Lord Kitchener Elementary School PAC

New School Outdoor Spaces

heatherbenna — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:11:05 +0000

We are pleased to announce the information sessions Tuesday were well attended and feedback informative. We have some work ahead. Our children will enjoy wonderful outdoor classroom/learning areas and if the deadlines and financial commitments are met, also a covered play area. Input is necessary so please view the Seismic committee information on the website and catch up with what’s been going on…. there are a lot of design possibilities and fundraising will be necessary if we are to realize the goal of a covered play area. Specifically, email feedback about the following four questions to heatherbenna@gmail.com
1. Is a covered play area important?
2. What uses do parents envision for the covered play area (games/sport, etc.)?
3. What is your preference for design direction (large/small/wood/steel, etc.)?
4. Are you willing to help fundraise?

Thank you to the many volunteers who have committed significant time and energy to making Lord Kitchener such a wonderful community to be part of. An individual with a great desire to lead the fundraising campaign is required to co-ordinate and lead the many volunteers willing to work on this campaign. If you are so inclined to lead this crew or to reply with feedback or make any inquiries please contact heatherbenna@gmail.com

The discussions continue and we’ll meet again Wednesday March 7 at our PAC meeting in the library at 7pm.
Please mark your calendar and make plans to attend.

Spirit Wear Store Now Open!

lauriedavidson — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:50:34 +0000

The Spirit Wear store is now open! Please visit us to make your spirit wear purchases to help support Kitchener!

Undercover Play Area - Information Sessions Feb 21, 2012!

lauriedavidson — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:20:49 +0000

The PAC is undergoing investigation into the viability of an undercover play area in conjunction with the new school. The undercover play area will require fundraising by the PAC from parents and the community. The attached presentation was delivered by the Seismic Committee at the PAC meeting on Wednesday Feb 1, 2012.

Mark your calendar for TUESDAY FEB 21. PAC is hosting two INFORMATION SESSIONS to inform and acquire feedback on the new school outdoor spaces. Plan to attend from 2-3pm in the staff room or 6:30-8 pm in the library.

Specifically, there will be an opportunity for you to view potential plans for a COVERED PLAY AREA (budget and timeline sensitive). The Seismic Team has been working for years to influence the outcome of the school building project and their efforts are appreciated. When the seismic upgrade at Lord Kitchener began, we conducted a survey and the results strongly indicated that a covered play area is a top priority for parents. This will not be funded by the Ministry of Education, so if we are going to pursue a covered play area we must take the responsibility and initiative to make it happen. Many of the families at Kitchener have not been here for the history and it is imperative that we communicate the concept and determine if this is still a top priority. There are permit deadlines and public consultation considerations that need to be made in a timely manner in order to co-ordinate with the contractor. We have been informed that funding needs to be in place by June 2012 in order for our permit process to mesh with the builder. We (parents) can not leave the outcome to a few…this project requires the participation and commitment of many. Join the discussion Feb 21 from either 2-3 pm or 6:30-8pm.

T-shirts for Pink Day (Anti-Bullying Day), Feb 29, 2012

lauriedavidson — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:55:54 +0000

Pink Shirts for Anti-Bullying Day can be ordered from the Spirit Wear Team for $10 each. Place your order before February 16th! Forms were sent home with your children — you can place the completed form and money outside of the office in the envelope labeled “Pink Day Shirts”. Below is a picture of these awesome t-shirts!

Construction Continues!

lauriedavidson — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:40:05 +0000

A big day for our new school. The biggest slab on grade pour was completed today, in perfect conditions.

Hot Lunch Ordering for Jan - June 2012!

heatherbenna — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:41:45 +0000

Before your Christmas rush starts, please take some time to plan your hot lunch orders for 2012. Our first lunch, pasta, is on our first Friday back- January 6, 2012, so you’ll need to order before the New Year starts. There are eight more hot lunch dates planned for the rest of the school year! Orders will be accepted up until the evening of Friday December 16, 2011. You can pay by credit card or PayPal (as well as the usual cheques).

ORDER NOW!

Upcoming dates are:

PASTA - Jan 6, March 2, June 1
PIZZA - Jan 20, April 13
HOT DOG - Feb 10, May 11
SUSHI - Feb 24, May 25

DEC PAC MEETING

heatherbenna — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:30:04 +0000

PAC meeting Dec 7 is Cancelled due to the String Evening Concert being held at Queen Elizabeth School.
We are anticipating a great turn out for the annual Carol & Craft Night Dec 13 from 6-9 pm. Sign up outside the office to volunteer for set up and hot chocolate service.

The next PAC Meeting will be in the New Year — on Jan 11th.

PAC Update

heatherbenna — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:13:28 +0000

Our PAC meeting Nov 2 was well attended and covered many topics. Minutes will be posted soon but just to update you; the Sustainability committee is seeking more participants to share ideas and make plans, Spirit Wear is available online now, the Seismic committee is seeking input from parents about the proposed under cover play area we hope to incorporate into our new school grounds (fund raising will be required). In addition we decided to share some of the profits from the super successful Book Fair with our sister school, we approved the “Wish List” and we are planning a fun filled Holiday Craft and Carolling event for Dec 13th from 6-9pm. For more information on any of these items please contact heatherbenna@gmail.com

Spirit Wear is Coming Soon!

admin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:50:09 +0000

The Spirit Wear Team went to great effort to produce a fresh new logo, which many people think is a terrific design. Being a democratic community we took it to a vote and the new Spirit Wear Logo was introduced and received much fan fare! The students and teachers voted on their preferred logo and the outcome was in favour of our Traditional Logo.

PAC will meet in January to make plans to re-open the online store - so make plans to get your Spirit Wear in the New Year.

Destination Imagination (DI) — We need parent volunteers!

admin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:58:49 +0000

Destination Imagination at Kitchener

Destination Imagination is a program that allows students to develop creativity, teamwork and problem solving skills. Small groups of student work together to solve open-ended Challenges and present their solutions to their classmates. Experts around the world agree that a country’s ability to innovate will be one of the key determinants of success in the 21st century economy. Being a world-class problem solver and innovator is going to help future generations of kids achieve success.

Kitchener has a long history of DI. We have an active, established DI program in grades 1 to 4 with some participating grade 5 classes. This year we are going to be supporting the start-up of DI in the Kindergarten level with the Rising Star program. Parents support teachers in offering the DI programs in the classrooms. Parents work with the teachers to schedule the time for DI, coordinate the supplies and run the sessions. This year we are also hoping to re-start the DI Club with the goal to compete at area and regional competitions. In the past Lord Kitchener Elementary has won in competition at the Global DI level.

Classroom and DI Club Manuals

The 2012 DI Manuals and the Rising Stars Manuals (Junior DI for grade K to 2) will be arriving on Friday October 28th. Kitchener has 25 Rising Star teams and 30 Regular teams registered. Each kit comes with enough materials for 6 children (a team). The kits will be distributed to each division (K to G5 inclusive) in the beginning of November. There are additional materials and manuals available for grade 6 and 7 classes that are interested in regular or occasional DI in the classroom. The three categories that have been the most popular at Kitchener in the past are Structures, Improvisational. and Rising Stars. Some of the other categories are also exciting (Science, Technical, Fine Arts, Outreach) and some classes may venture out and try a new category this year!

Training Sessions

Training Sessions for classroom and club parents will be held on Tuesday November 8th and Thursday November 10th from 1 pm to 2:45. There will be an overview for the 2012 season along with hands on Challenges. Yes, parents get to do DI for the afternoon! These sessions are open to anyone interested in leading DI in a classroom or in the club forum. All past and new members welcome. Refreshments will be provided. The sessions will be held at 3375 West 26th Avenue. Please register at jesmart@telus.net and remember to indicate which date you wish to attend. Please also let us know if neither date works for you. A third session will be added if there is overwhelming interest, as in years past.

We are also making special arrangements to have a representative from DI BC come to give a presentation. This has been a very popular session in the past. The date of this presentation will be announced in the next few weeks.

We hope everyone has a great DI year!

Jean Smart, DI Chairman and Mary Jo Wagner, DI Vice Chairman