HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-01-13, Page 15St. James and St. Anne's will
have some changes in leadership
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
As the renowned saying
goes, when one door closes
another opens and the prin-
cipal of St. James Catholic
School, known to the stu-
dents as Mrs. Tigani is living
proof. She is leaving the ele-
mentary level education to
join the high school setting in
Clinton.
Initially when hearing the
news from the board during a
phone conversation about
the new position, the princi-
pal of St. James Catholic Ele-
mentary School, Karen
Tigani, decided to tell the
staff immediately through
email. Followed by a letter to
the parents to inform every-
one about the adjustment.
However, before she
leaves, she will be greeting a
new principal to the school
that she says has treated her
with the utmost respect since
day one. In the three short
years that she has been the
principal the staff, parents
and students have all made
her place of employment a
welcome one.
"I have an increasing num-
ber of hugs in the hallways
and Mrs. Tigani, why are you
leaving? But I think I've pre-
sented it to the students in a
way to let them know that I'm
excited and this is a wonder-
ful opportunity," stated Tigani
in her office sitting beside the
woman next in line to accept
the new principal position,
Jenny Ritsma.
"They are really, really
lucky because Mrs. Ritsma is
an amazing principal, so I've
really wanted the students to
know this is a change, but it's
a welcome change:'
Down the road and a town
over, an approximate 10 -min-
ute drive, Tigani will join the
faculty at St. Anne's Catholic
Secondary as the much larger
school's principal. She admit-
ted it will be hard to cut ties,
nevertheless she said she's
ready for the new path in
education.
"We joked because at St.
James we're the Cardinals
and St Anne's is the Eagles. So
I said I'm still a bird, said
Tigani while giggling.
I've seen some of you lose
your teeth, I've helped you
put on Band-Aids. I've seen
some of you literally learn
that a letter makes a sound
and those sounds make a
word and those words make
a sentence."
Tigani who grew up in the
Stratford area has always
been familiar with Huron
County as her new position
will be in a familiar atmos-
phere that she recollects from
her earlier teaching career.
"I was a teacher at St.
Anne's a number of years
ago. Remarkably, most of the
staff are people that I've
worked with over the years,"
commented Tigani. "It('s)
kind of like going home."
Like Tigani, Ritsma, who
will be filling the principal
shoes at St. James, once
taught at the school she is
about to be appointed princi-
pal at.
"The interesting story is I
taught kindergarten, then I
left. In returning that same
cohort is graduating this year"
Ritsma told the Expositor. "I
got to welcome them in kin-
dergarten, now, I get to join
them as they exit the school
and move on to St. Anne's."
"I was trying to put names
to faces and connect. Some of
them actually recognized me."
On January 21, both prin-
cipals are expected to be sta-
tioned at their new establish-
ments, the pair revealed
they're eager for what the
future holds in their next step
in the schooling system.
"It's hard to say good bye,
but I'm pretty sure when I
drive by here once in a while.
I may just have to stop and
check things out," Tigani said.
PrecisionHawk introduces area farmers
to benefits of drone -use in agriculture
Galen Simmons
Postmedia Network
Although the demonstration
didn't take place because of
unsettled weather, intrigued
area farmers still packed them-
selves into the Mitchell Golf
and Country Club banquet
hall to listen to representatives
from PrecisionHawk explain
the benefits of using drone
technology in agriculture dur-
ing BDO Canada's Ontario
Agriculture Roadshow Dec. 3.
A Canadian company, Pre-
cisionHawk began in Toronto
in 2010, and since then it has
expanded worldwide, with
offices in the U.K., Argentina,
and all across the U.S. and
Canada. PrecisionHawk's
main focus is to design agricul-
ture -specific drones that can
be used to compile all sorts of
useful information for farmers
through the use of high-resolu-
tion aerial imaging.
"For us, it's not just about the
UAV (unmanned aerial vehi-
cle), it's about actual answers,"
said Nat Hyde, an account
executive from Precision -
Hawk's North Carolina office.
"Our customers are... worried
about answers and actual data
that can be used to help better
your yields and better your
business"
Through extensive testing
and study with industry part-
ners and universities, Hyde
said the PrecisionHawk drone
is focused around gathering
pertinent data to help in mak-
ing
aking decisions at two key times
in a farmer's year - planting
and harvest.
"For us, we're able to opti-
mize your (seed, nitrogen and
water) inputs. Being able to do
things such as crop count -
being able to automate that
system so you're able to actu-
ally know how much you have
in your field, even though you
may be putting out so much
seed, how much is actually
coming out, Hyde said, adding
that the PrecisionHawk can
also detect compromised plots
that need replanting, as well as
outside factors such as weeds,
pests and fungi that may be
adversely affecting the health
of a farmer's crops.
Another benefit of the Preci-
sionHawk UAV is it can save a
farmer time in crop -scouting.
While the task could take a
person as long as a few hours
to a day to scout their crops
with some accuracy, the UAV
can do the same task in 45
minutes, with significantly
more accuracy.
The UAV also has the capa-
bility to provide real-time
information about how to
improve variable rate prescrip-
tions for the application of
seed, fertilizer and pesticide.
On top of all those benefits, the
UAV can estimate the size of a
farmer's yield based on the
data it collects from its aerial
imaging sensors.
"We are an end-to-end solu-
tion, so we're not just offering
the hardware, we're also offer-
ing different sensor types,"
Hyde explained. "We're able to
offer about 14 different sensors
that you can use to help opti-
mize your operations, any-
thing from visual sensors -
which essentially does
top-down pictures - as well as
multispectral and even hyper-
spectral (sensors) - instead of
three bands, you have 210
bands of light that you can cap-
ture and really see the minute
differences - and then LiDAR
(a remote sensing technology
that measures distance by illu-
minating a target with a laser
and analyzing the reflected
light). We're also workingwith
industry leaders on developing
better technologies for more
specific multispectral imagers
for more specific use cases as
well as different UV sensors
that may be able to give differ-
ent indications of crop health"
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Wednesday, January 13, 2016 • Huron Expositor 15
Shaun Gregory
FROM LEFT)- Jenny Ritsma has been appointed the principal of
St. James Catholic Elementary School. While Karen Tigani will be
joining St. Anne's Catholic Secondary as their new principal. Turn
to page 15 for the full story.
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