Minutes of the Hamilton-Wentworth Executive
Monday September 23, 2002

Members: Rosalind Minaji, Marie Patenaude, Tracey Cseresnyes, Julie Senecal Tremblay, Frank Torelli, Susan McClure, Lori Prevec
Regrets: Andrew Vowles, Deborah Doody

The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 7:15 p.m.

1. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES:

The minutes of August 29 were approved.

2. HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS:

Meeting Dates:
CPF Executive meetings will continue to be held on the third Thursday of the month. The October meeting will be held on the 24th so we can hear about the CPF Conference. Tracey will try to book Norwood Park School library for October 24, November 21 and January 16.

Confirmation of Executive:
Roz will remain as Chair, but requests that someone else take on the Treasurer duties this year. Tracey will stay on as Membership Secretary and Julie as CPF Contact. Susan McClure will be replacing Dean Alex as the representative from Earl Kitchener. Mary Finstad will be the representative from G.R. Allen now that Julie's children are both at Dalewood. Lori will check with Andrew Vowles to see if he wishes to continue with the Executive.

It was noted that we are missing representatives from Glen Brae and Glen Echo Schools. Julie will call both schools to find out when their October School Council meetings are being held. CPF will ask to appear as a delegation and try to get some new members (and an Executive rep from each of these schools).

3. UPDATES:

Volunteer Hours:
Total = 20 (Meet the Teacher displays and agenda preparation)

Treasurer's Report:
Expenditures $100 (in August for conference registration)
Deposits $0
Balance on hand: $1,014.74

Membership:
Tracey provided an updated list of Chapter members. There are a total of 44 memberships as of August. Tracey will continue to send reminder letters to members when they are due for renewal, telling them what the Chapter has accomplished and that 65% of their membership fee is returned to the Chapter

Communications:
Roz received several general inquiries over the summer at the CPF e-mail account. She referred some of these to the Centre Francais and some to the School Board. The web site continues to be updated monthly. A newsletter will be printed in mid October once details of the French Concert are settled.

4. SPECIAL EVENTS

Meet the Teacher Nights:
CPF Displays were set up at Norwood Park, G.R. Allen and Ryerson last week. Earl Kitchener will be holding their Meet the Teacher night this Thursday and will use the display and brochures. Westdale is displaying its CPF posters and the principal has asked for some FI and CPF information to be distributed to Grade 9 parents. Frank will e-mail Roz with Westdale's specific requirements.

French Concert in November:
It was decided that the concert should be held in November to allow sufficient time to organize and publicize the event. The catalogue from Mariposa in the Schools was reviewed and the "Carnival in Quebec City" concert which features Chris Rawlings and Anne Lederman was chosen. This concert has a maximum audience of 370 people and will cost approximately $479 plus $16 travel fee plus 7% GST. Roz will call MITS and see if this concert would be available for November 15 or 22nd. Marie and Julie were very impressed by the MITS presentation at G.R. Allen last year, but cautioned that the performers should be aware of age appropriate material and aim the concert at Grades 1 to 6.

The School Board fee schedule was reviewed and it was decided to book Westdale auditorium for $90 per hour (including stage crew) from 6:15 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. (a total of 2 ½ hours or $225 plus $25 administration fee, plus GST). The performance would be about 1 hour so this would allow 45 minutes for set up and seating the audience and then 45 minutes for clean up and departure. Frank will phone the School Board to see if the November dates are available and place a hold on them. Frank will also inquire about any rules for food and drink in the auditorium or the lobby. The Board requires an insurance certificate for $2 million. CPF provides insurance coverage for its Chapters so Roz will apply for this coverage.

It was decided to charge $2 per ticket (general admission) for the concert to ensure that the venue is not over-sold. Lori will check to see whether teachers would be able to sell tickets (since this is not a School Board event). Roz will print the tickets and posters and distribute to the Executive at our next meeting. Tickets will be made available to CPF members the first week and then opened up for all FI students.

CPF Ontario Conference:
Marie will be attending the Ottawa Conference as Hamilton-Wentworth's delegate. The Conference package has arrived and includes the Launch of the 2002 State of FSL in Canada, speeches by John Ralston Saul and Stephane Dion, Advocacy Workshops and Panel Discussions.

5. SCHOOL BOARD NEWS:

Nothing to report at this point. The Board Supervisor's report is expected at the end of October.

6. NOVEMBER 16TH PARENT CONFERENCE:

The registration package for the Parent Conference was distributed to parents last week. The registration deadline is October 21. If not enough people register then the proposed FI sessions will be cancelled. Lori and Gisele Portelance have been working on consolidating three of Claudette's PowerPoint presentations into one. They will conduct the session on the history of FI and the EQAO test results, while Roz will present the material on how to help your child with French studies. The presentation will be explored in greater depth at the next CPF meeting (once our session at the Workshop has been confirmed). Lori and Gisele have also updated our "Tips and Resources" handout.

7. CONTACTS WITH FRANCOPHONE COMMUNITY:

We are now on the mailing list for the Centre Francais Hamilton Inc. Julie brought the September issue of "Entre Nous" to the meeting. She will watch the newsletters for concerts or other events which might be of interest to Immersion students or teachers.

8. BASIC FRENCH COURSE:

A binder with complete course content for the Parent Instructional Program has been sent by CPF Ontario. Craig will make copies of the course content. The course is at an introductory level for those with no prior French instruction. From preliminary discussions at Meet the Teacher Nights, interest in the course is very high and we should easily attract 40 people (20 for 2 nights). Marie has contacted Annette Ray who has agreed to be an instructor for the course. Ms. Ray is likely only available for one night of the week. Marie will confirm the start date and the day of the week she would like to hold the course. Once this is known, we will make inquiries for another French Teacher to do the second night. CPF Ontario will give us a one-time grant of $400 for holding the course.

9. OTHER BUSINESS:
CPF Ontario now has "Keys to French II" available. This publication continues the grammar and vocabulary up to the high school level. It was suggested that we buy a few copies ($5 each) and sell them at a profit at our concert.

MEETING ADJOURNED: 8:30 P.M.