Maria Norton – President
Maria Norton from Miami is a former Military wife married to Tim Norton from St. Petersburg, FL. She is a mother of two boys, Speech Pathologist, and PTA volunteer. Maria has been a PTA volunteer for the last 21 years in the following positions; President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary at her children's schools.
She has also held the position of Secretary, South Region Coordinator and Feeder Pattern Representative at the County Council Level in Miami- Dade and a current committee member of FL PTA Exceptional Child Commission. She is very passionate and dedicated, always advocating for all children and specially our most vulnerable children, those with diverse needs.
Maria attended Florida State University and Nova Southeastern University and currently works for Miami-Dade County Public Schools as a Speech Language Pathologist. Maria is proud to say that her husband, kids and herself all are products of Public Education.
Fatima Chaiken – 1st Vice President Advocacy & Legislation
Fatima is a polished bilingual marketing and sales leader with management and fund-raising experience across several industries. Her skills include project management and department coordination, budget creation and tracking, quarterly forecasting, process documentation tracking, marketing and five-star client level service.
Fatima has extensive PTA experience, including:
- Coconut Grove Elementary (Coconut Grove, FL) - Membership
- Ponce de Leon Middle (Coral Gables, FL) - Recording Secretary
- Townline Elementary (Vernon Hills, IL) - Vice-President
- Evanston Township High School (Evanston, IL) - Treasurer
- Vernon Hills High School (Vernon Hills, IL) - Vice-President of Fundraising
- Coral Reef Elementary (Palmetto Bay, FL) – Vice-President of Programs
- Southwood Middle School (Palmetto Bay, FL) Vice-President of Programs
- Southwood Middle School (Palmetto Bay, FL) President
- Palmetto Senior High school (Pinecrest, FL) - 1st Vice-President
- TERRA Environmental Research Institute (Kendall, FL) - President
- MDCC PTA/PTSA Gala Chair
Fatima helped create, initiate and implement PTA/PTSA programs and set and achieve fundraising goals by building community relationships and loyalty through membership-driven programs, a small sample of which includes:
- Parents and Students Human Trafficking Symposium at a State of the village program unifying all Local PTA and PTSA, from the Villages of Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay.
- Achieved Membership Growth of 300%
- Achieved Fundraising goals in excess of $250,000.
Erica Watts - Vice President of Regions and Local Units
Bio coming soon
Norma Schwartz – Vice President of Education
Norma Schwartz is a mother of two children who are current MDCPS students. Her daughter is currently in 6th grade and her son is in 3rd grade. She has been a supporter and a member of the PTA since her oldest started Kindergarten. As a parent volunteer, she has dedicated her time on various committees on the Palmetto Elementary PTA, She is also currently a member of the Palmetto Middle PTSA. She has served on the Miami-Dade County Council for the past two years as the Early Childhood Committee Chair and works alongside various organizations in Florida to ensure all children are successful learners.
In addition, Norma also currently serves on the Executive Board of the Florida Association of the Education of Young Children.
Lelany Barea - Vice President of Organization
Bio coming soon
Chrisanne Fordik – Treasurer
Chrisanne Fordik has served on the Miami-Dade County Council for the past ten years in the following capacities: North Region Coordinator, South Region Coordinator, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, and Treasurer.
Additionally, She has served for a number of years on the Boards of Air Base K-8 Center PTSA, Laura Saunders Elementary PTA, and Colonial Drive Elementary PTA in the following capacities: Recording Secretary, Membership Chair, and Treasurer. Additionally, She has been employed by MDCPS as a School Psychologist since 2003.
Macarena Jones- Corresponding Secretary
Bio coming soon
Normy Azcuy – Recording Secretary
Normy is a mother of two children and has been a member and supporter of PTA since her oldest started in Kindergarten. She started off as a volunteer during school events for the first few years. She then served as Recording Secretary for her local unit PTSA for three years. She started with Miami Dade County Council PTA/PTSA as Recording Secretary in August 2017 and served in that position until May, 2020.
She was also chosen to serve on the Florida PTA Hispanic, Latino Outreach Committee this past year. That experience was an honor and yet another learning milestone in this organization. During her time with PTA she has advocated, helped and supported plans and programs for every child.
Normy is dedicated to making sure that every child in Miami Dade County has the same opportunities, quality of education, and representation throughout. Public education gave her many opportunities as she grew up and is now affording those same opportunities to her children who are also proud MDCPS students.
Karen Grace - North Region Coordinator
Bio coming soon
Jacqueline Kellogg - Central Region Coordinator
Bio coming soon
Sharon Frazier-Stephens - South Region Coordinator
Bio coming soon