Kitsilano PAC | June 2022 Newsletter

Main Items Message from the Chair volunteering for PAC Winners of the Jokes Contest Local retailers support Kits BCCPAC Conference Resources What's Next - Sept. 21, 2022 Best Student Film Kits Bands at Showboat Community Events and Resources

Message from the Chair

Congratulations Graduates! and Happy Summer Holidays! On Friday, I had the privilege of attending the Kits Secondary graduation ceremony and presenting the two Kits PAC Scholarships. It was wonderful to see this year's graduating class and their families celebrate their accomplishments together at the Orpheum Theatre. This was a particularly special graduation ceremony as it was the first one since 2019 that was able to include families and allow everyone to celebrate together. The joy and excitement were wonderful to witness. Congratulations to all! It was also wonderful to have our first PAC in-person event at the school this month, an orientation evening for grade 8 and 9 parents. Thank you to Ms Kwon for helping with the arrangements and to the counsellors, Cari McDonald and Michelle DeYoung , the Vice-Principals, Mr Gok and Ms Sehmbi, the Safe and Caring Schools support, Niamh Ryan, and the student tour guides for spending their evening with us. It was great to see so many families attend. Thank you to all of the staff, teachers, and administration for their support of our students over this school year - a year that saw continued adaptation to changing guidelines. This week PAC will be sharing a token of our appreciation for all of your efforts. Looking forward, we are starting our planning for the return to school in September. The Kits PAC AGM is currently scheduled for Tuesday, September 27 - please save the date. If you are interested in getting involved with PAC, you will find more information in the Volunteering With PAC section of this newsletter. The What's Next Committee has already booked the first speakers for the 2022-23 year, details are below.  We wish you all a very Happy Summer!!

Volunteering for PAC

PAC is already planning for next year. Executive positions are elected at the PAC AGM in September. We are looking for a number of new volunteers for executive positions. If you are interested, check out the position descriptions on the Kits PAC website either in the Constitution and Bylaws or Volunteering tab and contact us at kitspac@hotmail.com to learn more. There are many ways to be involved. If you would like to help with Kits PAC activities please fill in the general volunteer form on the Kits PAC website to get more information.  Being involved with Kits PAC is a very rewarding experience.

Winners of the Jokes Contest

Thanks to all who participated including our three teacher judge representatives Carol-Anne Mcmillan, Brendan Sangster and Mme. Katarzyna Przystupa! We are pleased to announce the winners: 1st Place - submitted by Don Kirby: A man went hiking and found a mountain lion cub near the trail. He couldn't see the mother, so he foolishly picked up the cub and carried it home. His roommates grew more and more uneasy as the cub grew larger and larger. Since he refused to give up the cub, they finally kicked him out and he had to live in his van with it.   One day while he was out buying groceries, someone tried to break into the van and got eaten! When the man got back and saw the police, he thought he was going to be in a lot of trouble, but they said this was just another victim of the van cougar housing shortage.   2nd Place - submitted by Alan Patola Moosmann: Once, before you were born, your mom got really mad at me for having no sense of direction. So I packed up and right. 3rd Place - submitted by Laia Bertran: I would tell you a joke about skunks....but it stinks.

Local Retailers Support Kits PAC

Rufus Guitar and Drum Shop at 10th & Alma has kindly offered to support Kits PAC with 10% cash back on 1 month of lessons (4 lessons). For every qualifying month of classes ($120) Rufus will give $12 to support our school To qualify, send an email to info@rufusguitarshop.com with the subject "PAC Fundraiser Student". In the body of the email, please provide the name(s) of the students (parents and siblings are included in the offer). Rufus offers lessons for: Drums, Hand Drums, Percussion, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Classical Guitar, Electric Bass Guitar, Mandolin, Vocal and Ukulele. This is for new students and family members only and does not apply to existing students. Prices subject to change. Shopping at Cobs Bakery on Broadway & MacDonald or 4th & Vine? Be sure to say you want to support Kitsilano Secondary when you pay and they will donate 5% of your purchase to support our students and teachers! Tell your friends, family and neighbours so that they can also support our school! When you shop at Stongs Online for groceries, you can designate Kitsilano Secondary School as your community group. Kits PAC will receive a donation equal to 4% of your purchase.

BCCPAC Conference Resources

Presentations from this year's BCCPAC conference are all now posted here. Topics included healthy food in schools, misinformation and disinformation on the web, and creating space for indigenous family voices.  Particularly worth checking out is the keynote presentation from the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institute, “Transforming Education Systems through Family-School Collaboration”. To view their “playbook”, practical advice for parent groups about how to open and sustain dialogue with teachers and school administrators, go here.

What's Next Sept. 21, 2022

What's Next, the Kitsilano PAC's speaker series on planning for life after high school, kicks off our 2022-23 season with EducationPlannerBC. You can check out this comprehensive resource for investigating and applying to post-secondary programs throughout BC at https://educationplannerbc.ca/. Save the date - Wednesday September 21, 6:30 to 8:00 pm, online - EducationPlannerBC Link to follow in September. This past school year PAC organized many online presentations on Post Secondary Education. Information can be found on our website here.

Best Student Film in Vancouver

Scott Ramsey, Film teacher at Kitsilano Secondary, announced that:  Kits Grade 11 students, Emilie Ma and Rebecca Wang, won best student film in Vancouver! That’s right. The best student film in Vancouver! The contest was judged by the Vancouver Association of Motion Picture Teachers at Vantech Secondary. All Vancouver high schools sent in short films – industry professionals chose the winners! Congratulations Emilie and Rebecca!

Kits Secondary Bands at Showboat

For those who missed it - What a beautiful evening at the Kitsilano Showboat theatre!  The Kitsilano Secondary Bands launched the Showboat season with their year end recital on June 20th.  Concert, Jazz, Graduating Rock 4 Piece and the Tuesday Club entertained us throughout the evening. Well done Kits Music! 

Community Events and Resources

Kitsilano Showboat seeks volunteers this summer Kitsilano Showboat is recruiting volunteers to help welcome visitors, distribute the souvenir programs and promote our beautiful venue. If you are available in evening from 6:30-9:30 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and/or Saturdays we want to hear from you. Drop by our tent during any performance or send us a message here. Kitsilano Neighbourhood House Summer is here, and we are excited to announce our first Kits House summer program for youth. Four different days with four different exciting and fun special activities to experience on a hot summer day. Please sign-up for the activities by sending an email to chrisy@kitshouse.org. Space is limited. Wednesday, July 6th: UBC Botanical Garden: Tree Walk   $10/participant Wednesday, July 13th: Ceramic Painting @ U Paint I Fire   $10/participant Wednesday, July 20th: Picnic and Outdoor Games Free Wednesday, July 27th: Movie Night@ KitsHouse In June, our Monthly Movie Night will be on Friday, June 24th, from 5:00 pm-8:00 pm. This will be a free event and participants will get a special snack pack. In addition, we will also provide pizza for a $5 fee, please pay cash at the door. Subsidies for the cost of pizza are available please speak to me if you require one. Sign up for the movie night by sending an email to chrisy@kitshouse.org. Let us know if you would like to have the pizza too so we know how much to order. Space is limited. Subscribe to the Kits Neighbourhood House Youth Program Newsletter. Alliance Francaise Summer French classes for teens. Various cultural events. Link is here. Andre De Grasse Future Champions Scholarship Program We use a similar blueprint that propelled Olympic Champion Andre De Grasse into a champion on the track and in the classroom. The program aims to provide support and services required for high school student-athletes to maximize their athletic ability in pursuit of academic success and the opportunity to realize their potential. More information can be found here. 

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