Hello Glendale Families:

I lived in Japan for 5 years a while back, and one thing that irked me a bit was when I’d be talking to my Japanese friends and they’d ask, “Does Canada have 4 seasons?” I remember getting all nationalistically indignant, spluttering ,“Of course we have 4 seasons!”

Well this year has certainly proven me wrong, much to my chagrin. The concept of spring seems to have been removed from meteorological reality, hasn’t it?

Nevertheless, this time of year - which we call spring apparently on a technicality - are busy ones here at Glendale, aren’t they?

We had the pleasure of watching the culmination of the storytelling residency at the storytelling festival on April 25th. I think the focus Glendale brings to the Arts is so important, especially in these times when they seem to be devalued - and I’m saying this as a person who works in the field of computers and all that shiny technology stuff. Watching all those brave young souls up on stage, and in the hallways, and in every nook and cranny of the school, telling their stories, was enchanting.

It looks like we’ll be able to continue funding such wonderful programs for another couple of years, thanks to our casino volunteers. (Remember that the government doesn’t pay for cool Glendale stuff like robotics and artists in residence - the casino funds and fundraising events held at Glendale do.) It was a bit tense there for a number of weeks, with numerous gaps in the volunteer schedule for the longest time. Looking at the final schedule which was sent out to parents on April 29th, I see with a combination of gratitude and dismay that 6 families - and the principal, for heaven’s sake -  have stepped up to fill more than a third of the 36 volunteer slots. Thank you, *all* volunteers on the schedule and to those who have graciously volunteered their time for childcare. Also, a special thank you to Doris Murphy-Dunlop for herding cats, doing all the casino paperwork that needed doing, and a host of other necessary things that I’m blissfully unaware of!

No discussion of spring would be complete without the Spring Fair coming on June 8th. I saw tons of kids having a blast at last year’s inaugural go, particularly on the climbing-castle-that-eventually-became-a-waterslide-due-to-inclement-weather. The Playground Committee has worked hard at bringing even more awesomeness to this year’s Fair, so prepare thyselves for a generous dollop of good times! When you see those volunteer sign-up sheets at the school, please put pen to paper and help out in whatever way you can. Hands on deck for cleanup were scarce last year, so it’d be great if we could get a swarm of volunteers to make short work of that task this year.

Co-Chairs: Colleen Murray, Jordan Pratt
Vice Chair: Mark Dempsey
Treasurer: Sue Boyd
Secretary: Anita Marcotte
Volunteer Co-ordinator: Jodianne Hass
Playground Committee Contact: Kim Cook, Karen Preddy