Dear Santa,
Here at Bruce Peninsula District School we’re super happy to be back to in-person learning, seeing all our friends and teachers and taking part in extra-curriculars again. We’re working hard on fulfilling the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and learning to think of ourselves as citizens of the whole world.
We know how lucky we are at BPDS but there are always needs around the school.
1. “Kids Helping Kids” Community Fund – This is our “slush fund” that we can dip into when a student needs a bit of extra financial support. We buy clothes, subsidize team fees or field trips, supply gas cards when a family has to travel for medical appointments, and otherwise try to help as needed. Donations to this fund are always appreciated because we have the most flexibility in spending it.
2. Breakfast Club – It currently costs our school almost $1,000 a week to provide the Breakfast Club bins filled with healthy snacks to every classroom! That might seem like a lot but $200 a day for more than 300 students is less than a dollar a day per student to ensure that every student has access to nutritious snacks to fuel them for the school day.
3. Athletics/Teams – We charge secondary students a fee for each team they’re on – $100 for a “major” sport like basketball, $25 or $50 for “minor” sports like tennis. However, these fees are not sufficient to cover all the expenses associated with sports. Our secondary teams are required to pay for referees, uniforms, equipment, and, most dauntingly, transportation. We are sometimes able to rely on parent volunteers to drive students (thank you so much, parent drivers!) but when we need to charter a bus, we pay an hourly rate PLUS mileage, so a game to the farthest school from BPDS costs us over $500 in busing costs alone.
4. Drama Production – We have a great tradition of joint elementary/secondary drama productions at BPDS, and there’s always some serious talent on display. But it doesn’t come cheap. The rights to perform a play generally cost from $1,000 – $3,500, the lights need to be rented each year for about $2,000, the costumes and props, even when improvised, can run an extra $1,000… it adds up. We charge for admission to the shows, of course, but extra support is very useful.
So Santa, could you please send us some kind people that would be willing to donate to help us with these projects? You can tell them that they can get a donation tax receipt for donations over $20! Send them to Mrs. Cunningham in the office and she can tell them how.
Say hello to Mrs. Claus, the reindeer and the elves for us.
Happy Holidays!
Nicole Gamble,
School Council Chair
