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Tuesday 22 September 2015

CASINO 2015!!!


We have now officially begun the search for Casino Volunteers! This year our Casino will be held on December 9th & 10th at the Elbow River Casino. 

The Casino is our largest fundraiser which only takes place every 18 months. Our last Casino raised approximately $70,000 for Bowcroft. With that being said if there is only one event you volunteer for at our school, please make this the one!

Here is a brief description of the volunteers positions we need to fill: 

General Manager: Responsible for the overall continuity of the casino. Makes sure all volunteer staff arrive and if not, has access to reliable “back-up” volunteer phone numbers. Some data entry experience is required. Can fill in for any volunteer positions for a short period (not a complete shift) of time if needed. 

Banker: In control of the cash and chip inventories. This position is mostly data entry and should be staffed by someone who can use a computer mouse! 

Cashier: Redeems players’ chips for cash. Little data entry required. 

Chiprunner: Delivers chips from the Banker to the game tables as required. Will count chips with the gaming floor staff as required. A fair amount of data entry is required. 

Countroom Staff: Will sort and use money counting machines to count money. Some data entry required. 

There are three basic shifts for each day: 
Day Shift 10:30 am – 7:15 am 
Night Shift 7:00 pm – 3:45 am 
Red Eye Shift 11:30 pm – 3:40 am 

There is no previous experience necessary to volunteer for Casino. Meals and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided during your shift. We will require 38 volunteers for this event. If you would like to volunteer for both days please note that you must hold the same position for each day. Police clearance is not required for this function, the only stipulation is you must be 18 years of age or older, and no gambling or drinking can occur while you are at Casino. If transportation is an issue for you please let us know and we can arrange transportation for you. 

If you would like to volunteer for a shift please contact Barb Rocca at barocca@cbe.ab.ca and let her know which day/shift you would like and which position you would prefer. She will try her hardest to accommodate everyone. Volunteers are not limited to Bowcroft parents so please feel free to ask friends and family to join!

Friday 18 September 2015

September 2015 Minutes


Bowcroft School Council and BPAC Meeting 
September 14 2015, 7:00pm 
Location: Lunch Room 

Executive: 
Chairperson - Tara Neish 
Co-Chairperson - Shian Hunt 
Secretary - Teryn Aurini 
Treasurer - Susanne Morris 
Fundraising Coordinator - Barb Rocca 
Casino Coordinator - Barb Rocca 
Volunteer Coordinator - Trish Braaten 
Key Communicator - Janis Giroux 
Kids Up Front Rep - Karen Larrivee 

Attendees: Barb Chris Fran Lia Shian Sonja Susanne Tara Teryn Trish Vicki Becky Matt Cheryl Tammy Fran George Wayne
Total Attendees: 18

Call to order: 7:03pm  

Minutes approved by: Trish, Lia seconds. 

Teacher Representative Tammi, Rooms 3 & 21 
• Tammi has asked BPAC for the following 
• A new snare drum stand and drum sticks 
• New mallets for the xylophones 
• $300 for the repair of instruments 
• $2700 for in-school performances ($900X3) 
• $150 for the winter concert 

Administration Matt & Cheryl 
• Welcome back everyone! It’s great to see so many people here for our first meeting. 
• Tammi Neufeld is here. We will have a different teacher attend the school council meeting each month to keep us appraised about what is happening in the classroom. 
• The first thing we will talk about is bussing: They will be adding many new stops and routes. Brenda Wilson spoke to us and one of the things they need is for people who intend to use the bus to register for the bus by September 24th. 
• All alternative programs were significantly impacted by this. We did lose some  1 children because of those congregated stops. 
• Wayne Proposes that BPAC appoint a sub committee to address the transpiration issue from a Bowcroft perspective. He will be in contact with George and get back to us at January’s meeting. 
• We have twelve teachers with 228 students; 111 in German, 117 in regular program 
• We are getting new paint throughout the school. The painting should be done by mid October. Everything but the inside of the classrooms is getting done. The children will be helping design 
• Our welcome back BBQ is September 24th from 5-7pm
• Request for funding for food: George works for Community Natural Foods - Matt will submit a request to them! 
• Rae-Ann our librarian is desperate for volunteers, please let her know if you can come in! 
• Sonja would love to come back and help with the german cataloguing again. 
• The Grade 3 formative assessments will be happening soon. They will be short components over time. We will be taking a few of them at a time to do these. There is no time limit, everyone will get ample time and support to do this. 
• We have lots of after school activities occurring in our school. City of Calgary is running Boy sports and Girl power. 
• On Wednesdays we have Start to Finish for grades 1-6. It will be every Wednesday starting October 7th (3:15-5:15). This is heavily supported by volunteers. They run and then are read to and get a journal. 
• We will also have Hockey Heroes supported by the Calgary Flames. They give each kid new hockey equipment and is stored at the arena. The kids get to meet real coaches and are bussed to and from. Children who were in it last year are able to continue this year. 
• For our next meeting we request $625 for the BBQ (buns, hotdogs and veggie dogs, sun chips and a juice box). 
• Raz-Kids request $850 
• Martina Urmetzer is asking for maximizing math, its in english and german $1740 
• This is on top of iXL 

Meeting Closed: 7:55 

BPAC Meeting September 14 2015, 8:00pm 
Location: Lunch Room 

Executive: 
Chairperson - Tara Neish 
Co-Chairperson - Shian Hunt 
Secretary - Teryn Aurini 
Treasurer - Susanne Morris 
Fundraising Coordinator - Barb Rocca 
Casino Coordinator - Barb Rocca 
Volunteer Coordinator - Trish Braaten 
Key Communicator - Janis Giroux 
Kids Up Front Rep - Karen Larrivee 

Attendees: Barb Chris Fran Lia Shian Sonja Susanne Tara Teryn Trish Vicki Becky Matt Cheryl Tammy Fran George Wayne
Total Attendees: 18

Meeting opened: 7:56 

Treasurer Susanne 
• We have $50,000 for this school year, we are asking for a formal budget request for 2015/16 at our next meeting. 
• We need to approve the following expenses: $570 on the Teacher appreciation lunch, $660 for liability insurance, $1197 for the Albertaner advertisement and $25 for an appreciation gift for our outgoing key communicator. 
• After this we have about $4500 for AGEC funds 
• Sonja is still trying to find out what the agreement between AGEC and BPAC is. 
• $2800-from 2013/14 and before….Advertisement is one thing that we have always been approved for. There should not be a problem if the money was spent on this. 
• For all future AGEC funding applications we would like to have requests come in for upcoming expenses. 
• Our next AGEC meeting is next week. 
• This will be Susanne’s last meeting as Treasurer 

Casino Coordinator Barb 
• Casino is motoring along. Tara has finished the application form. Our Casino is December 9th and 10th, there are 4 shifts each day (early morning, midday, evening, and late night). If you do two shifts you have to do the same position. Our key positions need to be filled first - General Manager, Banker, Cashier, Chip Runner, 
• Barb will begin by contacting volunteers from last time. 

New Business 
• A wish list for 2015/16 funds will be submitted at our October meeting. 
• Bowcroft Bobcats merchandise: we have designed a new shirt with Emily Feist. 
• We will be putting an order in with them in October 
• Hats and things can happen as well, can Trish come in this week and see what we have! 
• Kids Up Front: we are a small school and have too few people to do this. 
• What about having a volunteer who coordinates this? Trish could coordinate, Shian would be willing to go pick them. 
• Can we send out a letter asking for emails? Yes as long as it is clear that it is from BPAC and not the CBE 

Vote on Funding 
• Susanne motions that we approve $570 on the Teacher appreciation lunch, $660 for liability insurance, $1197 Albertaner advertisement, and $25 for an appreciation gift for our outgoing key communicator, Tara seconds, all in favour, motion passed. 
• Trish motions that BPAC provide $625 for the BBQ, on the condition that a request for funding is sent to Community Natural Foods 
• Tara motions that we approve $850 for Raz-Kids, Shian seconds, all in favour motion passed. 
• Susanne motions that we approve Maximizing math for $1740, Tara seconds, all in favour motion passed. 

Meeting adjourned at: 8:31pm

Thursday 17 September 2015

Annual General Meeting


Please be advised that the Bowcroft Parent Action Council is hosting its Annual General Meeting on October 5, 2015 @ 7pm in the school library. 

Elections will be held for the following key executive positions: 

Chairperson
Co-Chairperson
Treasurer
Secretary
Key Communicator. 

If you are interested in knowing more about any of these positions you can email questions to bowcroftparents@gmail.com. The BPAC council works hard to enhance the learning environment for all students at our school. There are many opportunities to get involved and support our children. Come on out to our next BPAC meeting and learn how you can make a difference!

Tuesday 8 September 2015

September News


It’s hard to believe that another school year is upon us! Nevertheless, the Bowcroft Parent
Action Council is eagerly gearing up for September fundraising and we hope that the
families of our great school will help out with the Entertainment Books again this year. Last year we raised over two thousand dollars, which was used to support every student and teacher in a variety of ways including the purchase of learning resources, art and physical ed. equipment.

BPAC school council meets on the first Monday of every month. It is an open meeting to every parent or guardian who has a child in the school. BPAC warmly welcomes any new or returning parent to attend meetings and get involved in planning and providing resources and special events for our school. Please consider active involvement with this group of enthusiastic parents.

Join us in the library on Monday, September 14th at 7:00pm. Come out and meet the folks who represent the parents of Bowcroft as well as Principal Mr. Lowe and Assistant Principal Mrs. Zelmer. Plus, get the inside scoop on projects and events that are being planned to make this school year amazing.

Have a safe and enjoyable long weekend!

Tara Neish, Chairperson BPAC