Handy Calendar

The calendar at the bottom of the blog is updated now and shows major school events up to the end of the year. We will add events throughout the year so stay tuned and check it often. If you know the date/time of events that aren't listed please help us out by sending them in.  Just email them to us using the link at the right ("contact us") or send them to info.whparents@gmail.com.

The calendar displayed below is part of Google's suite of products and is very handy in many ways.  You can click on the 'agenda' tab on the upper right to see a list of events, you can print the calendar out, you can access it from a smart phone or tablet, and if you have a Google account you can even subscribe to the calendar and have it send you email/SMS reminders for events.  

Economics For Success

Volunteers needed!  

Share your money management and life skills with the next generation!

On January 27^th, 2011, the students at Wilma Hansen School would like to participate in the Junior Achievement Economics for Success (EfS) program.

JuniorAchievement is a non-profit organization that provides business and finance programs free of charge to schools. 

EfS is a program that assists students to develop a positive attitude towards education, and career planning while recognizing the financial costs of living on their own.

We are in need of volunteers to share their experiences and insights. As a volunteer you will work with students in one 4-hour session in the morning.

Training is provided free of charge. Please contact Matt Mitchell at 403-781-2581 or e-mail at mmitchell@jasouthalberta.org to sign up for this event!

More about EfS - Economics for Success: This program helps students explore and manage their job and career choices by focusing on the direct links between further education and personal goals. Students are encouraged to reflect on the advantages of remaining in school to acquire the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed for long-term career success.

E-Addiction: A Struggle of the Ages

An article caught my eye this morning reporting a South Korean government crack down on adolescent late night internet gaming.  This CNN article reports the effort at helping those addicted by forcing the servers that run the games to deny 16 year old users access after midnight.

Civilly right or wrong, this 'electronic curfew' is a reaction to a real problem.  According to their NIA (National Information Society Agency), 8% of those aged 9 to 39 suffer from internet addiction.  Alarming stats aren't exclusive to Korea.  A recent study in North America indicates that 4% of our teens are addicted in some way to the online experience.  Dr. Timothy Liu conducted the study examining internet use among Connecticut teens, click here to read his thoughts and conclusions on 'PIU' - Problematic Internet Use.  This study has raised a storm of concern and a flurry of alarmist articles across the 'ishpere' (and even in some

Minister of Education Teleconference: Open to All

The Minister of Education is hosting a teleconference with parents and school councils at 7:45 pm on November 29th to discuss education.

  The Minister believes that parents play an important role in the education system, and is interested in hearing directly from them.

  Parents and School Council representatives are invited to participate in the conference call with the Honourable Thomas Lukaszuk, Minister of Education to discuss priorities for the next several months for Alberta's education system.

  Participants are encouraged to gather as a group to dial in where possible.

  The call will begin at 7:45 PM on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 and will take approximately 1 hour.
Please dial in at least 15 to 20 minutes ahead of time to the number listed below, as it will take time for all participants to be queued into the call

Bingo For The Band

No - this isn't a fund raiser for Rick Danko or Levon Helm (for those of you old enough to understand that reference, thumbs up!), its for our school band members/parents.  Please see the entry from Nancy below for more information:
__________________________________________

Hello Band Parents

The Wilma Hansen School Parent Association (WHSPA) has dedicated the proceeds of their next Bingo to the Band Program.  That means that the entire proceeds that WHSPA receives from this event will go directly to enhance the band program.  In order to obtain these funds, band parents must volunteer to assist at the event.   No experience is necessary; all jobs can easily be trained in 1 or 2 minutes.

Our next Bingo is SATURDAY DECEMBER 10 from 8:30am to 11:30am

The location is the BINGO BARN, 1107 33 Street NE

The next Bingo is specifically for the Band Program.  Remember, if you volunteer for a Bingo, you will receive a 30point (1point = $1) credit voucher to be used like cash to pay for various school fees, like your band fees, band camp etc.   

For this Bingo, we are requesting 8 volunteers.  If we do not receive 8 Band Parent volunteers, the funds will not be allocated entirely to the Band Program.

If you and/or other family members are able to volunteer for this event, please respond to this [via Nancy's email].  Volunteers will be selected on a first come, first served basis for the first family volunteer.  If more volunteers are required, we will allow additional family members to volunteer.   So, check your calendars and respond asap!  (nstaples@shaw.ca)

Thank you

Wilma Hansen School Parent Association

a.k.a. WHSPA

Fundscrip Fundraiser Is Over, But Magazine Campaign Continues

 This post is a quick update regarding our fundraisers. 

As most of you probably know, the Fundscrip effort is over but the Magazine fundraiser is still on.  Thank you to all who made your orders for Fundscrip, for those of you who missed out - we will likely continue in the spring so keep your cheque book handy.

High School Open House Info From Mrs. Danylko...

Grade nine high school open house parent/student meetings:

Centennial High School

Thursday, Nov. 24  7-9 pm

Dr. E.P.Scarlett High School

Monday, Nov. 28   7-9 pm

Lord Beaverbrook High School

1) Tuesday, November 29 6:30: Advanced Placement and Art Centered Learning only

2) Wednesday, Feb. 22

And...

The Family and Community Resource Centre provides an excellent resource for parents:

The Community Education Service (CES) provides parents/caregivers and other community members with opportunities to access free, evidence-informed education sessions and resource materials to address child, youth, and family health and mental health needs.

Fundscrip Cards Delivery

There was a question posted in the comments section of the Fundraiser blog entry.  Our commenter wanted to know the delivery time for the cards: Kathy, our fundraising volunteer extraordinaire, says that the cards will all come in by the end of November so there will be plenty of time to gift wrap and/or send them out for Christmas. 

Remember the deadline for buying the cards is this Friday - November 18th.  Right click here and 'save-as' to download your form.

If you ever have a question about the school or blog or any post, you can post it in the comments section but we won't necessarily know who you are so it may be difficult to answer you.  Alternatively you can email me directly and I will do my best to get back to you asap.

Meetings!

The CAPSC (Calgary Association of Parent and School Councils) is a city wide organization that is an advocate for quality education within our city.  They hold monthly meetings and encourage membership and engagement from Councils and Parent Associations to forward their goals.  Their next meeting is this week on Wednesday November 16th at 7pm in the AE Cross School.  Two trustees will be attending and a guest speaker (Dr. Sharon Friesen) will be discussing the affects of class size on learning.  If you are a parent at Wilma and want to attend the CAPSC meeting please let us know if you would also be willing to come to our Council meeting and give us a quick report.  If you want to go a step further and become our 'official' CAPSC representative, please read this info and let us know if you have any questions.

Also, don't forget our very own Council and Parent Association meetings tonight at 7pm in the library - please plan to attend.

Reminder: Only 4 days left!!

The Fundscrip fundraiser is only open until November 18th.  Don't forget to get your orders and cheques in for this popular and potentially lucrative fund raiser.  Click here for all the details and here (right-click and 'save as' to download) for the form.

Open Invitation: Career and Technology Centre

This is an invitation to an open house aimed at Grade 9 students.  The open house will be held on Thursday November 24th at 6:00 pm.  For more details, please click here. - Thank you Mrs. Higgins for the blog submission.

Remembrance Day Ceremony

A submission from Mrs. Lori Taylor:

   Yesterday, we came together as a whole school in remembrance of those who fought for and continue to fight for our freedom. Our student body and welcome guests spent an hour showing our respect for all of these brave men and women.

   I would personally like to thank all of our parents that came to our Remembrance Day Assembly to show their support for the hard work of the students at Wilma Hansen. These times of remembrance and celebration are important to our students and they appreciate the time taken by our families to join us. - Lori Taylor, Assistant Principal

Reminder: Meeting and Interviews

Please join us at the next Parent Association meeting, Tuesday November 15 at 7pm in the Wilma Library.

Also - look for us at the parent/teacher interviews this week on Wednesday and Thursday.  We will have a table set up and manned by volunteers who can answer questions about the PA and advise on our latest fundraising programs.

Fund Raising

You may ask: "Why do we need to raise funds?  We already have Casino's and Bingo's that raise a lot of money...?"  The answer is simple; Bingo and Casino cash is controlled by the government.  Even though the PA gets the money, the Gaming Commission still restricts how that money is spent.

Money that we raise outside of Casino and Bingo is ours to spend as we vote on it.  The Gaming Commission won't let us pay for pizza parties or special awards, they restrict funds on social event costs and teacher appreciation and many other items that enhance the school's environment for our kids.

We have two fund raising activities going on right now that you can participate in and you will be helping yourselves as well as the school.  Neither of these involves 'pity sales', coupon books, or door to door visits. Take your pick or do both!

 1: A magazine subscription campaign: order for yourself or to send to friends and family as gifts.  The order process is online and very simple.  To order online right now, click here, put in the campaign code: AB633, start buying Presents - simple!  Share the campaign code with everyone and anyone to help us out.  There are prizes too, read here for all the info.

2: The very popular Fundscrip Gift Cards: order from a wide range  of gift cards from Starbucks to Superstore to PetroCan.

This is a 'revenue-neutral' funding option which means it doesn't cost you any more to purchase and use the cards - the difference is you'll be helping out the school.





Example1: you go to Starbucks on a regular basis and pay a couple of bucks for a coffee.  Buy yourself the gift card and it doesn't cost you any more for the coffee but Starbucks gives the school 5% (7% for November) of the value of the card.  This could really add up for the school and costs our fund raisers nothing!

Example2: You buy groceries at Sobey's.  Purchase the gift card for Sobey's for $100.00 and use it to purchase your groceries and Sobey's will give our school $3.00!  No extra cost for you.

There are over 100 retailers to choose from: click here to see the complete list.

To become involved in Fundscrip, click here and follow the directions.  The order form is here, simply print it, fill it out and bring it with your cheque into the school.  There is a November promotion on now as well.