Everyone is invited to our Welcome Back BBQ and School Year Blessing on Thursday, September 20th at 5:45 pm.  I think this event is evidence of a 4F event: food, folks, faith, and fun.  There promises to be great food, all the folks of our learning community are invited to attend, we are blessed to practice our faith in the school year blessing, and we hope everyone has fun in coming together as a community.

The evening starts off with a blessing in our gym at 5:45 pm.  Thank you to Fr. William, the staff of St. Martha’s Parish, and our school staff for leading the blessing.  After the blessing, we have a bbq for everyone.  Thank you to the Knights of Columbus for helping and supporting our bbq.  Approximately 30-45 minutes after the meal begins, teachers will be available in their homerooms for parents to meet.  Most teachers will be in their classrooms, a few Jr. High will be in the gym.  Mr. Leger’s 4L class will be doing his ‘Meet the Teacher’ prior to the blessing at 5:15 pm in room 116.

We are looking forward to a beautiful evening covering the 4Fs.

Greg Kostiuk

Last week we had our first School Council meeting of the year and we had a great turn out, approximately 25 people.  It was the best turn out in my entire educational career.  Thank you all of those who came.  School Council plays a very important role in advising the school and supporting school activities and events.  As part of the meeting, it was shared that many of our positions are finishing their terms.  All but our Secretary position is open.  I would like to thank all of the current executives for sharing their time and skills in serving our learning community, it is greatly appreciated.  Also, I am inviting everyone to come out to the next meeting on Tuesday, October 2, 2018, in our library.  At this meeting, we will be inviting parents to put their names forward to fill our elected positions.  Here is a brief description of the roles:

Elected FLVT Parent Council Positions

Chairperson

1. Attend all and preside over all General, Executive or Special meetings.
2. Cause the agenda to be prepared and circulated for all meetings.
3. Act as an ex-officio member of all committees.
4. Attend School Board Meetings as required.
5. Delegate any of the above-noted duties to another member of the council as necessary to ensure the Council’s affairs are properly handled.
6. Prepare the annual report for the School Board.

Vice-Chairperson

1. Assume duties of the Chairperson in their absence.
2. Assist the Chairperson as required.
3. Maintain liaison with the School Board and District.
4. Attend School Board Meetings as required.
5. Chair the Bylaws committee.
6. Serve on the Strategic Planning Committee.

Secretary (filled)

1. Record and maintain an accurate record of all general, executive and special meetings.
2. Cause this record to be typed into minute form and be distributed to all members of the Executive Committee and all members present at the meeting to which the minutes apply.
3. Keep an accurate record of the names and addresses of council members.

Treasurer

1. Receive all monies paid to the School Council and deposit it in the Council’s bank account.
2. Make all disbursements for expenses incurred by the Council for its business, supported by appropriate invoices and receipts, by cheque bearing the signature of 2 of Chairperson, Treasurer, and/or Principal.
3. Maintain records of all financial transaction of the Council and present a written statement of same to be presented at each General Meeting.
4. Ensure that each disbursement made is covered by a resolution no later than the General Meeting following the transactions.
5. Prepare the books and records for the appointed auditor no later than July 31 of each year.

Communications Coordinator

1. All communication from the council to the community regarding meeting dates.
2. The School Council newsletter.

School Events Coordinator

1. Coordinating upcoming School events with Council.
2. Set up committees with room representative for each event and report their progress to Council at general meetings.
3. Assign room representatives events that their classes will be handled during the year.
4. Keep and maintain complete files of each event the School Council handles.

ESC Parent Representative

1. Attend all general meetings and if not able to attend, to provide a replacement to attend in their place.
2. Act as a liaison between the School Council, teachers and staff.

Also, we are looking for parents to sign up for room reps.  Room representatives will work with the Community Events coordinators and will be advised of the school council
events that pertain to their classes. Representatives will be asked to form a parent committee to provide the necessary volunteers to carry out the tasks required. Room representatives will report any questions or concerns to the attention of the Community Events Coordinator.

For those of you thinking of signing up, thank you for your willingness to serve.  We look forward to seeing everyone on October 2 at 7 pm.

Thank you,

Greg Kostiuk

I have had 49 first days of school; early days as a K-12 student, university student, homeroom teacher, and school administrator.  Today, like all those other days, I am full of excitement, joy, passion, a little anxiety, and a lot of happiness.  I welcome all the members of our learning community to the 2018-19 school year at Father Leonard Van Tighem School.  We are looking forward to supporting and learning with everyone.

Thank you to Mr. Wensveen, Mrs. Wallace, and our relief caretakers for their hard work in making the school ready for us.  All the shiny floors look great.  We are excited to welcome new students, families, and staff to our school this year.  New teaching staff include Mrs. Lawrence (Gr. 6), Mrs. Kambetiz (Gr. 8), Mr. Magierowski (Associate Principal) and me.  Finally, we have two University of Lethbridge PSIII students, Miss Emily Kenney (mentored by Mrs. Hay) and Mrs. Klapp (mentored by Mr. Templin).

The first School Council Meeting will be on Tuesday, September 11^th.  I encourage all parents to attend.  School Council plays a vital role in our school community.  Our Welcome Back BBQ and Family Blessing are on September 20^th.  Father William will start off the evening with a family blessing at 5:45 pm, BBQ hamburgers will be served after the blessing, and families will be able to ‘meet the teacher’ in their classrooms starting at 6:45 pm.  Also, Jennifer from St. Martha’s Parish will be there to provide information on Sacramental Preparation.  We look forward to seeing everyone to celebrate the beginning of a new school year.

The focus of this school year will continue to be on growing in our faith and experiencing the richness of Catholic Education, developing literacy and numeracy skills that will prepare students for a changing future, and helping First Nations, Metis, and Inuit students achieve equitable educational outcomes.  Also, we are excited about our third year of our Faith Plan called Growing in Faith Together (G.I.F.T.).  This year’s faith theme is Sharing the Bounty.  The primary focus of Sharing the Bounty is learning how to share our time, treasures, and talents.  I am looking forward to us integrating Sharing the Bounty with Van Tighem Virtues of Honest, Accepting, Wise, Kind, and Spiritual.

Like last year, you can pay your school fees and other fees online.  Please click on this logo for more information:

   Online Payments

To help with communication, here are some social media links (please click on the logo):

   FLVT Facebook

  FLVT Website

   @GregKostiuk

   Remind enter 587-600-0226 and text @flvtscnews or email flvtscnews@mail.remind.com

   @flvthawks

We look forward to working with you to continue to make Father Leonard Van Tighem School a special place.  On behalf of our staff, I wish everyone a successful school year.

Greg Kostiuk