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New PAC
Chair
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At our last PAC meeting we elected James Burton as the
new chair. James is also the chair of the Kitsilano School Renewal Committee.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Wendy Massing and Ingrid Bjerkelund for the 3 years of incredible
work as co-chairs of the Kitsilano PAC. THANK YOU!!!
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School
Renewal Committee
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On Tuesday January 22 parents heard a presentation from the Kitsilano Renewal
Committee.
If you were not able to attend the PAC meeting but would like to learn more
about this, you can go to the PAC website and under committees look for
special interest groups (or go to: http://members.shaw.ca/QPAC/K-PAC-Seismic-
Safety.html) There you will find minutes from the committee's meetings as
well as other links and resources.
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Update on
the athletics position with VSB
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One Kitsilano parent wrote to us at Kitspac@hotmail.com
to suggest that we provide trustees' e-mail addresses for those parents who
are sending letters in support of the full time athletics position with VSB.
Here are the addresses:
allen.blakey@vsb.bc.ca
ken.denike@vsb.bc.ca
carol.gibson@vsb.bc.ca
eleanor.gregory@vsb.bc.ca
sharon.gregson@vsb.bc.ca
clarence.hansen@vsb.bc.ca
don.lee@vsb.bc.ca
shirley.wong@vsb.bc.ca
allan.wong@vsb.bc.ca
After sending the letter herself to the above addresses, she received the
following two replies:
Thank you for your message. I am copying it to Mr. Rick Krowchuk,
Director of Finance and Administration to reply to you about the size of
discretionary funds. Shirley Wong
Thank you for your email. I will consider it when making budget decisions.
Allen Blakey
Below, we include the suggested letter for those parents who missed it last
week.
The Trustees of the Vancouver School Board
1580 West Broadway
Vancouver, B.C.
V6J 5K8
Dear Trustees:
Re: The Need for a Full-Time District Athletic Coordinator and Assistant
At the upcoming budget meetings for the 2008/09 school year, the Vancouver
Secondary and Elementary Schools Athletic Associations' (VSSAA and VEPAA)
will be making a submission for funding for a District Students Athletic
Coordinator (in addition to maintaining existing funding for the current
"Assistant"). They will also be requesting a budget for development
work to significantly increase participation opportunities for Vancouver students. The
total requested will be approximately $115,000. I am writing this on behalf
of my school's PAC. Our PAC supports the
VSSAA and VEPAA application.
We appreciate you will be receiving many submissions for funding for many
different worthy programs. It is our submission, however, that funding for
the creation of a full-time Athletics Coordinator position, supported by an
Assistant is especially critical and deserving of funding. A huge percentage
of students will benefit: existing programs and participation opportunities
can be maintained (that is not a given with the current funding level), and a
great number of new participation opportunities can be created. Critically,
both the provincial and federal governments are making strong statements
these days about the importance of physical activity for youth - school
competitive and fun sports can provide the moderate to vigorous activity
necessary. Critically also, participation in school sports has been shown to
decrease the chances of students adopting unhealthy lifestyles. Specifically,
it is well documented that sports and physical recreation opportunities are a
very important way for children to make friends, to feel better about themselves, and to start developing valuable life skills.
Currently, to coordinate, maintain and provide administrative support for all
high school and elementary sports teams and leagues the VSB has only one
position. It is described as an "assistant" position (the position
that it originally "assisted" was eliminated in 1990) and is funded
for just 35 hours a week. The current level of participation, however, (at
just the high school level more than 8,000 students participate on almost 700
teams) only exists because the current "assistant" regularly works
in excess of 50 hours a week and does all the coordinating work. That is not
sustainable. The creation of a full-time coordinator position, with an
assistant, is necessary to simply maintain the level of participation
achieved thus far. It (plus a small development budget) is also vital if
there is to be a significant increase in school sport participation
opportunities (for example, through more sport teams (including development
teams), expanded and formalized intra-mural programs, and greater
administrative support and training for volunteer coaches).
In summary: The VSSAA and VEPAA are asking for funding of approximately
$100,000 from your discretionary budget which I understand is in the region
of $10 million. Please make this investment in our children. The monetary
amount is relatively small against the potential for immediate and huge
returns. There will also be a lifetime legacy of activity, health and social
and life skills.
Thank you very much for your consideration. Your support and funding will be
greatly appreciated.
Yours truly,
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From the
desk of the Career Advisor
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Dear
Students and Parents,
I want to advise you about the Career and Education fair that is taking place
on:
Tuesday, February 19th 2008
9:00am to 5:00pm
Canada Place
I have placed announcements in the schools bulletin for teachers to take
students. I have only received responses from some Planning 10
teachers. I think because Grades 11 and 12 are more academic based with
respect to your studies and the amount of criteria that your teachers need to
cover; they do not have the time to plan a field trip, but you do have time
to attend after school if you wish.
There will be a lot of western post-secondary institutions present; such as
UBC, UVic, Langara, Capilano, etc. There will be some Eastern
institutions present such as Western Ontario.
There are great career personnel that will be attending too. Please
click on the following link to see what exhbitors
will be present:
http://www.educationcareerfairs.com/ exhibitors/VancEx
hibitList.htm
If anyone of you whether you are parent or a student that is interested in
attending this event, please let me know and I will put aside free tickets
for you. You can come to the Career Centre to pick up the tickets from
me-just please come on a day that I am at the specific school that you attend, I am not always in my office because I do have
appointments and presentations scheduled, but you have till Feb. 19th to get
the tickets from me.
Thank You!
Sherina Chandra
Career Information Advisor
Kitsilano Secondary
Wednesdays, Thursdays & alternating Fridays
Telephone: (604)713-8961
Fax: (604) 713-8960
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Updated
Dial-A-Demon
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The updated
Dial-A-Demon telephone list is now ready. You can purchase one for $1
every Wed. noonhour in February, in the front lobby
of the school. If you are one of the helpful parents who earned a free
copy, please e-mail Deb to discuss how to get it to you. Corrections,
comments, and referring other parents for their consent, are always much
appreciated.
Keep them coming, and thanks for helping the Dial to grow by nearly 100 more
names!
Deb at DialADemon@shaw.ca
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Mark your
calendars!
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On February 5th, parents of students in grades 8, 9, 10
and 11 will have an opportunity to meet with the school counsellors
to discuss, among other things, course planning strategies. More information
to come in the next newsletter.
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New email
addresses added
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We have
added a number of email addresses to the email list of the KitsPAC enews. While we
hope you welcome the opportunity to receive information about the school and
the parents activities, we understand some people
may not want to receive these emails. If you would like to be removed form
this list., please contact us at kitspac@hotmail.com
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