DRUM ROLL PLEASE..

…we made an astonishing $10,000 at the Craft Fair!!! We believe this is a record number and we can all be very proud of ourselves in being part of such an amazing community event. The Christmas Craft Fair  is one of our major fundraisers for the Ross Road community and all proceeds will go to make the school a better place for all of our kids! See below to learn more about how PAC dollars are spent.

Class reps and parents, you truly outdid yourselves with the class baskets this year. They alone raised $3,786! Congratulations to all the lucky raffle basket winners!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Thank you for all of you who volunteered – behind the scenes and/or at the fair – we couldn’t have done it without you! We count ourselves as extremely lucky to be working with such a committed bunch of people. Thanks again for contributing your amazing energy, creativity and hard work to make this such a successful Craft Fair.

And thank you to everyone who came out on November 30th and bought raffle tickets, food, drinks and crafts, and contributed to the amazingly festive atmosphere of this year’s Christmas Craft Fair!

Have a wonderful Christmas holiday – enjoy the well deserved time off with your family and all the best for 2013.

—Bettina & Desiree
Christmas Craft Fair Committee and the PAC Executive
rossroadcraftfair@gmail.com

 A NOTE ABOUT FUNDRAISING AT ROSS ROAD SCHOOL

WOW! We made so much money at the Christmas Craft Fair! Ross Road parents ROCK!!!

So what is the PAC going to spend all that money on? Most of the money will go towards covering items already in our budget and some of it will likely be saved up for a rainy day or a special purchase yet to be decided on. (All potential purchases above $300 will be put to a vote at a PAC General Meeting, so as parents at Ross Road, you will have a direct say on what we spend the money on, if you come to the General Meetings. The next one will be on January 30, 2013. Exceptions to this are the items already in the budget, which was unanimously approved at the Annual General Meeting in May.)

Here are some of the things we’ve spent PAC money on in the past year or so and will be spending money on again this year as per our budget:

• $3,000 donated to the school library (we do this every year) to supplement its rather slim annual budget.
• Three theatrical / musical performances per year at school assemblies. Without PAC funding, there would be NO performing arts events at Ross Road! The School District does not fund these events!
• Classroom Discretionary Funds: Remember that adorable Mother’s Day craft your child brought home last year? Or the special arts project? Or the new bookcase for the classroom? The PAC gives $200 to each classroom teacher to spend on whatever ‘extra’ they would like to do with their class each year!
• Educational Speakers: Were you happy that Saleema Noon came out to speak to your child’s class about body science? Or that Jesse Miller came to speak to the intermediate students about internet safety and social media awareness? Or did you reluctantly go to the LICE 911 parent talk last year? The PAC funded them all. The School District cannot afford to put on these events.
• Emergency Preparedness: Did you give a toonie for emergency preparedness this year? Thank you! That money goes towards emergency food items. On top of that, the PAC puts $500 towards emergency preparedness every year. It’s all stored in the large container at the back of the field.
• Grade 7 Farewell: Did you know that the grade 6 parents always put on a fabulous reception for the grade 7 students and their parents on the last day of school? The PAC pays $600 each year to help make it amazing!
• Environment Club: Have you seen the beautiful garden that the Environment Club has created next to the field? The PAC funds the Environment Club with $500 each year.
• Bike-to-School Week: Did your children get their helmets checked and tried out the obstacle course? Did your child have fun biking to school and parking the bike in the new bike racks? The PAC funds Bike-to-School Week each year and recently purchased the three bike racks at the front of the school.
• 30 iPads for student use. Students and teachers love them! The School District does not fund IT equipment for student use. If the PAC had not purchased the iPads and several sets of laptops over the past five years, the school would only have 25 laptops for 537 students — in total!
• Items from the “wish list” that we asked the teachers for in May: levelled home reading books for all primary classes, new novel sets for intermediate grades, various art supplies and more. There was no money in the school budget to fund these items.
• Sports Equipment: Did you ever see the hockey gear in the gym that was patched together with Duct tape? Or the old balls that couldn’t hold air? The PAC spent $2000 on new gym equipment two years ago. There was no money in the school budget for that!

The funds raised at the Christmas Craft Fair will help pay for all these items.

Without them, we would not be able to do all these things and our kids would miss out! So once again, THANK YOU very much for being such fantastically supportive parents in our school community!

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Fundraising makes an important contribution to the vitality and growth of the École Ross Road School community.  Fundraising provides our school with the financial means to acquire and/or upgrade equipment, supplies, material and programs beyond normal assistance covered by the District and Province.  The additional funds are an investment in our school to enhance programs, policies and activities. Fundraising activities also provide a great opportunity for community-building. We like to have fun AND raise funds at the same time!

• For more information about PAC fundraising at Ross Road School, click here.
• To read more about the 2012 Craft Fair and view photos and the list of raffle basket winners, click here
• If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please contact the Ross Road PAC Executive: rossroadpac@gmail.com