Garibaldi Annex Parents

I spotted this article posted on the lower floor bulletin board. It talks about how exposing babies to dirt can help develop their immune system.

Click here to read the article on babies, dirt and the immune system.

An article in today's Globe and Mail discusses how to avoid being fooled by misleading advertising and reminds us to read the label concerning other ingredients that may not be so healthy. The article may help you pick healthy snacks for your kids. Click here for the Globe and Mail Article on Fat Free foods.

A trio of grade one students won the February Newsletter contest. The question was: How many woodchucks could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? . The answer was 318 kilograms.
The winners were Anthony Morgan, Taylor Morgan and Sabrina. Each has been awarded a book prize.
Let's see what happens in March. Will the 2-3-4's and kindergarten show up for the contest?

[From Julianne Doctor]
Today, January 21, BCTF President Irene Lanzinger will be on CKNW’s Christy Clark show to discuss Foundation Skills Assessments (FSA). She is scheduled to be on from 1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The Foundation Skills Assessments are tests that are administered to students in Grades 4 and 7. They are supposed to present a snapshot of how students are doing in reading, writing and math.
The Fraser Institute, however, takes the raw data and manipulates it to rank schools. Private schools tend to score really well, and schools in economically depressed areas tend to score quite low.

Hello Garibaldi Friends,

We wanted to share a bit about our adventure in Barcelona, Spain. Harry chose the photos! Read more on my blog to the quick We'd love to hear from you via the comments. Our best, Harry and his family

Vancouver has elected a majority of candidates for School Board Trustees from the Vision Vancouver (VV) and COPE (CPE) coalition. The election results (Elected Trustee, Party, Vote Count) are:

BACCHUS, Patti VV 64451
LOMBARDI, Mike VV 62772
CLEMENT, Ken VV 62096
GREGSON, Sharon E. VV 61417
WONG, Allan CPE 56027
BLAKEY, Al CPE 49045
BOUEY, Jane CPE 48227
DENIKE, Ken NPA 46777
GIBSON, Carol NPA 46048

This is good news for Garibaldi Annex as it is was the COPE Trustees that voted against the motion to close Garibaldi in the Fall of 2007 (although, the vote to keep Garibaldi open with the Frog Hollow Plan passed unanimously).

Tonight we will hold an informal music night for parents and children in the community. Bring instruments, voices and songs to share.

Time: 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Place: Garibaldi Annex Library

This is a continuation of the Family Music Nights started last. The format is that we sit in a circle and whoever would like to lead a song is welcome to. It's OK to just come and listen. There will be at least one guitar in attendance.

Minutes of the October 21 Parent Advisory Council (PAC) meeting are attached.

From Julianne Doctor...

Mark your calendars, Vancouver area parents. The Vancouver DPAC (District Parent Advisory Council) will host two all-candidates debates during the first week of November.

Vancouverites really need to pay more attention to School Board, so please pass this on.

East side: Vancouver Technical Secondary, 2600 East Broadway, Wednesday November 5 @ 7pm

West side: Bayview Community School, 2251 Collingwood, Thursday November 6 @ 7pm

The Canada Food Inspection Agency has issued a Consumer Advisory for Sherwood Brands Pirate's Gold Milk Chocolate Coins because it's been found to contain the toxic substance melamine.