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St. Francis students celebrate their year
With less than a week to go, about 540 students, their parents and teachers celebrated the impending end of the 2007-2008 school year with an annual barbecue Thursday. Students played in a bouncy castle and inflatable slide, competed in sack races and tug-of-war, sang karaoke and ate hamburgers, hotdogs, cotton candy and ice cream. Bake goods, raffle baskets, and used books and movies were also donated, to help raise money for the school. It was the perfect way to end the 10-month school year, said school community council member Leslie Pollak. "For four years, my daughter has gone to this school, it's a way for the whole school community to come together and celebrate the year," he said. "(It's a way to) give back to our community. We start in January, doing the planning, delegating and going to local merchants (for donations).
While the event has raised funds to purchase school necessities like computers and sports equipment over the last few years, money is not the main focus of the barbecue. Instead, the event is provided as a way for students to relax and enjoy the remainder of the school year, said Pollak. "It's another way for us to get money back into the school," he said. "Funding from the government is not what it should be, so this is a way for us to get extra money for our kids. (But) this is not a true fundraiser, it's more to give back." The barbecue was first organized several years ago. Since then, it's also become a homecoming for past students, said secretary Susan Parker. "This is for the community," she said, children running by her leg. "This is a fun thing. We have neighbours that don't even come here attend, we have grandparents here for the day. There's a lot of high school students helping, they remember what it was like when they were here." As one of the last remaining original staff members, Parker enjoys seeing former students come back to the school where they spent a significant portion of their childhood.
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