We want to provide lots of opportunities to hear from you — so we’ve gone ahead and set the PAC general meetings for the rest of this school year! Please mark your calendars now for these dates:
Weds Oct 30
Tues Nov 26
Weds Jan 29
Tues Feb 25
Weds Apr 30
Tues May 27
Weds Jun 18
We’ve alternated between Tuesdays and Wednesdays to try and make the dates as accessible as possible (we know extracurricular schedules get locked down pretty early.)
For now, we are testing out holding meetings at 630 pm in the library and will advise if that changes. Please make sure to subscribe to the newsletter through info@hastingspac.ca to make sure you’re always into the loop!
Hastings PAC is excited to announce we are ready to move forward with our new monthly hot lunch fundraiser! It will typically take place on the last Friday of the month, except if there is a day off from school or holiday break impending.
As of this week, you can take one thing off your to-do list and support Hastings PAC initiatives by ordering lunch through our provider C’est Mon Cafe (CMC). Funds raised go into supporting programs and initiatives for Hastings students like enhanced learning opportunities, food security in a variety of different forms, and classroom supplies.
-click ‘order’ for the correct time period (CMC splits the year up into Sept-Jan, and then Feb-June.)
-check out the menu first (it’s not this old-timey one in the illustration!), consider whether you want any add-ons like sides or beverages for your child(ren), and when you’re ready, click through to the order form itself (a Google form.) Please make sure you include your child(ren)’s first and last name, grade, and correct division number (check it here if you’re not sure what it is.) Meals are delivered on the day based on the division number, so having correct information ensures children get to eat their meals as quickly as possible. Don’t worry too much about the ‘odd’ and ‘even’ calendar day menus; the Google form only allows you to select from available options.
IMPORTANT – ORDERS AND PAYMENT MUST BE IN BY 6 PM the day before the hot lunch fundraiser occurs. For example, for the hot lunch fundraiser occurring Fri Oct 18th, orders must be received by CMC before 6 pm on Thurs Oct 17. If the order is not sent in on time, your child(ren) will not receive a meal. This is at CMC’s discretion, and is outside the control of Hastings PAC.
ALSO IMPORTANT – CMC allows you to specify in the form whether your child(ren) has/have specific dietary needs, such as gluten-free, vegetarian, or halal meals. However, if you have specific allergy or other concerns, it is best to email CMC directly to see what they can accommodate properly and safely. These requests and requirements must also be received by CMC in advance.
At the moment, the Hot Lunch Committee has set four dates for this fundraiser (Oct, Nov, Dec, and Jan) and if you would like to participate in all four days, you can go ahead and order those meals now in advance for convenience’s sake. However, there is no obligation to order more than once (or at all, this is completely voluntary!) You can also choose to order just one meal, and then play it by ear from there as to whether you would like to order again, as long as you order before 6 pm the day before the hot lunch fundraiser is next scheduled to take place.
Ordering and payment goes directly through the provider, but all communications about the hot lunch fundraising days will come through the PAC email newsletter, so if you are not already signed up for that, please do so now through the embed form here, on the right hand side of the website page.
If you are on the regular daily hot lunch program, you are certainly welcome to take part in the fundraising hot lunch! Any extra meals from daily hot lunch will be distributed to those who would like to have them or take them home. If you would like to participate in the hot lunch fundraiser but it feels outside your current budget, please email Trevor and we would be delighted to coordinate.
This is a new adventure for Hastings PAC, so if you have any thoughts or feedback as we go along — or perhaps have an idea for a meal you’d like to have brought in for a special occasion — please absolutely get in touch!
Image description: cover of the book Robes of Power, by Doreen Jensen and Polly Sargent.
We were honoured to receive a Placemaking grant from the City of Vancouver to help activate the public plaza at Kamloops and Hastings (400 Kamloops St.) Please join us for the event Fri Oct 11 from 3-6 pm, starting from the front doors of the school and leading to the plaza itself.
Indigenous parents first shared this idea for cultural sharing in the spring, and we are grateful to extend this conversation about Reconciliation through this event. Everyone is invited to come to the plaza to use the materials traditionally associated with Coast Salish button blankets — felt/wool melton, suede, buttons, etc. — to create a mini-textile art piece that reflects your heritage or culture. Haida artist Clarence Mills (Gah Ghin Skuss) has also granted us the right for attendees to use his art in the creation of your pieces. If you aren’t sure of your sewing abilities, that’s okay — we’ll also have glue and tape on hand for people who are more comfortable using those.
We will have some textile art on display co-created with Indigenous Hastings parents, as well as materials explaining the history of button blankets and the multilayered ways we are connecting through this project. We were guided very much in this project by the book Robes of Power, referenced above, as well as a number of Indigenous elders, scholars, and experts.
We will be serving light refreshments, including bannock, and hope you’re available to join us!
Enterprising Hastings student S.T. is trying to get a Rubik’s cube club going at lunchtime, but he needs your help. If you have any cubes languishing at home without anyone to pay attention to them, please drop them off to the office attention to Hastings PAC. We’ll get these over to S.T. and the staff member sponsoring this club so that kids can start getting their cube on as soon as possible.
Both standard Rubik’s cubes and speed cubes would be welcome. They are hoping to get the club going after Thanksgiving, so please start sorting through your toy boxes now if you get the chance! This will give the kids some lunchtime options for activities when the weather starts getting a little more dreary.
While you’re at it, we’re also passing along a request from teachers and staff for gently used puzzles, toys, and arts and craft supplies that you may no longer need. Donating these items clears out your home, allows these items to be enjoyed by others, and most importantly, sustainably fills up the cupboards at school. Hastings PAC is proud to support our teachers and staff by supplementing their classroom budgets, but getting these donations allows the funds to stretch even farther — while preventing usable items from going into the landfill. We call that a win-win-win for our kids!
Please feel free to also drop these items off to the office c/o Hastings PAC, we will take it from there.
Please join us Tues Oct 8 at 6 pm in the multipurpose room at school to help shape the Walking School Bus groups for this year! This grassroots organizing night is a key component of deciding what routes the groups will take each morning (with some operating after school as well), what the ground rules are, and in fact, which groups run at all.
The Active Travel page on this site gives you a general overview of how Hastings PAC is trying to encourage families to find ways to get to school that don’t involve using a car. That can mean scooting, biking, or using your own two feet!
The Walking School Bus groups are a great way for students to get some fresh air and exercise in the morning, make friends with children from other programs and grades, and to take action on climate change. Participants meet at the starting point and walk together along a designated route to (and/or from school), picking up additional students along the way as needed. It’s also a great opportunity for Gr. 6 and 7 students to demonstrate leadership and caring about their community.
Some groups have decided to compensate leaders, while others have opted not to. It’s a group decision made at, you guessed it, the planning night!
We already have the following groups:
Burrardview (student-led)
Penticton & Georgia (student-led)
Garden (parent-led)
Ferndale & Lakewood (parent-led)
We can add stops and even entire groups based on our planning night, so please be sure to join us! We’ll have pizza and beverages available, so you don’t even have to worry about dinner, and kids are definitely welcome.
