A brief update from the home and school front, a little corner of my life that, when you combine activities at Prince Street School locally with the crazy projects I’m working on for the provincial federation, seems to consume most of my spare moments these days. Against character and probability, it’s work I love doing: it’s grounded and productive and, by times, involves handing out popcorn, buying several gallons of apple juice, and working with people that, in the regular course of my daily life, I’d never meet.

Two items of note on the calendar right now:

1. Prince Street School is in the middle of an ambitious fundraising campaign to raise the money needed to resuscitate our condemned school playground (gory details here). There’s a big event coming up on February 24 at the Murphy Centre, a fashion show and silent auction. If you’d like to attend the event itself, call 902-368-6950 to buy tickets: $25 each, $150 for a table of 8. But you can bid online right now in the silent auction. You’ll find everything from an hour of ice time at the Civic Centre to two hours of a luxury limosine rental to a Blackberry Torch up for bidding.
2. Together with home and school associations at West Kent, Spring Park, St. Jean, and Parkdale, Prince Street is organizing a program of informal recreational activities for parents, students, teachers and staff this winter and spring.  With $4,400 in funding from the PEI Home and School Federation, we’re looking to bring people in different neighbourhoods together for fun and fellowship. You can read all the details on the home and school site, including the results of a family activity survey we did to gauge interest in different types of fun (punchline: swimming, bowling and movies are very popular; charades, broomball and bike repair are no).

If you happen to find yourself saying “you know, I’ve really got too much money right now, and I’m really concerned about kids having a safe outdoor place to play at school,” then please send some of your spare cash Prince Street’s way; if you’re an elementary school family in downtown Charlottetown, watch your child’s backpack in the months to come for fun activities you can do together.