aguimarin https://www.nootkapac.com Wed, 24 Jun 2020 03:36:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8 https://i0.wp.com/www.nootkapac.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/cropped-nootkapacicon.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 aguimarin https://www.nootkapac.com 32 32 142215990 End of School Year Message https://www.nootkapac.com/2020/06/24/end-of-school-year-message/ Wed, 24 Jun 2020 02:58:13 +0000 http://www.nootkapac.com/?p=638

Hello Nootka Families,

The last half of the 2019-2020 school year has been different and difficult. We’re not doing many of the things we used to do. We’re doing a lot of new things. And, we’re generally and honestly figuring it out as we go.

This relates not only to the new COVID-19 crisis, but also to the new attention drawn to the ongoing crisis of systemic racism across our society. Most of us are experiencing varying levels of anxiety, frustration and sadness due to these issues. We are also experiencing joy, beauty and hope.

I am writing this message to share with you some inspiring moments from these past few months, to inform you of some Nootka PAC updates, and to give thanks for your support of the Nootka community.

THANKS:

  • First, I would like to thank Grade 7 parent Karen for organizing grad gifts for all our Grade 7 students. Every year, Nootka PAC typically budgets around $500 for Grade 7 grad. These funds usually go towards an event for Grade 7s and their families. This was obviously not possible this year, but Karen came through and secured gift cards from a local ice cream shop to be distributed to all Grade 7s with their report cards. Thank you Karen and thank you Grade 7s for enduring the end of your time at Nootka in a way that most certainly did not align your expectations.
  • Next, I would like to thank our teachers and staff for all the emotional, mental and physical labour they have put into keeping school going. School is not just a place. School is a central component of our families’ lives, and Nootka teachers and staff have done so much to ensure that support is still there for us. Thank you Nootka teachers and staff for your love for our community.
  • And, finally, I would like us Nootka families to thank ourselves. Our children need us. They need us as parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, caregivers, neighbours, friends. So, let’s be kind to ourselves. Let’s recognize that this has been and will continue to be a rough journey. And let’s draw inspiration from these recent challenges to continue to support our children and each other in our efforts to make the world a safer place for everyone.

UPDATES:

While we have been away from our regular school functions, Nootka PAC has been operating very minimally as most families have been preoccupied with just keeping things together. However, we do have a few updates:

  • Spring Flower Fundraiser: The spring flower fundraiser brought in $500 which was then redistributed as 10 $50 gift cards to Nootka families in need during the COVID-19 crisis.
  • Emergency Supply Bin and Stream Painting: The side of the emergency supply bin on the Nootka playground that had been deteriorating has been painted with the Nootka logo and the stream painted on the asphalt that was paved over during playground maintenance will be fixed.
  • Tech: Nootka PAC voted to allocate $10,000 from our legacy funds to procure 15 desktop computers to supplement our tech lab. The original plan was to have the computers ready at the beginning of the new school year. However, due to the inability to foresee if the tech lab will be able to operate in the new school year, we are putting this plan on hold. The funds will remain allocated for these purposes, but the request for VSB to procure the computers will not be put forth at this time and the plan will be revisited in the new school year.

INSPIRING MOMENTS:

Aside from the above mentioned items, I have also been inspired by our teachers and staff commitment to social issues education and would like to pass on a few items related to that.

I have selected these because they are accessible for both kids and adults and I recommend watching them together with your family. The content is heavy, but critical.

  • Afraid of Coronavirus? OK, but don’t be racist from Al Jazeera
  • The Roots of Racism from Indigenous Youth Wellness
  • White privilege, systemic racism explained from CBC Kids News

Thank you once again to all the Nootka families, teachers and staff for making school and home a special place for us all. Take care and enjoy your summer!

<3

Amelia Guimarin

Nootka PAC Chair

]]> 638 Call for Volunteers! https://www.nootkapac.com/2018/11/07/call-for-volunteers/ Wed, 07 Nov 2018 20:05:17 +0000 http://www.nootkapac.com/?p=412 Hello Nootka Families! We need some help! We are looking for a volunteer coordinator as well as some help with specific initiatives.

The volunteer coordinator would be responsible for putting out calls for volunteers when we have specific initiatives. Basically, sending emails when we need help. If you are interested in taking on this role, please email PAC Chair Amelia at nootkapac@gmail.com.
As for the specific initiatives we need help with right now, they are:
Winter Dance
 
This will take place on Friday, January 18th and will be led by our Communications member Bonnie. We need several parents to help advertise the event (work with kids to make posters), set up the gym (hang decorations, set up lights), and work concessions (popcorn machine, juice boxes, water). If you are interested in helping with this, please email Bonnie at nootkanews@gmail.com.
School Programs
 
We are looking for one or more programs to provide to our students for this year and need one or more parents to help find and secure one or more programs for our students. This would require researching programs (cost, details, etc.), presenting that information to the PAC for discussion and decision, and then acting as the point of contact between the front office (Principal Liz Hayes-Brown and Administrative Assistant Patricia Rosselli) and the program organizations to schedule and perform their services.
We already have several ideas for programs, but we need help to get things moving. Some of the possible programs include:
Gymnastics:
Outdoor Education:
Swimming:
Art Starts:
If you are interested in helping out with organizing programs for our students, please email PAC Chair Amelia at nootkapac@gmail.com.

]]> 412 Order Spirit Wear Online Here! https://www.nootkapac.com/2018/10/24/order-spirit-wear-online-here/ Wed, 24 Oct 2018 22:37:43 +0000 http://www.nootkapac.com/?p=386 Hello Nootka Families! Are you ready to show your Nootka spirit?

We are pleased to announce that ordering for Nootka spirit wear is now live! Place your order online by Tuesday, November 6 or see Nancy in the front of the school next week for offline orders and to check sizes and quality.
We have a variety of t-shirts and sweatshirts featuring our Nootka colours and logo available in child and adult sizes.
Child t-shirts are $11 and Adults are $12
Child zip-up hoodies are $28 and Adults are $30
Child pull-over hoodies are $26 and Adults are $28
Shirts are screen print with the Nootka logo and we also have the option to add an embroidered name to the sleeve of the sweatshirts for $7.
To order online, please visit https://realhipclothing.com/collections/nootka-elementary and select the style of shirt you are interested in to see available colour and size options. Orders due by Tuesday, November 6.
To check sizing or place an order offline, please come see Nancy at the front of the school at drop off or pick up. She will take care of offline orders and will have sample shirts available to check size and quality.
Yay Nootka! Get some shirts and show your spirit!

]]> 386 School Spirit Wear https://www.nootkapac.com/2018/10/13/school-spirit-wear/ Sat, 13 Oct 2018 19:24:18 +0000 http://www.nootkapac.com/?p=369 We are going to be offering school spirit t-shirts and sweatshirts. This is not a fundraiser, but simply a way for students, teachers, staff, family and friends to show their Nootka pride. T-shirts will cost about $10 and sweatshirts will cost about $25-30 for child and adult sizes. More details and ordering information coming soon. See below for mock-ups of the styles we will offer…

]]> 369 September-October PAC Updates https://www.nootkapac.com/2018/10/13/september-october-pac-updates/ Sat, 13 Oct 2018 19:15:45 +0000 http://www.nootkapac.com/?p=366 Back-to-School Fundraiser

Our Back-to-School Fundraiser has been a huge success! Thank you all so much for all of your contributions! We raised $3,000 in the first month and have received an additional $1,000 since we sent out reminders for donations last week!

We also received $1,500 more than expected from our Community Gaming Grant! With this money and our other (low-pressure) fundraisers – coffee sales and Purdy’s holiday chocolates – we should meet our fundraising goals for this year!

Lastly, regarding tax receipts… Due to newly communicated guidelines regarding Vancouver School Board policy, we are not able to issue tax receipts for PAC donations. This information was communicated to us after we had already sent home requests for donations. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.
School Requests
Our Principal, Liz Hayes-Brown, has collected requests from the teachers and staff and these include:
– lamps
– projector
– portable bluetooth speaker
– sports equipment
– Kindergarten centres
– Library funds
– iPads
Liz also informed the PAC that the VSB will no longer be offering support for Mac products and we will need to replace our Mac computers in the computer lab (and possibly some in the library) with PCs.
At the October PAC Meeting, we discussed how to help the school with these requests and made the following determinations (see Budget section below for more details):
– For sports equipment, Liz and several teachers will go through what we currently have and specifically identify what is needed, then we can determine what the school can provide and what the PAC can provide (see Sports in Budget section below).
– For iPads, since the VSB is no longer supporting Mac products, Liz and the teachers will determine in iPads are needed or if non-Mac tablets will work, then we can determine what the school can provide and what the PAC can provide (see below re: computers).
– For Library funds, the PAC will continue to fund the library ($1500) as they have in the past.
– For Kindergarten centres, the PAC will continue to fund the Kindergarten centres ($900 – $300 per Kindergarten classroom) as they have in the past and Liz and the Kindergarten teachers will determine how best to divide the total funds (some of the Kindergarten classrooms need more than others).
– For other items (lamps, projector, speaker), the PAC will begin by clearing out the PAC storage closet (see PAC Storage section below for more details) and donate any unused items to the teachers, then we can determine what the school can provide and what the PAC can provide.
– For the computers, we will determine how much, if anything, the VSB will fund to replace the computers, and the school will take responsibility for some items the PAC had originally agreed to fund (Guided Reading and art supplies) so that those funds can be diverted to technology to help cover the cost of computers (and iPads/tablets, see above re: iPads). We will also look into trading/selling the Mac computers to recoup some of the costs for new computers/iPads/tablets.
 Budget
At the October PAC Meeting, we voted on our 2018-2019 budget. The approved items are as follows:
– Technology: $6,600 (Originally $1,500, increased by $3,600 diverted from Guided Reading and $1,500 diverted from art supplies, both to be covered by the school)
– Classroom funds: $5,750 ($250 per classroom, matching what is provided by the school, same as last year)
– Music: $500 (same as last year)
– Fieldtrips: $4050 ($10 per student, dispersed from Community Gaming Grant, same as last year)
– Compass cards: $180 (30 cards x $6/card, for fieldtrips)
– Performances: $2,000 (same as last year)
– Library: $1,500 (same as last year)
– Academy of Math: $500 (teachers often end up getting a grant to cover this, but if not, the PAC will fund it, same as last year)
– Cultural Events: $400
– Kindergarten centres: $900 ($300 per classroom, this year to be split as determined by teachers, same as last year)
– Science Alive: $600 (same as last year)
– Sports: $2,000 (some of this may be used to cover the sports equipment requested by teachers)
– Staff appreciation: $500 (raised from $100 last year, because it never seems like enough to provide a nice end-of-year event for the teachers and staff)
We are also looking into getting more lunch tables and repainting the emergency storage bin and will add these items to the budget if needed.
School Spirit Wear
We are going to be offering school spirit t-shirts and sweatshirts. Nancy is organizing this program. This is not a fundraiser, but simply a way for students, teachers, staff, family and friends to show their Nootka pride. T-shirts will cost about $10 and sweatshirts will cost about $25-30 for child and adult sizes and there will be several styles to choose from.
Holiday Dance
We decided to host a Holiday Dance instead of a Halloween Dance because the school has received a request to film in the gym over the Halloween weekend and because we did not have any volunteers to organize the dance. Bonnie is going to organize this dance and any other volunteers are greatly appreciated. Please contact nootkapac@gmail.com if you would like to help with this dance.
PAC Storage
The PAC storage closet was cleared out by Amelia & Bonnie and all unused items were donated to the school. A lot of prizes went to the We Care program and lots of arts and craft supplies, some lamps, a large box of books and a few soccer balls were distributed to the school and teachers as well. We also donated 3 industrial size pots, a coffee maker and some expired juice boxes to the Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House and Vancouver Food Bank.
PAC Meetings
At the September PAC Meeting we voted to hold meetings on the first Monday of every month from 9:15 am to 10:00 am.

 

]]> 366 Back-to-School Fundraiser Update https://www.nootkapac.com/2018/10/01/back-to-school-fundraiser-update/ Mon, 01 Oct 2018 19:08:24 +0000 http://www.nootkapac.com/?p=349

Wow! Nootka families, you are amazing! We just took our first tally of funds and we have already raised $3,000 in this year’s Back-to-School Fundraiser! We also just received this year’s BC Community Gaming Grant and it was more than expected!

With these combined funds, we are now only $5,500 away from our $10,000 goal! This is awesome! And we need to keep the momentum going!

We’ll be sending home another fundraiser flyer this week. If you have already donated yourself, please consider giving a bit more or reaching out to your broader networks for donations. If you have not already donated yourself, please consider giving what you can or reaching out to others to help contribute. And, as always, donations are accepted online at any time via PayPal – www.nootkapac.com/donate. We truly appreciate every donation and it all goes directly towards helping our students and school!

And, finally, we need to address an issue regarding tax receipts. Unfortunately, due to newly communicated guidelines regarding Vancouver School Board policy, we are not able to issue tax receipts for PAC donations. This information was communicated to us after we had already sent home requests for donations. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes.

We hope everyone is having a great start to this school year and we have some exciting things in store for our future, including school spirit sweatshirts and t-shirts and a holiday family dance!

Stay tuned for updates and check back here for more info!

]]> 349 Next PAC Meeting – Monday, October 1 – 9:15-10 am https://www.nootkapac.com/2018/09/24/next-pac-meeting-monday-october-1-915-10am/ Mon, 24 Sep 2018 19:50:38 +0000 http://www.nootkapac.com/?p=341 Next PAC Meeting

Monday, October 1st

9:15 – 10 am

Nootka Staff Room

AGENDA:

  • Back-to-School Fundraiser Update
  • School Funding Request & Vote
  • School Spirit Gear (sweatshirts, toques, etc.)
  • Halloween Dance (we need a volunteer to take this on!)

PLUS!

Win a pair of White Spot Legendary Meal gift certificates!

Every attendee will be entered to win 2 coupons for a free meal at White Spot.

]]> 341 2018-2019 Back-to-School Fundraiser https://www.nootkapac.com/2018/09/20/2018-2019-back-to-school-fundraiser/ Thu, 20 Sep 2018 01:55:47 +0000 http://www.nootkapac.com/?p=315

We are so happy to have you with us and we’re looking forward to another eventful year for Nootka School!

As you may know, the Nootka Parent Advisory Council (PAC) engages in fundraising efforts in order to cover the costs of curricular and extracurricular activities (classroom supplies, field trips, physical education, etc.).

In order to meet our funding needs, we have decided to implement a annual back-to-school fundraiser. This will help us to continue to provide the services we have all come to expect while also avoiding other time-consuming, energy-draining and (let’s be honest) annoying fundraising efforts.

In order to maintain our current level of programs, we need to raise $10,000. In order to meet this goal, we are asking families to donate $25 per student.

If you cannot give the requested $25 per student, please consider donating a smaller amount. If you can give more than $25 per student, please consider donating a larger amount.

Donations are accepted online, by cheque payable to Nootka PAC or by cash (cheque and cash donations can be directed to Nootka PAC via your child’s teacher and/or the front office). If you wish to receive a tax receipt for your donation (minimum $25), please leave your information with the front office staff or email nootkapac@gmail.com.

Also, because Nootka PAC is run completely by volunteers, we are asking that any interested parents (or grandparents, etc.), please sign up to help with organization of events and programs. If you are interested in volunteering, please email nootkapac@gmail.com.

 

]]> 315 Next PAC Meeting – Monday, September 10 – 9:15-10 am https://www.nootkapac.com/2018/09/05/next-pac-meeting-monday-september-10-915-10-am/ Wed, 05 Sep 2018 17:41:57 +0000 http://www.nootkapac.com/?p=317

Next PAC Meeting

Monday, September 10th
9:15 – 10 am
Nootka Staff Room

AGENDA:

  • Vote for PAC Chair
  • Back-to-School Fundraiser

]]> 317 Sports Day https://www.nootkapac.com/2018/06/11/sports-day/ Mon, 11 Jun 2018 23:36:42 +0000 http://www.nootkapac.com/?p=288 Nootka Elementary Sports Day is coming up! On Friday, June 15, our students will be participating in a variety of activities including a tug’o’war contest! The day will start at 9 am and conclude at 2 pm. Parents are welcome to pick students up at 2 pm or the regular dismissal time of 3 pm.

This year’s theme is Tropical Beach Party and all families are welcome to attend the event to volunteer and/or enjoy the activities!

A special hot lunch will be available for pre-purchase (order deadline June 11, forms in front office!) and soft serve ice cream from Serendipity (special thanks to PAC volunteer Tara Agate!) will be served!

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