Hot Lunch for 2015/16

The hot lunch program has been set up with Healthy Hunger once again this year.

Dates for this year are as follows:

• 6 November 2015 - Booster Juice
• 15 January 2015 - Subway
• 5 February 2015 - Little Italy (Gluten Free option available)
• 4 March 2016 - Banzai
• 8 April 2016 - Boston Pizza
• 13 May 2016 - Opa

Ordering Hot Lunch for your child is simple and painless!!

Step 1: Go to www.healthyhunger.ca and click "Register Student" to create your account.

Step 2: Login, and add your child/children to your account

Step 3: Once your account is created, you will be able to view all of our school's hot lunch menus and dates

Step 4: Place your order selection and make payment online using Visa, MasterCard or Interac

Step 5: Please verify that you receive an email order confirmation from Healthy Hunger to ensure that your order has been processed (check your "junk mail" folder if you do not receive a confirmation in your inbox).

NOTE: If your child is absent from school on a Hot Lunch day, please inform the office if you have alternate plans of the their meal.  Any unclaimed food will be redistributed.

New Picture Re-take Day!

Picture re-takes are now scheduled for October 27th.  Your child should have brought home a paper sheet last week with a code on it to preview and order their photos online from Icon Experience.

Welcome Back!!

It seems that the time keeps going faster and faster. It is already October and there is finally a new post on the website!

Parent Council had their first meeting September 21, 2015 @ 7:00pm. The meeting was well attended and it was great to see so many new faces.

Here are a few important dates from the meeting:

• October 5th - Picture Day - This one has already passed! 
• October 6th - First Fruit for a Friend Collection Day 
• October 8th - Greeting Card Fundraiser Forms Sent Home 
• October 13th - Thanksgiving Holiday 
• October 14th - Fruit for a Friend Day changes as it is after a long weekend 
• October 15th - Annual Clothing and Book Exchange for Brander Garden Families. 
• October 15th - Card Fundraiser Forms Due Back to the School 
• October 17th - Final Run Club meet of the Fall Season 
• October 20, 21st - Book Fair 
• October 23rd - SUTP orders due
• October 26th - Tentative Date for next Parent Council Meeting  
• October 27th - Photo Re-takes 

Current Fundraising Initiatives:

• SUTP Coupon Books - Please return your forms to the school asap! 
• Greeting Card Fundraiser - Your child's art on a blank greeting card - check with your child's teacher if you would like to preview the artwork.
• Boston Pizza - Send your itemized original receipts in your child's agenda from Boston Pizza - this couldn't be easier!  Receipts of friends/team parties are also acceptable.

Clothing and Book Exchange:

This highly anticipated event is on October 15th.  Please drop off your gently used items on the morning of October 15th.  The items available for browsing starting at 11:00am.  The exchange ends at 5:00pm and the remaining items will be donated to appropriate charitable organizations in Edmonton.  This 'Free Cycle' event is open to Brander Gardens Families only.

Mabel's Labels Link Working Again

The Mabel's Labels campaign has been restarted and the link refreshed on our fundraising page!  To make things easy I am also posting the most recent link here: https://www.mabelsfundraising.com/campaigns/21901-brander-gardens-school

More Casino Information - October 30 & 31st 2015

What is SCARIER than working a casino on Halloween Weekend?

A school without Casino funds!!!  Below is a list of items that have been paid for by Casino funds in recent years:

Several key positions need to be filled by August, so please take a look before the end of school.  Updates will also be communicated through the BG Parent Council Facebook Group and SchoolZone.  

Please support this fundraising opportunity by volunteering! 

Sign up via our on-line sign-up sheet using the code word “brander”

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F054CA9A72DA0FB6-casino

Drum Roll Please....Brander Gardens Casino Date: October 30 & 31 2015

We now have confirmation that the Brander Gardens Casino will be Friday October 30th and Saturday October 31st.

We require parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles/unsuspecting friends to fill all the shifts for the Casino.  If all the shifts are not filled we risk losing our Casino and a valuable source of funding for the school.

Items that Casino funds have paid for the following items in the past:

• SmartBoards
• iPads
• ChromeBooks 
• Playground
• Bussing For field-trips
• Hip-Hop Dance Program
• Mathletics
• Soft Seating for class rooms
• Green School 
• Grade 4 Swimming Program
• Library Books

Without Casino funds the Parent Council would be unable to provide the items above that enrich the Brander Garden's students daily learning experience!

Fruit for a Friend Returns Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014!! 

Most Brander Gardens families take for granted that fresh fruit and veggies are part of their daily eating routine. Unfortunately, hundreds of Edmonton kids head out to school without breakfast, let alone fresh fruit and veggies for a snack or with lunch.

 The Fruit for a Friend program was launched back in 2002 to help. Each week, our school and our friends at Earl Buxton School collect fresh fruit and veggies to help out the kids at Delton School, located near Rexall Place, many of whom are living in poverty (one in five children in Edmonton live in poverty, according to charitable organization E4C).

The Delton snack program runs on a budget of 18 cents-a-day per student, so our contributions are a big help.

Your family can help continue the success of the program by remembering to send your student(s) to school most Tuesdays with one of the following:
• Fruits: Apples, oranges, bananas, pears, kiwis, melons, mangos.
• Veggies: Whole cucumbers, sealed and unopened bags of peeled and washed mini carrots
• Dried fruit: Sealed and unopened bags of raisins, craisins or any other dried fruit
• Juice: Flats/cases of 100% fruit juice boxes. If Delton receives individual boxes, they store them until they have enough for a full class.

On Tuesday mornings following the school announcements, our students bring are asked to bring their fruit or veggie to the office for collection. Then volunteer parents take the collection to Delton School for sharing.

Have Time to Drive?

We need volunteers who can help to deliver our contributions to Delton. This is a one-or-two-time commitment of about 1 ½ hours and includes picking up our school’s collection bins, picking up Earl Buxton School’s bin, driving them to Delton School and helping unload them, and then returning them to the respective schools.