By Christine Kilfoil
The York Street PS School Council has always described itself as “small but mighty”. Prior to 2015, the Council had been dormant for many years. When former school principal Sherwyn Solomon came to the school, he revived it. For the first couple of years, membership was small and funds were low. But with innovative ideas and support from the school administration, community and school trustees, the Council has been able to thrive.
A school council is made up of parents, teachers, principals and community representatives that support and enhance student learning. School councils provide a way for members of the school community to provide advice to and consult with the principal, and to advise the school board on education matters.
This year’s Council is co-chaired by Amanda Graham and Pascale Guilbeault, with Andrew HIll as Treasurer and Christine Kilfoil as secretary. The Council benefits from the strong support of Principal Andrew Postma, who is the new principal at York Street PS and Vice-Principal Susan Bower. Former school trustee Shawn Menard was a loyal supporter of the council. That support has continued with the present school trustee Lyra Evans, who recently met with the Council at its December meeting and is a strong link between the Council and the school board.
The mission statement for the York Street PS School Council is to ensure that the students of the school receive the same benefit from school experiences such as field trips, movie nights and learning resources that students at larger schools may take for granted. The Council has been a strong advocate for equality of education and believes that no student should lose out on important school experiences because of lack of funds. Fund-raising is a challenge in a small school, but that should not prevent the students from York Street PS from having a full school experience both inside and outside the classroom walls.
The School Council has been innovative. For example, it partnered with students from Alquonquin College (who received a course credit) to organize a trivia-night fundraiser at Boston Pizza in Barrhaven a few years ago. Over the last several years, the Council has developed a strong partnership with its counterpart at Broadview Elementary School, who share their expertise and fund- raise on behalf of York Street PS. A joint York Street- Broadview school team for the Ottawa race weekend team is planned. The Loblaw’s grocery store on Rideau Street has also been a strong community partner and assisted the Council with fundraising and other support.
School Council funds have been used to support a trip for intermediate students to Toronto/Niagara Falls, the purchase of volleyball nets, pizza days, movie nights, sports tournament fees and books and other classroom resources.
The plans for this year include photography lessons for the Grade 6 to 8 classes. Professional photographer and parent Missy Hill has volunteered to provide the lessons. Principal Andrew Postma is looking for cameras that could be lent or donated to the school.
The Council is also proposing to purchase junior and intermediate books for the school library, which the school advises is badly in need of new books. The school runs a successful reading program for all students in the school, and it is important to have contemporary books that appeal to all types of readers.
The Council works closely with the York Street PS student council, which is hard at work n creating a yearbook for students. A student representative attends parent council meetings to directly share student ideas. The parent council will also be contacting the local university seeking donations of used basketballs and nets. Finally the parent council will be hosting a movie night for the students in February. The Council does accept and is grateful for any financial support from the community to support their work. Donations can be made directly to York Street PS.