Yale Secondary School Advisory Council Meeting

Minutes

Yale Secondary School Advisory Council Meeting

Wednesday, 19th October, 2016

Present: Shelley Godwin, , Lisa Samplonius, Shari Wetmore, Paula Schieven, Tanya Walters, Magdell Gosson, Kim Epp, Wendy Nelson, Sue Savage, Tawnya Church

Admin: Mr. Lance McDonald (Principal),

Call to order at 7:02pm in Yale Library

Adoption of the previous minutes Sept 21, 2016. Motion put forward by Shelley Godwin and seconded by Lisa Samplonius. Approved by all.

Teacher Requests:

Tom vanHunenstijn requested 40 Chrome books for use with the LSS (students with special needs) as their hardware needs upgrading and also for use by any students for the Bring Your Own Device program for use within the school. While the programs are very important and the use of technology in necessary in the daily curriculum of all students the request had to be delayed as funds in the gaming account cannot be used for any curriculum based activity and we currently do not have the funds in the general account to move forward with this request.

Ron Jackson & Willis Taylor began their request with a musical performance by Jana Vermeeren and Isaak Friesen. The Little Mermaid will be presented by the musical theatre group February 12-18 2017. It is a very popular program and Yale is one of the few schools that have an actual Pit Orchestra rather than using prerecorded music.

Advertising in the program is currently available. All musical theatre students have forms or either Mr Taylor or Mr Jackson can be contacted directly.

A request was made for $5000 for props, costumes, set materials and supplies for the production.

Motion by Paula Schieven. Seconded Shelley Godwin. All in Favour.

Principal’s Report – Lance MacDonald

Presentation regarding “How can we take Yale for great to greater”. In a process that has been underway for 18 months the Yale administration and staff have been looking into how to make the environment at Yale an even more positive experience than it is now. The data came directly from the students and staff and their input has helped in such areas as classroom culture/school environment, curriculum, assessment and engagement between parties. The school plan is being implemented on an ongoing basis.

Learning commons – spaces for students to be engaged. We’ve moved from calling the library just that to the goal oriented “Learning Commons”. It is now an area with meeting spaces, learning corners and electronic devices as well as the ever present books and magazines. It’s no longer a quiet place to look up references but a dynamic area for students and staff to engage with others in learning.

New school year - new school spaces. The revamped format of the “front hall” is being well utilized by many students as the new seating areas are meeting places, study spots and generally very well received by many students. It’s a vibrant spot of student activity. Thank you PAC for your contribution to the furnishings for these areas.

Flex blocks are a period within the school day were students can seek additional teacher assistance, work on projects, get peer tutoring and otherwise engage in curricular activities. Yale is currently looking into implementing this option into the school year – more info in the future.

This year Yale grad fees include the student being able to keep the grad cap and gown. The cost for rental vs. purchase was virtually the same so the purchase option has been chosen. This will allow the students time for photographs and less chaos at convocation. Grad fees did increase to $60 this year. Now that the convocation is at Abbotsford Centre there is the option for more attendees. Additional tickets can be purchased for $5 each.

Financial report – presented by Shelley Godwin.

Motion to accept by Lisa Samplonius. Seconded by Shari Wetmore. Approved by All.

New Business – Shari Wetmore

SchoolCashOnline has been a valuable tool to solicit funding for our general account from parents and a discussion was had about “refreshing” this request through this online format to remind parents about this valuable option. More funds in the general account would mean we could support programs like the request for Chrome books, etc.

To date we’ve had 289 likes on the Yale PAC facebook page. We are reaching parents in our community and encouraging engagement within the school network. Our goal is to communicate activities within the Yale community primarily based on school wide activities. Teachers have been asked to submit items for publishing as well as other school activities like games, Grad picture reminders and school productions. Thank you Paula Schieven for undertaking the task to keep us updated.

McMillan Elementary, as one of our elementary feeder schools, is applying for a grant to upgrade their playground to make it more accessibly for all. There is an online vote taking place and the link can be found on the Yale PAC website. The process to vote is simple and we would like to support our community in this endeavor.

Yale yearbooks went up to $60 this year - Mr MacDonald will report back as to why there was an increase.

Meeting adjourned at 8:30

Next meeting on Wednesday, 16th November 2016

7pm in Yale Learning Commons

(Meetings will take place every third Wednesday of the month, unless posted differently)

Staff Request:

PAC Chair: - Shari Wetmore

· Cash On-line accepts donations to the PAC

· No direct fund raising is done

· PAC Donations go to assist all departments within the school and for scholarships awarded each year at graduation

· Yale’s Facebook page is up and running thanks to Paula Schieven So far with have engaged 295 people

· Any personal requests or comments are encouraged to be sent to the PAC Chair or Principal and Not directly to Facebook and will be posted accordingly

Treasurer Report: by Shelley Godwin

· Financials were presented. (see attached) Shelley Godwin new Treasurer for this year.

· Gaming funds in the amount of $26040 were received from the BC gaming association

DPAC : DPAC position still available. Minutes from last meeting posted on DPAC’s facebook page

Heid Smit Vinois is the chair for her 3rd and final year

Discussion regarding the budget for transportation for2017/18 occurred but no information was available except to note that families with continue to have to pay for transportation.

Blue Jay Elemntary recently created a new position on their executive for a Punjabi translator to encourage parent to participate. The school has also brought in a translator one full day a week to help communication between parents and teachers.

DPAC is looking into doing the same thing for district meetings

Career programs in the district : there are many opportunities for students to further their career goals through district programs including skills & career programs. Discussion involved communicating this information to parents and whether there is a data base online of all the course/options available – these will be looked into

See minutes for complete DPAC meeting info….