May 09, 2011 - Victoria School District 61

Education Policy Development Committee
and
Operations, Policy and Planning Committee
May 9, 2011 – Tillicum Elementary School
REGULAR MINUTES
Present: TRUSTEES
Bev Horsman, Education Policy Committee Chair
Catherine Alpha
Tom Ferris
John Young
Dave Pitre
Jim Holland
Peg Orcherton
Michael McEvoy
ADMINISTRATION
John Gaiptman, Superintendent
George Ambeault, Secretary-Treasurer
Pat Duncan, Associate Superintendent
Sherri Bell, Associate Superintendent
Deb Courville, Associate Superintendent
Randy Kaneen, District Principal, Learning Initiatives
Lori Burley, Principal, Tillicum
Jeff Duyndam, Vice Principal, Tillicum
Ken Andrews, Principal, Lansdowne
David Hovis, Acting Principal, Campus View
Kirsten Harris, Recording Secretary
REGRETS
Elaine Leonard, Operations, Policy and Planning Committee Chair
The meeting began at 7:05 p.m. by Lori Burley, Principal of Tillicum Elementary who
provided some history of how Read for the Top began.
The game was created in 1984 by Bob Warren at George Jay Elementary school
and was modeled after the popular game show of that time, Reach for the Top.
The Rotary Club has been very involved with the game and has now introduced
Read for the Top in 10 (ten) schools in Kenya.
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Regular Minutes, May 9, 2011
Education Policy Development Committee and Operations, Policy and Planning Committee Meeting
Ms. Burley then showed a video that was produced about Read for the Top and was
sponsored by Victoria Foundation and the Rotary Club.
Randy Kaneen, District Principal followed the video by introducing the committee to
Bob Warren. Mr. Kaneen thanked Mr. Warren for his many contributions to the
Greater Victoria School District over his career and Mr. Warren was given a very
warm welcome by the committee and all those present with a standing ovation.
Mr. Kaneen then went on to explain how the games evening would look, namely that
a chess match would be played throughout the evening while a Read for the Top
competition would get started and be followed by a Spelling Bee.
A chess match between Trustee McEvoy and Campus View student Jason Cao
began at the far end of the library and was shown using a document camera so that
everyone could follow the match.
Young Mr. Cao is the 10 and under World Champion in chess and interestingly,
when he won the title in Greece, he was the only player there without a specific
coach to help him.
At the same time the chess match got underway, the contestants lined up for the
Read for the Top competition.
The Tilly 5 Stars team, made up of 4 (four) grade 5 (five) students went up against 4
(four) school Trustees; Bev Horsman, Catherine Alpha, Peg Orcherton and Tom
Ferris. The two masters of ceremonies, both Tillicum grade 4 students posed the
questions for the competition.
The students took an early lead in the game but the Trustees soon caught on and
answered all their questions correctly. However, this was not enough to win
because the students buzzed in faster with their answers, achieving more correct
responses. The final score was Students: 7(seven), Trustees: 5(five). Those
present agreed that this was a reasonable showing by the trustees and Mr. Kaneen
thanked the students for “taking it easy on them”.
After a good sportsmanship handshake by the participants, all were given certificates
for their participation in the game.
It must be mentioned that during the Read for the Top game, Mr. Kaneen checked in
on the chess match and to everyone’s surprise, Trustee McEvoy was still “in the
running”.
Mr. Kaneen then introduced Ken Andrews, Principal of Lansdowne Middle School
who in turn introduced Laura Weir, a student at Lansdowne and the Vancouver
Island Spelling Bee champion. Laura has been to the national competition twice,
and came 6 th (sixth) this year.
Laura competed against Trustees Jim Holland, Dave Pitre and Peg Orcherton in a
Spelling Bee. The match was tied four ways up until the 3 rd (third) round when both
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Regular Minutes, May 9, 2011
Education Policy Development Committee and Operations, Policy and Planning Committee Meeting
Trustee Pitre and Trustee Orcherton answered incorrectly. Trustee Holland and Ms.
Weir both answered correctly in the 4 th (fourth) round but in the final round, Trustee
Holland answered incorrectly while Ms. Weir successfully spelled orthographize.
A final check in on the chess match found Jason winning and only moments later
defeat was declared by Trustee McEvoy.
Mr. Kaneen wrapped the meeting up by saying that the Ed Policy venue is a great
opportunity for Trustees and the public to see some of the wonderful things that are
occurring in our district.
The meeting ended at 8:00 p.m.
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