Lambton-Kingsway Junior Middle School

Par ent Coun cil Year-End News let ter

June 2013

Look ing back at the 2013 school year, the Par ent Com mu nity of Lambton-Kings way Ju nior Mid dle School con tin ued an im -

pres sive track re cord of out stand ing sup port to our stu dents, staff and the com mu nity. That does n’t hap pen by ac ci dent,

the qual ity of our school is the re sult of the ded i ca tion and hard work by our out stand ing teach ers, ad min is tra tion and our

in cred i bly en gaged par ent body.

In this an nual re port, you’ll find an im pres sive sum mary of ac tiv i ties that our Par ent Coun cil have driven for ward in the last

year. This speaks to how our school con sis tently works to en hance the ex pe ri ences and op por tu ni ties our chil dren re ceive

– both in and out of the class room. Our stu dents would n’t have ac cess to many of the things they do with out the ac tive

fund rais ing that hap pens through out the year. In ad di tion to cre at ing a strong sense of com mu nity, these fund rais ing ef -

forts by Par ent Coun cil are more crit i cal than ever given on go ing TDSB bud get cuts. These funds rep re sent an im por tant

sup ple ment to make pro grams and in vest ments hap pen. It’s no se cret that the an chor to be ing able to make all these ini -

tia tives hap pen is our fan tas tic vol un teer base. A huge thank you to all who vol un teered this year – you made a tre men -

dous im pact (and please keep it go ing!).

As you read the re port, I’d en cour age you to think of feed back and ideas so we can keep build ing and im prov ing for the

years ahead. An easy way to get in volved and share your thoughts is to at tend our first meet ing in Sep tem ber 2013. We’d

love to see you there! Thanks for a great year, and have a won der ful sum mer.

Nicole WengleChair, Lambton-Kings way Ju nior Mid dle School Par ent Council

LITERACY COMMITTEE

The Lit er acy Com mit tee helps to identify ways Par entCouncil can assist in enhancing literacy. This year LKSwas very for tu nate to have the fol low ing au thors comeand present their lat est works to our stu dents:• Ruhksana Khan

• Hugh Brewster

• Nathalie Vachon

• Su san Hughes

Ad di tion ally, two suc cess ful Scho las ticBook Fairs were held in De cem ber andJune, with $1500 worth of books be ing do -nated to our sis ter school, Sec ond StreetJu nior Mid dle School. Par ent Coun cil alsohelped with the For est of Read ing Pro gramthrough the pur chase of books, read ing in -cen tives, a vot ing break fast and a cel e bra tion lunch. Con grat u la tions to all stu dents whopar tic i pated in this pro gram! Par ent Coun cilwas also able to pro vide the funds to pur -chase four iPads for all ages to en joy in theli brary. And a big thank you from Ms.McGee tall par ents who give their time and

ef forts to all of our fan tas tic li brary experiences! Your helpis always appreciated.

Com mit tee Vol un teers: Sheryl Mac Don ald, Joan Dawsonand es pe cially Aileen McGregor, who helps out ev ery dayin the li brary.

Par ent Coun cil News let ter 2013 1

Au thor Nathalie Vachon vis its LKS.

MUSIC COMMITTEE

The Mu sic Com mit tee part ners with the LKS staff to identify ways that Par ent Council can assist in enhancing the musicprogram. This year Par ent Coun cil spon sored the Grade 6Jump Start Mu sic Camp in Sep tem ber. It was a huge suc -cess with 98% at ten dance. This mu sic camp, in one day,pro vides the same ben e fits as months of weekly in struc tion. Our Kiwanis Mu sic Fes ti val re sults show the ben e fits ofsuch a program:• Grade 7 Band – 3rd place, Sil ver (mark of 82)• Or ches tra (Grade 8 Band and Strings) – 3rd place,

Gold (mark of 86)• Grade 6 Band – 1st place, Best of Class and Plat i num

(mark of 93). In ad di tion, won a $300 schol ar ship fromthe fes ti val for their per for mance. They were in vited tothe Kiwanis Provincials, and we are await ing re sultsfrom our re cord ing ses sion en try.

Our plans for next year are sim i lar to thisyear – Grade 6 Jump Start Mu sic Camp,Kiwanis Mu sic Fes ti val, Christ mas andSpring con certs. And, a pro posal hasbeen put forth to Par ent Coun cil to pur -chase drums and other equip ment forbucket drum ming for Grades 1 to 8.

C o m m i t t e e Vo l u n t e e r : J o d yGreifenberger

PHYSICAL EDUCATIONCOMMITTEE

The Phys i cal Ed u ca tion Com mit teepartners with LKS staff to identify waysthat Par ent Counci l can ass is t inenhancing the physical educationprogram. This year Par ent Coun cil spon -sored the Aus sie X pro gram. The Aus -sie X is a pro gram that co mes into schools to teach Ca na -dian chil dren about Aus tra lian sports, which they may nothave had ex po sure to. This year the Grade 1–3’s took part in a three-day pro gram where they learned “net ball”, a vari a -tion of bas ket ball and Eu ro pean Hand ball. The Grade 4–8’s learned Aus sie Rules Foot ball, a vari a tion of foot ball andrugby. Both groups of stu dents learned the rules of thegame, the skills as so ci ated with the game as well as someAus tra lian vo cab u lary. The kids had a fan tas tic time andloved the Aus sie X pro gram. Par ent Coun cil also fundedsome of the bus sing re quired for var i ous sport ing eventsLKS teams par tic i pated in and pur chased a tent for studentson the field at these events.

Com mit tee Vol un teer: Allison Brady

RESOURCES COMMITTEE

The Re sources Com mit tee provides ad di tional resources tothe staff and students of LKS to extend their learning andschool experience re gard ing arts education.

This ac a demic year, Par ent Coun cil funded the:• Sci en tist-in-the-School pro gram in clud ing one visit for

ev ery class room from kin der gar ten to Grade 6;

• Art ists in the class room for JK/SK;• Clay Art ists in the class room for Grades 4 and 5;

• Ed u ca tional pre sen ta tion on cyber safety by ex pertChris Vollum pro vided for Grades 6 to 8 with an eve ning pre sen ta tion for all par ents.

Com mit tee Vol un teer: Corry Has lam

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

The Out reach Com mit tee works with LKS stu dents andfam i lies to con nect with our com mu nity in mean ing fulways. This school year, we or ga nized the Stonegate char i -ta ble bas ket drive at Christ mas and have added a cloth ingdrive “Pay it For ward” in sup port of our sis ter school, Sec -ond Street JMS. The Out reach Com mit tee also over seesand man ages the Lost & Found, en sur ing that as manyitems as pos si ble are re turned to their own ers, and thenwash ing and do nat ing un claimed items, as part of our cloth -ing drive. Out reach is re spon si ble for rep re sent ing the par -ents and stu dents in thank ing our won der ful teach ers eachyear, with a spe cial Teacher Ap pre ci a tion Lunch. Fi nally,Out reach vol un teers work to reg is ter new chil dren and their fam i lies for Ju nior Kin der gar ten, wel com ing them with a

2 Lambton-Kings way Ju nior Mid dle School

Thank you from Sec ond Street Ju nior Mid dle School.

smile, a treat and afree book. Pleasekeep us in mind nextyear, and considergetting involved inthis rewarding andi m p o r t a n t c o m -mittee.

Com mit tee Vol un -teers: Rebecca Saha,Nancy Dennison ,Allison Needham,Robin Thorsteinsonand Irene Pereira.

EDUCATION COMMITTEE

The Ed u ca tion Com mit tee partners with our principal,staff and parents to pro mote the safety and health ed u -ca tion of students, staff mem bers and par ents/care -givers. In the past, in for ma tion eve nings for par -ent/care givers have been held on top ics such asanx i ety, eat ing dis or ders and internet safety. Theseevents have been held to build aware ness and to ed u -cate our LKS com mu nity.

Com mit tee Vol un teers: This year there were no vol un teers for the Ed u ca tion Com mit tee and we hope to change thatfor our next school year.

ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE

The En vi ron ment Com mit tee part ners with LKS staffand stu dents in creating an eco-friendly schoolenvironment.

Com mit tee Vol un teers: This year there were no vol un -teers for the En vi ron ment Com mit tee. We al ready have vol un teers for next year and we look for ward to thegreat work this Com mit tee will do.

LIAISON WITH TDBS

The Li ai son with the TDSB com mit tee pro vides op -por tu ni ties to meet with Pub lic School trustee PamelaGough, par ents from schools within our dis trict andwith School Board Ad min is tra tion. This year, much ofthe fo cus has been on the im pact of the pro vin cial leg is -la tion Bill 115 but it also has been on the school board’s plan for im prov ing stu dent suc cess and bridg ing theachieve ment gap. Par ent en gage ment is cen tral to thisplan. This com mit tee is a won der ful op por tu nity to getin volved in ed u ca tion at a grass roots level while shar -ing that in for ma tion with the LKS par ent com mu nity.

Com mit tee Vol un teer: Nancy Pitts

GRADUATION

The Grad Com mit tee is re spon si ble for or ches trat ing the grad u -a tion cel e bra tion and dance for all Grade 8 stu dents. This in -cludes or ga niz ing the food, mu sic and dec o ra tions for the party.It also in cludes dec o rat ing the gym where the cer e mony is heldand pro vid ing re fresh ments and snacks for the guests of the cer -e mony. This com mit tee also or ders the grad wear (hoodies thisyear) for the stu dents, dec o rat ing the dis play case for the eventand de sign ing and pro duc ing the Grade 8 year book. This year’sgrad u a tion was held on Fri day, June 14.

Com mit tee Vol un teers: Jane Tay lor, Jill Tyn dall, Sandy Halim,Barb Karabin, Ka ren Miller, Annabel Strick land, Mar shaMcFadgen, Cindy Barkway, Allison Brady, Dianne Quin tal andTracy Krane.

GRADE PARENTS

A huge thank you goes out to the 63 par ent vol un teers who of -fered their time to be Grade Par ents this year. Thank you for re -cruit ing vol un teers, pull ing to gether vol un teer sched ules, mak -ing class con tact lists, plan ning par ties, pur chas ing teachergifts, or ga niz ing Springfest Si lent Auc tion do na tions, stuff ingFri day fold ers and book bags and all the other things you do tomake our chil dren’s classes run more smoothly. By work ing to -gether, these vol un teers have helped en hance and en rich the ed -u ca tion of the stu dents at LKS.

Co-ordinator: Ka ren Miller

OTHER PARENT COUNCIL–FUNDEDPROGRAMS/CONTRIBUTIONS

Lego Ro bot ics Club: The LKS Lego Ro bot ics Club is open tostu dents in Grades 4–8, and runs once each week dur ing theschool year. Stu dents learn how to build func tion ing ro botsfrom Lego NXT Ro bot ics kits, pro gram them us ing com putersoft ware, and solve com plex chal lenges in teams us ing prob lemsolv ing, math e mat ics, team work and crit i cal think ing. In com -pe ti tion, stu dents are ad di tion ally chal lenged to give oral pre -sen ta tions, as well as come up with so lu tions to real-world is -sues, such as di sas ter re lief and en vi ron men tal is sues. We hopeto se lect a team to par tic i pate in sanc tioned Lego Roboticscompetitions within the GTA next year.

Spe cial Ed u ca tion: Par ent Coun cil funded the pur chase of twoiPads and a MacBook Pro for the Spe cial Ed u ca tion De part -ment.

School Awards: Par ent Coun cil pro vided $1000 to fund schoolawards (e.g., plaques, tro phies, winits).

Class room SMART Boards: Par ent Coun cil pro vided$24,000 for the pur chase of eight SMART Boards and the re -quired tech nol ogy to op er ate them.

Par ent Coun cil News let ter 2013 3

FUNDRAISING COMMITTEES

LKS So cial – Lite

This com mit tee plans a par ent so cial event for theLKS par ents. Our goal is to raise money for ourschool and to have fun while do ing it. It’s al ways a won der ful eve ning out and gives the par ents anop por tu nity to meet other par ents and to so cial izewith some of our teach ers. This year’s event LKSSo cial – Lite was held on Fri day, May 19th atEarth Res tau rant. There was DJ mu sic, danc ing,de li cious hors d’oeuvres and a si lent auc tion. Theeve ning raised $7750 for LKS with over 270 tick -ets sold and ap prox i mately 10–15 staff mem bersat tend ing. This eve ning was a great suc cessthanks to the sup port of our LKS par ents andschool staff!

Com mit tee Vol un teers: Kim Delonghi, Natasha Barrett,Kelly Doyle, Anne Hodgson, Ne rine Poole and SueMoorhead.

Pizza Lunch

The Pizza Lunch Com mit tee or ga nizes monthly pizzalunches at LKS for stu dents in Grades 1–8. Typ i cally, theyare held on the last Fri day of each month. In June, the whole school is in vited to par tic i pate in a ‘Lunch on the Lawn’where fam ily and friends can join in as well. The Com mit -tee is re spon si ble for col lect ing the or ders and pay mentfrom stu dents, or der ing the piz zas, drinks and snacks anddis trib ut ing the lunches, with the help of Grade 8 vol un -teers. Par ent vol un teers in the class room are co or di nated by our Grade Par ents. So far we’ve col lected $16,000 for LKSwith one last ‘Lunch on the Lawn’ to go! Thank you foryour con tin ued sup port!

Com mit tee Vol un teers: Natasha Barrett and Margarita Teti

Springfest is Lambton-Kings way’s larg est fund rais ing

event. This year it was held on Sat ur day, May 4, a beau ti ful

sunny day. Springfest at tracts vis i tors from school fam i lies

and the cen tral Etobicoke com mu nity at large, who come to

en joy some great food, par tic i pate in the games and ac tiv i -

ties, and check out the si lent auc tion. The day has tra di tion -

ally been a great suc cess – in the last three years alone, this

event has raised al most $130,000 for the school.

This year Springfest funds were used to (just to name a

few):

• Bring in the Aus sie X pro gram

• Fund our lit er acy pro gram

• Host art ists, cyber safety ed u ca tion ses sion, and Sci en -tist-in-the-School ses sions

• Fund our Grade 6 Jump Start mu sic camp

The Springfest com mit tee is cur rently look ing for vol un -teers to chair the Si lent Auc tion, Games, Spon sor ship,Food, Tom bola, Com mu ni ca tion and Vol un teer com mit -tees. Vol un teers are also wel come to help out as a com mit -

tee mem ber on any one of these com mit tees.

Com mit tee Vol un teers: Allison Needham (Chair), Si lentAuc tion: Sara Bever idge, Joan Dawson, Ka ren Dockrill,Kelly Doyle, Lisa Jones, Ste phen Montano, Alexa Murphy, Jessica Nash, Dee Shep herd, Games/Spon sor ships: SaraBever idge, Greg Cunningham, Liza Snowden, RobinThorsteinson, Laura Keogh, Tom bola: Donna Chow(Chair ) , Sheryl St ro ther, L iza Snowden, RobinThorsteinson, Nicole Young, Food: Leslie Thomas(Chair), Barb Busch, Milena Forte, Meredith Smith, Kath -er ine Owen, Kim Fenn, Jill Whelan, Com mu ni ca tions:Sheryl Mac Don ald (Chair), Ka ren Miller, Dee Shep herd,Vol un teers: Su san Mac Ken zie (Chair). SPECIALTHANKS TO ALL OUR GRADE PARENTS!

TREASURER'S REPORT

Thanks to our many par ent vol un teers, LKS Par ent Coun cil has had yet an other suc cess ful year of fund rais ing. Par entCoun cil ran four fund rais ing cam paigns in 2012/13. Wekicked off the year with the QSP Mag a zine drive, whichraised $2,600. Our Pizza Lunch Com mit tee made $16,000and the Spring Par ent So cial raised $7750. The money from these three cam paigns will fund our Cap i tal Pro jects bud get for the 2013/14 school year.

4 Lambton-Kings way Ju nior Mid dle School

Bouncy cas tle fun at Springfest.

Springfest tra di tion ally has been our big gest source of rev -e nue. This year was no ex cep tion. The one day event raisedmore than $41,000. Lambton-Kings way’s Op er at ing Bud -get for the 2013/14 school year is en tirely funded bySpringfest. To tal funds raised this year, $67,000. Great jobLKS!

This year was our sec ond year part ner ing with Sec ondStreet JMS. It has long been a tra di tion at LKS to team upwith a school in need. In ad di tion, to do nat ing half of ourbook fair earn ings, $1500 was do nated to pur chase lev elledread ers for pri mary stu dents at Sec ond Street JMS.

Over the years, the hard work of our par ent com mu nity hasal lowed LKS to buy ev ery thing from com put ers to sportsequip ment, lev elled read ers to play ground fa cil i ties and ev -ery thing in be tween. None of this would have been pos si ble with out the count less vol un teers who stepped up and of -fered their time and ded i ca tion. There is no doubt ing what adif fer ence our fund rais ing makes.

For the up com ing 2013/14 school year, our bud gets ap -proved at the May meet ing are listed be low.

Par ent Coun cil Bud gets 2013/14

Op er at ing Bud get ~$38,250

Cap i tal Pro pos als ~$26,700

LAMBTON-KINGSWAY PARENTCOUNCIL PROPOSED SLATE FOR

2013/14 SCHOOL YEAR

Par ent Coun cil News let ter 2013 5

Administration - $250 Stationery, classroom drive, parent

nights, etc.Awards - $1000 Lettering on plaques, trophies, winits

Bank Charges - $200 Service charges, nsf's

Student Activities - $500 Playday water or popsicles, special school events, etc.

Grade 8 Graduation - $2500

JK Registration - $500 Snacks, booksStaff Recognition - $500 Farewell, baby, sympathy, etc.

Physical Education - $4000 Items for teams (uniforms, equipment, etc.)

Literacy - $9500 Author visits, reading programme

Resources - $9500 Artists, plays, music presentations, Scientist in School

Music - $4300 Kiwanis applications and bussing, instrument repairs

Community Events - $1000 Staff appreciation event, school spirit

enhancement, community serviceEnvironmental - $1000 Greening of schoolyard and Green

education eventsEducation - $1000 Allergy awareness, anxiety and other

parent interest info sessions

Student Fund - $2500 School trip fees

Literacy Projector, cart, MacBook, iPad $4,000

Special Education Two iPads $1,800Primary (Grades 1–3) Raz Reading Programme $1,000

Literacy Donation Second Street Junior Middle School $1,500Music (Instrumental) Percussion instruments $2,400Technology Four SMART Boards and

accompanying technology

$16,000

TOTAL $26,700

CHAIRS Kristin Kidd,

Elvira Fuda

VICE CHAIR VACANT

TREASURER VACANT

SECRETARY Kristi Karens

GRADE PARENT CO-ORDINATOR Karen Miller

LITERACY VACANT

RESOURCES VACANT

PHYSICAL EDUCATION Allison Brady

MUSIC Jody Greifenberger

KISS ‘N RIDE VACANT

ENVIRONMENT Rebecca Saha

PIZZA LUNCH Susan Moorhead,Anne Hodgson

SPRINGFEST Allison Needham

DINNER DANCE Natasha Barrett

GRADE 8 GRADUATION Julie Burdon,

Lori MacIntosh

LIASON WITH TDSB VACANT

COMMUNITY OUTREACH Rebecca Saha,Nancy Dennison

If you are in ter ested in any of these po si tions, or would likemore in for ma tion on LKS Par ent Coun cil, please con tactKristin Kidd at krakidd@aol.com or Elvira Fuda atElvira.f@sympatico.ca.