Two PAC Executive positions OPEN for the 2022-2023 school year!
PAC stands for Parent Advisory Committee and is open for input & questions from all parents + guardians at JO in any and all programs!
The purpose of a PAC is to advocate for excellence in education, the safety and well-being of our students, and provide an effective and meaningful avenue for the involvement of parents as partners.
In brief, the PAC’s roles include: supporting communication between all stakeholders in the educational process, improving the quality of education and the well-being of all students at JO, facilitating updates about the school and sharing parental views. More on this topic here.
Last but not least, the existence of PAC is a mandatory condition for the high school to apply for the BC Gaming Grant – a substantial source of funding that provides money to be further invested in different activities and purchases throughout the school year. This way, the teachers & students can count on a specific yearly budget that will reduce the fundraising headaches and allow continuity for most of the extra-curricular programs initiated.
In a nutshell, the satisfaction comes from making the school experience better for everyone with just a little participation. You can develop a good relationship with the school admin. And having a PAC Executive means we can apply for $20 per student from the BC Lottery grants à a lot of money to do stuff with for students.
For the PAC to happen regularly (aka 7 meetings/ school year), it needs a PAC Executive team – a few people who cover specific areas (such as Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, DPAC, Fundraising, Communication) and make sure that things happen.
So, the PAC Executive team is a small group of volunteers who would love more help at any time!
Right now, we are seeking successors for two positions:
-
Chair position for incumbent Shannon Kaplun, „graduating” in June 2022
-
Communications position for incumbent Corina Tataru, starting a new family adventure outside Vancouver – June 2022
We welcome any help, questions or feedback. Please let us know here!
Typical Involvement in the past two years (during Covid):
- 7 PAC meetings during a school year happening on Zoom
- Each role takes between 45 minutes – 2 hours per month when there is a meeting.
- Meeting usually the 3rd Wednesday of the month (no meetings in Dec., March or June).
Task Descriptions:
PAC Chair – incumbent: Shannon Kaplun – seeking Co-Chair (retiring end of 2022)
- attend PAC meetings
- moderate and time-keep at PAC meetings
- speaks 2x a month (or less if less needed!) with the principal and head administrator of JO to ensure the flow of communication
- reply promptly to all PAC Exec member emails
- check pac_jo@vsb.bc.ca emails and forward, handle, delete as needed.
Communications/Social Media – incumbent: Corina Tataru – seeking Co-Comms (changing school end of 2022)
- send reminders about PAC meetings to the Principal, leading to school website update (add PAC to the school calendar) & reminder email sent to all parents for Zoom registration & online meeting access
- update JO PAC website (WordPress platform) https://blogs.vsb.bc.ca/jo-pac/ ; NO technical skills required (VSB technically manages the website). We only need to update the content.
- update JO PAC Facebook https://www.facebook.com/john.oliver.secondary as appropriate to build community, further growing JO’s reputation as arts, academic, athletic, diversity, community and spirit “go to school” in Vancouver
- reply to people if they send notes in via FB
- provide thoughtful input to all committees asking for help, and provide timely replies
We encourage you to jump in for any of these positions – it’s fun (even with virtual meetings)! Many positive ideas are flowing around, and we will ensure a supportive and focused onboarding to make the handover smooth & simple!
