Shown in the photo from the left are three of the members of the School Council: Carole Rochette, Present of the Parent Council; Suzanne Soulliere, Coordinator of the Bake Sale and Custodian of the school; and Bernadette Mrochek-Dennie, Council member.

Besides the bake sale, the group is planning a huge Family Night on March 29, 2007 as one of their major fund-raisers. They held a silent auction in October that also went over well.

There are about 150 students from JK to Grade 6 attending the new facility which is located on Main Street East in Val Caron.

We provide direct financial assistance in the purchase of mobility equipment, environmental modifications, physical therapy and more in an effort to remove some of the obstacles that make everyday living extremely difficult for these children.

Loblaws founded the charity in 1989 and has since raised in excess of $15,000,000 and helped over 3,500 families across Canada. Anyone with a child or young adult under the age of 25 with a physical or developmental disability can apply for financial assistance through this program. Just stop by Neil's Independent Grocers and talk to Neil for more information.

This past year, the staff at Neil's Independent Grocers held barbecues, walkathons, skateathons, draws, fish ponds and cake tables, raising over $10,000 for the President's Choice Charity. In recognition for its efforts, two local families received grants through the program.

In the photo above, Neil Lindenbach, owner of Neil's Independent Grocers, is shown with the Poirier Family of Hanmer. Claire Poirier is a single mother, raising three children. She is in the photo with two of her children: Francois (18), who attends Grade 12 at Ecole Secondaire Hanmer, and Isaac (10). Anik (6) was at home at the time of the photo.

For Claire, who was born and raised in Valley East, being the mother of an autistic child, Isaac, means being always unsure of the future. "Each day is a new day and you just don't know what it will bring. Isaac attends school at Ste. Marie in Azilda because it is the only school I know of that offers a special classroom for autistic children. He is extremely hyper-sensitive and takes a long time to adjust to changes in his routine, so I find that being in this class is good for him at this time."

It is quite difficult raising three children as a single mom in the first place, but having an autistic child brings with it even more challenges. Claire holds down two part-time jobs as a nurse so that she can take more time off if needed to attend to Isaac's requirements or to catch up on some much-needed rest. 

"Francois is a great help to me," Claire declared. "I also need to hire help from time to time."

The grant from the President's Choice Children's Charity will be used to erect a fence around Claire's property in order to ensure that Isaac remains in the yard and doesn't venture off without telling anyone where he is going. This has always been a safety concern for the Poirier family and having the fence is going to make it much easier to allow Isaac to enjoy playing in the yard.

Lynn speaks very highly of the 1st Valley East Scouting group and feels it provides an excellent experience for young children. This year there are 36 young boys and girls registered in the organization. There are 15 Beavers (aged 5 to 8); 15 Cubs (aged 8 to 11); and 6 Scouts (over 11 years of age).

This marked the first time that the scouts have used the mall for registrations and Debbra was pleased with the response.

"We gained nine new members while we were in the mall, so it was very worthwhile for us to be there," she explained.

If anyone is still interested in joining this great organization, you can call Debbra at 969-7095 or Olivia Lobbon at 222-8878.

Vic Whissell, owner of the Valley Family Golf Centre on Regional Road 15 in Blezard Valley, takes a moment out to show Veronique Beaudry some of the finer points of how to hit a golf ball. Veronique is a student in Ms. Celine  Hogue's class at Ecole Notre Dame de L'Esperance. Ms. Hogue is watching with two more students, Sylvie Pilon and Steven Beaupre.

Each June, the Grade 3 & 4 classes have been coming out for a two-hour lesson from Vic to introduce the young boys and girls to the game of golf as part of the Physical Education curriculum. 

Shown above, helping her mother, Nicole, with the ticket sales, is ten year old, Veronique Beaudry. Veronique is in her 2nd year playing hockey, having spent three years in figure skating. She is definitely finding her figure skating training a big help in her transition to the game of hockey.

"My brother plays hockey, so I wanted to try it out too," explained Veronique who likes all of the usual things about hockey, such as making new friends, going to tournaments, and the competition. But her favourite thing about the sport is, "scoring goals!"

Veronique attends Grade 5 at Ecole Jean-Paul II in Val Caron.

Jacob is being referred to by Mr. Zoldy as "a gifted filmaker in the making, even perhaps another James Cameron who wrote the Titanic." Jacob has assisted Mr. Zoldy in writing, producing and directing three of the films made this year.

He has also created a movie trailer without assistance for the school's feature film entitled, "Devoured". The movie trailer has been entered in the Shorties Film Festival. Jacob's goal is to attend Film School and afterwards produce and direct films.

The films which will be viewed include:

EVOLUTIONARY: a documentary of Confederation Secondary School's Rock Band;

DEVOURED:  a horror film about a group of students that seek refuge in a school from the living dead, ZOMBIES;

THE LAST HOUR: an action/drama about a group of friends that contend with the horror of an asteroid headed towards earth.

THE RED CARPET will be a fund-raising event for the Pinecrest Drama Club with admission of $2 per person being charged.

Two of the films are entered in the Shorties Film Festival where last year, their production of ODD BOYS OUT won first place.

"I am proud of their overall talent. It is amazing to see this caliber of work from Grade 8 students. I am surprised with their commitment to this production. They have volunteered their time after school on weekends to ensure the success of this production," explained Mr. Scott Zoldy.

  Grade 7 Students From Pinecrest 
Sing For The Telethon

The three students above were waiting for their turn to go in front of the microphone. From the left with Mr. Mantha, Kristen Demore, Jacqueline Villeneuve, and Emily Mejia. 

Mr. Mantha originally began his career as an educator spending ten years n Mississauga before moving to the Rainbow District School Board in 1998 where he was program leader for the Science and Math Departments at Confederation Secondary School. He spent time as a Vice-Principal at R.L. Beattie, Alexander Public School, and Val Caron Public School before coming to Pinecrest in the fall of 2006.

Mantha enjoys the opportunities that exist within the only middle-school in the district. "This type of school is common in Southern Ontario. With all of the children around the same age, there are so many things you can do in terms of extra-curricular activities and creating a positive school community for the students."

Something that has been just implemented this year is the policy of dividing the school day into three learning blocks of 100 minutes each.

"The day is divided up into three 100-minute blocks," explained Mantha. "In between the blocks are two 40-minute nutrition and activity breaks where the students have twenty minutes for snacks or lunch and then another 20 minutes for outside or inside activities. It really helps with the intra-mural program since there are two times during the day when you have enough time to work with the children."

The school day has not been extended as a result of the change. In previous years the students had a fifteen minute break in the morning and afternoon as well as 50 minutes for lunch. This 80 minutes is now done in two blocks instead of three.

When Sarah saw some students from Pinecrest signing carols at the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre the week before, she approached her mother, Lorrie Draper, and asked if it would be ok for her and Laura to do the same. Lorrie, who indicates that she and her husband, Dan, have always tried to instill in their daughters the importance of helping others in need, was thrilled at the request. The Drapers have one other older daughter, Mariah (14) who attends Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School . 

The girls practiced singing the songs at home during the week in preparation for their first public performance. That week, their Grade 5 class even visited the recording studio at Confederation Secondary School to create a CD, so the girls’ interest was further stimulated. Then, on December 2, after school, Lorrie brought the two girls to the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre after school where they sang carols for a couple of hours in front of Desjardins’ Food Basics. 

According to Lorrie, “The shoppers were very generous. Just about everyone who walked by was dropping some money into the container.” 

When the girls left the mall, you could tell by the smile on their faces that they were very pleased with what they had just done. 

Members of the class, in no particular order, include:

The creative initiative allowed visitors to purchase tickets at $2 each of 3 for $5. Then, in a "penny table format", the person could select which of the baskets he/she wished to enter to have a chance of winning. The winners will be announced after the Christmas Concert which will be held at the school on the morning of December 21, 2006.

The baskets were assembled with a variety of items falling into specific categories such as: Christmas, Literacy, Men, Women, and Children.

As Past Chair of the School Council Mary finds that it is important for schools to get out into the community. "I just love spending time letting the general public know what we are doing at the schools. I think it is important for everyone, not just the parents of children in the school, to be aware of what is going on with the activities at the school.

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