Black Walnut P.S. School Council Minutes - March 3, 2025

Agenda

Land Acknowledgement

•  Vanessa Colabawalla read the YRDSB Land Acknowledgement 

Approval of Agenda 

• Moved by Jennifer Reitsma, seconded by Lang Vu 

Approval of minutes of January 13, 2025 Meeting

• Moved by Jennifer Reitsma, seconded by Lang Vu

School Report – Vanessa Colabawalla and Vivienne Baines

• CLAWS activity – “Luli and the Language of Tea” book reviewed by the classes – large majority of the school population has Asian roots
• Lego Robotics Competition – tried hard, showed good sportsmanship
• Grade 7 trivia team participated in Trivia Reach for the Top and is now going to provincials on March 25, 2025
• Healthy Snacks program been a huge hit throughout the school
• Basketball – Rouge Park and our school jointly host the Area basketball championships. Both our boys and girls teams made it to the Championship and they both came in second. Ms. Nazareth was an inspirational coach for the girls. Mr. Barovier was incredibly impressed by the sportsmanship shown by both teams in the final boys game. Intermediates represented very well.
• Winter Concert went very well
• Spring Concert in May – dates to be confirmed
• Track and Field will be held in May (as per usual). This year, activities will be added for primary students.
• Overall 2025-26 enrollment will be similar to this year’s but we will be more top-heavy – e.g. projected to have around 100 Grade 8 students but only around 1/3-1/2 of that for JKs
• After last meeting, discussion on community safety has happened. Vivienne met with the Board representative who looked at our road layout. Shady Oaks & Summerside intersection has the potential for a Look and Cross crosswalk. Cornell Centre & Lawrence Pilkington intersection has a blind corner before it so a crosswalk may not be viable – the City would need to be involved and perform a traffic study. They will also consider adding flexi-posts. Still waiting to hear if site study has been completed by the City. When a crosswalk or flexi-posts are installed, we need to pair it with education so that students and caregivers are aware of the safety side of it. We don’t want it to get to a point that someone is hurt before things are changed.

Council Chair Report – Stephanie Whittamore

• Movie night cancelled due to snow storm and the licence company would not give us a day in lieu after expiry. Everyone refunded and we lost a small amount on the SCO transaction fees.
• Paul Davis event – a Save the Date will go out to families soon. The event will start at 5:30 with a Wellness Fair and to get parents in the door early, then Paul will speak at 6:30pm. A survey will go out prior to the event to gauge interest, need for childcare and have some advance notice on attendees to see if there is a need to open it up to neighbouring schools. Question about whether or not to offer refreshments to draw people in. There is money in the budget for that. Childcare can be provided by Grade 8 and 9 students with supervision from a teacher. The translation kits are on hold and they just need to be picked up prior to the event. As part of the survey there will be some questions about the presentations to prepare the parents for what will be covered, as well as a survey after the event to gauge efficacy.
• Sub lunches have continued to be about 200 orders per month. Should we continue with the subs or go back to pasta? Sub lunches make more money so we will continue with them.
• As for money we should have in excess of $5,000 (maybe even as high as $8,000) before the Fun Fair. There is a request to the teachers for their wish lists to see where needs arise – we can assess the list next meeting.
• PEAC and the Leadership Development Team, Parent Voice Matters will be held on May 20, 2025 from 4:30-9 at the Sheraton – looking for 2 volunteers to go. It is a Board-wide event.
• Anna shared that Bill Hogarth will be hosting an AI workshop on April 30, 2025 with Martha Jazz hosting it – Anna will share the link for the Weekly.

Treasurer's Report - Jennifer Reitsma

• Jennifer reported that the current balance in the School Council fund remains at ($81.92) as the funds from the hot lunch fundraisers and bubble tea have not yet been transferred over to the School Council fund.

Fundraising

• Cookie Kits – sold 32 kits and they will be distributed this week (profited around $160)
• TerraCotta frozen cookie dough sales will be starting April 15
• Bubble Tea – there has been some issues with deliveries. The School Cash Online report also came out a bit confusing so working out the kinks for the deliveries is an ongoing issue

Fun Fair 

• Donor letter available to give to businesses to solicit Silent Auction donations
• There are some silent auction items that have already been secured
• Vendors (not selling items) but setting up an activity for the event are being arranged. So far we have Richmond Hill Curling Club and Markham Museum. Two other parents – one has a batting cage and other has a décor company that will do a photo booth. Scott Chin to contact his contacts for other activities. Brad (caretaker) will DJ. One ice cream truck is confirmed and we will look at adding a second one to avoid long lines. Other food trucks will be arranged as well.
• Surveys were filled out by about 12-15 parents and many teachers have responded with most saying they are willing and able to help out
• Event is June 12, 2025 from 5-8pm 

Yearbook 

• Available for pre-orders

Next Meeting: April 7, 2025