Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Recap of Meetings

Last night marked the first meeting of the year for the MTS Council and the third AGM for the MTSPA.  Thank you to everyone who attended these important and busy meetings.  Highlights of the School Council meeting included an introduction from our principal, Dr. Slater, who spoke about her interest in continuing to work with parents and staff to build a strong culture and community in our school.  We heard from two teachers, Mrs. Steedman and Mrs. Scott about some of the interesting work the grades 2 and 3 students have been doing in art and science.  During the Leadership Report, Dr. Slater and Mr. Murphy were able to provide an update regarding relocatables.  It is expected that work will begin in November to prepare the site on the west side of the school.  The relocatables should arrive after a few weeks and they are hoping to have them ready for students to occupy by mid February. 

As mentioned in previous emails and posts, this meeting also marked the end of the terms for many of the school council executive.  As such, voting took place to select the new executive.  Sherri M, the previous Chair, moves into the role of Immediate Past Chair.  We truly appreciate the hard work and dedication she has put into the role of Chair over the past two years and look forward to her continued support and guidance in her new role.  Sean T. has assumed the role of Chair for both the School Council and Parent Association and Tiffany V has taken the role of Vice Chair.  Tami A. is now officially in the role of Secretary after having helped in that position for the last few months.  Shauna will be our new Key Communicator and Nicole continues as the Volunteer Coordinator.  A second Volunteer Coordinator opportunity is available as this has traditionally been a co-coordinator role, so if you are interested, please email chair@mtsparents.com.

In the Parent Association meeting, there was some discussion about committees.  The yearbook will remain an ad hoc committee with Debi M and others involved.  There was unanimous interest in a Fun Lunch committee and Cheri S. agreed to take on the task of organizing a group of interested parents.  Please let us know if you would like to join this committee.  With respect to the Fundraising Committee, Amy C. was voted into the position of Fundraising Director as part of the executive of the Parent Association.  A goal of $9000 was set for fundraising activities this year and Amy and her committee will be looking at some ideas of how to achieve this goal.  If you would like to help on the fundraising committee, please let Amy know by emailing her at fundraising@mtsparents.com. 

Sherry T. provided the Treasurers' report and has accepted a second term as Treasurer for the Parent Association.  Amy and Sherry T updated us about SUTP sales, which continue until October 15th.  These funds are an important part of the PA's fundraising activities and parents' support is appreciated. 

Stuart G. accepted the position of Casino Director for the Parent Association.  He has been diligently working towards the casino for the last few months and thanked all of the volunteers who have agreed to help in November.  There are a few more positions to be filled, so stay tuned for further information.  Funds earned from casino are anticipated to be received sometime in February, and we will expect to start to have discussions around spending over the next few months.

Finally, Sean provided a playground update.  With the surplus monies from the playground build, 3 toss and score sets were ordered last week and will hopefully be installed before the snow flies.  We look forward to this addition to the outdoor space for the students.

The next meetings of the School Council and Parent Association will be on October 24th, beginning at 6:30 pm.  Look for further information, including agendas for these meetings prior to that date.  We hope to see you there!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Reminder - MTSC/MTSPA Meetings

A reminder that Monday night is our first meeting of the year for the MTS School Council and the AGM for the Parent Association.  The Council meeting begins at 6:30 pm in the school staffroom, with the PA meeting immediately following.  Elections will be held for most of the executive of the Council and PA at these meetings.

We have had a volunteer put their name forward for the position of Fundraising Director, however the roles of Key Communicator and a second Volunteer Coordinator have not yet had any interest.  If you are interested in these or any of the positions on the executive, please email chair@mtsparents.com.  Speaking as the current Key Communicator, I can tell you that this role is a great opportunity to learn about the CBE, our school and the education system in general.  It's also a great way to meet other parents and get to know your school community.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible tomorrow night!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Student Union Ticket Paks

A message from our Treasurer about the SUTP fundraiser.

Welcome back to school!!  Order forms have gone home for students to begin selling the Student Union Ticket Paks (SUTP books) and additional forms can be found by clicking the link on the left of the mtsparents.com website.  The books will sell for $20/bk with $10 staying with the Parent Association to be able to provide resources and activities for the students throughout the year. The books will be for sale until October 15, 2011.  An incentive to get your students to sell the books is that for every book they sell, they will have their name entered into a draw for a WII gaming system.

We are looking for any volunteers who can come into the school to assist us in processing the orders. Our goal is to process the orders Monday’s and Wednesday’s and shouldn’t take any longer than a couple of hours.  Amy C. has volunteered to oversee the process, but we would like to have 1-2 additional volunteers for each day to be able to get the sales processed.  There is no commitment to commit every day, if you can do one day, or three days we would welcome you. Times will run from 8:30 until around 10:30 each day, dependant on how many orders have been received to process.

If you can volunteer for any of the days above between September 19 and October 19, please respond to Amy at amycare1@gmail.com.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Important - Casino Information

The McKenzie Towne School Parents Association will be holding its first fundraising Casino on November 15th and 16th, 2011 at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino.  Proceeds from the event will be used to enhance the educational experience of all the children at McKenzie Towne School and is a great way to meet & socialise with other members of the community. 

We are eligible to hold casinos only once every two years and have the potential to raise in excess of $60,000 over the two days.  This casino is a critical fundraiser for our school, as it allows the Parent Association to fund a wide variety of items, such as field trips, books, programs, technology etc.

In addition to the general volunteers necessary for the casino, we have an urgent need to fill the remaining key positions, including General Manager, Cashier, Banker and Count Room Supervisor.  These positions must be filled before September 15th in order for the casino to proceed.  Volunteering is easy and fun.  Training will be supplied for all positions and advisors will be there to help us throughout.  There are two shifts per day 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM & 6:30 PM – CLOSE (around 2:30 AM).  The Count Room Supervisor has only one shift per day, which is 10:00 PM - CLOSE (around 3:00 AM).  You can find further information about the key positions by following this link.

If you can help or need more information, please contact Stuart Gannon (Casino Director) stuart.gannon@synovate.com or stuartchristine@hotmail.com (403) 680-8232 directly.  If you are able to volunteer for one of the key positions, please complete the volunteer form at this link and send it back to school with your child or by email it to Stuart by Monday September 12th.