Up and Coming Events

Up and Coming Events
May 19 Victoria Day
May 21 Joint Council Meeting with Pinecrest at Pinecrest 6:00pm
May 23 Pizza
May 26 Grade 8 High Performance testing at Panet 6-8
May 27 EQAO first block language
May 28 EQAO first block language
May 29 EQAO first block language
May 30 Hot lunch pita
June 1 Armed Forces Day
June 2 EQAO first block math
June 3 EQAO first block math
June 4 EQAO first block math
Talent Show auditions Grade 1-3
June 5 Talent Show auditions 4-6 School Council 6:00pm
June 6 Talent Show auditions kindergarten Sundaes for $2
June 9 Pa Day
June 10 Talent Show auditions missed/Track and Field (tentative)
June 13 Talent show rehearsal for school am Talent Show for parents 12:15 Spirit Day
June 15 Father's Day
June 16 Kindergarten Open House
June 17 PIC meeting 5:30 Board office
June 19 Closing assembly/Year end Celebration 4:30-6:00
June 20 Spirit Day
June 23 Grade 8 Graduation 12:15 Report Cards go home
June 27 Last Day of classes































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Opening Ceremonies of La Semaine de la Francophonie

Re: Opening Ceremonies of La Semaine de la Francophonie
2:45 – 3:30pm, Monday, March 5, 2012


Dear Parents,

You are cordially invited to the Opening Ceremonies of General Lake Public School’s first annual celebration of La Semaine de la Francophonie on Monday, March 5 at 2:45pm in the school gymnasium.

“La Francophonie” is an organization of nations with connections to French culture and the French language. From March 5-9, our Semaine de la Francophonie will celebrate countries as wide-ranging as France, Vietnam, Senegal and Canada through performances, workshops and a cultural fair.

At the opening ceremonies, students in junior-intermediate French Immersion will perform music and dance from Guinea, Tunisia and New Brunswick’s Acadian culture. We encourage you to come and enjoy the show!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Hats for Cancer Patients

Emily from Mrs. Marquardt's class is collecting hats for cancer patients. She will be accepting new and gently used hats in all sizes all week from Monday February 27th until Friday March 2nd. She will be packing these hats and delivering them to a hospital for patients who are undergoing treatment from cancer. Daily announcements will begin this Monday at school and a collection box will be available in the front entrance. It is only for the week so we need to act fast. Be the change and help make a change in the lives of others.

Friday, February 24, 2012

March Hot Lunch Form


General Lake Hot Lunches

February 2012

Dear Parents / Guardians

Enclosed you will find an order form to purchase hot lunches at the first nutritional break. Please include payment in full by cash or cheque payable to General Lake Public School with the exact amount and return it with your child by Friday February 24, 2012. Cheques can be post-dated for February 29 2012.

Return this form to the school with your child in a sealed envelope or Ziploc bag, to avoid losing money. Please do not mix hot lunch money with other School programs. If payment is for more than one child, please fill out one form per child and send the forms together with one child.

No refund will be given if your child is absent from school on a hot lunch day.

** All Proceeds will go towards supporting programs in our school **

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact a member of General Lake School Council at 613-687-2404

Thank you for your continuous support!

* Due Date: February 24th *

Wishing you a safe and wonderful March Break.

General Lake Hot Lunches Form

March 2012

** Due date: Friday February 24, 2012 **

Child’s Name: _____________________________________________

Teacher’s name: _________________________________ Room Number: _________________

Friday March 2 # of cheese slices: _______________@ $2.00 = _____________(B day)

Friday March 9 # Chicken Pitas: ______________@ * $3.00 =_____________ (A day)

Chicken Pita Without lettuce ⃝

Friday March 23 # of cheese slices: _______________@ $2.00 = _____________ (B day)

Friday March 30 # of cheese slices: _______________@ $2.00 = _____________ (A day)

TOTAL $=________________

Payment may be made by cash or cheque payable to General Lake Public School. Cheque can be post-dated for February 29 2012. Please fill out one form per child, and return the form with your child by Friday February 24th. If payment is for more than one child, Please fill out one form per child and send the completed forms together with your child

Tales from the Valley Comes to General Lake

On February 24, General Lake Public School students were entertained with the theatrical performance called 'Tales From the Valley' by the Salamander Theatre. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the plays that celebrate the unique flavour of the Ottawa Valley. Kyle said, " It was awesome. I liked the Buck Hill part." Jacob said, " I like the part when the squirrel goes flying down. It was funny." Julie said, "It was really, really good. I liked all of it especially the squirrel part". Victoria said, "It was funny and amazing. I really liked the Buck Hill story". Special thanks to Masc and TD Canada Trust for their support. Also special thanks to the School Council for their support in bringing this special performance to our school.

Boy Basketball Team Make Semi Finals

A HUGE congratulations to the Boys Basketball team on making it to the Semi Finals! Taylor Reed, Alex Power, Cortlin Docken, Warren Thompson, Wyatt Shamess, Kyle Lambert, Morgan Moore, and Liam Job did an amazing job starting the day off with a BIG win against Pinecrest and finishing the day off in the Semi-Finals against Beachburg with a close scoring game. Special thanks to their Coach Ms. Graham for dedicating so many hours to coaching the team. You all make us very proud. WAY TO GO BOYS!!!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Science Fair at General Lake

Have you ever wondered how a plant grows or how something works? Perhaps you’re interested in an animal or you would like to find out what would happen if you…? Then maybe you’d like to put on your “thinking cap” and come up with something to investigate as a project for our School wide General Lake Science Fair! Students who participate in the science fair have the opportunity to research, investigate, and exhibit a topic of interest in science. Projects should be completed at home. Students interested in participating need to register their project with Ms Legault by March 8, using the registration form below. Parents and family members are invited to attend the exhibition on March 22 at 12:15. Projects by students in Grades 6-8 only will be judged by representatives from AECL. Projects from Grades 6-8 students selected by the judges will have the opportunity to enter the District wide Science Fair at the Civic Centre on March 31.
An outstanding project should have:
An original, creative question
A good hypothesis (answering your question)
Test all possible answers to your question
Do a real experiment, including a control
A working model of your experiment in your display
Good measurements and a great graph
Report on research/background information about topic.
Lettering sharp and clear. Big, bold title.
Beautiful, colorful, neat display
Return form below to Ms Legault to register your project by March 8, 2012
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: ____________________ Grade_____ Teacher _________
Science Fair Project ____________________________________

General Lake Celebrates Black History Month

In 1926, a Harvard scholar names Dr. Carter G. Woodson organized the first annual Black History Week. This event took place on the second week of February which also coincides with the birthdays of two great civil rights leaders -Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Today the month of February is known as Black History Month. In honour of this celebration, General Lake Public School has played different music each morning showcasing a different black artist. Ms Legault then gave a short profile of the famous African American/Canadian musicians including Louie Armstrong, James Brown, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, K'naan, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and Bob Marley.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Legion Public Speaking Event

It was an exciting, intense competition on Sunday February 19 at the Legion, as students from neighbouring Petawawa Schools battled for the top Public Speaking Awards. General Lake students were fierce competitors and all of our students displayed poise and professionalism in delivering a superb speech and representing our school. Congratulations to Kalee Granter who placed Third in the Primary Division; Fiona MacPherson who placed Second in the Junior Division and Bobbi Lavoie who placed First in the Primary Division. Bobbi will be offered the opportunity to represent Petawawa at the Provincial finals. Well done General Lake!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Public Speaking Competition

General Lake students amazed and astounded the audience as they spoke eloquently on a range of topics at our Public Speaking competition on Wednesday, February 15, and Thursday February 16, 2012. Some of the topics included the real story behind fairy tales, natural disasters, global warming, skin as well as retelling of Judith Viorst's Horrible, Terrible, No Good Day. The following students will be representing General Lake at the Public Speaking Event on Sunday, Feb 19, 2012:


At the Intermediate level: Melora Twomey, Jeris Chalmers-Wein,and Taylor Sullivan McElroy. In the Junior: Fiona MacPherson, Tiana Ingram, and Victoria Pezzutto. At the Primary level: Bobbi Lavoie, Mitchell Stewart, and Kalee Granter. Congratulations to all the participants! Students will compete at the Legion Branch 517 on February 19.

Registration begins at 12:30.and speeches will begin at 1:00.

CARIBOU MATH RESULTS FOR FEBRUARY

Congratulations to all the participants of our Caribou Mathematics Competition. In the Grade 7/8 division, in First place was Erin Stacey; in Second place Brianna Pomeroy; and in Third place Jada McInnis. In the Grade 5/6 division, in First place Gabe Layden; in Second place Jaden O'Connell; in Third place Mackenzie Carter-Gorin. Finally in the Grade 3/4 division, in First place Victoria McColeman; Second place Connor Stencill; and in third place Mackenzie Smith. Congratulations to all competitors. The next event occurs on April 18, 2012. Thanks again Mrs Stencil for all your hard work bringing this initiative to our school.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

News From Boys and Girls Club

P.O. Box 1354
Pembroke, Ontario K8A 6Y6
Tel: 613-735-1933
Fax: 613-735-1730
Email: bonnie.s@boysandgirlsclubofpembroke.com
Website: www.boysandgirlsclubofpembroke.com
MARCH BREAK CAMP!!!

We have already started planning for our March Break (March 12-16) Camp, out of Knight’s of Columbus Hall (170 Ellis). This year the theme will be “DOWN SOUTH” and the week will be filled up with fun activities, crafts, sports, games and more!!!! Cost for 2011/12 members is: $100 for the week for the 1st child, $90 for the 2nd child and $80 for the 3rd or $25/day. Hours are 8 am - 4:30 pm. Extended hours are 6:30 am to 8 am and then after from 4:30 to 6 pm. Extended hours are $5. per child per session. Campers bring their own lunch and snacks so please note we are a peanut sensitive organization. If you are not a member, but would like to enroll for this camp, please contact the office to register.


OPEN HOUSE

The Boys and Girls Club of Pembroke has been serving the children in our community since 1966 but still so many are not aware of all that we offer. On Wednesday April 25, 2012 at the Knights of Columbus Hall 170 Ellis Ave. from 6:30 to 8 PM we will have an open house with information about all our programs from the Before and After School Programs to our oldest program…Rec Night! IF you have school age kids and/or teens looking to do their volunteer hours….this would be a great place to start to get to know us better. Hope you can make it!

Monday, February 13, 2012

New Graduates of Yard Patrol

In the Fall, General Lake Public School was pleased to welcome a whole new group of students to their Yard Patrol Training Program. Students, trained in the previous year, spent several weeks assisting in the training of these keen students in the Peer Mediation Program. At the character assembly held in January these students finally graduated as full fledged members of the Yard Patrol Team. The Yard Patrol is a Peer Mediation Program designed to train students to assist other students with their problems. Members of the Yard Patrol Team can be spotted clearly wearing their bright yellow vests on the playground. We have focused the training with the Grade 4 to 6 students. These students are scheduled for a weekly duty to assist in the Primary playground. A picture of the Graduates and the Trainers is displayed to the right of this blog. The following is a copy of the script Yard Patrol Students follow when assisting students:

Peer Mediation Script


Hi, My name is _____________.

Hi, My name is _____________.

BOTH: And we’re your Yard Patrol.

Are you familiar with Yard Patrol?

We are students helping students solve problems.

We will not take sides

Everyone gets a turn to talk.

We are not going to judge or advise you.

This will just be between all of us in here.

So the mediation can work, we have some rules you need to agree to: (ask each person)

Do you agree to work to solve the problem? (yes/no)

Do you agree to tell the truth? (yes/no)

Do you agree that there will be no put-downs or name calling? (yes/no)

Do you agree not to fight? (yes/no)

Do you agree not to interrupt each other? (yes/no)

Do you agree to speak directly to us? (yes/no)

What happened and how did it make you feel? (Restate)

What happened and how did it make you feel? (Restate)

Do you have anything else to add?

Do you have anything else to add?

What would you like to see happen?

What would you like to see happen?

What can you do to solve this problem?

What can you do to solve this problem?

Thank you for coming to the Yard Patrol.

You did a good job. (Fill out agreement sheet & shake hands).


* If there is no agreement, say “You are not ready to solve your problem yet. Please come back when you are ready to work things out”.


Free French Club

The General Lake Parent Council is pleased to announce the creation a Free French Club for all General Lake’s students Grades 1 -8. Look at the following list of dates and watch for the registration signing form to be sent home soon. As always parents are welcome to attend all events. Registration forms need to be returned by Feb 21, 2012.

Friday Movie dates: March 2, 2012; April 13, 2012; May 04, 2012
Time: 3:40 to 5:30pm.
Popcorn provided. Parents will be responsible for picking up their children promptly at 5:30pm.
Wednesday Centers dates: March 21, 2012, March 28, 2012; April 18, 2012 April 25, 2012 May 9, 2012; May 16, 2012; May 23, 2012; May 30, 2012.
Time: 3:40 to 5:00pm.
Snack provided. Parents will be responsible for picking up their children promptly at 5:00pm.

If you have any question regarding the French Club please contact the school at 613-687-2404. Thank you!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Sabrina's Story from 2004

The tragic death of a Pembroke teen sparks a campaign to make high schools safer for pupils with deadly food allergies. Ian Macleod reports.

Ian Macleod
The Ottawa Citizen
September 18, 2004

The day before she died, Sabrina Shannon rose early for a breakfast of bacon, toast and orange juice. Her mother was in the kitchen preparing a school lunch with a plain, milk-free English muffin and a slice of Maple Leaf ham. It was a Monday, the end of Sabrina's first month in Grade 8 at Pembroke's Bishop Smith Catholic High.

"Mom, I'm not eating that sandwich," Sabrina protested. "I can eat french fries" from the school cafeteria. "I ate them on Friday. It's OK, I checked. I can eat those french fries."

Sara Shannon resisted. Her only child had food anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic condition triggered by certain foods. In Sabrina's case, trace amounts of peanuts, soy protein and dairy products could kill her. She also suffered from asthma, which typically makes anaphylactic children far more susceptible to severe allergic reactions.

Sabrina had eaten french fries before, but because allergies severely restricted her diet, her mother wanted what she could eat to be nutritious. Fries had always been limited to a Friday-night treat at McDonald's.

But Sara Shannon also trusted Sabrina's judgment. Her daughter was a poster child for food allergy safety. Three years earlier, Sabrina produced a documentary about her anaphylaxis for CBC Radio. Since age two, she'd experienced a handful of anaphylactic reactions and emergency trips to hospitals. She was extremely vigilant and, if unsure of a food, would not go near it.

"With allergies, it's no --or you die," Sabrina told the radio audience. She giggled and said she'd love to be allergic to spinach, broccoli and cauliflower.

Her mother eventually gave into her daughter's demand for school french fries and the freckle-faced, red-headed Sabrina headed off that morning, Sept. 29, 2003, wearing a new pair of jean shorts and one of her mother's Gap T-shirts, with "Rescue Patrol" across the front.

Her knapsack contained her Epipen injector syringe with a dose of life-saving epinephrine (adrenaline) in case she suffered another potentially fatal anaphylactic reaction. She also carried a Ventolin puffer for her asthma.

Sabrina soon arrived at Bishop Smith, a pile of grey brick and blue glass overlooking an athletic field where the Crusaders girls' rugby team routinely rides off with the annual county championship. These would be the final hours of her life.

Almost one year later, the chief coroner for Eastern Ontario, Dr. Andrew McCallum, is about to launch a public awareness campaign about the dangers anaphylactic students face in high schools. His endeavour is part of Sabrina's story.

Sabrina was passionate about life: Harry Potter books, summer drama camp, writing short-story fiction, swimming, skiing, collecting Yu Gi Oh cards and anything else to do with Japanese anime art, which she had a remarkable talent at drawing. At her Grade 7 graduation dance the previous spring, she danced every song.

She didn't hold back at Bishop Smith either, seeming not to care what other people thought of her bubbly, talkative and sometimes off-the-wall personality. She took pride in her ability to be assertive. She even refused to hang around with the popular crowd because they wouldn't accept one of her friends, who was a bit overweight.

In some ways, Sabrina had found her voice at a very young age.

But the fall of 2003 was to be very different. The allergen-safe zone of her former elementary school was gone. Bishop Smith is a big, busy place, with a cafeteria and students as old as 20.

Sara Shannon spoke with school officials, including Sabrina's homeroom teacher, about her daughter's anaphylaxis. Sabrina also knew she now had to be much more responsible about her condition and had no intention of coming into contact with an allergen that would set off her defective immune system.

She may, in fact, have been more worried about being teased because of her allergies. Once in elementary school, a bullying student smeared butter on her face. In Grade 7, kids began teasing her about the red fanny pack she wore with her Epipen inside. She eventually stopped wearing it and kept her medicine in her desk. At Bishop Smith, she kept it in her knapsack, desk or locker.

Around 11:40 a.m., Sabrina and her best friend, Kelsey Gulliver, headed to the cafeteria for lunch. Sabrina checked with the cafeteria staff, as she'd done the previous Friday, to make sure the french fries were cooked in vegetable oil. Assured, she bought some, along with a Coke.

After eating, Sabrina and Kelsey headed to Ms. Sernoskie's 12:30 geography class in the Grade 8 wing on the second floor. Before class, Sabrina stood at Kelsey's desk talking. Then it hit: Sabrina started to wheeze. "I think I'm having an asthma attack."

Sabrina told the teacher, who sent her, accompanied by another student, to the ground-floor school office at the other end of the building. Because she thought she was having an asthma attack, her Epipen remained behind in her unlocked locker.

panic sets in

Vice-principal Clint Young popped his head out of his office when he heard Sabrina arrive. She was now struggling to breathe and panicking. "It's my asthma, it's my asthma."
An ambulance was soon called.

The other student said Sabrina was anaphylactic and Mr. Young, whose young son has anaphylaxis, asked Sabrina what she'd eaten.

"It's not my allergies, it's not my allergies," she insisted.

But inside her body, her over-reactive immune system was launching an all-out "systemic reaction" to repel what it believed to be a foreign invader. Mast and basophil cells in her blood stream and tissues were releasing a variety of defensive chemicals, including a massive amount of histamine, which dilated her blood vessels and sent her blood pressure plummeting. Her heart raced to keep blood flowing to her brain and other organs. The histamine also caused her respiratory muscles to contract, strangling her ability to breathe and further reducing the amount of oxygen flowing to her brain.

Within two minutes of arriving in the office, she lost consciousness and crumpled to the floor. She was going into cardiac arrest.

About 30 seconds later, her homeroom teacher arrived with Sabrina's Epipen. Mr. Young administered it in her thigh, followed by CPR.

She was taken to Pembroke General Hospital, then CHEO. She never regained consciousness and died the following night from food-induced anaphylaxis. She was just 13.

Laboratory tests on her blood were unable to determine what specific allergen was responsible. But Dr. McCallum suspects the cafeteria tongs used to handle her french fries may have been contaminated with milk products picked up from earlier orders of poutine.

"I don't see any single person who didn't do what they should have done," he says of the staff at Bishop Smith. "But I do think that there's a cascade of things that led to this."

As a result of Sabrina's death, this Wednesday, Dr. McCallum, flanked by Sabrina's parents and a panel of allergy and anaphylaxis experts, will hold a press conference at CHEO.

"We want to make sure people are aware of this and that we can, as widely as possible, distribute this information so we can prevent another child from suffering the same fate," he says. "We ought to, as a society, stop allergic children from dying."

The switch to high school is one of the most potentially dangerous points in the lives of allergic children emerging from the protective and highly controlled elementary system.

Dr. McCallum likens the move to high school to "handovers" in hospitals, when patients are transferred from one department to another or medical staff change shifts. It's a well-documented risky time for patient safety.

Because of their size and diversity, high schools can be allergen danger zones. Young teens mix with older teens. They're at an age when they take more risks. Students are not only far more autonomous, but want to fit in with their peers. Anaphylactic pupils may not want to carry their Epipens or even talk about their allergies with new friends for fear of being different or being teased. And most don't want their photographs posted in classrooms, cafeterias and the school office.

Yet the kids most likely to die from food-induced anaphylaxis are teenagers. The peak age for food-related anaphylaxis deaths in Ontario, and presumably the rest of Canada, is between 15 and 25 years of age.

But advice on how to protect themselves often falls on deaf ears, says Dr. Peter Vadas, director of the division of allergy and clinical immunology at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital.

Teenagers "don't want to hear what you've got to say. They're going to take chances as they often do with anything and that includes food allergies and anaphylactic sensitivity. They're also not going to carry rescue medication with them. With all of those problems that confront teenagers, that's why these things tend to happen."

Anaphylactic deaths in Canada, from all sources including food, stings, latex allergies and even vigorous exercise, are difficult to confirm, but estimates range from 12 to 50 annually. Between 1986 and 1991, up to three children a year died in Ontario from food-induced anaphylaxis. It's believed that the last school-related death in Canada before Sabrina's was in Ontario in 1994.

Though deaths are rare, Dr. McCallum and others believe food-induced anaphylaxis deaths in schools should never happen.

But in many high schools, even some where school boards have policies for dealing with anaphylactic students, there are few or no firmly enforced rules and protocols for preventing or handling an emergency such as Sabrina's.

In 2001, Anaphylaxis Canada, which promotes awareness and research, sent a survey to the more than 600 schools under the Toronto District School Board to assess how the schools were dealing with the threat. Only 200 schools replied and all but about 20 were elementary schools.

lack of response

The absence of responses, especially from high schools, "I think says something," says Laurie Harada, the organization's executive director. And even among school boards that have policies, "it's not translating into really good anaphylactic management plans at the school level," she says.

For example, the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board, to which Bishop Smith belongs, had an anaphylactic policy. Sabrina's death has resulted in a sweeping new policy, drafted with the help of Anaphylaxis Canada.

Dr. Vadas, who worked with the Canadian School Boards Association to draft a comprehensive guidebook for creating effective anaphylaxis management policies, says that while many boards are addressing the issues, there's no uniform approach.

"That's fundamentally where the problem is," he says. "Some are great in terms of handling food allergies, others are not so great.

"A lot of people equate what happens during food allergies to what happens during the ragweed season. Maybe a runny, stuffy nose, a little bit of itching, no big deal. They don't appreciate the fact that people can, and do, die from these things. So you run into resistance, you run into a lack of appreciation, you run into a lack of motivation to implement what are sometimes difficult types of policies."

Dr. Zave Chad, an Ottawa allergist and chair of the Canadian Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Foundation, believes the prime responsibility for safety should lie with the students.

"They have to realize that they've got follow the rules for themselves and if the schools can help them out by having less exposure to this stuff, fine. But in the end, it's the kids who have to" take charge of their safety.

Bishop Smith now has perhaps the most stringent high school anaphylaxis safety plan in Canada. Measures include:
- Parents must supply the school with at least one Epipen, which is kept in the school office. All staff have been trained on how to use them;
- The school has prioritized its list of students with medical conditions. The list singles out about 25 students with life-threatening conditions, including nine seriously anaphylactic pupils. The school's electronic student files automatically flash a red flag each time one of the at-risk student's files is opened. Another click of the mouse opens a detailed page on the student's condition and how to respond;
- Anaphylactic students are routinely stopped in hallways by administrators and asked to show that they're carrying an Epipen. They must also tell new teachers the location of their Epipens;
- Photos of anaphylactics are discreetly posted in the school office, the teachers' preparatory room and lunch room, and in a section of the cafeteria used by cafeteria staff. As well, the school is working with a company contracted to run the cafeteria to reduce employee turnover and increase the likelihood that food staff will better know which students moving through the lunch line are anaphylactic;
- Anaphylactic students have been paired with a student "buddy," usually a friend who is often around and who knows of their condition. The buddies have been taught about how to spot the early signs of an anaphylactic reaction and whom to alert;
- Part of the Grade 9 health curriculum this year will included lessons about anaphylaxis.

Ottawa's two main school boards also have anaphylaxis policies and protocols covering elementary and secondary levels.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board protocols, developed with the help of the City of Ottawa health department, include:
- Detailed records are kept about anaphylactic students, including where they store their Epipens if they don't follow the board's recommendation to carry them on their person, their bus route numbers and the typical reactions a student experiences during an anaphylactic episode. The record also includes a basic course of action for school officials to follow in the case of an emergency;
- Parents and physicians of anaphylactic students are asked to sign a form permitting school officials to inject a student with their Epipen in the event of an emergency and agree the board will not be held responsible for harm that might occur as a result;
- Parents and students are strongly urged to supply the school with a back-up Epipen, with a photograph of the student attached, to be kept in the office;
- At least one school staff member has a detailed knowledge of each anaphylactic student's medical needs;
- Mandatory, annual training for most school staff on how to administer an Epipen. All schools also have designed teams of staff members trained in emergency first aid;
- Signs posted in school cafeterias encourage allergic and anaphylactic students to check with cafeteria staff about ingredients used to make meals.

training considered
The Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board does not have Epipen training for its staff, but "that might be something worth us looking at," says Julian Hanlon, deputy director of education.

The separate board relies more on students and their parents to let school officials know what sort of precautions they feel are necessary. For example, schools will store a backup Epipen in the school office if asked.
"When the parent comes forward, and they are encouraged to do that, then we'll put into place, short of an allergy-free zone, whatever they recommend in conjunction with what the school has done in the past," says Mr. Hanlon.
"I'm comfortable with the approach we've taken, it has worked for us. Certainly, we're not saying to our (high school) principals 'Don't worry about it, they're old enough now, they can look after themselves.'"

Information Online
- On May 21, 2001, CBC Radio's Outfront broadcast A Nutty Tale, a documentary about food anaphylaxis produced by and featuring then 10-year-old Sabrina Shannon. It can be heard on the Web at cbc.ca/outfront/ webfeatures/sabrina/sab_shell.html.
- Other informative websites about anaphylaxis and schools include Anaphylaxis Canada (www.anaphylaxis.org) and the Canadian School Boards Association's Anaphylaxis: A Handbook for School Boards (cdnsba.org. Search for keyword "allergies".) Also the Calgary Allergy Network at www.calgaryallergy.ca

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

French Club Planning Meeting

On Thursday, February 9 parents are invited to a French Club/Movie Night planning meeting in the Library at General Lake Public School at 6:00pm. We are hoping to get this after school initiative started by the end of February. Thank you to all the parents that returned the survey.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Peanut Free School

Just a reminder that General Lake is a Peanut Free School. We have some students with life threatening allergies. It is imperative that we provide a safe school environment for all students, which means all lunches must be nut free. With the approaching Valentines Day celebration, many treats will be coming into the school. Please ensure that these treats are nut free. Also a reminder that Tim Horton's does not guarantee peanut free with their products, so please refrain from sending in their products to the school. Thanks for your attention to this matter.

Kindness Can Change The World

Sunday, February 5, 2012

"Kindness can change the world."
February is 'Random Act of Kindness' month at General Lake. In the next few days, students will be given ideas as to some of the things they can do as 'Random Acts of Kindness'. The front entrance bulletin board will offer a range of ideas provided by Mme Bernardin's and Mme Katherine's classes. Once students complete one of the acts they may sign their name on the display hearts. Let's see the power kindness can have at General Lake Public School!
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.Leo F. Buscaglia