May Newsletter

May 27, 2025

These were the topics discussed at the May meeting

Student rep, Ally Freedman

Ally is in Gr 12 and has been in the Hamber theatre program since Gr. 8. Tuesday was opening night of Romeo and Juliet. She says the PAC funding paid for a choreographer, so all members of the theatre program got training. She is very grateful for the program, and is confident it has led to life-long friendships.

Chairperson’s report

This is the final PAC meeting of the year. At the next meeting in September, we will need to vote in a new executive. Please consider volunteering. WhatsApp and email will continue to be our primary communication channels.

June 6 will be our teachers’ appreciation lunch. Please reach out to volunteer (details on WhatsApp).

Plans are afoot to host a street party on Willow Street in June of 2026. We are looking for parents to head up planning committees.

Many school districts like Surrey and Burnaby  are faced with budget cuts, which has led to cuts in staffing and programming. Our PAC will continue to advocate for proper funding and parental participation in the PAC is essential to achieve that.

Treasurer’s report

Teachers and club leaders have until the middle of June to submit funding requests. The first round of requests was in November of last year, and the second one was earlier this year. As for overall funding of clubs, athletics as a general category received the biggest portion of funding. Initially money was to go towards paying for ice hockey uniforms, but the PAC voted to allow the department to disperse the money to cover uniforms for other sports such as tennis, golf and curling.

Principal’s report

Mr. Lauzon thanks the PAC for its ongoing support. He pointed out prom was held on May 15 and it “went really well.” It was held at the Fairmont Pan Pacific. He is proposing to have the prom much later next year - to the end of June. The grad ceremony is coming up June 3. The grad breakfast will be held in the school atrium. For this occasion, the teachers will prepare breakfast in the foods labs.

Mr. Lauzon has been told he will stay at Hamber for the next school year. As far as district budget shortfalls, the school itself didn’t receive any devastating news. But he has noticed real constraint and scrutiny of spending in general.

The old Hamber building is being rented out as a filming location for the TV series “Carrie.” That will take place over five or six months. Students have been told they can even be hired as extras if they want. He hopes the revenue that comes in from the rental can be shared with the school.

Teachers’ luncheon coordinator, Shadi Bakhtiari

The teachers’ appreciation lunch is June 6. It will be served after school, rather than at lunch (that Friday is a HIP day). We need volunteers to work on gift bags,  decorations, and decoration take-down. A reminder that people who would like to donate food for the dessert table must buy it, not make it. Lunch will be prepared for 130 teachers.

DPAC rep report

DPAC sponsored the recent talk about how to navigate stress/grief and another talk on how to communicate with teens. The talk about how to communicate with teens will be brought back, by popular demand. The AGM is open to any parent to attend. It’s June 19 at the VSB headquarters.