Dear Garibaldi Friends,

I just wanted to let you know that the Home Learner's class is doing a joint natural soap fundraiser after the Winter Concert on Thursday afternoon to help raise money for their robotics program and to help build a school for an illegally displaced community in Cambodia.  

FYI, We have been informed while just the Home Learners will do robotics this year, next year the robotics program is expanding and that it will advantageous for the whole school to already have the robotics kits bought.  Each kit cost approximately $300 and our goal is to raise over $990 so that 3 kits can be purchased so each child can participate in hands-on learning.

So, we are selling 4 packs of handmade natural soap from JustSoap.org (1 Peppermint Rosemary, 1 Cinnamon Vanilla, 1 Chamomile Calendula, and 1 Coffee & Milk Scrub bar) for $21.

The price of the soap will be equally split 3 ways.  $7 will go to pay for the cost of the ingredients and packaging.  $7 will go to paying for the robot kits for the Home Learners Program and $7 will be donated  to help build a school / community center in the relocated Borei Keila village.  Please check out the information and videos about Borei Keila below.

You can order online at http://fundraisingsoap.com (there is a local pickup option to avoid paying shipping and then pick up your soap after the concert) or you can buy soap after the Garibaldi Christmas concert, or you can share the above link with your friends or and family or tell all your social media friends buy utilizing the links below to help support the fundraiser from afar.

To post a soap fundraising update to Facebook click HERE...  sign in to your account and repost to your wall.

To send a soap tweet click HERE... sign in, and retweet.

To pin a soap fundraising blurb to Pinterest click HERE...  log in, and repin!

Keep your eye open for the Ernest's Ice Cream raffle  ($2.00 a ticket) at the concert to support the robotics program as well!"

Thank you SO MUCH for your support!

Sincerely,
Wade Pallister
Dad to Sophia and Eleanor


For more information about the difficulties the village of Borei Keila has faced and the good news about what has happened please keep reading...

Construction on the School has Already Started!

The Rock Foundation Cambodia still needs to raise $3000 to put a concrete slab on the bottom of the structure and brick in the walls to create a job skills training center.

Read about the original eviction of Borei Keila in this Phnom Penh Post newspaper article.

or watch it on video HERE.

I visited Borei Kelia for the first time in June 2012, 6 months after they had been evicted and relocated. You can watch me in Cambodia as I share my thoughts HERE.

A video of the original living conditions at the relocated site taken by my friend, Phil, can be viewed HERE...

However, the good news is that my friend Brett Medlin and his NGO, Rock Foundation Cambodia, has been working with the community, donors, and the United Nations, to provide homes, clean water, sanitation, solar lights, and jobs for the villagers as reported in the Phnom Penh Post.

I visited Borei Kelia again this summer and was amazed by the changes, the sense of hope in the community, and the progress of construction that has happened so far. Check out the good news HERE...

Life for Borei Kelia is looking much more hopeful but there is still not a school for the children to attend. Having an opportunity to receive an education is the only way that these children will escape the cycle of poverty. My friend Thyvon explains the situation HERE...

PAC MEETING - WEDNESDAY DEC.11 - 6PM - IN THE LIBRARY

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Garibaldi Annex Parent Advisory Council (PAC) Meeting Agenda

 

 

 

 

6 pm  - School Library (free child care available in the gym)

1. Welcome Members; Julie Beer, PAC Co-Chair (5 min)
2. Agenda Additions/ Adopt November  2013 Minutes (5 min)
3. Update from our school VP; Lorraine Baker (10 min)
4. Committee Update; Joel Ronne (10 min)
1. Garden
2. Fundraising
3. Outdoor committee
4. Kitchen/Popcorn - Phillipies bake sale
5. Other
5. Financial Update and Budget; Angela Wong-Moon (15 min)
1. Tennis bill (5 min)
6. New Business/ PAC Activities
7. Next PAC meeting (January) What  time? (10 min)
8. Adjournment at 7:30 pm

 

Nov PAC Meeting Minutes

Garibaldi PAC Meeting
 November 10, 2013

Attendance:

Lorraine Baker

Joel Ronne (Chair)

Caroline La Pointe

Lisa Nessi

Andrea Lloyd

Julie Beer

Sandra Larsen

Trudy O’Neill

Kerry McCullagh

Joel called meeting to order and asked for any additions to the agenda. Two issues were put forward:

• Caroline: request to move financial updates up on the Agenda
• Discussion of playground rules – request for clarification

A motion was made to accept the agenda, to adopt the minutes for the October PAC meeting.

1) Treasury Report

Treasury update.

Total amount: $6,1073.78.

PAC account: $4627.27

Chequing: $1546.51 (minus one cheque for $50.40 that hasn’t been cashed yet).

Three cheques cashed last month:

$137.60 – Jana garden signs

$361 – Julie bulb sale

$25 – babysitter for last PAC

2) Vice Principal update – Lorraine Baker

- 1st round of photos taken for students. We now have library cards

- Teachers doing in-service this month – Music Pro-D – music, play (6 hours of instruction, with facilitators on-site).

- 2 trained one-to-one reading volunteers, specifically trained for remedial learning to address ‘top-up’ needs, as part of a pilot project

- Parents are informed if their kids are involved with the reading program.

- Baseline date being collected through a school-wide ‘write’. (Baseline to be compared with spring.)

- Tennis – program wraps up November 11th. Skill levels are developing.

- Gloria, the music resource teacher, has gone on maternity leave earlier than anticipated. In her place, Thanh Ngo, will be working 2 days/week.

3) Committees:

3a) Movie Night

Pizza night – raised $200 – a great success.
Next Wednesday November 20th is the next movie night. Movie TBC, but likely “Monster’s University”. December movie TBC – depending on whether new Music Teacher can help arrange the Winter Concert.

3b) Garden Committee:

Harvest Festival was wonderful

• kids made bird-feeders and hand-stamped cards
• homemade stone soup, raspberry jam, cocoa and apple cider enjoyed by all

Garden winter clean-up to be arranged soon. The garden signs were painted by the children at the festival and are ready to be put up. Aiming for spring to put up signs.

Received fruit trees from Parks Board through grant. Will plant in spring in NE corner of school near bike rack.

3c) Fundraising Committee

Are looking at planning for an early 2014 party, possibly a Valentine-themed party.

First Popcorn Fundraiser November 11th! For December, the plan is to have another food fundraiser. Usually during the Winter Concert, coffee and cookies are sold to the adults. If no Concert, then it’ll be a Popcorn Fundraiser again.

4) New Business/Ideas for PAC Activities:

4a) PAC needs to be proactive about registration and push VSB on the sibling and boundary issue.

NB: Lorraine cannot be an advocate for the issue, so she excused herself from the meeting.  Therefore, this item will be revisited in an Executive Meeting.

Re: VSB

Don’t think we are going through another set of closures, but instead focus on utilizing space better. VSB needs the budget down, but not through closing schools. It’s good news, and this merits more discussion.

4b) BCTF gives free presentations for parents if we request it: eg. Anti-bullying/supporting your child’s learning, etc. Lorraine suggested the multi-purpose are could be used for these presentations. Also, a free workshop from a technology business has been offered – “Accomplished Learning Centre”

5) Budget

Joel handed out copies of the budget updates.

Items:

Class Supplies and Equipment

• Gator foam balls:$300 approved
• Magnets sets for Mrs. Moino:$150 approved

-    Classroom books Mrs. Rosati class - $500: approved (some work needs to be done for reader leveling and the library system)

- $100 missing lunch fund: approved

• Minerals sample $50: approved

Fine Arts and Culture

• Performances and culture - $1200: approved, but not allocated yet

Sports

• Sports $1000 approved for all sport, but not allocated yet (includes tennis lessons - $400)

Field Trips

• Field trips – To be determined

Capital items

- Boot scraper - $100 approved

- Soccer target - $150 approved

- Laminator bought – some funds taken from the Library Fund.

6) A discussion and informal vote for the best time to hold PAC meetings was held. Decision made to go back to the evening time, after testing out the after school time for this meeting.

Next PAC meeting on December 11. at 6:00pm.

The meeting was adjourned.

In case of snow….lots of snow:

    

At this time of year we can expect a bit of snow.

Unless there is an extreme amount of snow fall the school will stay open and staff and students are expected to attend.

If there is a large amount of snow, the VSB may decide to close schools. 

The decision will be made and publicized by 6:00 am.

The VSB will post information about snow closures on its website at www.vsb.bc.ca and will inform local media stations, including:

 CKNW (980 AM)

 CBC (690 AM, 105.7 FM)

 CJVB (1470 AM)                                                                                                           

 CFHG (96.1 FM)

 CKWX (1130 AM)

 BCTV/Global (Cable channel 11)

 CITY TV (Cable channel 13)

If you wake up to snow, please check one of these sources