HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-05-09, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013.
Writer laments
‘theft’ of school
Catholic board encouraged by retention growth
Award winners
Students at Hullett Central Public School were recognized for their excellent public speaking
by the Blyth Legion Branch 420 during a special presentation at the school last week. Shown
are, back row, from left, first place junior competitor Nick Aitken, Vice Education Chair Donna
Govier, second place Intermediate speaker Cody Bos, third place intermediate competitor
Phoebe Croft, first place intermediate competitor Avery Whyte, second place junior competitor
Jaden Shortreed and Education Chair Andy Lubbers. Front row, from left, are third place
primary competitor Bradley Hummel, second place primary competitor Colby Dale and first
place primary competitor Connor Dale. (Denny Scott photo)
The Huron Perth Catholic District
School Board (HPCDSB) has seen a
significant growth in retention ratesover the past two years.Superintendent of Education Dan
Parr, said that early results for the
2013/14 year indicate that 81 per
cent of Grade 8 students within theHPCDSB have chosen to continuetheir education at either St. Anne’s
or St. Michael’s Catholic Secondary
School. That is up from 76 per cent
last year and 70 per cent retention in2011/12.Parr attributed the increase to the
work of the retention committee.
The committee has developed
communication strategies, literature,
posters and advertisements to
promote the Kindergarten to Grade
12 model the HPCDSB is focused
on.
“We are very hopeful and we are
convinced that by doing a few
simple things, we will get the results
we are looking for,” said Parr.
“We are a Catholic school board,
we need to value Catholic education
for all of our students, K to 12 not
just K to 8,” he said, adding,
“Because of that we have a moral
imperative to increase our retention
rates from our Catholic elementaryschools into our Catholic secondaryschools and maximizing that.”
Parr said the strategy has led to
employees being informed
ambassadors of the Catholic
education system by engaging staff
and teachers in conversation and
providing tools to communicate the
message. Tools include brochures
for each St. Anne’s and St,
Michael's, highlighting the many
clubs, extra curricular activities and
leadership opportunities available at
the schools.
“It is our hope that teachers,
parents and students at the
elementary level will find these
helpful for them as they talk about
THE EDITOR,
The front page headline for an
article on last week’s issue of The
Citizen reads “Blyth area schools to
see enrolment increase”. Seven
words in a sentence which contains
three errors in fact. One: there are no
“Blyth area schools” and there never
were that many schools in Blyth
since 1946; two: There is also not a
single Blyth area school, it was
closed 10 months ago; three: the
school population cannot have an
increasing enrolment if it does not
exist.
The body of the article shows no
improvement from the headline. It
goes on to talk about the actual
living and breathing students who
sadly have no Blyth area schools to
attend and talks about Maitland
River Elementary School and F.E.
Madill Grade 7 and 8 students.
Apparently the author of this article
does not realize that very few of
these Blyth area students attend
either of these schools. The majority
have been trundled off to the Hullett
Central Public School at
Londesborough. Out of sight – out
of mind!
This weird communication gaff is
consistent with Avon Maitland
District School Board’s not-so-
benign neglect of everything related
to Blyth. I am sure the people in the
Communication Department have
lots of abilities, but unfortunately
communication skills are not among
them.
Superintendent Mike Ash,
however, is very pleased with the
fact that elementary head count has
stabilized. (I wonder if he realizes
that the Blyth children have gone
AWOL, statistically speaking?) He
is really pleased that the
Accommodation Review process is
going to “sustain good building
utilization”. That is a performance
measurement I never heard of when
I was a Superintendent of Education.
I guess we were hung up on trivia
such as education quality and service
to the community.
I am beginning to think that this
perpetual abandonment of Blyth by
the school board may be a great
advantage to Blyth. If we expect
nothing of them, we’ll never be
disappointed when nothing is what
we receive. That sense of casting off
the yoke may just spur us on to
mitigate completely the theft of our
school.
Brock Vodden.
The Annual Meetings of the Listowel Memorial Hospital and Wingham and
District Hospital will be held jointly for the purposes of receiving the
financial reports and statements required by the Public Hospitals Act, for the
election of Directors, to approve the revised Credentialed Professional Staff
By-Laws, and for the transaction of other such things as may properly come
before the meeting.
Copies of the Annual Report/Financial Statements may be obtained at the
front desk of both Hospitals effective June 5, 2013 and at the Annual Meeting.
Memberships granting voting privileges may be purchased at the front desk
of the hospitals for five dollars ($5.00) prior to five o’clock p.m., Tuesday,
May 28, 2013. No membership sold after that time will entitle the purchaser
to vote at the Annual Meeting.
Corporation of the Listowel Memorial Hospital
Corporation of the Wingham and District Hospital
ANNUAL MEETING & ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2013 ~ 7:00 PM
TRILLIUM MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY
495 MITCHELL ROAD SOUTH (HWY. 23), LISTOWEL
PRESENTATIONS BY THE HOSPITAL FOUNDATIONS
Discover the West
519-291-4100 ~ Listowel, Ont.
Big winners
Students at Hullett Central Public School were recognized for their Remembrance Day posters
and essays by the Blyth Legion Branch 420 last week. Vice Education Chair Donna Govier,
left, and Education Chair Andy Lubbers, right, presented awards to, from left, Elianne Krueger
for her fourth place finish at the Royal Canadian Legion District C Competition Primary Colour
Poster contest entry, Kelton Pawitch for his fourth place Junior Essay entry and Braden
Radford for his second place Primary Black and White Poster entry. (Denny Scott photo)
Letter to the Editor
Continued on page 10
By Hilary LongSpecial to The Citizen