Minutes of the Hamilton-Wentworth Chapter Meeting
Monday January 16, 2006

Members: Kaywana Gargarello, Frank Torelli, Rosalind Minaji, Myra Malley, Dianne MacKenzie,
Marie Patenaude

Regrets: Ron English, Susan McClure, Neena Monteiro, Yolanda Bragues

The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.

1. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES

The minutes of November 9, 2005 were approved.

2. CHAPTER UPDATES

Volunteer Hours: 177

Membership:
We are now at 83 memberships, down from the 94 in September. The Committee stressed how important membership is and suggested that the upcoming FI information nights might be a good chance to recruit new members. There were 7 new and renewed memberships from the book sale due to the 5% discount offered, but these are within the 83 listed.

Action Items:
" Ron will mail all new members since September with welcome letter and Keys to French I
" Ron will mail all renewed members since September with thank you letter & Keys to French II
" Rosalind to consider membership survey timing and questions

Treasurer's Report:

As of December 31st

Opening Balance November 7th 6,796.90
City of Hamilton rebate classroom rent 55.00
CPF Ontario - Advertising Grant 1,700.00
Interest 2.39
Total Revenues January 1st 1,757.39

Expenses
November newletter printing 452.81
Champlain -book prizes for Concours 194.75
Total Expenses November to January 647.56

Balance as of December 31, 2005 7906.73

Upcoming January expenses: January newsletter, Bishop Ryan rental, Spectator ads, info night brochures, daycare mailing, Lysette Brochu payment.

Confirmation of Executive Positions:
Neena Monteiro has not yet assumed the Treasurer position due to personal issues. Deborah Doody has agreed to complete these duties until January, but the transition needs to take place as soon as possible.

Action Items:
" Neena and Debbie to meet and exhange treasurer's records & signing authority

Communications:
Newsletters were distributed January 5. Next newsletter will be in late March (Topics: Concours, concert review, ARTFO, Esprit D'Ecole review, French summer camp). Dianne is working with Cathedral to finalize the promotional video for French Immersion in the separate board. Dianne and a student visited all four FI schools and interviewed teachers, students and filmed classrooms in action. Dianne was successful in arranging a Spectator article about bussing for French Immersion, which included a reference to Canadian Parents for French.

3. PAST CHAPTER EVENTS

Book Sale/Trade Show:
The sale and show were very successful. Members seemed quite pleased with the 5% discount offered and Myra was able to recruit several new and renewed memberships from her position next to the cash register. The trade show participants were quite appreciative of the opportunity. We received a thank you note from Glendon College. We made $675 from Champlain. One CD was damaged and Craig made an extra trip to the bookstore to exchange it. Thanks to Marie and Craig for returning all the books and materials.

Thoughts for next year: It would have been good to have a few more volunteers as it was a long day for some. The trade show fax response sheets should have included a space for the organization name as when they were returned it was hard to tell who had sent them back. Next year it was suggested we try Norwood Park on the mountain. No need for a reduced time frame on the trade show -let the participants decide when to pack up. Should we bother with the full inventory next year as it took about 12 man-hours to complete. Perhaps instead we should just look for high cost items and multiple copies of expensive books on the inventory and make sure they have been shipped to us. We should advertise the trade show at Cathedral and Westdale as many of the participanting organizations were aimed at high school students.

French Film:
This was a good event and we attracted about 25 participants. Since the Staircase is closed there was additional clean up and set up required -the bulk of which was done by the Centre Français (thanks Lisa). It was great to have the partnership with the Centre Français. Next time we should sell tickets and food at the same register.

French Tour of Dundurn Castle:
Again, a well attended event with approximately 24 people split into two tour groups. One issue was that non-CPF participants were included with one of the tours by mistake, and therefore the tour had to be done both in English and French for them. Next year, we should prepare "French Tour" stickers for the cashiers to provide to the CPF tour participants. Kaywana set up the CPF display, but it was hard to see in the space provided. Next year it would be nice to have some photos of the tour group for the newsletter.

4. UPCOMING CHAPTER EVENTS

Hamilton Reads in French: (January 25)
Roz forwarded our newsletter to the library and has learned that the Lysette Brochu reading is being co-sponsored by two francophone organizations. Since French authors from the Hamilton area are in short supply, our author had additional travel and accommodation expenses, which are being covered by the other two organizations.

Evette Sauriol from ASCY has now been in touch with Roz and explained the details of the two readings. Lysette Brochu will be hosting a make-believe birthday party as part of the readings and there is a limit of 30 children for each event. ASCY has now set aside 10 spaces in the evening and 3 spaces in the morning for FI students and parents. Next year, we will liaise with Evette directly to ensure that registration details are passed on to our members. Should be a nice event.

Action Items:
" Roz will attend and bring the $200 cheque for Lysette Brochu.

French Film: (January 28)
Lisa Breton from the Centre Français has arranged to book the Staircase. We will be showing "la Guerre des Tuques" which is a classic Quebec children's film. Unfortunately we have been unable to find a copy on DVD, so we may have to use a VHS version which will mean no subtitles.

Action Items:
" Roz will attend to help sell tickets and refreshments.
" A couple of additional volunteers are needed.

FI Information Nights: (January & February)
CPF Ontario has provided another $1,700 grant to promote French Immersion to potential kindergarten students. The following steps have been taken. Roz has contacted the Spectator to order newspaper ads on Tuesday January 31, Wednesday February 8 and Tuesday February 14. The two ads will cost 1,400 and the third is free as we are a non-profit group. Dianne has updated the FI brochures with the dates of this year's meetings. She will print 1,500 for the separate board and 3,500 for the public board. These are to be distributed to all JK students in the City. Myra offered to print and send the poster and cover letter to daycare centres across Hamilton. Carrie Crockett had extra daycare labels prepared from last year which we will make use of. Executive members will attend the FI information nights to answer questions, recruit members and distribute CPF materials.

Action Items:
" Myra will print and mail the daycare posters
" Roz will arrange for the newspaper ad
" Dianne will distribute the pamphlets to the two school boards
" Roz will provide copies of these materials to CPF Ontario in return for the grant money.
" Volunteers:
Wednesday February 1 -Glen Echo (Ron -to get brochures & display from Dianne)
Monday February 6 -AM Cunningham (Roz)
Wednesday February 8 -Norwood Park (Tracey -to get brochures & display from Roz)
Wednesday February 15 -Earl Kitchener (Frank -to get display from Susan, brochures from Kaywana)
Wednesday February 15 - St. Eugene (Kaywana -to get display from Frank)
Thursday February 16 - St. Josephs (Kaywana)
Wednesday February 22 - Sts. Peter & Paul (Neena -to get display from Kaywana)

Gregg LeRock Concerts: (February 20 & 21)
The invitations and registration forms have now been forwarded to all public and separate schools in Hamilton-Wentworth. The forms were also faxed to the three francophone elementary schools. The cost of each concert is $5.50 plus transportation. Volunteers are needed to direct buses, hang signs and provide security. One volunteer is needed for Bishop Ryan as the auditorium is separate from the rest of the school. At Vanier, we will need to monitor snow and dirt being tracked into the gym as the students are sitting on the floor.

Action Items:
" Kaywana will pay for sound system and crew at Bishop Ryan
" Ron, Myra and Dianne will volunteer on Monday 20th
" Roz will ask Christel if she can also volunteer on the 20th
" Dianne will volunteer at Bishop Ryan on Tuesday 21st

Le Concours: (March)
The public board's Concours is taking place in early March at Dalewood. There are more schools participating this year. Kids have also started preparing for the separate school board competition. CPF will be providing the French candy to all participants. Books have been purchased for the winners in each category.

Action Items:
" Kaywana will contact separate board for date and details
" Marie will e-mail Roz with date, number of participants and categories
" Roz will drop prizes off with Madame Bromhead at Norwood Park

Summer Camp:
Roz and Kaywana continue to meet with the Centre Francais to discuss the summer camp for next August. We will report back with more details at the March meeting.

5. PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD ISSUES

The interim bussing for French Immersion students starts on January 30th. This is a very exciting development and CPF has been credited by Board officials for our lobbying and advocacy efforts. We need to continue to encourage parents to contact the Province about the new transportation funding formula as bussing only continues until June at this point. Pick-up points have been posted on the Board's web site (most are beside City parks). It is expected that usage will not be high for these six months as many parents have made alternative arrangements and will take a "wait and see" attitude. Roz will attend the Westdale high school information night on February 8.

6. SEPARATE SCHOOL BOARD ISSUES

The Board has added 20 minutes of English instruction to the SK program due to concerns over EQAO scores. Kaywana has contacted principals and trustees to object to this change to the program. It was suggested that she also contact the OMLTA for advice. Kaywana plans to organize a meeting for separate school FI parents (outside of CPF) and suggest they make a presentation to the Board about various concerns. Maria Brenyo's contract expires in June 2006, we hope it can be extended. Kaywana will attend the Cathedral high school information night on January 18.

7. FRANCOPHONE COMMUNITY ISSUES

Lisa Breton, our contact at the Centre Français, will soon be moving to a part-time role with the Centre. We plan to meet her successor and hope to maintain the same great working relationship with the organization.

Giselle Dupuis of the Collège Boréal has obtained a $35 discount for CPF members who take the adult FSL courses through the Hamilton campus. This is a great membership incentive.

Action Items:
" Rosalind and Kaywana will continue to meet with Lisa Breton and her successor to plan for summer camp and other joint events.

8. OTHER BUSINESS

Marie noted that Georges P. Vanier school is hosting a day of French activities on February 23 for Grades 4 and 5 students. French Immersion schools were invited to attend. The day includes: sports, drama, art and music activities.

Next Meeting Monday March 6, 2006