Bouncy castles and a hot dog lunch were among the highlights of this year’s PAC Carnival & BBQ at Maple Leaf Elementary School. Organized by the school’s Parent Advisory Council, the BBQ served as an opportunity for parents to celebrate the school year with their children.
PAC Chairperson Natalie Friesen shared that the organization is a relatively new one, starting up last year to organize the first Carnival & BBQ event. From there, the PAC has been working hard in the Maple Leaf community: “As we’ve been going, we’ve done a few different fundraisers, some new ones,” said Friesen. “We raised funds for different events, like our Holiday Bash, and this carnival.”
As for future fundraising, the PAC is aiming to begin fundraising in conjunction with the school for a very special project— “Next year we start fundraising for a new outdoor classroom...that’s kind of what we’re working toward.” Friesen also shared that the BBQ lunch offered over the lunch hour was a joint effort between the school and the PAC. She said that the collaboration was “...pretty cool to be able to have the school support PAC in that way, so we in turn support them.”
For parent Sam Pauls, the Carnival & BBQ has served as an opportunity for parents and the community to work together. “I think it’s really awesome to get...parents involved in school, and the opportunity for everyone to share a meal together.”
The past school year was full of highlights for these elementary school students. Sadie, a second-grade student, mentioned that her highlights from the year included a class field trip to the Saint Léon Interpretive Centre. Fellow second-grader Zoey shared that her favourite part of grade two was “Reading bigger books and learning bigger math”.
While temperatures climbed, the students at Maple Leaf were in for one more surprise for the day: “Some of the kids have caught wind...we have the fire truck coming at 3:15 to give a little hose down,” shared Friesen. “We’re pretty excited, and the kids are going to get a kick out of it, I’m sure.”
