Minutes April 18 2018
April 18, 2018
Present: Sheril Gelmon (Co-Chair), Lara Spence (Communications/Social Media), Wendy Sinclair (Co-Secretary), Cynthia Corales, Chris Lee (Teacher, presenter), Shareen S. (Teacher), Damian Wilmann (Principal), Jack Bailey (Vice-Principal), and parents: Claudia Luna, Kanwal & Manjinder Deol, Lana Wong, Azar Kherramshahi, Annie Tso, N. & R. Minhas, Rachell & Mive Woods, Paul Thandi, Kathryn Zdriluk, Kumar Rengaraj, Delita Basilio, and Raquel Lona.
Sheril approved the minutes from the February 21st meeting, and Lara seconded it.
- Chris Lee – Shop Teacher
Chris Lee spoke and gave a slide presentation. Chris has been at JO since 2006. He spoke about: Shop Tech Studies (ADST), Applied Technology and Skills Technology, and STEM (Science Tech Eng & Math). STEM has only been around for a few years. This past year students competed in a provincial competition and 3 JO students won awards. Next year there will be a national competition.
Chris’s slides included an introduction and photos of all the teachers in the tech studies programs. He described at length what incredible facilities JO has for Auto, Woodshop, Metal work, etc. His slides showed these areas of the school.
He listed some future technical studies goals for next year.
- Damian Wilmann – Principal
Damian Wilmann has worked in the VSB system since 1989. He was previously the JO VP and has moved up to Principal recently. He began by saying that JO is a school of innovation and that he is very happy to be a part of it.
He also introduced VP Jack Bailey who has come out of retirement to work at JO until the end of the school year.
Damian said the ELL class (for students in the district who have not been assigned to a school, but who need to attend classes) teacher is Janet Eviston.
Calendar planning for the 2018/2019 school year is underway. New to the VSB curriculum is a numeracy exam and next year there will be a literacy exam.
Other:
- New English courses planned
- District Budget planning was that night
- June 21st is an awards ceremony
- Three notable dates for Grads: May 9th/June5th/June 22nd
- School Growth Plan
Jack Bailey said that he is very happy to be working at JO for the next three months. He echoed the words of Mr. Lee and Damian that there is an excellent staff at JO and a lot of exciting things happening.
- Dry Grad – May 9
Shareen S. spoke about the dry grad event and that she needs parent volunteers to chaperone – especially parents who do not have a student in grade 12. It will be from 5:00 to 9:30.
- Auditorium (Lighting, Sound)
Voting took place for the legacy fund to be used for lighting in the auditorium. After 2-3 questions the vote was obviously unanimous for a yes for the funds to be used.
- Teacher’s Lunch – Thurs. May 17
Volunteers to help or to bring food (drop off in Staff Room on 2nd floor by 11:15 am) are needed. Email pac_jo@vsb.bc.ca if you can help!
- Fundraising
The bingo event was a success and a lot of fun. It was a good school bonding event. $130 went to the PAC and $500 to the Mini School.
Gift cards from Funscript are available for sale on line. They are easy to buy and can really help out the PAC. So far only $21 has been raised. The meeting was adjourned. The final PAC meeting of the year to be held Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at 7:00 pm in the Library.
To stay in touch and help learn about/share the happenings at John Oliver, please:
‘Like’ John Oliver on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/john.oliver.secondary/)
Follow on Twitter (@jo school)
Read the John Oliver PAC blog (this site)
(if in Mini) ask to join Mini School parents – (https://www.facebook.com/groups/620874101402791/)
