What Exactly Does the PAC Do?

Our PAC is an active group. We welcome and look forward to new volunteers and ideas to better support our children and school.  Some of the initiatives run by the PAC in the past and planned for this year include:

• Regular PAC Meetings (8 per year) – These meetings are not just for PAC business and planning but are an important communication point with the school. We encourage you to come out.
• After School Activity Programs – A variety of programs (including academic, arts, science and sports) are offered over three sessions through the year. 
• Emergency Supplies – The PAC maintains, organizes and purchases emergency supplies – we hope we will never need these supplies but if we do, we are ready.
• Gardening Program – The PAC funds and has been instrumental in bringing the gardening program. This year students learned about seeds, plants, soil, worms, healthy cooking and how the plants they grow turn into food on the table.
• Newsletters, Website, and Weekly Mouthful (email) - To keep our parent community up to date, we have a website, a monthly newsletter, and a weekly email.
• Classroom Liaisons – The PAC facilitates the election of classroom liaisons for each class. This supports and encourages easier communication with the teachers and within the class parent community.
• Multicultural Support – The PAC recognizes that Walton is made up of families from a diverse group of cultures and languages. Volunteer multicultural liaisons who translate PAC communications and make recommendations on how best to reach our entire parent/guardian community.
• Community Building Events – Last year the PAC put on a Swap Meet/Sale, two family movie nights, and a welcome back BBQ. These are popular community building events and important fundraisers for us and they are a lot of fun!
• Traffic Safety – PAC volunteers help keep our children safe before and after school by monitoring the parking lot and supervising and training teams of Grade 5 students to control the crosswalk.
• Hot Lunches – Last year the PAC offers several hot lunch dates which raise thousands of dollars for PAC while giving participating students a delicious meal. Entrees were offered including Flying Wedge pizza, Subway sandwiches, Moa Box sushi, and more.
• Supplemental Workshops – The PAC will periodically bring in workshops for children and parents. 
• Fundraising Events to support initiatives at the school.  These fundraisers are the monetary engine that allow the PAC to financially support activities at the school.
• Support School Needs and Activities. The PAC fundraising enables us to support our school and students financially by funding items and events including:
  • Library books
  • Fieldtrip bus funding
  • Upper and lower playground equipment (the upper playground was replaced in 2015)
  • Classroom smartboards
  • Classroom document cameras and projectors
  • Kindergarten iPads
  • Classroom support funds to enable teachers to purchase classroom supplies
  • Performances brought in by the school
  • Classroom area rugs
  • Support bursaries to ensure all children can take part in activities
  • and more

 
All PAC activities are entirely run by volunteers, without which none of the above could be achieved.