The Citizen, 2011-11-17, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2011.Residents vote to keepHullett Central’s name
Remembering
Blyth Legion President Andy Lubbers placed a memorial
wreath on the stage at the Blyth Memorial Hall on behalf of
the Legion on Nov. 11, Remembrance Day. The Legion’s
wreath was joined by many more as the annual ceremony
that honours those who fight for Canada proceeded despite
a power outage. (Denny Scott photo)
The Avon Maitland District
School Board (AMDSB) prepared
for National Bullying Awareness
Week by watching a frank, some-
times disturbing video about bully-
ing and AMDSB students.
Sherry Key, a Grade 7 teacher at
Stratford Northwestern Public
School (NWPS) and her students
Robin Jones, Julia Lupton and Ellen
Chartrand presented a video docu-
menting the girls’ “Stand Up to
Bullying” project.
Originally a media project for
their class, the girls videotaped sev-
eral interviews with fellow students
on the topic of bullying. The media
project turned into a committee with
the goals of raising awareness and
preventing bullying.
The AMDSB video documenting
the trio’s efforts includes frank talk
on the physical and verbal bullying
students have endured as well as the
effects bullying has had on the kids,
including suicidal thoughts.
“We don’t want kids killing them-
selves because they’ve been bullied
that much,” said Lupton in the video.
Key said that the committee’s
efforts will create a safe space for
kids who are being bullied but are
afraid to go to an adult. In the video
Lupton says that teachers and other
adults are not always aware of bully-
ing when it’s happening.
“Their eye just doesn’t see it as
well,” she said. After the video,
trustee Michael Bannerman asked if
most bullied kids are comfortable
going to an adult.
“They feel embarrassed,”
answered Lupton. Student trustee
and Listowel District Secondary
School student Alanna Coneybeare
predicted that the video and commit-
tee could have far-reaching influ-
ence across the board after trustees
Continued from page 1
elected one day and turn around and
change its size the next, leaving vot-
ers helpless in the decision-making
process.
“This is so the public can come in
and say we don’t agree or we do
agree,” Stewart said. “That’s the
democracy in it. That’s the only
opportunity the public has.”
Stewart said the size of Huron
County Council is completely lawful
and that it was time to move forward
instead of digging through the past.
“The bylaw should be allowed to
stand,” Stewart said. “It doesn’t con-
travene the Municipal Act.”
If Huron County Council wants to
change its size, Stewart said, the
process is in place to do that and
councillors are well aware of what
they have to do.
Stewart said a bylaw to the con-
trary would affect taxpayers demo-
cratically and financially.
In a room containing several area
councillors, including Central
Huron’s Brian Barnim and Jim Ginn,
North Huron’s Neil Vincent and
Huron East’s Bernie MacLellan,
among others, Gorman said she
would make her decision public later
this week.
Hullett Central Public School willkeep its name even after it includesstudents from Blyth Public School in
September 2012.
At the Avon Maitland District
School Board (AMDSB) Nov. 8
meeting, Mike Ash, AMDSB super-
intendent of education, school oper-
ations, told trustees that the school’s
Transition Committee has decided
Hullett Central’s name should con-
tinue to be used for the merged
school populations.
The decision came after two com-
munity surveys, one in May and one
in October of 2011, were completed.
Of the 33 respondents in the first
survey, only two suggested a name
change to “Hullett/Blyth”. The rest
argued that a name change wasunnecessary, would cost money andmight upset the Hullett school com-munity. Ash noted that the majorityof responses in the spring came fromthe Hullett Central school communi-
ty. He said that at that time Blyth
parents were being surveyed about
both the Hullett Central transition
and the Maitland River Elementary
School transition, as well as being
surveyed on where they planned to
send their junior and senior
Kindergarten-aged children.
He said given the number of sur-
veys for Blyth parents, and the low
Blyth response to the Hullett naming
survey, a second survey was
launched in the fall of 2011 to ensure
Blyth Public School parents had
another opportunity to give their
opinions.
In the second survey 20 of 21respondents, again mostly from theHullett Central community, madesimilar arguments with only one per-son suggesting a name change to “Upper Central Elementary
School”.
Trustee Colleen Schenk said a
Blyth councillor, as well as several
students and parents from Blyth
Public School, attended the transi-
tion meeting where the decision to
keep Hullett Central’s name was
made.
“They all seemed very pleased
with the outcome,” said Schenk.
Students from Blyth Public School
will be split up in September of
2012, with some attending Hullett
Central and others attending the new
Maitland River Elementary School
(MRES) in Wingham.
Continued from page 16
turned down earlier this year.
“I can’t support the dispersement
of funds to REACH at this time,”
Jewitt said.
In addition to the funding being
turned down, Central Huron Council
is still waiting on a business plan
that councillors say was supposed to
be completed and released to them
when the agreement was first made
earlier this year.
Mayor Jim Ginn agreed, saying
that a meeting with REACH person-
nel was long overdue.
Ginn said perhaps a meeting
between council and the REACH
board of directors could be tagged
onto a regular REACH meeting.
Councillor and REACH representa-
tive Alex Westerhout said Nov. 16
and Dec. 14 would be options.
“We need to know more about
what this is going to look like,” Ginn
said.
In a recorded vote the motion to
release municipal funds to REACH
for the months of August and
September was passed with Jewitt
and Councillor Brian Barnim voting
against the motion. Councillor Dan
Colquhoun was absent.
School board hears from
anti-bullying committee
Councillors question support
Decision coming
later this week
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By Rita MarshallSpecial to The Citizen
By Rita Marshall
Special to The Citizen
Continued on page 26