Notice from CAPSC

 The Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils would like to welcome you back for the new school year!  We are looking forward to a great year and would like to invite you to join us for our first meeting of 2012-2013.  Our September meeting will be held Wednesday September 19th 7:00pm at AE Cross School library.  We look forward to seeing our returning members, and we welcome all new attendees.

This month we welcome two guests from Alberta Education, Joan Engel, Executive Director, Education Program Standards and Assessment Division and Merla Bolender, Executive Director, Programs of Study and Resources.  They will be presenting "Bringing Inspiring Education to Life Through Curriculum Redesign".

Following the presentation they will facilitate a discussion on what opportunities the curriculum shifts offer for your child(ren) and how you as a parent might want to be involved in and/or kept informed about progress of curriculum redesign?

Debra Hidson from Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta will be speaking briefly on the various initiatives they are working on for the upcoming year

Please also remember that we are now accepting membership renewals.  For more information or to purchase a membership, please go to our membership page or contact our Communications Coordinator.

The Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils is an incorporated not-for-profit association that provides relevant and ongoing information and support to parents and school councils in the Calgary Board of Education. Our monthly meetings offer a forum for discussion of important education issues amongst parents and with key education stakeholders such as trustees, CBE administration and Alberta Education.  Check out our website at www.capsc.ca and make sure to sign up for our monthly e-newsletter.  Please feel free to forward this information to any interested parents.

Leanne Long
Communications Coordinator
Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils

Bingo Notice from Nancy: secretary extraordinaire

Please check your calendars – we need more volunteers.

The Wilma Hansen School Parents Association (WHSPA) is hosting another bingo event at the Bingo Barn on Sep 20, 4:30 – 9:30pm.

This is your chance to receive credit toward your school fees!!!

For this event, we require 18 volunteers. Remember, the proceeds from this event benefit our entire school.  The dollars brought into the school from your participation in volunteering for this event enhance all of the programs offered at Wilma Hansen.

Volunteering for this Bingo is open to all parents of Wilma Hansen students.  Remember, if you volunteer for a bingo event, you will receive the usual 30point (1point = $1) credit voucher that can be used directly against your school fees and other costs that come up throughout the year.  (yeah!!  $30 off!) 

Once again, for this bingo, we are requesting approx. 18 volunteers.

If you are able to volunteer for this event, please reply to nstaples@shaw.ca.  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!

Once again…

Thursday, Sep 20

4:30pm – 9:30pm

BINGO BARN, 1107 33 Street NE

First Meeting of the Year

A quick reminder that the Council and PA will be meeting on Tuesday September 18th in the Wilma library at 7:00 pm.

Last year, we were unable to create a council due to a dearth of volunteers.

This is a very important part of the parental process at the school.  It gives us, as parents, an opportunity to work with school administration on issues of school community and provide advice and input on all issues relating to the school.  We are very fortunate to have a principal and vice-principal who are more than willing to accept that input and communicate with our parents - we should take full advantage.  If you can commit a couple of hours each month to this worthy cause, please come to the meeting and let us know.  No training or background is required and all the help you need is available.  We just need more bodies...

Back to it!

I hope everyone had a great summer and is ready and re-charged for the new school year.  There are many things to know and get ready for tomorrow (grade 7's) and for Wednesday (grade 8 and 9's).  For all the school stuff - check out the Wilma web page here and the principal blog here. You can download the student handbook here.

Stay tuned to this blog for information about the Council and Association, Bingo info, Casino info, volunteering opportunities, community events, etc.  If you are interested in volunteering this year and becoming a part of the school, there are a lot of areas you can contribute with many levels of commitment.  If you are interested, come to a meeting or send an email to Lynn at jewittj@telus.net.  Keep an eye on the calendar at the bottom of the page - it will get filled in with important dates as the year progresses.

Video Game Addiction

A particular problem our parents didn't have to face (well those of us at a certain age anyway) was video game addiction.  I was a teen before 'pong' was even available in a console and being addicted to pong was virtually impossible.  So as parents we have little to no experience with this kind of lure for our kids.  With the advances in online gaming, MMORPG's, team play, stunning graphics, and accessible equipment our kids face a digital temptation for escape many times greater than ours was.

Are you worried your child is spending an unhealthy amount of time playing video games?  According to this CRC Health sponsored website the key signs for a video addiction include:

• Most non-school hours are spent on the computer or playing video games
• Falling asleep in school
• Falling behind with assignments
• Worsening grades
• Lying about computer or video game use
• Choosing to use the computer or play video games, rather than see friends
• Dropping out of other social groups (clubs or sports)
• Being irritable when not playing a video game or being on the computer

While more study needs to be done, awareness of this problem is growing and as with any other addiction, help is available.