Fundraising and our Fun Fair

This weekend I was helping out with my daughter's soccer team as they try to raise funds for a big soccer trip coming up.  I didn't do much, but it took a good chunk of my weekend just the same, and in the end it was a very successful fundraiser.  While I was doing it, I began to think of all of the fundraising tasks that our school undertakes over the course of a school year and in particular how monumental a task our upcoming Fun Fair is.

This weekend I had one task, organizing a 50/50 draw and the volunteers that go along with it.  It took a lot of time, with lots of emails back and forth.  Our Fun Fair is exponentially more intricate and time consuming.  The success of the event is due to Trish and Michelle and their tremendous organizational skills, but it also requires the commitment and involvement of countless others.  I think I heard it said the other day that there are 100, half hour volunteers slots to fill on the night of the event.  This does not include the pre-planning and organization that goes on for months ahead of time.  I hope that we have a tremendous turn out this Friday (April 29th), not only in support of our school and PAC, but also as an acknowledgement of the hard work our volunteers have done on behalf of our students.

The Fun Fair is the largest fundraising event of the year, but it is not the only one.  PAC has several events over the course of the year as do individual classes and groups of students (e.g. our SPCA club).  While these events are not directly related to curriculum in classrooms, they do provide an awful lot of additional bonuses to the school in the form of field trips, equipment, etc.  The events organized and staffed by students also provide crucial lessons in money management, cost-profit understanding, organization, and advertising (writing in context), to name only a few.

So, while it may sometimes seem a burden to volunteer some time at these fundraising events, the value is well worth it.  I hope to see a huge show of David Cameron support for our Fun Fair on April 29th.  See you there.

"Digital Tatoos"

I heard it described awhile ago that when we go on line we create a "digital tattoo".  That is, we create a history of our activity that is forever.  When we send an email or text message or a post to a social network site, we have no idea what could happen with that information and to whom it may be passed.  When we surf the web we leave a trail that creates a profile of the sites we like to visit and therefore, what advertisers might target us.  Like a tattoo on our body we can cover it up or have it removed, but it is never really gone.

These are only a few of the things that we need to be aware of in order to maintain our privacy and safety as we stay connected via the internet.  Therefore, thanks to our PAC, we will be hosting a cyber safety session for our grade five and six students.  The grade fives will be involved in a session that provides them with some safety tips and ideas about things that they can do to protect their privacy.  Our grade sixes, many of whom are actively involved in social networking (e.g. Facebook), will have a more detailed session that will explore possible concerns including on line predators.

Technology is an amazing tool that can do a lot of great things, but like anything, we need to make sure that we use it in a morally responsible way and we need to make sure that we take precautions to maintain our safety.  These sessions will occur on Tuesday, April 26th.  We encourage parents to talk with their children about the ideas and concepts that they have learned during these sessions.  Open communication and interest in what your child is doing will go a long way to support them in learning to be safe and protect their privacy on line.

April Virtue - Unity

This month our school is focusing on the virtue of "unity".  Unity is the ability to understand the differences in people so that we can embrace them and come together in support of each other.  As we do each month, we begin with our school-wide assembly to introduce the virtue.  This month was a little different in that we linked our virtue of unity to building understanding for our staff and students around First Nations culture.  We were fortunate to have Scott Sam and Murray Campbell come and perform for our students.  They sang and drummed a number of songs that kept everyone entertained, but at the same time, they were able to explain the significance of the singing and of the songs themselves.  What a great assembly!

After recess, our students re-formed into their Family Groups for another opportunity to experience First Nations culture through art work.  Charlene George joined us for this part where we were able to blend important aspects of culture with the use of our technology in the school.  Charlene used our camera and television abilities to teach each of the Family Groups throughout the school.  She had chosen some of her own original designs for students to be able to colour and put together.  As the students worked in each of their rooms in the school, Charlene explained the significance of each piece and the story behind its design.  What a great opportunity for our students to extend their understanding of the importance of art in telling a story about people.

The whole morning was so much fun for staff and students alike.  Each of our students was able to bring home a couple of pieces of art and hopefully a whole new set of stories.