Canadian Parents for French

February 21, 2012

Meeting Minutes

In attendance:  Dina Von Hahn, Josiane Biggs, Robin McLeod, Lorelle Kluss, Reilly Kluss, Sherri Lopushinksy, Shannon Murdoch, Todd Hollett, Steve Chant, Patsy Chant, Richard Clair, Brent Spiedel, Cam MacKay, Lianne Wilson, Kari Eisner, Terri Bowles, Flo Sheppard, Corina Cleveland, Carolyn DeFreitas

Call to order 7:00

Introductions were done.

Student Presentation – Reilley Kluss, a FI student in grade 10, gave a presentation to CPF about the Forum for Young Canadians which is being held in Ottawa, March 18 – 23, 2012.  Reilly explained what the Forum was about and her reasoning for wanting to attend. She also outlined the cost of the trip and requested a donation from CPF.

M/S/C to support Reilly’s trip with a pledge to donate $100, on the understanding that on her return, Reilly will speak with younger students of French about her experiences at the Forum.

Schools’ Report:

Cam MacKay and Brent Speidel outlined the requirements for students to graduate in French Immersion.  They need a total of 24 credits in the grad program (Grades 10-12) which equals six courses, three required (Francais Langue 10, 11 and 12) and three electives, with at least one from grade 11 or 12. Students entering Grade 10 and 11 this fall will have completed Planification 10 and Science Humaine 10 at Skeena  and so will need to complete Science Humaine 11 at Caledonia as their third elective. In future Caledonia will have to offer additional electives in French Immersion so these can be completed at Caledonia. Cam explained that the choice of courses will depend on the expertise of the French speaking teaching staff.

Cam explained that when offering French Immersion in the district they need to look at the numbers of students in it, and that when the number of students in FI is low it often makes scheduling courses difficult.  This fall there are eight students expected for grade 12, 10 for grade 11 and 16 for grade 10.

 Brent Speidel reinforced that the school district is committed to the program.  There are many challenges however, particularly with the timetabling of courses.  Other challenges include: continued decline in overall district enrollment and difficulty in finding teachers including substitute teachers. Parents also expressed concerns about the possibility of their children not getting enough French credits in order to graduate with their French Dogwood.

Discussion around how video conference courses are currently being offered by the district.  

Dina requested that Caledonia grade 11 students be offered an “in person” class next year rather than a video conference course.  A letter from CPF was presented to Brent Speidel further outlining this request.   

CPF Scholarship Fund

Robin MacLeod, the Caledonia Awards Chairperson, gave a brief overview of the history of the scholarship fund.  CPF’s scholarship fund is being held with the Northwest Education 88 Foundation.

CPF currently has $31,000 invested in the foundation and this fund is endowed.  This means that a large amount of money was originally invested and the interest from this money is what CPF uses for the scholarship.  CPF has not put any money into this fund in a number of years.  Currently the criteria for the CPF award are that $1,500 per year is handed out, usually in the form of three $500 scholarships. The recipients should be French Immersion students with high academic standing, preferably continuing in French Studies.

It was suggested we may want to reexamine the criteria and amounts as the numbers of program graduates increase.

Scholarship recipients have 22 months to claim their money after they graduate and must go to Caledonia Sr. Sec. to claim it.  The school writes a cheque to the students, and is then reimbursed by the Foundation. 

Scholarship applications will be handed out on March 6, 2012 and students will have until Friday, April 13, 2012 to submit their applications.  The committee then meets to determine which students will receive a scholarship. 

Minutes from the January meeting were approved.

President’s Report – Report provided for information. 

OLD BUSINESS  

Grad Pins – Dina distributed a number of new designs for members to look at and choose from.  Shannon spoke of the history behind the current design.  Dina explained that there are only enough of the current pins left for this graduation year. She will order new ones with the new design.

Caledonia Sweatshirts – Expected to be here on Feb. 24, 2012.  Once the sweatshirts arrive we will have them silk-screened with the current Grade 9/10 French Immersion students’ names and the CPF logo on it.  We are in need of a volunteer to get the signature of all the students in Grade 9/10.  The sweatshirts will cost $1,040.00 before the silk screening.  M/S/C to cover the cost of this.    

French Entertainer – We have booked the magician Marc Tardiff for March 14, 2012 at 12:30 pm. He is 90% confirmed.  His fee is $1,250.00.  There are no travel or accommodation fee’s required.  M/S/C to cover the cost of this.

Buzz Cuivere is scheduled for April 20, 2012.  This will be a cost-shared entertainer with EJC, and our share is $500.00.  M/S/C to support the cost of this. 

Caban A Sucre – This is scheduled for Sunday March 4, 2012 1:30 pm at the Onion Lake Cross Country Ski Trails.  Plans continue.  M/S/C to use $1,000.00 from our gaming funds to support this activity.

NEW BUSINESS 

Computer Purchase - Dina presented the idea of purchasing a laptop for CPF – Terrace Chapter.  A discussion was held around this idea.  M/S/C to spend up to $1,000.00 to purchase a laptop, software, wireless mouse and case.  Terri will look into purchasing the laptop and downloading the appropriate software before March 31. 2012.

Year End Reports - Josianne has agreed to review our gaming application and assist Terri and Dina with our year end reports. 

MEETING ADJOURNED. NEXT MEETING TUESDAY, MARCH 27 AT ECOLE MOUNTAINVIEW.