bennettptsa.org
To sign up for our newsletter or for submissions, email comms@bennettptsa.org.
For general PTSA questions, reply to this email or email board@bennettptsa.org.
