Simon Fraser Elementary
Parent Advisory Council Meeting
Date: Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Time: 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Agenda:
1. Chair’s Report – Clint Burnham
We appreciate the update by the teachers on the job action – but the late addition to the agenda unfortunately means that people probably didn’t know it was happening tonight. Earlier notice would have likely resulted in a bigger turnout but we’ll be sure to include information on the website and in the minutes on the parent notice board for those who aren’t here tonight.
Lots of parents have already provided letters of support of the teachers to local and provincial officials. Parents can reference the blog post for sample letters: http://www.simonfraserelementary.com/2011/10/16/draft-letters-in-support-of-our-teachers/ )
And thanks to Karen and crew for the fabulous Family Dinner night!
2. Teacher’s update – Joanne Cox, Laura Rudland and Elaine
Laura went through a VESTA (Vancouver Elementary School Teachers Association) presentation about the purpose of the job action and goals (class size and composition, local bargaining).
A link to the presentation:
http://prezi.com/rz4v6l4pemft/vesta-fall-2011-pac/
What can parents do to support teachers? Share this presentation, tweet this info, continue to provide letters to the editor and politicians.
Parents can also attend a rally @ Kristy Clark’s constituency office on Dec 5th @ 4pm (3615 West 4th Avenue between Alma & Dunbar).
3. Choir Report – Richard Neal
Clint gave some background – 3 proposals last time and struck a sub committee to make a decision. Because of the job action and limited lunch time, it was determined that any choir activity had to be after school.
Clint asked for a decision from the committee (lead by Julie Sawatsky); but before that we had one additional proposal for the CanSing program from a parent who was absent for last month’s meeting.
- Girda Blok-Wilson – CanSing choir
- $75/hr for 8 weeks with parent volunteers for administration; Tennyson has the choir in school and charges $50/student to cover expenses
- www.cansing.ca
Julie recommended Anna B music (one of the proposals from last month) as it is an after school program, focuses on world music, and provides instruction in 2 age groups; the cost falls within our budget for the choir ($500) without having to charge extra to families.
The PAC discussed organizing a larger investment next year with the PAC and CanSing; this more substantial program could tie into direct fundraising/donations (see fundraising below). This effort will require some more structured effort and volunteer coordination.
Decision: majority approved proceeding with Anna B. for January (2012) and pursuing Cansing for the 2012/13 school year.
4. Treasurer’s report – Richard Neal
The update was brief other than to report on the garden: the garden debt of $1700 (mostly for labour costs) was covered by the contingency, fundraising, grants plus the costs covered by the school.
Richard also acknowledged and thanked those responsible for all the efforts so far this year with regard to fundraising!
5. Fundraising report – Karen Nicolay
Family dinner night: 160 people attended (lots of people using it as a date night!). Children got a bit wild but moving forward will have game rooms (have done this in the past). Raised $850 and some supplies were bought can be used for the next event. Main Street Pilsner and wine were donated by Cascade, which helped us with our bigger profits.
Gift cards: Karen reported that $9,025 have been sold in gift cards (raising $535.75)! We used 3 local businesses as well as progressive fundraising cards. Trends for this year: fewer, larger orders compared to the past but we raise about 5% in funds from the program.
Direct Donation: attendees discussed the option of soliciting direct donations from the parent community. This was last done in 2006, and the PAC afterwards paused those requests.
Lisa Stanley recently sent Karen a sample letter that Van Horne used as a direct fundraising initiative for their 100th year legacy fund. They chose 3 specific initiatives/projects to raise funds for which seemed a really good idea. For example, funds raised would be for our choir, technology, etc. It’s very low cost/effort for fundraising…(i.e. a letter). Overall, attendees to the meeting agreed that this seems a good project to reinstate at Fraser.
Next steps: select the 3 fundraising areas: Music/Choir, technology, and school greening were discussed.
Karen: will reach out to Lisa to present a draft of letter to the PAC for January and which could potentially be distributed in early 2012.
6. Gift for Milana – Melodie Yong
Melody talked with Lori Eppler about putting a box in the office for donations to a basket for Milana.
PAC exec will support this with a donation of $50. Melody will work with Lori to send out a letter this week – bring a gift by next Thursday (Dec 8th) – gifts, baking, books or letters all welcome.
7. Principal’s Report – Ruth Wrinch
Ruth spoke with Milana this week – she is part way through treatment and misses the school community. Ruth believes a gift from the school would be most welcome.
As per the letter sent home to families this week, Ruth’s contract with Fraser ends with the Winter Break. A new interim principal will start at Fraser in January. Bonnie Kent – from Queen Victoria Annex – will tour the school this week and transition with Ruth.
Ruth thanked the PAC for its support and generosity with school items this year. SMART board, sports jerseys, and other equipment are all ordered and will arrive soon.
Ruth has also used the PAC support for the Grade 6/7 camp to book Camp Elphinstone on the Sunshine Coast (Gibsons). Parents of grade 6/7 students will hear more details in January.
More information about the camp: http://www.vanymca.org/camps/campelphinstone.html
The school is excited to extend the Carol Sing for an additional day to 4 days, running Dec. 13 – 16 at 9-9:30am.
At the last meeting, the issue of a Technology committee was raised, convening a committee of parent and teacher representatives to create a strategy for how to make technology decisions are driven at Fraser. Currently committees aren’t meeting due to job action, but the PAC will keep this item open until job action end or allows for a meeting. This type of group and thinking will be essential especially if direct fundraising occurs towards technology.
Finally, David Murphy is willing to do a demo during a PAC meeting later in the new year to show how SMART boards are used in class.
8. Sexual health education update – Mallory O’Connor
The dates for the Saleema Noon Sexual Health Education seris are in place for Monday, Jan. 30 (6:30-8pm) for parents and Thursday, Feb. 9 for the kids. The classes will meet with the educators throughout the day in the library, grouped by age: K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-7s.
A notice will be sent home in early January with registration information along with a poster on the notice board and an update on the Fraser website.
Synopsis:
Not all parents are comfortable talking to their children about sex, but all parents can learn to be comfortable. During this open and informational session, parents will come to terms with sexual health, and understand how it fits into the lives of their children at this stage of life.
Attendees will discover how to easily overcome embarrassment when talking about sexual health, learn words and concepts that are easy to use, and leave well equipped to clearly answer the questions children ask. The workshop is light hearted, but delivers straight and current facts on how parents and children can work together to promote good sexual decisions for a lifetime.
9. Proposed 2012 meeting schedule – Mallory O’Connor
We are hoping to get some regularity on the meeting dates for the remainder of the year and are targeting Mondays for the meetings. With the exception of January, meetings will be held on the last Monday of the month for the remainder of the year:
January 23, February 27, March 26, April 30, May 28, June 25
10. Other business (garden, BCTF presentations, Christmas Concert)
Free BCTF Presentations: the BCTF distributed some literature to the PAC about the free presentations they offer to parents on the following subjects:
Anti-bullying; Born to Buy; Bugs, Drugs and Rugs; Captive Mind, Captive Market; Internet Awareness for Parents; Raising Confident Boys and Girls; Supporting Your Child’s Learning
If there is a parent volunteer who would like to coordinate booking one of these sessions at Fraser, please contact the PAC for all the information.
Garden report: Lori Weidenheimer provided an extensive report that has been posted to the website:
http://www.simonfraserelementary.com/2011/11/30/eco-club-news-november-2011/
Lori is looking for some parent volunteers to transition into the next incarnation of the garden committee – if you are interested please contact her or the PAC.
Christmas concert: the question was raised as to why there wasn’t a Christmas concert this year? Ruth mentioned teachers discussed it after the Remembrance Day ceremony and felt that there wasn’t enough time to work on a concert this year. The choice was made by the school not to do it this year but there will be 4 days of singing carols in the week leading up to the holidays.
In a follow up comment from Laura Rudland: if parents want to volunteer and ask a teacher to volunteer after school hours, job action does not prohibit volunteer activities (i.e. sports or other special activities that are non-instructional).
11. Adjourn to next meeting – Monday, January 23, 2012 @ 6:30pm