Welcome Message from the PAC Chair

Hello to the Walton parent community!

For those who don't know me, my name is Michael Fox, and I am the current Parent Advisory Council (PAC) President.  This is my third year in the role and fifth year as a PAC officeholder. I have had two children attend Walton Elementary, currently one in Grade 4.

Whether you are back for another year or just joining, welcome! This fall definitely is a little different than previous years in every sense, but school continues and so will the efforts of our Parent Advisory Council (PAC). This year our plans will be quite different until things change enough to allow us to focus more on "in school" and "in person" efforts. We will continue to support several school initiatives and classroom needs through funding, as well as other special requests from the school whenever they may be possible. We will also look to find new ways to engage our parent community and families, and I invite any creative ideas you may have on how to do this. Creating connections and building community around our children is one of the most vital roles we as a PAC play in the school experience, hopefully despite the pandemic restrictions we can still find ways to safely enable this.

On the subject of the pandemic, but no different than any year really, we as parents and caregivers are faced constantly with choices around what is best for our children. This year more than ever though we see how our choices may differ from those of others, whether it be about wearing masks, how often our child attends school, how comfortable we feel about certain activities and social interactions, etc. It is completely normal that everyone has their own feelings on each of these subjects and that we won't completely agree. One of the best lessons we can teach our children is to model good citizenship especially in the face of adversity;  I do encourage everyone to respect each others' right to choose and to be kind and compassionate, and supportive of each other.

As for the PAC, our meetings will be virtual for the foreseeable future, via the "Zoom" online meeting application.  A meeting schedule for the year will be made available at our October meeting; I invite any parent or caregiver within the Walton community to attend meetings, and if you cannot, feel free to reach out about how you can be involved. You may have seen a message recently about a call for Classroom Liaisons; this is an excellent opportunity to be involved and requires minimal time commitment.  If your child's division was on the list and you're at the school semi-regularly for drop off or pick up, please do consider volunteering as liaison.

Cheers!

Michael Fox