Minutes of the Hamilton-Wentworth Executive
Wednesday November 1, 2006

Members: Kaywana Gargarello, Frank Torelli, Rosalind Minaji, Myra Malley

Regrets: Susan McClure, Dianne MacKenzie, Marie Patenaude,

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

1. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES

The minutes of September 18, 2006 were approved.

2. CHAPTER UPDATES

Volunteer Hours: 68

Membership:
We are now at 77 memberships, up 2 from September. Myra has sent welcome letters to all new members as well as thank you letters to existing members. Next step will be to send renewal letters to the 125 people on the lapsed membership list obtained from CPF Ontario. It was also noted that several members do not have children in FI schools and will need to have their newsletters mailed to them in future.

Roz attended a membership workshop at the National conference and learned that some Chapters purchase memberships for key individuals in their FI community. This is a sound investment because: it ensures that these people are in the loop, often they renew the membership themselves, and also some of the purchase price is returned to the chapter through membership rebates. It was agreed that memberships would be purchased for FSL consultants, Directors of Education, Superintendents in charge of French, and Chairs of the Board. We will wait until after the municipal election to finalize a list.

Action Items:
" Myra will mail all lapsed members a letter and registration form this month.
" Rosalind will give remaining Keys to French to Myra
" Myra to mail newsletters to members without children in FI schools
" FSL community memberships to be purchased in the new year

Communications:
Newsletters will be distributed next week. Lead story is the Trade Show/Book Sale.

Kaywana wrote an article about the Keys to French in student agendas for Chapter Chat. It may be in the subsequent issue rather than the next one.

CPF Ontario have asked if members of our Executive can attend a presentation by the University of Ottawa about their new French Immersion degree. The presentation is at the Sheraton Hotel on November 2. Myra agreed to represent the Chapter.

Copies of the Catholic Agendas with the Keys to French insert were sent to LUMAS

Executive Positions:
We are still in need of a Treasurer and Recording Secretary. Roz will continue to act as treasurer until a new volunteer can be found.

Treasurer's Report:

As of November 1, 2006

Opening Balance September 1, 2006 5,333.06

Revenues
CPF Ontario Membership Rebate 1,422.00
CPF Ontario Membership Rebate 391.50
Total Revenues May to September 1,813.50

Expenses
UPS Store Photocopying Oct-06 45.79
Silent Auction Item Oct-06 54.00
CPF Ontario -Keys to French 110.00
LUMAS Language Solutions (Separate Agendas) 1,086.50
LUMAS Language Solutions (Public Agendas) 372.06
Myra Malley -Membership Mailings 148.98
CPF Ontario - National Conference 400.00
Total Expenses September and October 2,217.33

Balance as of November 1, 06 4,929.23

3. UPCOMING CHAPTER EVENTS

Book Sale/Trade Show:
Invitations to the trade show have been faxed and e-mailed to 45 groups and agencies. At this point we have had 15 responses. Eight have agreed to attend, three are sending materials and several others are still considering. Roz also handed out invitations to the speakers and trade show participants at the CPF National conference. Frank and Roz will keep a running tally and see whether reminder faxes should be sent late next week.

Frank will follow up with Westdale to see if they can attend since Cathedral and Vanier will be represented. It was suggested that the Centre Francais should be contacted to ensure they publicize this event to their members as well as to invite francophone schools and agencies to attend. We will need additional volunteers this year to look after the trade show participants and guide parents through the room.

It was decided that we will rent 25 tables since Norwood Park has none of their own, and it was difficult to move those loaned by the Board of Education last year. Myra has obtained a preliminary estimate of $260 for the rental.

Marie has been in touch with Champlain to book the sale. They will be both delivering and picking up the materials from Norwood Park this year. It was agreed that we would not do a full inventory check. We will review major ticket items and quantities to ensure that large discrepancies do not occur.

Kaywana will make 5 promotional banners for Norwood, Sts. Peter & Paul, St. Joes, Earl Kitchener and GR Allen schools. Roz will contact the new SNAP newspaper to see if they will send a photographer. It was suggested that we run our SEVEC video at the CPF table to show the types of events we organize.

Action Items:
" Myra to book 25 tables for the event
" Roz to contact SNAP to publicize the event
" Kaywana to meet with Claudette Mikelsons to help promote the event in the francophone community
" Roz to contact Marie to request: more French dictionaries, Merci cards, cash register from Champlain
" Frank to contact Westdale to see if they will attend.
" Myra will man the membership booth at the event with a sign publicizing the 5% discount.

French Tour of Dundurn Castle:
Roz has contacted Dundurn Castle about a French language tour on Sunday December 3. She is waiting for confirmation. This year we should ensure that CPF tour participants are identified with a sticker and that we have a sign directing them to specific areas. We should ensure that photos of the tour group are taken for the newsletter.

Action Items:
" Roz to follow up with Dundurn Castle

Gregg LeRock Concerts: (February 15 & 22)
Kaywana has confirmed Gregg LeRock dates for February and has booked Bishop Ryan and GP Vanier as the venues. We will need to follow up on ticket sales and promotion later in the year. The cost of each concert is $6.00 plus transportation and they take place at 10am and 1pm each day. 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.

4. CPF NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Rosalind Minaji and Dianne MacKenzie represented the Chapter at the 2006 CPF National conference in Ottawa from October 20 to 22. The event was attended by 185 delegates from across Canada.

The conference was kicked-off with the launch of the 2006 State of French Language Education in Canada Report. Delegates from each of the Provincial and Territorial Branches presented an overview of the issues and challenges facing FSL education in Canada. This was an extremely interesting cross-country perspective and it was interesting to hear the similarities in issues (such as the teacher shortage, difficulty in opening new FI programs and declining enrollment in Core French).

In Ontario, the issues raised were: lack of special needs support and lack of accountability measures as well as measurements of FSL program quality. Ontario's response to the Action Plan for Official Languages has no business plan for FSL studies. There is a lack of disclosure about FSL expenditures by school boards. FSL renewal funds for the 1st year of the program tended to be directed towards basic needs -the timelines were very narrow and left no room for public consultation. There is only one person at the Ministry of Education in charge of FSL in a portfolio that covers 60 school boards in Ontario. As part of their 7th report, CPF has asked for a National FSL Advisory Committee and for this to be repeated at the Provincial level.

Other presentations at the conference included:
" The Suitability of French Immersion for all Students: What does the Research Say?
" Intensive French Programs: Revisiting Core French
" Recruitment of Bilingual Candidates to the Federal Civil Service
" Canada - Quebec Student Exchange Program
" SEVEC Exchange Program
" National and Provincial Annual General Meetings
" CPF Ontario Workshop about the FSL Renewal Funding Process
" Workshops on: Volunteer Recruitment, Working with your School Board, Building Membership, Advocacy, and Running An Effective Meeting

The Conference offered an invaluable opportunity to network with parents from across Canada who are facing similar issues and challenges and to share solutions and ideas.

5. PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD ISSUES

On October 16, Roz attended the public board's Committee of the Whole meeting on behalf of CPF. Presentations were made by CPF Hamilton-Wentworth, Waterdown Parents for French Immersion and Dundas Parents for French Immersion -all requesting consideration of the expansion of the French Immersion in the Hamilton-Wentworth public board.

After each presentation, the Committee moved that the item be referred to staff for a report back to the Board of Trustees. Although there was no timing attached to the staff direction, several trustees verbally requested that the report on French Immersion Accommodation address all three of the delegations and that it be completed in a timely fashion to allow for the possible expansion of the program by September 2007.

On October 26, Roz attended a meeting of the Norwood Park school council to monitor their discussion of accommodation issues and questions over expansion of the FI program to other sites on Hamilton mountain. Gisele Portelance, the Board's FSL consultant also attended the meeting to address FI accommodation issues and answer questions. The school council has followed up with a letter to the Superintendent in charge of FSL requesting that FI accommodation issues be addressed in a comprehensive fashion.

Action Items:
" Roz to follow up at FIAC and any subsequent Board meeting

6. SEPARATE SCHOOL BOARD ISSUES

This year CPF will concentrate on advocating for more involvement of Cathedral high school with the feeder elementary schools to encourage better retention levels for French Immersion in high school. Kaywana also plans to make a presentation to the French Parent Meeting regarding the percentage of French taught in schools. The French Immersion Curriculum is being reviewed by the Province in 2007 and it will be a good time for CPF to become involved in advocating for greater immersion levels.

7. FRANCOPHONE COMMUNITY ISSUES

Kaywana will arrange a meeting with Claudette Mikelsons of the Centre Francais to follow up on their events and activities for 2006/2007.

8. OTHER BUSINESS

Kaywana proposed that there needs to be some way that French Immersion elementary students can meet and socialize prior to Grade 9, she suggested that perhaps CPF Hamilton Wentworth become involved in some way, such as providing a stipend for Grade 9 students to host an event for Grades 7 & 8. Further discussion resolved that a day of team building exercises hosted at the high schools, involving the Grade 8 students from the all the elementary schools should be suggested to the schools first.

Meeting Adjourned: 8:55pm