Assiniboia Composite High School

 ACHS SCHOOL COMMUNITY COUNCIL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

APRIL 18, 2011 – CHAIR’S REPORT – Patti Pomrenke

This year brought significant change to ACHS.  Principal Barb Compton moved to a position with Prairie South School Division as Superintendent of School Services. Brent Chadwick accepted the role as Principal at ACHS and Lona Froshaug, Vice-Principal. The SCC welcomed them to their new positions and wished them well. 

The previous year our support of the Learning Improvement Plan included the areas of math, reading and writing. This year, the SCC focused on ways to support School Culture. There were many opportunities that made the SCC's presence known to the school community thru volunteering at planned events and some we organized ourselves.

On May 21, some SCC members were involved with P.A.R.T.Y. (Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth). We spent the day with the group of students, chaperoning and providing support.

Gayleen Thomson offered to continue with the Wall of Fame committee. We have followed the development of this project and offered our support and suggestions. The SCC will purchase the building materials needed to create the display case.

On June 1, the Annual Car Show and Grade 8 Orientation to ACHS were held.  We helped with the barbequed hot dog lunch for the students, staff and visiting Grade 8 students from AES.

One of the SCC members presents the C.T. Graham Scholarship at the Graduation exercises in June. This year it was Patti Pomrenke.

We were invited to attend the Pancake Breakfast the staff prepared for students the first day of classes. The hallways were a beehive of activity that morning.

The Terry Fox Walk was on Sept 24. A hot dog barbeque was provided for the participants. We volunteered with the cooking and serving. We enjoyed having PSSD Board Member, Al Kessler's help.

On November 3, a SCC Networking Session was held at the PSSD Office in Moose Jaw. Some of us attended and enjoyed seeing Barb Compton in her new role. This was a good opportunity to develop ideas with other SCC's from Moose Jaw High Schools. There was good discussion on the drive up and back from Moose Jaw as well.

To show appreciation to the Staff, “Santa's Elves” visited the afternoon of Dec. 13. Thank you to Brenda Holly for this idea and coordinating this event. Some of our members helped Brenda and her sister visit the staff, offering a beverage and baking done by the SCC.

Muffins, apples and juice were available for students during Semester 1 final exams. Brent asked if we could bake muffins. Sharon Ermel organized the supplies to make and store the muffins and a couple of members volunteered to do the baking.

To acknowledge their efforts and to show our appreciation for the staff, during Teacher Appreciation Week, we arranged for a lunch of sub sandwiches in the staffroom.

We discussed creating a card using student artwork for use by the SCC and ACHS. Sharon Ermel was working with Alison Lewis on this project.

As this year draws to a close, I thank all SCC members for their commitment and time

volunteered to support ACHS students, staff and the school community. Thank you to the Administration and Staff for your dedication to the students. Thank you to the Wall of Fame committee for developing this project.  I wish the SCC of 2011-2102 every success as you work to fulfil your mandate.

SCHOOL COMMUNITY COUNCIL REPORT – SEPTEMBER 2010

 The ACHSCC members this year are Patti Pomrenke – Chair, Susan Ludtke – Vice Chair, Sheri-lyn Bebeau – Secretary, Brenda Holly – Treasurer, Bev Monea, Brent Chadwick - Principal, Sharon Ermel -Teacher rep, student reps – Catherine Kimmerly and Gage Rolles. The committees we have a member on are: Safety and Crisis – Sheri-lyn, Nutrition – Brenda and Athletics is being represented by Gayleen Thomson.

We were involved with the lunch offered to the students who participated in the Terry Fox Walk. Several of us were on hand to cook hotdogs and hand them out to the students. We enjoyed having PSSD Division Board member Al Kessler give a hand with his barbequing skills.

We reviewed the PSSD Division goals and the ACHS goals for the upcoming school year and discussed ideas of how we can be a support. Our support of the Learning Improvement Plans (LIP) for math, reading and writing continue to evolve as we work with the staff and gain experience.

To the students of ACHS we wish you a successful year academically and making great school memories. We wish every success to the new administration and to the staff at ACHS this year.

School Community Council Report – April 2010

On April 12, the SCC held its final meeting before the Annual Meeting. We had an informative presentation by Jeanette Brazeau, Youth Asset Coordinator, on the 40 Developmental Assets. These assets were created by the Search Institute in the USA. They state that the assets are concrete, positive, common-sense experiences and qualities essential to the health of young people. These assets have the power to influence the choices that young people make and to help them become loving, caring, responsible adults. These six principles are foundational for the work of building assets in children and youth : all young people need assets, relationships are key, everyone can build assets, asset building is an ongoing process, young people need consistent messages and repetition is important.

A variety of writing, done by the Gr. 10 students has been selected to be published in The Times, The Wood River Free Press and Prairie Trade n' Post. Information explaining this contest, how students may enter and the prizes they could win will be in a separate article.

In preparation for the Annual meeting to be held on April 28, we have two representative positions open for a two year term. This includes parents and community members. The involvement includes attending 10 scheduled meetings and the Annual meeting throughout the school year. There can be some additional opportunities to be involved in volunteering or attending school events if your schedule permits. Nomination papers can be picked up at the ACHS office, from current SCC members or filled out at the Annual Meeting. Our returning officer is Karen Meagher.

School Community Council Report – March 2010

In the School Community Council meeting held on Mar 8 we continued our evaluation and development in support of the Learning Improvement Plans for Math, Reading and Writing in conjunction with PSSD and ACHS. I want to highlight the 40 Developmental Assets that you see in each newsletter and encourage you to take time to read them, evaluate how to implement some of the ideas in your family and have a short discussion with your child/ren about each article.

SADD (Students Against Drinking and Driving) brought in the multi-media presentation, WASTED. This is MADD Canada's high school multi-media assembly presentation to inform students and help them understand the issue of impaired driving from alcohol and drugs. It has proven to be an effective method to raise awareness and provide valuable safety strategies to decrease the number of road crashes, which are the number one cause of teen death in Canada. A couple of our members attended. We continue our representation at the Safe Communities Assiniboia meetings.

From March 28-30, Barb and Patti will be attending the National Congress on Rural Education in Saskatoon. We will be doing a short power point presentation on our SCC's support of the Learning Improvement Plans in conjunction with Ryan Boughen, PSSD's Superintendent of School Services.

We congratulate the SRC on their successful fundraising in support of Telemiracle 34. They had some creative ideas and prizes for this years campaign. Thank you for your efforts. We are proud of our Senior Boys Curling team who won Provincials at home in Assiniboia and gold at the Regional Juvenile playoffs held in LaFleche, congratulations. We wish you every success when you compete in Provincials being held in Watrous. Thank you to their coaches and the team for the hours you put in practicing and the great results.

School Community Council Update - February 2010

The School Community Council covered a variety of topics at their February meeting. We finalized some decisions regarding our support of the Learning Improvement Plan.

In Math we are compiling a list of Math tutors available in the community. For writing we have made arrangements for printing in some local publications. We are making arrangements for students to read to seniors in our community. Some participation incentives have been arranged as well. Volunteering has become a valuable asset in resumes for post-secondary and job applications and we encourage students to find areas to involve themselves in this. We reviewed different policies in place for the protection of staff and students in the ACHS building such as the Response to Intervention and Non Violent Crisis Intervention. Two of our members attended the Safe Communities Assiniboia meeting and reported back to us.

We congratulate the students who were honored at the Academic Awards 2008-09 Ceremony on Feb 1. An impressive percentage of our students received class pins. These are presented for an 80% average or higher.

School Community Council Update - January 2010

At the Jan 11 School Community Council meeting we continued the educating process of Learning Improvement Plans (LIP) and discussed the Homework Intervention Program (HIP).  We discussed how to encourage students to attend all of their classes.

On Nov 30, Barb Compton and three SCC members attended a School Community Council Training and Networking Session at Central Collegiate in Moose Jaw. In the presentation we learned that home and community involvement/engagement can impact student achievement by as much as 50%.

The student benefits include - improved academic achievement

-higher graduation rates

-improved attitudes and behavior

-increased involvement in classroom learning activities

-higher attendance rates

-reduced suspension rates

-higher level of enrollment in post-secondary education

The parent benefits include - increased understanding of their primary influence

- increased understanding of the work and challenges of school

- increased involvement of parents in learning activities at home

- improved communication between parents and their children

- improved communication between parents and school

- improved attitudes towards the school

- improved attitudes about themselves

Some of the SCC members will be volunteering at the Senior Boys Provincial Curling Mar 3-6. This   event is being held in Assiniboia. We are adapting a brochure on the 'Role of a Parent for a Student Athlete' for the High Schools use. This will educate and challenge parents on how to effectively support their child/ren in school sports programs.

The fifth position for a Parent/Community member on the School Community Council has been filled. We welcome Brenda Holly to our Council.

School Community Council Update - September 2009
Patti Pomrenke

On behalf of the School Community Council I welcome the staff and students of ACHS, both new and returning, to a successful year of learning and extra-curricular activities. Enjoy all the opportunities before you.

On September 14 the School Community Council (ACHSCC) met for the first time this school year. We discussed ideas for implementing the Mission Statement of the ACHSCC which is to foster a cooperative parent and community effort to enhance the education of ACHS students to be effective citizens of our society. We welcome your ideas and contributions as we work to build this relationship between students, parents and the community. We assigned representatives to the Athletic, Nutrition and Crisis Intervention committees. The year ahead will be rewarding as we get involved with our school and community projects.

This year our permanent members are:

Principal - Barb Compton

Teacher Representative - Karen Meagher

Post-Secondary Representative - Sheri-Lynn BeBeau.

The student member representatives are being selected this coming week.

Parent and Community Members Representatives are:

Rick Eisner, Gayleen Thomson, Susan Ludtke, and Patti Pomrenke

At this time we have one position vacant for a parent or community member to join the SCC. For more information please contact Gayleen Thomson 642-3839 or Patti Pomrenke 642-3274.

The Annual Meeting and election of new reps has been moved to spring to better coincide with the school year.

The purpose of SCC’s is to support student learning, student wellness and encourage parent and community involvement. Our school community council had their first meeting Monday; September 14th.We established agenda for the year and initiated the process of supporting the Learning Improvement Plan for Assiniboia Composite High School. Administration will present information to enhance SCC’s knowledge and understanding of ACHS Learning Improvement Plan. SCC will participate with the school to develop strategies to achieve the goals; and develop community based supports for the agreed upon school goals.