Wilkinson School Community Council
Meeting Minutes
Monday November 10, 2008
Present: Carol Bennett, Laura Bullard-Brezovsky, Julie Found, Karen Geraci, Susan Haney, Alison Motluk, Tanya Sterioff (Principal), Erin Vaillancourt, Sam Vrakking, Lisa Watt (Vice-Principal), Paula Weekes Khan, Karen Wiseman
Guests: Karen Anthony, Andreea Ionescu, Kris Kearns
Regrets: Sarah Gillespie, John Hykel, April Moon, Jill Spellman,
Absent: Ruby Lederman
Recorder: Sam Vrakking
Meeting Called to Order 7:05pm
Agenda Approved
Moved: Laura Bullard-Brezovsky; Seconded: Alison Motluk; Passed.
Minutes from October 20th
Accepted with changes:
6. February council meeting February 6th
12. c. iii. ACF charges $0.75 per student
Moved: Susan Haney; Seconded: Erin Vaillancourt; Passed.
Treasurer’s Report
Paula presented council’s finances as of November 10, 2008
Principal’s Report
Tanya informed council that a Remembrance Day Ceremony will take place November 11th ending at 11am.
The next movie night will be Friday, November 14th.
November 17th –21st is Anti-Bullying Week. The interactive presentation “Bully Be Gone” on Monday morning will start the week.
Storyteller Cheryl Thornton will be in the school for kindergarten and grade 1 students on November 18th.
Photo retakes will be on Monday, November 24th from 9:00 – 10:00am
Report cards will go home to parents on Friday, November 28th with parent interviews Wednesday, December 3rd and Thursday, December 4th.
Friday, December 5th is a P.A. Day.
Telling Bee Proposal
Wilkinson’s Teacher-Librarian, Julie Found, presented council with a written proposal for the Telling Bee, which will be formally launched by its creator Dan Yashinsky on January 16th and 23rd. Council discussed a committee steered by Julie that would provide support for the students with the tellings. It would be nice to have parents who speak different languages as stories can be written and told in first languages as well as in French for immersion students. There is also a role here for Grade 6 ambassadors.
Telling is the main focus of the project and parents should be approached for the creation of the Telling Bee festival. There are many options including a gym event and using it as the authors’ assembly in the school. The possibility of inviting the local media to attend was discussed and Julie will investigate the writing festival held by Rose Ave. P.S. Community involvement is very important and parents can see updates on the project in the council newsletters and on Julie’s blog. Julie will write an insert for the December newsletter and for the program of the Winter Concert. Julie is also approaching the Ontario Library Association Magazine with a journal-style article about the project.
The project will result in an anthology of the stories the children tell. There was a smaller project like this done in 2001. The anthology will not be a fundraiser. Julie estimates it will cost about $7 per copy to print and the sale cost could be subsidized by council. Council will look at the possibility of covering costs so that the anthology can be given to every family. There is also the possibility of selling advertising for the back pages to offset costs.
Funding Requests
Council is requested to fully fund the Blue Spruce/Silver Birch reading projects. The total request is $1193.20 which is up from last year. Council has budgeted $500 for this. Blue Spruce/Silver Birch is an Ontario-wide program. Blue Spruce is for Kindergarten to Grade 2. Silver Birch Express is for Grades 3 and 4 (and children in Grades 5 and 6 who need a lower level) and Silver Birch is for Grades 5 and 6. The Ontario Library Association selects 10 books which are read and discussed by students who then vote for their favorites. Students must read 5 of 10 books in order to vote. In 2007/2008, 70 students signed up and 33 voted. Julie Found is setting up a club conference on TEL so the Silver Birch readers can discuss their book choices on-line.
Motion: Karen Geraci moved to fully fund the program. Seconded by Susan Haney; passed unanimously by council.
Committee Updates
a) Communications
Carol asked whether the sibling list had been completed yet. The goal is to have the sibling listing, to cut down the number of newsletters to one per family, completed by the December newsletter that will accompany report cards. The December newsletter will include information for alternative schools as well as the last call for direct donations.
Erin is going to take on the task of volunteer co-ordinatior
b) Fundraising
i) Water Bottles
The water bottles have arrived and there will be an order form by the end of the week. The bottles will be available for sale at movie night. If sales are very good more could be ordered by Christmas.
ii) Direct Donations
So far $1,655 has been raised for schoolyard enhancements.
iii) Pumpkin Sales
Ruby was absent so no report.
c) Greening
April’s tree is in progress and there are no rats in the learning garden.
d) Health and Safety
Sarah was absent so no report.
Kindergarten Snacks
Andreea proposed the removal of juice from kindergarten snack to be replaced with fresh fruit and water to promote healthy eating habits and to reduce the school’s carbon footprint. She was particularly concerned that children who attended Dandylion were receiving three juice servings a day.
Tanya said that there had not been complaints from parents about snack. She also said that the school did not possess refrigeration facilities for fresh fruit for 140 children and that a balance needed to be struck for those children for whom snack is breakfast.
Lisa said that lunchroom staff alerted her to chronic nutritional concerns among the students that stay for lunch.
Karen A, Supervisor of Dandylion said that the daycare had now cut back a juice serving a day from the kids in kindergarten because of communication between the school and the daycare.
It was suggested that educating students and families about healthy eating habits was a Health & Safety issue and perhaps someone should write an article for the newsletter.
People for Education Survey
Carol confirmed the following for the People for Education survey:
The $500 from the Ministry of Education gets put into the school’s budget. It’s then used to offset items funded by council that the school has paid for out of their own account, for example, Scientists in the School.
Wilkinson gave out over 100 volunteer certificates for 2007/2008 but Tanya estimates the number of dedicated volunteers is closer to 25.
There are community groups that use the school space e.g., Brownies and Sparks and they pay a fee.
There is no school-based childcare nor are there outside programs (e.g., Public Health, Public Library)
Wil-Kitchen
Jill was absent so there was no follow-up about the Wil-kitchen. We are aiming for the spring and Thai food or Jerk cooking was suggested.
Adjournment
Karen Wiseman moved for adjournment at 8:30pm. It was seconded by Erin Vaillencourt and passed unanimously.