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School Council

Jacob Beam School Council Meeting

School Advisory Council Minutes

Tuesday, September 30, 2025, 6:00-7:00 pm 

In Attendance:  

Jen Currie (principal), Dave Elia (vice-principal), Mel Jones, Cory ____, Victoria _____, Katie Fittante, Sarah Harris 

Regrets:  

Stu Beckett 

  1. Call to Order, Land Acknowledgement & Welcome 

  1. Watched DSBN video on Importance of School Advisory Councils. 

  1. Mel asked if the video could be included in the Friday update to encourage more parents/guardians to join the council. 

  1. Approval of Agenda 

  1. Motion to adopt the agenda: Katie 

  1. Welcome and Intros 

  1. Those in attendance introduced themselves and shared the grades of their children at Jacob Beam.  

  1. Elections and Appointees 

  1. Discussion of by-laws and who is allowed to be appointed to each position. 

  1. Chair: Cody _____ 

  1. Vice Chair: Mel Jones 

  1. Secretary: Katie Fittante 

  1. Fundraising Coordinator: Sarah Harris 

  1. Events Coordinator: Victoria ____ 

  1. Members at Large: 

  1. Principal’s Update 

  1. PD Day Update  

- Sense of Belonging 

- Kindergarten to Grade 3 teachers worked with the  DSBN Literacy consultant with a focus on Hegerrty and Bug Club Phonics 

- Grade 4-8 teachers worked with the principal with a focus on scope and sequence in Math 

- Follow-up on what was learned at the October PD Day 

  1. School Lunches - will begin after Thanksgiving. Rotating between Pizza, Allicious Eats and Firehouse Subs 

  1. Butterfly Way Project - Our kindergarten classes, supported by the Green Herons, will learn about the food chain, native plants and seeds and build a garden in the front of the school. The seeds and tools will all be donated but the council may be asked to contribute money for the purchase of soil and mulch.  

  1. Niagara Nutrition Partners - Jen Currie has reached out and secured $4000 in funding from Niagara Nutrition Partners for our snack program. Bins will be delivered to each class with snacks supplied for those students that may need them.  

  1. Beam Team - elections were held with the Grade 8’s and those elected have formed the Beam Team for this school year. They have already met with administration and are planning a Colour House event, Hallowe’en dance-a-thon and Jacob Beam spirit activities.  

  1. Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism 

  1. Days of Significance 

  1. Jacob Beam Community Learning 

  1. Staffing Update 

  1. 400 students, 18 homerooms 

  1. New Staff: Grade ¾ Sarah Morrison, Grade ⅘ Danny Fast, Grade ⅚ Monique Nicholls, Grade ⅚ Kathy Toding, Grade 6 Corey Bond, Grade 1 Candice Nickerson, FSL Stephanie Lalonde, DECE’s Andrea Tahiri and Cindy Blackburn, Prep Tamara Cottle, LRT Amanda Lance 

  1. Important Dates 

  1. Terry Fox Day: October 9 

  1. Picture Day: October 16 

  1. Dance-a-thon: October 31 

  1. Treasury Report 

  1. $3146 in account 

  1. Mrs. B to provide report before each meeting 

  1. Katie mentioned that of the $3146, $2500 is meant for our playground fund to cover any unexpected expenses of broken equipment or to replace mulch 

  1. Around the Table 

  1. Chair’s report for next meeting. Cody will meet with Dave Elia to set the agenda before the next meeting. 

  1. Any members wanting to add an item to the agenda should send to Cody prior to the meeting 

  1. Sarah asked if the council was able to host an event in December. The suggestion was made to have a meeting in October to plan. Cody and Dave will discuss a new meeting date. 

  1. Discussion on holding meetings on alternate days of the week or times in the evening. Tabled for next meeting.  

  1. Adjournment 

  1. Next meeting Monday, November 24- 5 meetings a year (September, November, January, March, May) 

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Monday November 24 2025 5:00pm

In Attendance

Jenn Currie, Principal 

Dave Elia, Vice Principal

Cody Miller, Chair

Katie Fittante, Secretary

Victoria Celini Walek, Events Coordinator

Stu Beckett, Member at Large

Regrets

Mel Jones, Vice Chair

Sarah Harris, Fundraising Coordinator

  1. Call to Order/ Land Acknowledgement - Dave 
  1. Approval of Agenda - Katie 
  1. Introductions of Members
  1. Financial Report: $3298

$2143.25 - Transferred from money raised last school year

$238.40 - Jibbitz Fundraiser, ongoing

$917.68 - for Playground equipment

Action Item: Katie to email the council on what items the money raised last year were allocated for. As well what amount the playground equipment fund should be topped up to.

  1. Principal Report
  1. Extra curricular
  • Intermediate girls volleyball tournament is tomorrow
  • Junior volleyball is in progress
  • The Beam team is planning spirit days leading up to the end of the year. They did a great job on the remembrance day assembly and the Halloween dance-a-thon.
  1. Upcoming events 
  • Giving tree. Asking for donations that will be given to those in the school community that are in need, anything extra will go to Community Care. 
  1. Snack Program
  • potential for additional funds from Niagara Nutrition Partners. 
  • Leadership opportunity for the Grade 6’s. Each classroom has a bin that the Grade 6’s are filling, distributing and collecting at 2nd break. 
  1. Celebration of the Arts
  • Spring 2026
  • Teachers will be collecting art from now until the arts night so each student will be represented at the arts night. 
  • Council can add something to the night, examples could include food trucks, a fundraiser.
  • Discussion on if we do food trucks we can do the sales through school cash and use funds for fundraising
  • Action Item: Victoria to organize ideas for the next meeting on what councils involvement can be. 
  1. December/Holiday Event 
  • We should be discussing it in May of this school year if we would like to have an event next year.
  • Intermediate classes will be having a Holiday catered lunch. The school has provided some funds to help lower the cost for students. 
  1. Lifetouch update 
  • Last year we switched from Edge to try, Lifetouch was offering less expensive options.
  • There were some issues with one of the photographers playing music that was not radio-friendly, and overall it was less organized than previous years with Edge. 
  • Discussion of switching back to Edge for next year. 
  1. New Business
  1. Establishment of School Council Bylaws 
  • Action Item: Katie to email previous bylaws to the group 
  • Action Item: Cody to amalgamate previous bylaws with ones he’s put together from DSBN
  1. Fundraising Planning 
  • What do teachers need? Jerseys, kinder furniture for outside, mulch, soil, sports equipment. We are steering away from buying tech
  • Big Red Fundraiser, approved by admin and council
  • Fundraising goal of $2000
  • Motion: Victoria motions to spend fundraising money to revamp outdoor spaces and provide outdoor equipment for classrooms to use at recess

All in favour - Motion passed

  • If funds raised last year are available they will be used to also support the outdoor spaces and outdoor classroom equipment.
  1. Winter Social 
  • Discussion to host a winter social event in January/February 
  • Action Item: Cody is attending a winter social event at Nelles the first week of December and will send notes to the group
  1. Trivia Night
  • Action Item: Cody to attend a trivia night Senator Gibson. He is able to get the blueprint of the night to use at Jacob Beam. He will send notes to the group after the event and we can decide if/when we would like to implement it at Jacob Beam. 
  1. School Council Communication 
  • Action Item: Cody to set-up an app for members to be able to communicate between meetings about events, fundraising, etc. 
  • Action Item: Make a plan and map out the year for events and fundraising ideas
  1. Grade 8 Graduation
  • Administration will not be supporting, within council, an after party graduation committee or any fundraising within the school for an after party.
  • Parents of graduates are welcome to organize something outside of the school and council, which could include renting the high school space or the Jacob Beam gym. 
  • The school will provide a reception (cupcakes, decorations, etc) after the graduation ceremony.

7. Next Meeting

  • Tuesday January 20th at 5pm