Fun Fair 2016 Recap!
Fun Fair 2016 – we promised epic, and epic it was! A wickedly hot day filled with smiling and laughing faces: Zorbs were rolled, castles were bounced, faces were painted, candies were kebobed. What more could you ask for? Oh, don’t oh worry — we are already thinking about next year!
Thanks to our amazing sponsors for making it so fun!
- Lounsbury Group
- Fatima Bregman
- Claudio Cerrito
- KJ Duck
- M Production
- De Francesca Law Firm
- Lillian Adamakis
- Angela Mandalas
- Hensoo Insurance Brokers
- Sandra Pate/Lina Risi
- Kumon Danforth
- Kumon Riverdale
- Kitchen Music Studios
- Danforth Children’s Dentistry
- Dentistry on Danforth
- Withrow Farmer’s Market
Our final tally was just over $15.6k, great job everyone! We also raised $1,121.50 for Books with no Bounds and $150 for Camp Erin.
Thank you to our amazing Fun Fair Committee, especially co-chairs Lisa Rolland and Derek Ceccarelli, for pulling it all together! I think the most telling is when you see former Withrow students wandering about enjoying in the fun.
At the end of the day, a boy and his mother were resting inside in the cool as we dismantled the day. One of our committee members heard him say, “That was better than last year.” Well done, Withrow. The sky’s the limit.
More sponsorship pics can be found here.
H&S Budget Meeting
Do you remember budget meetings of yore? Epic, long discussions with passion, emotion and always ending in exhaustion. So, we decided to try something new this year. A few weeks ago, Eugenia Christakis (Treasurer) with Dan Fisher’s help, prepared a submission form for people to submit proposals for consideration (see here). This was sent out through mailchimp a few times to garner submissions. The final list of proposals can be found here.
Once all budget requests had been received we put together an online voting form, so that all of you had the opportunity to give your suggested yay or nay to each proposal in advance of the meeting. This was not so much intended as a final vote, but rather as a way to suss out how the community feels about each proposal and budget priorities in general.
At the meeting we presented all proposals again, but this time ranked according the online voting results. This was a way of taking into account the preliminary feedback.
While not perfect, this system does allow for broader consultation. We might have a dozen or so people at a budget meeting, but by soliciting feedback online we are able to reach more of you. We will continue to fine tune this process and if you have any feedback or would like to participate please let us know.
So at the night of the meeting (June 2nd), we voted on the range of the proposals. We had a great fundraising year, coming in at just over $60k. The main point of the voting was to decide on how to spend the money for next year. All moneys that have previously been ring-fenced or accounted for other projects (school yard, climber in tree island) was not part of the equation.There was discussion over the process and after two rounds of voting, we decided to fund all the projects at the minimum level or just a bit lower. Please see the below table for the funding distribution.
| Proposal | Ask | Voted |
| Library Revitalization | $10k | $10k |
| STEM | $6k | $6k |
| Enhancing Music at Withrow | $5.5k | $5.5k |
| Arts funding | $6k | $6k |
| Teaching and Learning with Technology | $8k | $8k |
| Incidentals (Welcome back BBQ, staff luncheon, bank fees, etc) | $6.8k | $6.8k |
| School Yard (reserve fund for future projects) | $10k | $7.9k |
| New volleyball system | $3k | $3k |
| 30 new sports jerseys | $0.5k | $0.5k |
| Outdoor education/Food Garden Program | $6.3k | $6.3k |
| Supplies for Reconciliation Mural | $0.3k | $0.3k |
| Total | $62.4k | $60.3k |
And the best news yet? The meeting ended at 8:20pm! So while this process definitely needs some tweaking (e.g., vote vs survey, rank ordering proposals, having a pitch night prior to budget meeting, getting more people to vote) we are very happy that the meeting ended in a timely fashion. Any other suggestions? Please send them to withrowhands@gmail.com.
Staff Appreciation Lunch
The Staff Appreciation Lunch on Friday June 3rd was once again a tremendous success — you, Withrow Parents, are truly generous, and your wonderful food, drinks and desserts made for a spectacular feast for the teachers and staff. There was enough for people to take home a little care package and some lucky kids even got a treat at the end of the day too. A great day for all! Thanks again to all who were able to contribute and to the tireless volunteers to helped pull it all together.
NOTE: If you have not yet picked up your container or serving dish it will remain in the front lobby for only a few more days. After that it will move to the H&S room.
Susanne and Jennie
Staff Appreciation Lunch Co-Chairs
Lost and Found
Last day of school is also the last day to collect any items left in the Lost and Found! Come and check it out!
Grade 6 Graduation
June 28th at 1pm is the graduation ceremony for Grade 6 students. And because they are all that, there is a cool afterparty up at the Fox and the Fiddle.
Community news
Erica Stark Parkette Naming Ceremony
As a result of a petition and the efforts by members of our community, the Bain Parkette will be renamed The Erica Stark Parkette in honour of this much missed and cherished member of our community.
Please come to the unveiling this Saturday, June 11 from 11am–12pm, and please consider bringing a tray of baked goods for our bake sale. All proceeds go to support Camp Erin, a camp for bereaved children.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Fun events throughout the summer
This is the last newsletter from us for the school year. For those of you in town, don’t forget to hit the splash pad at Withrow park, visit the pool at Riverdale, get your fill of souvlaki at Taste of the Danforth, take in the performances at the Dusk Dances and so much more. Have a great summer!
withrowparentcouncil.com 