Committee Minutes
St Benedict's Parent Advisory
24 November 2011
Welcome: Bob Westhaver
Members Present: Sandy Caple, Syl Painchaud, Maria Sousa, Lisa McArthur, Jody
Fritz, Caroline Fish, Katrina Power, Sid Da Silva, Jeanette Cowan, Maria De Bartolomeo ,
and Anton Milardovic
Student Council Report: Tevin Heath provided an update on events at the school.
There was a Mardi Gras dance and a fall fair. The fair featured popcorn, photo booth,
cake raffle and dance dance revolution and was well attended. Blue and White Day is
planned for December 2nd, this year’s theme is winter wonderland. Donations for
Christmas baskets will be collected.
Treasurers Report: Bob Westhaver reported a bank balance of $459.73.
Council voted in favour of placing a full page ad in the in the Senior Boys Saints
Invitational 24th annual Basketball Tournament Program. The cost of the ad is $99 and
we continue to show our support.
Principal’s Report: Dan Witt reviewed the principal’s report attached to the minutes
distributed prior to the meeting. The principal’s report is included at the end of the
minutes. Moving graduation from fall to June had been considered by the board. The
decision was made to keep graduation in the fall.
Chaplain’s Report: Bob Rempel spoke about the Mission Collection for the Dominican
Trip. $2,022 was raised to fund school buses. The cost of funding one bus for a year is
$900 so enough was raised to fund 2 buses.
A 24 hour vow of silence is to be held November 30th. Participants will remain silent to
show support for those who suffer quietly in the world.
Subcommittees: The council split into 3 subcommittees. One committee would work
on a Parent Toolkit which is to contain useful information to assist parents with children
that are new to the St. Benedict’s community. Another committee would continue work
on improving Communications. This committee is tasked with improving communication
of the parent portion of the website as well as the bulletin board. The 3rd committee
worked on planning the council’s activities for Grade Eight Parent Night.
The committees consisted of the following members:
Parent Toolkit Committee: Caroline Fish, Katrina Power, Maria De Bartolomeo
Communications Committee: Jeanette Cowan, Sandy Caple, Syl Painchaud, Silvio
Da Silva, Lisa McArthur
Grade 8 Parent Night Committee: Bob Westhaver, Maria Sousa, Jody Fritz,
St. Benedict’s School Council
Principal’s Report
November 24, 2011
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Graduation Friday October 28, 2011 went well. 80% of our grads were in attendance.
Relay for Life Committee will be joining us for our meeting Feb 23 to provide an update on plans
for this year. We will be hosting the event again this year on June 1. The committee has set a
goal of $50,000 this year.
Our greening project along Green Vista is near completion.
Or third microwave has been up and running in the cafeteria for several weeks now with no
power issues so far. We will monitor use to determine if this eases the demand on the
microwaves.
The school board continues to monitor safety concerns at the Homer Watson – Block Line
roundabout near St. Mary’s High School. They are ensuring student safety is a top priority in any
decision related to a roundabout at Franklin and Saginaw.
Parent Tool Kit survey was distributed through a link in the BENN, a special bulletin, and in a
paper format with the report cards. All submissions will be entered into a draw for a $100
McCarthy’s gift certificate at Grade 8 Parent Night. This gift certificate is being sponsored by
School Council PIC funds. So far we have approximately 40 responses to electronic survey.
School Council is scheduled for 2 minutes on the Grade 8 Parent Night agenda. This will be the
opportunity to promote our Parent Tool Kit survey and draw our winner for the McCarthy’s gift
certificate.
40 IPEVO Ziggi USB document cameras are being purchased for the classrooms to link with the
Bright Links. The total cost per unit will be approximately $100. The $2800 balance in the Bingo
funds account will be used to cover the majority of this cost.
http://www.ipevo.com/prods/IPEVO_Ziggi_USB_Document_Camera