Seventh Annual Kite Festival

Another successful kite festival at Canamera Park / Clemens Mill PS! Thanks to all the kids, adults and families who participated in this fun event!

No more sweating in school portables

By Lisa Rutledge, Cambridge Times
Apr 23, 2009

here’s finally a light at the end of the tunnel for kids sweating it out in hot portables. And there will be a cool breeze, too.
After six years of debate whether to install air conditioners in portables, the Waterloo Region District School Board is committing $1.2 million over five years to install air conditioners in 226 portables. There are 303 in total and 77 are already equipped with the cooling devices. The decision was made during Monday night’s school board meeting.

Cambridge trustee Cindy Watson has championed the cause for years and was growing frustrated with makeshift solutions, like moving portables to shadier spots and using night cooling methods. She said she was armed with arguments for Monday night’s meeting, ready to defend the bid yet again.

And then the district’s acting facilities controller Ian Gaudet recommended moving forward and faster to ensure students and teachers are comfortable.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” she said. “It’s taken six years, but it was well worth it.”

She recalls the many delegations, calls and letters from parents and teachers complaining about the effects of spending days in overheated and humid portables. Many have reported suffering headaches, fatigue and nausea, and in some cases, fainting from heat exhaustion.

“Some of the stories are just heartbreaking,” said Watson.

There were also complaints that loudly buzzing fans caused children to be distracted and sleepy, and made it hard to hear the teacher. On the hottest days, many schools gave teachers authority to leave their portables and find relief from the heat in school libraries, hallways or available classrooms.

There’s no other choice but to commit to air conditioning portables, maintains Watson, because they’re a fact of life in school districts.

“It’s something we have to live with.”

Parent Karolyn Moore, who made a presentation to trustees Monday to persuade the board to install air conditioners, was ecstatic to hear the verdict. And even though Saginaw Public School –where her daughter attends Grade 4 –won’t see them installed right away, she’s happy the plan is moving forward.

“Just knowing that it’s coming and students are going to get some relief, it’s worth it,” she said. “It’s long overdue.”

Moore was inspired to join the school’s parent council to help lobby to make portables better environments for students and teachers. She shared some of her school’s experiences with trustees. She said during the worst days, daily lessons were overshadowed by trying to find ways to keep cool.

“The focus of the day was to escape the heat,” she commented, noting that kids sometimes brought water spray bottles to cool themselves. “I just didn’t feel it was an environment that was conducive to learning.”

The board’s original five-year plan to install air conditions was revised after trustees suggested that younger students needed to be a higher priority.

Minutes from March 2009 Council Meeting

Meeting Start: 7:00 PM
Meeting Close: 8:00 PM
Attendees: Richard Marcil, Roger Boettcher, Ozzie Ahmed, Kimberly Namespetra-Sullivan, Donna White, Elizabeth Ney, Jo-Anne Hennig, Lisa Hooper;

Budget Update:

• Richard informed the Council that we will be receiving a Parent Involvement Grant of $500.00 that will be used toward the cost of the BBQ.
• No cheque for GST playground carryover has been received to date by the Council or the school.
• Richard’s idea for alternate special lunch days was given the green light by Roger for Thursday, May 14, 2009. Richard will talk to Lunch Lady about possible menu ideas.
• Roger let the Council know that the purchase of a Dolphin Mascot will be pushed to the next school year.
• Roger will continue to look into the installation of a projector screen in the gymnasium, as this will be wonderful for the Grade 8 Graduation presentation.

School Choir Funding:

• Council agreed to donate $1000.00 to the School Choir in order to alleviate some of the cost of attending the Trills and Thrills Competition trip to Canada’s Wonderland. Council has requested that we receive a short write-up reference the logistics of the trip, as well as a quarter page write-up for the Dolphin newsletter.

Volunteer Survey:

• Library Aide, Zehrs Tape Program, Milk Program, Tuck Shop, Educational Seminars/Workshops, Magazine Fundraiser Volunteer were retained on the survey, while Special Lunch Aide, Parent Volunteer for French, Parent Volunteer for English, and Move-a-Thon Volunteers were taken off the survey. A volunteer request for Treasures Books and the School BBQ will be added.
• Under the ‘Community Events’ heading, Christmas Adopt a Family Program was dropped as the students and teachers managed this on their own this year. The Terry Fox Run and Jump Rope for Heart volunteer requests were retained and volunteers for the Skating Races were added.

BBQ Planning:

• The School BBQ will take place on June 17, 2009.
• Steve will be taking care of ensuring we have a permit from the City of Cambridge.
• Lisa has booked the BBQs, chafing dishes, extra tins at the same price as last year. She also booked the field (Junior Field), and Dominoes Pizza who will bring an extra person and canopy.
• Last year the water and chips were purchased from Sam’s Club. Richard suggested looking into a deal with the new Metro Store.
• Donna is waiting on a reply from ‘The Beat’ regarding having the radio station attend the BBQ for entertainment.

Parent Seminars:

• End April 2009 is the suggested timing for a Parent Seminar to be conducted in the School Library.
• ‘Building Character, Building Self-Esteem’ was chosen by the Council as a topic for the evening.
• We are expecting approximately 40 people based on last year’s numbers, however, Richard would like to use some of the extra money budgeted for the night to advertise the event really well.

School Update:

• Humane Society Food Drive currently taking place for Kindergarten to Grade 8.
• Report Cards will be distributed on March 30, 2009.
• Grade 7/8 vaccinations for Hepatitis B2 and HPV 3 will be administered by the Health Unit on March 31, 2009.
• April 3, 2009 is a Professional Activity Day; teachers will be involved in Parent-Teacher Conferences during the morning, and Roger will facilitate a workshop in the afternoon on Equity and Inclusion.
• The Grade 8s will attend the Youth Symposium on April 16, 2009.
• Roger informed the Council that the school is expected to have declining numbers from the current 770 students to a projected 735 students in September 2009. This may mean that there will be one less class next school year, however until the teacher contract negotiations are completed things are still up in the air, as planning time changes will affect period lengths.
• OFIP Update – 85 occasional teacher days were gained by the school through this program in order that teachers have the opportunity to work through the model ‘Teaching/Learning Critical Pathways’ as divisions.

Other:

• Council asked about locking the new gate now that there is no need to plow snow. Roger will look into when this will happen.
• Council Members raised the issue of the Grade 8 transition to Grade 9 particularly in Mathematics as some parents and former Clemens Mill students have experienced great difficulty in this subject with respect to the curriculum. Roger is currently setting up meetings between Intermediate Teachers and Math Teachers at Preston High School to start to try to address this issue, as it has been noted by teachers and principals across the School Board; he will keep the Council updated.

AMBER ALERT: Victoria Stafford

April Council Meeting Agenda

When: April 15, 2009
Where: Art Room
Time: 7:00-8:00 PM


Agenda:
1. Budget update – Ozzie (10 minutes)
2. Turn Off TV week - Eliz/All (10 minutes)l
3. BBQ planning – All (15 minutes)
4. Parent seminar promotion - All (5 minutes)
5. School update – Roger/Alison (10 minutes)
6. Other – All (5 minutes)

SOS: Save Our Subscriptions!

This fall, Clemens Mill P.S. will again be providing an opportunity to renew existing magazine subscriptions and buy new ones. Please disregard all publishers renewal notices you might receive and renew through our school.

37% of the cost of each subscription will stay right here at Clemens Mill, which directly benefit the students and the school – as it did this year.

Thanks for your continued support!

Seminar for Parents: Build Character, Build Self Esteem

Mark your calendars: Tuesday April 28th

Nothing is more important to a child's future than his/her own sense of self-worth. This workshop, tailored to Clemens Mill PS, will show parents how to be more conscious of the subtle (and not so subtle) ways they affect their child’s self-esteem. Learn realistic, practiced and proven techniques for giving your child control over his or her life.

This valuable workshop will cover areas such as "What is Self Esteem?". Deb Dejong, a veteran family and community speaker, will also assist parents recognize the signs of low self-esteem and how to help their children build character and self-esteem.

Date: Tuesday April 28th
Time: 7:00 to 9:00PM
Place: Clemens Mill PS Library

Block Parent April tip

The Waterloo Regional Block Parent® Program wants to remind all parents not to label your kids’ clothing or school bags with their names in plain view. Kids might not be as cautious if a stranger calls them by their name.