Please find below the Meeting Minutes from the 2025 AES PAC Annual General Meeting.
Meeting Info
Date: June 11, 2025
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: Armstrong Elementary School Library
Call to Order, Welcome, and Acknowledgement
Meeting called to order at 5:36 PM PST.
We respectfully acknowledge that we are grateful to live, work, and play within the beautiful ancestral, traditional, and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan people, Secwepemc Nation, and acknowledge the Métis people who reside here.
Attendance:
Aislinn Harmston, Jamie McDonald, Lauren Fowler, Roxanne Landry, Tammie Turner, Val Edgell, Megan Weir, Rachel Klassen, Chloe Hale, Pia Pechtel, Nadine Zakoski, Pamela Rennie, Nicole Shore, Mary Jane Duford
President’s Report
President – Chloe Hale
It has been a lovely and rewarding year serving as PAC President. While it was a relatively quiet year with no major issues or concerns, our committee continued to play an important role in supporting our school community.
Key highlights from this year include:
- Attended Kindergarten Orientation: I had the pleasure of welcoming new families and sharing information about our PAC and how parents can get involved.
- Supported Fundraising Efforts: I assisted with a variety of fundraisers throughout the year, helping to ensure they ran smoothly and contributed to our goals.
- Collaborative Support: I worked closely with fellow PAC members, offering assistance wherever needed, as often as I was able, and contributing to a positive and productive team environment.
- Parent Engagement: I remained available to listen to and support parents with any comments or concerns they had, helping to foster open communication between families and the school.
- Thank you to all the PAC members, volunteers, and parents who contributed their time and energy this year. Your involvement makes a meaningful difference, and it’s been a pleasure to be part of such a dedicated and caring school community
Respectfully submitted by Chloe Hale
Vice President’s Report
Vice President – Nadine Zakoski
- Assist President where needed
- Run meetings when President is absent
- Assist other directors in their rolls if needed
- Help president communicate with PAC executive and directors, principal and staff when needed
- Help organize the back to school barbecue event in September
Respectfully submitted by Nadine Zakoski
Secretary’s Report
Secretary– Aislinn Harmston
- Responsibilities included creating monthly meeting agenda and collaborating with the rest of the executive for input and additions. Our executives were very easy to work with the discussions regarding agendas always went smoothly.
- Meeting minutes at each monthly meeting were taken and shares/posted on PAC’s what’s app chat as well as under each ‘event’ on our PAC Facebook page. Meeting minutes are also store on a flash drive and printed and logged in our PAC binder in the Breakfast room.
- This secretary role can collaborate well with the Social Media/communications director (current held by the secretary) as things addressed at PAC meetings can be posted quickly and shared with others parents.
- There were no areas of concerns addressed within the secretary role during this school year.
Respectfully submitted by Aislinn Harmston
Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer – Tammie Turner
2024-2025 AES PAC Budget
| Item | Potential Cost | Actual cost |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher Classroom Allowance | $2,600.00 | $2,800.00 (Added LRT’s) |
| Grade 5 Expenses (Hoodies/Grad) | $3,000.00 | $2,128.02 + grad exp yet to come |
| Babysitting | $500.00 | $500.00 |
| Welcome Back BBQ | $800.00 | $588.75 |
| PAC Expenses | $250.00 | $50.57 |
| Munch a Lunch Renewal | $336.00 | $336.00 |
| Bussing | $3,600.00 | $1,380.33 |
| Larch Hills | $600.00 | (no value entered) |
| May Pole Treats | $175.00 | (no value entered) |
| Stamps for letter writing | $300.00 | $130.20 |
| Chess Club Pizza | $300.00 | (no value entered) |
| Math Night | $800.00 | $257.34 |
| One to one reading pizza | $200.00 | $126.51 |
| Kindy Coffee and muffins | $70.00 | $55.14 |
| Kindy Grad Cake | $200.00 | (no value entered) |
| Fun Day Swimming and Treats | $800.00 | (no value entered) |
| Willing to Ninja | $2,500.00 | $2,664.38 |
| Extra Yearbooks | $125.00 | (no value entered) |
| Teacher Thank you | $250.00 | $266.12 |
| Swimming Lessons | $800.00 | $810.00 |
| Skate Sharpening | $30.00 | $30.00 |
| New Pinnies | $3,089.34 | $3,089.34 |
| Garden Project | (no est.) | $27,873.55 (does not include expenses paid from Grants etc. controlled by district) |
| Kindy Grad Photos | $50.00 | (no value entered) |
| Cross country skiis -6 | (no est.) | (no value entered) |
Total
Potential Cost: $21,375.34
Actual Cost: $43,086.25
2024-2025 AES PAC Fundraising
| Event | Profit |
|---|---|
| Pizza | $2,049.40 |
| Askews | $1,656.96 |
| Hot Dogs | $1,821.85 |
| OPA | $513.37 |
| McDonalds | $228.10 |
| Sushi | $133.22 |
| Apple Fundraiser | $627.13 |
| Year Books | -$104.05 |
| 50/50 | $532.00 |
| Bake Sale | $1,436.90 |
| Freezie Friday | $1,810.37 |
| West Coast Seeds | $650.05 |
| Co-Op | $52.34 |
| Line Dancing | $74.00 |
| Wrapping Paper | $412.86 |
Total Fundraising Profit: $11,894.50
2024-2025 AES PAC Bank Balances
Bank balance as of June 2, 2025
Operating – $26,711.59
Gaming – $200.00
Summary
The role of Treasurer is to manage funds coming in and going out of both the Gaming account as well as the Operating Account.
Gaming Account:
In October PAC generally receives a Grant from BC Gaming Commission. This grant is applied for by the treasurer prior to June 30th annually. This past year we received $20/student for a total of $5220.00. The funds have very specific spending requirements that must follow guidelines set forth by the Gaming Commission. At the end of the year (must be within 90 days of Fiscal Year End (May 31 of each year), it is required that PAC submit a Gaming Account Summary to the Gaming Commission. The Grant Funds need to be utilized within 24 months. If the funds are not utilized, the Gaming commission may request them back.
The Gaming Account is also used for Gaming Licenses – 50/50 draws, raffles etc. The PAC must submit a request to the Gaming Commission at least 10 business days prior to the event to obtain a license. Once the event has been completed PAC must submit a Gaming Event Revenue Report to the Commission. There are specific rules and regulations that must be followed to obtain and carry out the event. Funds earned get deposited to the Gaming Account.
As treasurer, a monthly balance of the bank account is completed to ensure all funds deposited and cheques paid, balance with the bank. An Excel spreadsheet is compiled to match the monthly statement and all receipts are attached and placed in the binder.
Operating Account:
It is required that the Treasurer manage the funds in and out of the bank account. Two signatures are required on all cheques. The treasurer will balance the account monthly to ensure that the bank transactions match the Treasurer’s transactions. An Excel file is completed and balanced with the monthly statement, and all receipts are compiled and placed in the binder.
The treasurer will report balances at monthly meetings, issue cheques, count and deposit monies collected and ensure proper records are kept and available upon request.
Respectfully submitted by Tammie Turner
Yearbook Coordinator’s Report
Yearbook Coordinator – Chloe Hale
It has been a joy to take on the role of Yearbook Coordinator this year. The process of capturing memories and compiling them into a keepsake for our students and families has been incredibly rewarding.
This year’s highlights include:
- Photo Collection: I took photos throughout the year and was so grateful to receive additional support from many parents and staff who helped capture moments I wasn’t able to be present for. Your contributions made a big difference—thank you!
- Yearbook Creation: I used Canva to design this year’s yearbook. A huge thank-you to Roxanne for ensuring the previous year’s template was copied and ready to go—this saved a lot of time and helped keep the layout consistent.
- Content Compilation: I inputted photos, names, and information into the template, ensuring every class and event was well represented.
- Printing Coordination: I worked with TMS Printing to prepare for production, ensuring timelines and specifications were met.
- Distribution: Yearbooks will be collected and distributed towards the end of the school year—something I’m very excited to see come full circle!
Thank you again to everyone who contributed photos and support. This project is truly a team effort, and I’m proud of what we’ve created together for our school community.
Respectfully submitted by Chloe Hale
Social Media Communications Director’s Report
Social Media Communications Director – Aislinn Harmston
This role included monitoring the PAC AES Facebook group (with the help of 1 moderator (current Chole Hale). AES wide information, events, resources, reminders for spirit days, hot lunch, soup days etc were posted by director.
- Director managed questions sent in my parents by redirecting them or finding the answers for them.
- Director also ran a AES Community FB Page. Posted AES community events and fundraisers.
- Director has access to posting on our new AES PAC website.
- Director also manages What’s Up chats as an admin (add and remove members as needed).
- This Social Media communications director role can collaborate well with secretary (current held by the social media communications direction) as things addressed at PAC meetings can be posted quickly and shared with other parents. Secretary also has connections to find answers to questions parents ask on Facebook.
- The only concern that needed to be managed throughout the school year, if people trying to join the Facebook group who were not AES family members. This is a private group and members need to be monitored.
Respectfully submitted by Aislinn Harmston
Fundraising Officer’s Report
Fundraising Officer – Jordi Fraser
See Full Fundraising Officer’s Report
We run a variety of fundraisers throughout the school year.
Our first fundraiser of the year was our Davidson Orchards apple fundraiser. This fundraiser requires minimal time to set up and run. We get an email around June with our next year’s order by date and pick up date.They will email us pdf with flyers to print and hand out to each classroom in late august. Note that in order for us to get delivery to the school we must sell a minimum of 80 boxes. We unfortunately haven’t hit this number in the past 2 years of running it and so someone with a truck(me) has to drive to davidson orchards and pick up the apples on the pick up date and bring them to the school. We made 694.00$ this year. We typically run this fundraiser for 2 weeks and I always put the cut off date 1 day before the orders are due to the supplier to give me time to pull numbers. This fundraiser is run through munchalunch and requires someone with admin privileges to set up and pull reports. Pam, Nicole, and myself(currently) have admin privileges at the moment.
Our second fundraiser of the year was our wrapping paper fundraiser threw dfscanada. Madison Reynolds has been heading up this fundraiser for the past 3 years and has done a wonderful job. You apply for the fundraiser through their website and they ship to the school all the order catalogs to us. We run this fundraiser for about 2 to 3 weeks in late October early November to allow ample time for orders to arrive before Christmas break. All orders are to be placed online through their website and are delivered to the school already sorted and labeled. We made approximately just under 400$ last year which is less than previous years totals. For more information on set up, you would have to reach out to Madison as she has taken care of everything each year and i just help with heading out the orders once they arrive at the school. Note: Please have the check, orders and catalogs mailed directly to the school and not your home address.
Christmas bake sale/ 5050 draw.
This fundraiser takes a lot of hands to be successful but we have an amazing group of parents who support it through baking, sorting baked goods, and or selling baking and 5050 tickets. Once we get confirmed xmas concert dates you must apply for the 5050 licensing as it can take a few weeks to get an approval back. It costs 25$ for the application and when you submit, print your receipt and hand it to the treasurer and they will issue you a reimbursement check. Typically about 3-4 weeks before the concerts I will send out a Facebook post asking for bakers to sign up for a day to drop off their goodies. Please note and it is very important that all baked goods coming into the school are 100% nut free. About 2 weeks before the concerts I made a second post asking for volunteers to help sort/ sell goodies and 5050 tickets. Each day of the concerts I ask the parents to drop off their baked goods to the breakfast club room in the morning by 8am. You and at least 1 helper will sort any baking that has been dropped off into bags or on plates. ( we must purchase bags/ plates and not use the breakfast club supplies.) Any supplies needed need to be pre approved by the pac. I typically pick up supplies from the dollar tree in Vernon as its most cost effective. You will need to get more bags, plates and labels next year as we dont have alot leftover from this year. I have a small container in the breakfast club room with all the leftover supplies from previous years. Save your receipts as pac will issue you a reimbursement check for this. This is a huge money maker for our school raising around 1200-1500 dollars over the course of 3 days of concerts. For the 5050 part we run a draw each day of the concerts and stop selling about 5 mins before the concert starts and the librarian allows us to use her office to sort the cash into two envelopes. This typically takes only a couple minutes and so you can still enjoy the concert. When counting money you need two people present to sign off on the totals. This ensures accuracy and avoids any unnecessary issues. At the end of the concert the principal will call you up on stage to do the draw. We need to save the winning ticket as well as collect the name of the winner for our report. At the end of the 3 days you need to submit a report of all 5050 earnings on the gaming website. Tammie has submitted the final report the last few years. Make sure to keep the money and bucket of tickets with you at all times.
We also in collaboration with the garden project did a seed fundraiser with west coast seeds. Mary Jane Duford headed this fundraiser up to raise funds for the garden. The orders unfortunately do not come pre sorted per customer so when they arrive it does require a couple hours with a few parent helpers to get them sorted. I dont have the exact number this fundraiser raised but i believe it to be a success and would recommend chatting with mary jane about running it again,
Freezie Friday spring fundraiser. This fundraiser is a huge hit with all the kids at the school and we typically make between 200-300 dollars each friday. A sign up sheet gets placed in the office and parents will come and sign up for the Fridays they can help with. You need about 4 parents per friday to run this smoothly. We set up two tables (one by the bus line up and one just outside the library doors). We sell freezies til about 2:30 each friday so we can also catch some of the lenwood students walking home who get out at 2:10pm. Money gets counted and handed off to the treasures to put in the bank account. We also reached out to the wholesale club in Vernon for a donation of freezies and they graciously donated 20 boxes to our school. I would reach out again in march to see if they would be able to donate again next year. Shaun one of the managers at wholesale club is who i spoke to as he has children who attend aes. Make sure to give yourself lots of time for the freezies to freeze each week and take them out of the boxes. I used my personal freezer at home and would bring 4 frozen cases Friday mornings to the school to restock the freezer.
Line dancing. This fundraiser was headed up by Nicole. This was a new fundraiser this year to try and those who attended loved it but the attendance numbers were very low. I wouldn’t run this again with the profit for the PAC being too low for the effort put in.
Our last fundraiser we typically do is burger and beer night. Unfortunately it didn’t fit into the calendar this year but Pam and Nicole have run that fundraiser for the last couple years and it can be very profitable for the pac.
The time commitment is quite low with the fundraisers we have chosen to do the last few years so it’s easily doable between the director and vice director and parent support. Lastly, I always hold a sub fundraising meeting outside of regular pac meetings in the fall to brainstorm any new fundraising ideas and then bring those forward to the pac to talk about. This helps to reduce the length of pac meeting times. We also have a fundraising email that I will forward the passwords to the new director and vice director once appointed.
Respectfully submitted by Jordi Fraser
Grade 5 Graduation Coordinator’s Report
Grade 5 Graduation Coordinator – Roxanne Landry
This is supplemental as the grade 5 events take place after the AGM.
In the fall I worked with the hoodie company to organize, obtain the signatures of the grade 5’s and order all needed hoodies paid for by the pac. Hoodies need to be ordered in bulk and a few extras ordered as they do not like to do one off prints and it costs the PAC and extra $20 or so dollars to do so. After the hoodies arrived I sorted them, tagged them (the teachers requested this, this year as they get warn, come off and no one knows who was whose) with waterproof tags just at the collar under the tag sewn into the hoodie. In January I go over the donation letter for the grade 5 parents day (bbq, ceremony ect), make sure to get it signed (this year was just before spring break) and create a list of places to drop off for requests. *this list and all details will be part of the final draft of this document. Once we had our date in place and what we wanted to do (this is in conjunction with the school and the grade 5 committee members) I drafted a list of what was needed and we broke that list among members so that all things are covered and the budget stays balanced. This year’s budget was $3000 and with donations we will come in under that. If we did not have burger and hot dog donations we would not be coming in under and may actually go over a bit. Something to keep in mind for next year as the cost of thighs is rising and the amounts donated are smaller. Through donations I was also able to craft a beautiful goodie bag for each of the grade 5 kids. This year had an extra level of detail as a sleep over was approved and therefore we added games, movies, snacks and breakfast (donated!) to the list of what was done for this year’s graduates. This is not an all the time thing and will vary year to year depending on the class and the principal as they need to stay with the students all night. In organizing the grade 5 parent day I am also responsible for the juice boxes and popcorn for the teachers celebration and that comes out of my budget. I don’t know who pays for the pizza and if I find that out before the final summary I will add that in. I will also (with help) make sure that the pop corn is popped and ready for the celebration when the teachers tell me they need it for the movie and take it over that day. For the parent day itself I organize the BBQ, make sure the person who is ordering/getting the cake has finished that task and picks it up. Get the balloons for the photo section (or ask someone to get them), create and print the certificates that the teachers help do up. (oh and provide them with a list to help earlier in May). *There is now a template in the PAC Canva to make this easier. Order and be there for delivery of the BBQ from Sunvalley rentals. Be there for it’ pick up the next morning too. Organize all the food items and needed dinnerware. As well as helping with the clean up afterwards and doing the MCing or finding someone to do it. This year the teachers are very excited to hand out their certificates to their students. I am sure there is more but, to ensure this makes it into the AGM notes I think this is the bulk of it. I love doing it and organizing all the parts. In years coming whomever takes this position needs to love details.
Respectfully submitted by Roxanne Landry
School Garden Director’s Report
Garden Director – MJ Duford
Read Full School Garden Director’s Report
In 2024–2025, the AES School Garden was designed, built, and planted for the first time. As Garden Director, I coordinated the project alongside PAC, staff, students, donors, contractors, and volunteers to create a space for hands-on learning, food literacy, and community connection.
Key milestones
- Planning (Summer–Fall 2024): Finalized layout, sourced materials, and ordered supplies. Fence installed February 2025.
- Fundraising (Winter): Wrote grant applications, secured cash and in-kind donations.
- Construction (Spring): Held a 50-volunteer Community Build Day on April 12. Built 12 raised beds, filled with soil, assembled benches and sinks, installed irrigation.
- Planting (May): Coordinated seeds, seedlings, and planting for each class. Provided in-garden support.
- Community outreach (Summer): Published updates and thank-yous. Planning June 13 Garden Opening Celebration.
Construction costs & funding
Estimated value of project: $49,400
Actual cash spent: ~$42,000 (with donations reducing cost)
Top budget costs:
- Fence: $23,000
- Lumber: $14,000
Cash funding total: $42,343.85
- PAC fundraising: $27,893.55
- Community donations: $6,950.30
- Garden grants: $7,500.00
Remaining funds (as of June 11): ~$6,000 for kids seating, perimeter benches, and a welcome sign
Thank you to all volunteers, donors, and supporters who made the AES School Garden a reality. Your time, effort, and generosity have created a vibrant outdoor classroom for AES students.
Future plans
- Install children’s seating
- Install perimeter benches
- Install welcome sign
- Support curriculum programming
- Continue fundraising for long-term use
It has been a tremendous honour to lead this project. The Armstrong Elementary School Garden is now a vibrant learning space thanks to the collective effort of staff, families, students, and our generous community. I am deeply grateful to all who supported the vision, and I look forward to watching the garden grow in years to come.
Respectfully submitted by Mary Jane Duford
Kindergarten Grad Coordinator’s Report
Kindergarten Grad Coordinator – Summer Belanger
- I have taken, edited, and will print cap and gown photos. The cost for this was my time, and approximately 13 dollars to print the photos.
- I have started my slide show of the graduating classes. My slide show includes all cap and gown photos and edited photos of each child in their future profession. The only cost was my time, and next year may be different as I will have to pay for Microsoft PowerPoint.
- At the spring festival, I got 2 group photos of both classes.
-I also take photos from the yearbook for my PowerPoint. - I offer help where needed in the actual event as well. This year, I will attend the grad to be an extra set of hands.
Respectfully submitted by Summer Belanger
DPAC Representative’s Report
DPAC Representative – Aislinn Harmston
- Attended monthly DPAC meetings via Zoom. Did not attend ‘in-person’ meeting in Salmon Arm due to scheduling conflict.
- Zoom meetings are on Thursday nights at 7:00pm and can last up to 2 hours long.
- Monthly meetings did not occur in January or March this school year.
- This year, discussions per predominantly Salmon Arm focused as a lot of reconfiguration was happening within their schools this year and a many tragedies also occurred at their schools.
- Many school district events happen in Salmon Arm as well.
- There is a lack of representation from Armstrong at these meetings. No one from LenWood, Highland Park elementary or PVSS attend.
Respectfully submitted by Aislinn Harmston
School Principal’s Comments
AES Principal – Val Edgell
Val expressed her enjoyment during her time working at AES. Val expresses her appreciation and gratitude towards PAC and the AES community. Val expresses her sadness that she is leaving at the end of the school year.
A thank you card was given to PAC by new principal Megan Weir. It reads “Nadine & PAC, Thank you for the flowers and the warm welcome! I look forward to serving this wonderful AES community. ~ Megan”
AES PAC Executive Committee Elections for 2025-2026 School Year
Last call nominations: there were no additional names brought forward. Everyone had already been in contact with the PAC secretary.
Voting
I, Roxanne Landry, motion that Nadine Zakoski be voted as the 2025/2026 AES PAC President (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Tammie Turner , motion that Chloe Hale be voted as the 2025/2026 AES PAC Vice-President (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Chloe Hale motion that Aislinn Harmston be voted as the 2025/2026 AES PAC Secretary (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Jamie McDonald, motion that Tammie Turner be voted as the 2025/2026 AES PAC Treasurer (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Tammie Turner motion that Nicole Shore be voted as the 2025/2026 AES PAC Fundraising Officer (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Roxanne Landry motion that Nanae Phung be voted as the 2025/2026 AES PAC Vice Fundraising Officer (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Chloe Hale motion that Aislinn Harmston be voted as the 2025/2026 AES PAC Social Media Communications Coordinator Director (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Aislinn Harmston motion that Chloe Hale be voted as the 2025/2026 AES PAC Yearbook Coordinator Director (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Tammie Turner, motion that Roxanne Landry be voted as the 2025/2026 AES PAC Grade 5 Graduation Coordinator Director (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Nadine Zakoski , motion that Roxanne Landry be voted as the 2025/2026 AES PAC Indigenous Representative Director (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Roxanne Landry , motion that Pamela Rennie be voted as the 2025/2026 AES PAC DPAC Representative Director (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Aislinn Harmston, motion that Summer Belanger be voted as the 2025/2026 AES PAC Kindergarten Graduation Coordinator Director (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Tammie Turner, motion that Mary Jane Duford be voted as the 2025/ 2026 AES PAC Garden Coordinator Director (All in favour- Motion Passed)
I, Pamela Rennie, motion that Michelle be voted as the 2025/ 2026 AES PAC Advocacy Director (All in favour- Motion Passed)
Meeting Closing
Next Meeting:
- September 2025
Motion to adjourn @ 7:22 PM
Respectfully submitted by Aislinn Harmston, AES PAC Secretary