Meeker Elementary School’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) has been named the state’s Outstanding Local Unit of the Year.

The PTA was honored in April at the Washington State  PTA Annual Convention in Bellevue. The unit will also be honored May 29 at the Puyallup PTA Council Annual Awards Night. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. at Carson Elementary School.

This is the second time a Puyallup School District PTA unit has been selected for the statewide honor. Zeiger Elementary PTA received the recognition in 2006.

In selecting award winners, the state’s Outstanding Local Unit award committee considers factors such as a PTA’s working relationship with school staff, how it engages families, and its ability to identify strengths and where it can improve based on its research of the school community.

“This PTA obviously understands the concept of school and community,” the award committee stated. “We found they are an outstanding local unit that serves a Title I community and thinks outside the box doing new and inventive things to serve them!”

The award is given each year to one PTA unit at the primary level and another at the middle/secondary level. Meeker Elementary was selected from among more than 900 elementary school PTA units statewide.

An article in the state PTA “Leadership News” blog states that one of the keys to the success of the Meeker Elementary PTA is in developing clear and measureable goals, with input from the principal and a teacher representative, so its goals are aligned to the school’s goals.

The article further states that the school has achieved the 100 percent membership award — one member for every student at the school — for two consecutive years.