MINUTES (Draft Only Until Approved)
Tuesday, November 4th, 2014 at 7pm
St. Barbara - School Council Meeting
Opening Prayers (Geena Immanuel)
Minutes (Karen Fillier)
Approval of Agenda & Minutes
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agenda approval: Jennifer Cazabon/Vicki Cruickshank
minutes approval: Genna Immanuel/ Jennifer Cazabon
Principal Conversation (Ms. Taccone & Ms. Brown)
Packs of Hope
 school collected approximated 30-50 bags and St. Marcellinus will be picking up bags this upcoming Thursday.
Pilot Project with St. Marcellinus – Cooking Revolution
 request came from Peel Health (Mark Baguns) asking for 16 students in 7/8 to participate in 6 sessions after
school for 1 hour located at St. Marcellinus
 4 teachers involved teaching food safety storage, start your day, healthy snacks, lunch mid-day to fuel your
mind, healthy dinner meals and label reading
 40 students were interested in participating, applications need to be returned and 16 students selected
 Sessions will completed by the March break.
 fits in with healthy living and pro grant that will be used for this purpose; aim to have our community event in
April/May that would involve actively involve students, especially with the healthy snacks and meals
 If the program is well received, the school/students can create a school cookbook for next year, or a calendar,
recipes match month, etc. as an extension activity for students.
 Jennifer to look into registered dieticians for availability for community event in April/May.
 *ATTACHED FLYER*
Kids Now - Self Esteem Program for 7/8 students
 Focus on: leadership, self-esteem, goal setting, communication, conflict resolution, peer pressure, bullying and
stress management, inclusivity
 12 weeks in length, 1 day per week after school for 90 minutes starting in January.
 It’s a free program, board sponsored (Heather MacDonald)
 some investigation still necessary by Mrs. Taccone/Mrs. Brown
 website: kidsnowcanada.org
Program – Girls on the Run
 valuable life skills for girls grade 3-5
 program runs 10 weeks and helps physically, socially emotionally
 training run by volunteers and coaches including: run, walk, skip
 will need one staff member be a coach for each team grade 3-5 team and grade 6-8 team
 cost ranges $20-139 (there is a subsidy but may not qualify)
 need to discuss whether council will subsidize and/or cost to parent; Goal is to have girls involved at no expense
to families
 partner with Running Room possibility (Jennifer)
 investigate the sponsorship part of the program and what are the criteria (Isabel)
 suggestion made that we can maybe do a specific fundraiser for this program (Lorraine)
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coming to do school presentation in January to the girls. Lorraine-can council do a specific fundraiser for this
program. school will also put monies towards it.
November School Calendar
 will go out next week (Mrs. Brown).
Treasurer's Report (Pina Ogilive & Lorraine DeMedeiros)
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no statement/report completed for this meeting, all final fundraising needs to still be included
In December, we can begin allocating funds at that point.
OAPCE (Letizia Ripandelli)
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there was a presentation on e-learning, math homework website geared towards 7-10 that has an online tutor;
Students register on the site
discussion regarding reviews by the board about math and the transition into high school: why are students
failing math angered parents causing a heated discussion
Discussed and provided feedback from the 2014 conference regarding vendors and presenters
Parent presentation on January 28 by ‘sensible students’ covering responsible money management for all
students
In our school this is already being done free of charge every year through the ‘junior achievement’ program
with grade 8 students (Mrs. Taccone)
EQAO results are available online
next month is OAPCE elections.
Community Events (Jennifer Cazabon)
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will contact ‘Running Room’ as a possible partner for ‘Girls on the Run’ program
will follow-up with registered dietician regarding availability for healthy eating event in the spring
December Bulletin: will send out draft thoughts on how it should be worded to ensure we are highlighting how
fundraising money is spent.
Follow-up to last meeting, discussion about whether we have a section in the bulletin covering donations to the
school, if parents/companies would like to donate for an event, fundraiser, items needed in the school, etc.
Question regarding tax receipts for donations: donations to the school will not provide a tax receipt unless it is a
substantial amount, then it can be done through the board (Mrs. Taccone).
Parish Update (Geena Immanuel)
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Dr.Simone candy has been collected and students are helping sort; may need a volunteer to drop off
church is collecting toothbrush/toothpaste/shampoo for missionaries of charity
Christmas cards and cakes sale *see website for all the details*
Angel on the Tree: Advent begins on Nov.30th
- letters requesting participation will go home the week of the 17th
-angels and tags will be sent home the week of the 24th
-gifts to be returned the first week of December
Geena will confirm pick up date from St.Vincent de Paul.
we can use updated letter from last year and include Fundscrip info to order gift cards (Karen)
Fundraising Updates
Pumpkins (Isabel Reis)
 approximately 40 pumpkins sold, still to 6-8 not picked up
 $200 collected, pumpkins were purchased for $0.88
 notes for next year: need to plan and coordinate earlier, simple stencils, carve day of pick up to avoid pumpkins
going bad, avoid having one group clean out pumpkins and then not be able to carve.
Chuck E Cheese (Isabel Reis)
 Wednesday, November 12th
 it would be good to post signs outside; Mrs. Taccone will check for outdoor signs used last year
 larger signs will be printed and posted inside school ahead of time as well (Isabel)
 flyers to be sent home this Friday; they provide templates to use and Karen will insert details on flyer
 Chuck e Cheese will arrive at school at 2pm and will only visit primary classes.
Community Partners in Fundraising (Karen Fillier)
 flyer was sent home with youngest and only students to promote ‘community partners’ highlighting Boston
Pizza, Mabel’s Labels and Fundscrip
 Boston Pizza ‘movie matinee was not very well attended; community relation rep has asked for feedback; Karen
will follow-up about how to improve promoting event and the possibility of a ‘St. Barbara Movie Night’ at the
restaurant
 suggestion to promote Mabel’s Labels at the ‘Info Night’ next year.
Action/New Items (open to the group of attendees)
CCSAC meeting
 was attended by Isabel; workshops geared towards chairs and treasurers
 feedback included that there was not enough time to complete presentations due to the number of questions
 webinar notes were forwarded to council members
Dance-a-thon
 some student feedback was: wish they played newer songs
 younger children had fun
 pledge sheets collected and tabulated showed: intermediate intake was low, however, many families may send
money raised with with youngest child, so numbers can be skewed
 question from Mrs. Taccone - Is it something to book again for next year?
 discussion about the possibility of looking at other options (Mme Rudski) because we want to excite the kids to
increase money raised; need to investigate if there someone else with a better product?
Future Fundraising?
 need to book major fundraiser for next year earlier *AGENDA ITEM* for next meeting
 have major fundraiser at the beginning of the year to have funds available throughout the school year (Lorraine)
 be specific about what money is being raised for so parents have choice in what to support (Jennifer)
 plan our fundraising needs (Dave)
 council can come up with ideas in addition to Mrs. Taccone wish list for needs of school (Letizia)
 school needs: curriculum resources not needed, will speak to staff (Mrs. Taccone)
-classroom games
-music program: some need for teaching curriculum, multiple table keyboards, guitars (contact a music store)?
-microphones sets: $500 (sound system needs to be overhauled)
-foyer monitor to role pictures, messages, updates
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-fulltime kindergarten needs
-smart boards
-outdoor digital sign
-outdoor classroom gym equipment
Suggestion made for tea fundraiser (Jennifer).
School Website
 can we have a school website?
 Jennifer to send links of examples of schools that have their own websites.
St. John`s Ambulance Courses
 scheduled for the PA day November 14th
 both courses babysitting/home alone call them directly to book and make payment.
Kiss & Ride Safety
 parking enforcement have been called a number of times specific to fire route and there have been complaints
about tickets given out
 11:30 ‘chaos’ has improved (Mrs. Taccone)
 designate a ‘Kiss & Ride’ Awareness day and have a safety team at the school drop off in the a.m. and pick up
time in the p.m.
 volunteers needed – Mrs. Taccone has volunteer list
 create a flyer to distribute to include parking lot rules and ‘impact’ information articles; use City of Mississauga
website for information (Karen)
 *DATE: November 10th*
 volunteers needed – Mrs. Taccone/Mrs. Brown has started volunteer list.
Closing Prayer (Geena Immanuel)
Next Meeting - Tuesday December 2nd, 2014 (Potluck Celebration)