The Fifth Annual Van Tech Holiday Hamper Drive is on! Running the two weeks from November 30th until December 11th. As always, we are continuing to support about 100 families, all from our school. What makes this year a bit different, however, is that we know from talking with families that the need and anxiety are greater than ever. I don't think there has ever been a better or more important time to show some love and care to each other. 

So you're asking yourself, how can I help!? Two great ways!
1. We're collecting both food and non-food items (see attached list) in both Rotation 2 (first week) and Rotation 1 (second week) classes. As we always have, there will be prizes for lucky students in classes with a high number of items in.

2. We also collect money that we use to make gift cards and buy additional items we need for the hampers. And what's awesome for parents and families is that we can give a tax receipt for any donation $20 or over!

I'd love to help and get a tax receipt, how do I do it?
​Option 1: Send your student with a cheque of $20 or more to their class. The money gets collected in the classes and then totaled at the end of the two week hamper drive.

2. Go to the VSB Donation page and make your donation online.
Link: https://vsb.schoolcashonline.com/Fee/Details/1869/196/false/true
Important! You need to choose a "Fund Destination" of "S-Vancouver Technical".
And in the "Message: (optional):" you should type "Holiday Hampers".

Thank you, as always, for your incredible support.
Nick Van, Murray Anderson of LRP, and the Van Tech staff!''

As mentioned at the parent night, here's the big online fair for students and parents that can be attended next week. Definitely worth checking it out! The email I got reminding me was so good, I basically copy pasted it here :)

This is an incredible place to go beyond just looking over information and ask recruiters and university and post-secondary staff questions. Pretty much every BC post-secondary is represented and ready for you there! It's a huge opportunity.
​

"Just a reminder about the PSBC Virtual Fairs next week [Monday & Tuesday - Nov 30-Dec 1] for students in your schools. I have attached the Information Handout for students and parents, and this is also available on our PSBC website under EVENTS.
 
- Our Fairs are for Grade 11 & 12 students, their parents and Counsellors.
 
- Visitors can login in at any time during the 3-hour fairs; institutions doing live presentations will start them at 15-minutes after the hour; some institutions might do three presentations, while others may only do one or two, so students should plan to use all the time available to them to explore all the members booths in the fair and see who are doing presentations. Some institutions will also have pre-recorded presentations that can be viewed at any time.
 
- Students can return at almost any time after their assigned days to visit the booths, view pre-recorded video presentations and download documents. In between our live fair events the platform will be open most of the time so students, parents and you can access this information. If you and/or teachers want to use pre-recorded videos on the platform in a class, please feel free to do so.
 
I have also attached a ‘Student Assignment Sheet’ for your use, if you wish to use it. It’s just a tool we have created for you – it’s not something we would want back from you!!
 
I encourage you to also regularly go to our PSBC Website [www.postsecondarybc.ca] where you will see under EVENTS that many of our member institutions are starting to schedule many different kinds of virtual presentations and information sessions that both students and parents would be interested in. Please continue to share our website with your students and parents as a primary resource for post-secondary information.
 
Best regard
Josh Keller
Administrative Co-ordinator
Post-Secondary BC
www.postsecondarybc.ca"

Hopefully all of you who were able to come and join in our Post-Secondary night last month enjoyed it. I was so pleased by the reception, interest, questions, and comments. I'm happy to present another opportunity, this one run by the pros at EducationPlannerBC, with an emphasis on how parents can be a help in the process.

EducationPlannerBC (check out all their website HERE) is the main application point for students applying to BC Post-Secondaries. They cover everywhere our kids would be applying with the exception of BCIT and UBC, both of which will probably use it the year after this one.

When is Parent Night for Van Tech? I've booked (with Churchill Secondary) for: Tuesday, Dec 1st 6:30-8:00.
Register here to get a spot: https://sfu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcsdOmtqj4jHNxs8HdSuDgUoF3M8cBZLbNb

What they say about what you can expect:
- An overview of all the resources that are available on EducationPlannerBC.ca
- Supports available from post-secondary institution
- Tips on scholarships and financial aid
- Time for questions! Your questions will be answered in real-time during this virtual session.

Let me know if you have questions. Cheers, Van.