Minutes of the Hamilton-Wentworth Executive
Monday March 26, 2007

Members: Kaywana Gargarello, Frank Torelli, Rosalind Minaji, Myra Malley, Andrea Johnson, Mary McLeod

Regrets: Debbie Edwards, Dianne MacKenzie, Marie Patenaude

The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

1. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES

The minutes of January 10, 06 were approved with the following amendment: 10 memberships were sold at the booksale, not 11 as previously noted.

2. CHAPTER UPDATES

Volunteer Hours: 99 -includes 11 SK information nights, Hamilton reads, mailings, etc.

Membership:
Myra provided a report on the latest membership list received from CPF National office. The new list shows that several memberships on the November 2006 list were actually lapsed. The new total memberships is: 76
There were 9 members added from the summer camp last year and 9 at the book sale.

[Based on the Hamilton-Wentworth Chapter Members List issued on March 20, 2007.]

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS = 71
SPOUSE/PARTNER MEMBERS = 50
SCHOOL MEMBERS = 3 St. Eugene
Dalewood
Glen Echo
ORGANIZATION MEMBERS = 2 Tralco Lingo Fun
Centre de Santé Communautaire
TOTAL CURRENT MEMBERSHIP = 126

NEW MEMBERS (SINCE MARCH 06) = 23
Joined in Spring 06 [Camp?] = 9
Joined in Fall 06 [Book Sale?] = 9
- The letters to recently lapsed members seems to have netted 4 renewals (3 individuals and
St. Eugene Catholic Elementary School).

- The mailing to inactive members asking them to renew seems to have netted 0 renewals

Action Items:
" Roz to purchase memberships for FI community members from each Board.

Communications:
Brochures were delivered to every JK student in Hamilton-Wentworth advertising the French Immersion program and the 11 Kindergarten Information Nights.

Next newsletter to be scheduled for May 1 distribution (our next Executive Meeting). Contents will include: Concours report, French camp, Hamilton Reads, Teacher Interview, new FI site updates, AGM information, Tumblebooks on library web site, SEVEC. Newsletter material is to be provided to Dianne by April 15.

Treasurer's Report:

Opening Balance January 10, 2007 3,210.63

Revenues
Interest 2.99
CPF Ontario FI Promotion Grant 582.00
Total Revenues 584.99

Expenses
Brochure Printing 853.82
Bishop Ryan School 160.00
Brigitte Cazabon (French Perfomer) 250.00
Catholic School Board 31.80
Myra Malley 157.57
Total Expenses 1453.19

Balance as of March 31, 07 2,342.43

3. PAST CHAPTER EVENTS

Gregg LeRock Concert:
Although the numbers were not as high as last year, the concerts went very well. Myra and Mary commented that the students seemed to really enjoy the shows. One school brought lyric sheets which helped get everyone participating. A wide range of ages were in attendance. Next year we will try to book Etienne again as some French teachers have been asking about having him back. Gregg is still processing his paperwork, but will issue us a cheque in the near future.

A new event being advertised by CPF Ontario "Gotta Love that French" is a multimedia presentation celebrating French culture and the benefits of French language skills. Our Chapter will investigate booking this event (for up to 500 students) as a Fall concert for middle school students. Andrea noted that report cards have a media strand and that this event can be advertised to teachers to help them cover this part of the curriculum.

Action Items:
" Roz to follow up with Etienne for next year
" Kaywana to monitor the cheque from Gregg LeRock and obtain the tax receipt from CPF Ontario
" Kaywana to follow up with "Gotta Love that French" event

Hamilton Reads:
Frank attended the reading by Brigitte Cazabon. There were only about 15 children at the centre, but this may have been due to a snowstorm that evening. Only one child seemed to be from an FI school. The reading was very interactive and the kids enjoyed it. The Hamilton Public Library organizers have suggested a Saturday event for next year and we agreed that this may attract more attendance. It was suggested that we ask for our sponsored event to be held at the Westdale Library next year to provide easier access to FI families.

Action Items:
" Roz to follow up with HPL with suggestions for next year
" Frank to prepare a description of the event and send photos to Dianne for newsletter

Concours:
Myra attended the French Immersion portion of the event at Dalewood. She prepared a brief write-up for the newsletter. Roz will provide Dianne with the names of the core French winners. The quality of the speeches was very impressive. The students enjoyed the CPF wristbands which were distributed to each participant. There are several book prizes left from our purchase since the separate school board did not participate this year. We will keep these for next year. Cathedral will be sending students to the high school competition for the first time this year. Kaywana will write something for the newsletter about this. Roz raised this issue at FIAC and the principal of Westdale is exploring possibilities with her French Immersion staff for student participation next year.

FI Information Nights:
There were 11 SK Information nights this year. The public school board did not advertise in the Spectator, but instead used bus advertising, Brabant newspapers and other means of getting the word out. It appeared that attendance was down. Our brochure was very effective in informing parents -several of them mentioned it. The daycare mailings were also important and should be sustained.

Action Items:
" Roz will complete the on-line CPF Ontario volunteer forms for the 11 FI nights
" Roz and Kaywana will ensure the volunteer forms are completed for all other events (such as the Hamilton Reads and the concerts)

4. UPCOMING CHAPTER EVENTS

AGM:
After a good discussion, it was decided that the AGM this year should include some form of entertainment aimed at children. The most important thing is to get a good turn-out of people. It was decided that a school in Westdale should be used for the event -Earl Kitchener was selected as we have not had any events there recently. The preferred format will be for two short (1/2 hour) performances with a brief presentation by CPF in between when the audience is captive. Andrea mentioned that she knows a French juggler who could give a workshop using scarves. Performers could be musicians, magicians, buskers etc. Suggested dates were: Thursday May 31 or Thursday June 14 from 7pm to 9pm Refreshments should be provided. Total budget for the event should be under $500

Action Items:
" Andrea will investigate various performers
" Roz will contact Earl Kitchener to see if the gym is available, then work with the school board to book it

Franco-fête Hamilton:
The St. Jean picnic will be renamed as the Franco-fête Hamilton this year, but still takes place on Sunday June 24. Kaywana has discussed the event with Claudette Mikelsons of the Centre Francais and CPF will subsidize the cost of a French children's performer ($300). We will also have our cotton candy stand set up. Promotion of the St. Jean event and the AGM can be done in the same mailing to our membership. Further discussion at the next meeting.

5. PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD ISSUES

Enrolment at the three new school sites is progressing fairly well. Dundana is at 36 students and is likely to reach their 40 person maximum before September. They are now exploring daycare opportunities.

Guy Brown in Waterdown is at 28 students so they are still looking for 2 more people to enroll before the program is official. The parents are renting a portable sign for a month at $150. It was agreed that our Chapter would donate $50 towards this initiative. If the final 2 are not obtained, the program has a fairly good chance of being approved by Executive Council at a slightly reduced enrollment.

Lawfield registration is also still below the 30 required. They have 24 students as of March 21. Gisele Portelance has met with Norwood Park School Council and they are making some posters etc. to hang in the east end. A letter has gone home to east mountain parents from the school board. Hopefully this program will open as there are negative impacts on Norwood Park if it does not.

Ancaster Parent for French was formed in February and they have 56 names on a petition so far. Superintendent Krys Croxall has offered to undertake a survey of JK students in September to see what the interest is. She is cautious about opening another school site so soon before the above three are well established.

Andrea mentioned that she is also informally collecting names for Stoney Creek parents who would be interested in a site. Roz will add a phone number and e-mail to the CPF web site in case parents want to contact Andrea about this.

Action Items:
" Roz to send a cheque to Waterdown Parents for French towards the sign rental
" Andrea to provide contact information to Roz for the web site so Stoney Creek parents can call

6. SEPARATE SCHOOL BOARD ISSUES

Kaywana noted that the second FI parent meeting has yet to be arranged. It was suggested that parent turn-out could be improved by making this a theme night. Perhaps the library could be asked to make their presentation. Could Maria Brenyo offer a session on helping with French homework?

Action Items:
" Mary will follow up with the superintendent to set a date for the parent meeting
" Kaywana will liaise with Maria Brenyo to see if a parent information session can be held

7. FRANCOPHONE COMMUNITY ISSUES

The Centre Francais is working on re-opening the Staircase Café and have advertised for a cook and booking agent. They are interested in partnering with CPF in future to show French films and have performers.

CPF was invited by the local Rendevous Committee to join the Hamilton Rendevous de Francophone event at the Federal Building on March 22 during the day. Myra was able to attend to represent our Chapter. The event was for employees only and was set up as a trade show. Staff from various Federal departments came down for ½ hour each to view the displays. Many of the participants were the same as those at our November Trade show, but one of note was the French Toastmasters Club. The Rendevous committee were very happy to have CPF at the event and this made for excellent public relations. Thanks to Myra for attending.

While at the event, Myra also discussed French library programs with Lisa Barrie from Hamilton Public Library. Lisa has a PowerPoint presentation about youth library programs in French. It was felt that we could look into a tour of schools for her in the Fall. We should also profile the on-line Tumblebooks program in our newsletter as these are French children's books read aloud.

8. OTHER BUSINESS

SEVEC:
Roz will be organizing a start-up meeting for SEVEC 2008. It would be good to have a strong group of parent volunteers organized before the summer. Also, we need to make a Trillium application before June 2007 so that we would hear about this in the Fall. The meeting would take place in May and will be advertised in the newsletter. Deborah Doody has some suggestions to make the 2008 exchange run more smoothly: these include using extra junior councilors, having a single bus pick-up point, obtaining funding and an indoor venue from the school board e

Action Items:
" Roz will organize a start-up meeting for SEVEC and provide date to Dianne for the newsletter.
" Roz will contact Deborah Doody for advice on organizing the exchange
" Roz will contact Susan West at the Trillium office for advice on the Trillium application

French Camp:
The Caro Cloutier French Camp has been confirmed for four weeks this summer. The flyers are already up on our web site and we will promote it in our newsletter. Caro prefers to run the camp from her home, therefore she is not eligible to run a CPF summer camp and CPF membership is not a requirement. Kaywana mentioned that she has heard of a possible sports camp running at the francophone high school.

Action Items:
" Kaywana will try to confirm information about sports camp for inclusion in newsletter
" CPF will continue to promote French language summer opportunities

French Course:
Norwood Park school council has obtained a grant from the school board to help parents of French Immersion children. They are spending a portion of their grant money organizing a French course for parents. CPF has agreed to supply the materials and obtain the teacher (Betty Dunfield) provided that all participants are CPF members. The course was advertised just before March break at a cost of $20 for a 10 week course (including free child care). Non-CPF members cost $40 with the School council subsidizing $5 of our membership. Despite this low, low price, only 14 parents have signed up. This goes to show that we would still have great difficulty running a French course in Hamilton for $75 members and $100 non-members.

Action Items:
" Roz is copying materials for the participants.
" Roz will co-ordinate new membership forms.

TFO Packages:
TFO (the francophone public television network) has put together packages for kids promoting their programming. The packages have a small colouring book, a button saying "Speak to me in French" (in French) and other materials.

Action Items:
" Andrea will contact TFO to see if CPF can get 100 copies of the package for future events.

Meeting Adjourned: 9:30pm

Next meeting: May 1, 2007