Celebrating the end of another school year

Another school year at Victoria West Elementary has come to a close in spectacular fashion. As part of a fun-filled final week of school, the Parent Advisory Council hosted its annual year end party, complete with live music, dunk tank, Highlanders soccer, face painting, BBQ, and a cake walk. It was wonderful to see so many school families enjoying the celebration, and to have the help of so many parent volunteers to help make it possible. Thank you for your gift of time and talent!

The PAC also extends a heartfelt thank you to the following partners who contributed in many ways to the special day:

Bayview Place

Costco Wholesale

Country Grocer

Monk Office

Save On Foods

Victoria Fire Department

Victoria Highlanders FC

Victoria West Community Centre

We treasure your involvement in our school community and we appreciate your partnership in helping Vic West Elementary remain a wonderful place to learn and grow!

Painted faces add a touch of magic to the day.

Vic West Community Centre manager, Kate Longpre, shares her time and talent painting faces.

Volunteers busily setting up for the BBQ.

Happy munchers at the BBQ.

Dunk tank setup with the help of the Victoria Fire Department.

Principal Joe Cardle getting ready for a dip in the dunk tank!

Announcing the winners of the Monk Office raffle for a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and a $100 Monk Office gift card. The raffle brought in $463 for our PAC!

Rainbow cake with PAC motto.

Adorable chocolate cake.

Amazing grad cake.

Excited kids who don't want to go home yet.

Enjoy a happy, safe and fun-filled summer! See you in September!

Year end event parent schedule

Okay, all you parent volunteers, thank you for putting your name forward to help make our year end event a fun family time for all. Please see the schedule below:

Also, the following parents have volunteered to make cupcakes for the cupcake walk:

1. D. Haley
2. A. Batchelor
3. J. Henson
4. C. Forbes
5. M. Calvert
6. A. Madden
7. C. Urlacher
8. S. Ferguson
9. L. McLaughlin
10. C. Stevenson
11. J. Ratchford
12. K. Hurst
13. K. Cherkosh
14. C. Robinson
15. V. Larose
16. E. Mateos
17. D. Malhi

Please contact PAC President, Mercedes Calvert at vicwestpac@gmail.com with any questions or if you cannot keep your commitment.

Here are some photos from the 2012 year end event:

Thanks for your support! We're looking forward to the special day.

Vic West Elementary School gives back- Pennies for MS

The pennies have been counted! 
At our annual garage sale, we collected over $94 in pennies. Those pennies have been bought by local photographer/artist Keri Coles (www.kericoles.com), who will be creating an art piece with the pennies. Keri topped up the donation to $100, and a cheque will be mailed off to the MS Society this week. Thank you to everyone who donated to this worthy cause!

Staff Appreciation Lunch today!

Today parents put together a small token of our gratitude for all of the time, energy and passion that our staff put into educating our children.  Thank you to all of the parents who brought in goodies for the lunch. As you can see, everyone was really happy to have a delicious meal to tuck into today!

Math games in a VW Grade One class

In Ms. Solecki's grade one class, the students are working on number sentences for the number 11 (how many ways can you make the number 11?!) 

In the literacy centres, they are playing number games 

and building sentences with magnet words and letters.

In the card shop, students are given the opportunity to create their own cards, 

writing their messages and thoughts inside to be mailed or given by hand.

  Thanks for sharing, Ms. Solecki!

A Year In The Life of the VW PAC

A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF THE VIC WEST PAC 

2012-2013

Ongoing Responsibilities:

• Monthly general and executive PAC meetings 
• PAC rep attendance at monthly VCPAC meetings 
• Twice yearly family movie nights 
• Return-It juice box recycling and quarterly bottle drives 
• Payment of Can Lit book orders (approx $1000/year) 
• Payment of seaquarium ($750/year) 
• Scrap metal drive fundraiser 
• Thrifty’s Smile cards fundraiser 
• Rain garden maintenance and improvement - solicited support from Capital Iron for supplies and worked directly with student teacher/students
• Working on increased safety at the crosswalk in front of the playground (connecting with City Councillor Lisa Helps and the City of Victoria transportation dept.) 
• Communication and ongoing interaction with Bayview Developments - attempting to seek support and partnership 
• Partial subsidy for Restitution Program participants on an as needed basis
• Payment of two cultural events for all students:2012/2013: Story Theatre and Ache Brasil
• Creation of a PAC events/fundraisers manual 

2012

August

• Redesign of PAC pamphlet 
• Set up of new PAC email 
• Set up and design of new PAC website (www.vicwestpac.com) 

September 

• Entertainment Books fundraiser 
• Input into School Growth Plan 
• Financial support to each classroom - $400/year 

October 

• Organization of Vic West involvement in Thrifty Foods Kids Run (1.5 km) - school promotion in the community, health, fun!
• Support of Scholastic Book Fair 
• Financial support of Halloween event and solicitation of donations of pumpkins for students 
• Walk through of school yard with school district employees to identify areas for improvement 
• Support of updating of earthquake kits/kiosk 

November 

• New PAC logo by local artist Lissa Calvert - move towards branding of the PAC to help with identification in the community 
• CCRP magazine fundraiser 
• Attendance at VCPAC Congress 

December 

• Holiday gift sale for all students and families 
• Initiation of PAC executive meetings (approx. once a month) 
• Collection of donations of food and money for the Mustard Seed Food Bank

2013 

January 

• Collected 30+ yoga mats from local yoga studios - for teachers/staff to use with students
• Paid for busing to UVIC for choir students 
• Paid for author visit for grade 4/5 students 

February

• First monthly PAC Newsletter added to school newsletter 
• Parent education night: anti-bullying 
• New traffic signs added to crosswalk as a result of PAC communication with the City of Victoria

March 

• Raffle sales begin (Samsung Galaxy Tablet and $100 for Monk Office) 
• Transfer of bank accounts to Coast Capital to work towards increased community sponsorship 
• Created VWPAC mission statement and values statement

April 

• Support of Scholastic Book Fair 
• Monk’s school supply order fundraiser 
• Mabel’s Labels fundraiser (online) 
• Parent education night - Raising Confident Boys and Girls 
• Family movie night 
• Participation in “Ready Set Learn” 
• Participation in “Pitch In Vic West” at the Vic West Community Centre

May 

• Garage sale/bottle drive/penny drive 
• Mural painting on ball wall (organized and supported) 
• Extra busing for grade 4s/5s to attend theatre event at Spectrum High School
• Participation in “Welcome to Kindergarten”

June 

• PAC year end event (donations solicited from community) 
• Host staff appreciation lunch 
• Year end gift - Restitution lyrics board installed in gym

Thank you to all parents and caregivers who assisted in achieving these goals. Without each of you, none of this would happen. 

“When educating the minds of our youth, 

we must not forget to educate their hearts” 

– the Dalai Lama