The Citizen, 2010-02-25, Page 6THE EDITOR,As a parent of Grey Central PublicSchool, I take offence to the
statements put forth by Warden
Dykstra at the February 9 Avon
Maitland District School Board
meeting.
During the meeting, Dykstra
addressed the trustees with opinions
from Huron County councillors as if
they were true in nature and
representative of “all the schools in
Huron County”. Well, his comments
are not speaking for the whole
community and therefore a few
points should be noted.
What makes Bert Dykstra the
expert in what parents from Grey
Central are thinking? Does he live in
Ethel? Has he driven through Ethel?
Does he even know that Grey
Central is also in Huron County even
though we are a rural school?
Mr. Dykstra’s comments in The
Citizen suggest that because my
child is bused, she is fatter or less
healthy than those children from a
“walking” school. I would like to
argue this point by asking thequestion, are all the children whoattend Wallace, Elma and Grey
schools fatter or less healthy than
those from the other three schools in
this ARC, because that is what
Warden Dykstra is concluding. I for
one do not believe that any of the
bused children are any more
unhealthy, and to suggest this is
absurd. If more physical activity is
what children across the whole
province need, then I suggest parents
start by turning off the television,
video games and computers and
kick the kids outside for a while just
like in the good old days. Don’t
blame busing on a child’s fitness
level.
As for extra-curricular activities, if
such activities are required, a late
bus could be organized to deliver the
children to one drop-off point in
town at which point they could walk
home. The country kids parents
would pick them up or make
arrangements for pickup as we have
in the past.
Does Dykstra realize that two-thirds of Grey Central studentsattend Listowel District Secondary
School after graduating? Therefore,
I would make the suggestion that
two-thirds of the families attending
Grey would then gravitate to the
Listowel area, so really it
would make sense to send them “that
way” in the event that Grey was to
close.
The community of Grey Ward is
unique, in that the township has
connections to many of the
surrounding communities. Some
attend church in Listowel, Brussels,
Wingham and Monkton. We shop in
Brussels, Listowel, Wingham and
Seaforth. Our children play sports in
Ethel, Brussels and Monkton just to
name a few.
Grey Central is very diverse, we
pull from three or more local areas.
From all four corners of the Grey
Ward we come together as one
school community. Our children
make friends with classmates who
eventually will separate into three
high schools, but in the end thosefriendships will never end. Two ofmy own children have already
graduated from Grey Central. They
both have attended F.E. Madill but
have extended their ring of friends
because of those Grey friends who
now attend LDSS.
Grey Ward may not have a Main
Street or stores but we are no less of
a community than our urbancounterparts. Closing our school willstill have a devastating affect on us
all.
Mr. Dykstra, in the future, please
do not speak for a whole community
unless you are sure that the whole
community is on the same page.
Alicia Deitner
Proud Grey Central Parent.
PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2010.Writer takes offence to Warden’s statements
THE EDITOR,
As participants at the Feb. 3 ARC
meeting at Listowel Eastdale, most
of us were a bit puzzled, if not
dismayed over the proposal tabled
by Jeff Bannerman calling for the
closing of Grey Central School
rather than Brussels Public School.
Jeff’s carefully crafted plan
appeared to be based upon his
boyhood memories of what
happened to Monkton when its
school closed.
For those not in the know,
Monkton’s school was closed in
1967 to make way for Elma
Township School and Upper Thames
Elementary. Upon investigation,
including talking to local residents
and a local politician, Monkton’s
perceived demise was related to a
number of factors unrelated to the
closing of its school: the relocation
of a bank, the closing of a hardware
store and grocery store and the
opening of large stores such as
Zehrs, Canadian Tire, Zellers in
Listowel and Valumart in Mitchell,
the drop in the number of small,
family-owned farms, and the
unwillingness of the municipality to
provide the community with water
and sewage. This last factor was
cited over and over again as the
predominant reason for the lack of
residential and industrial
development in Monkton.
Despite what Mr. Bannerman has
to say Monkton is still a proud
community with a new library, a
great arena and many existing and
new businesses.
If there is any truth behind what
Jeff has to say is that rural schools do
provide excellent education and a
quality of life that attracts many
urbanites to the countryside.
Research seems to indicate that it
doesn’t matter if a school is located
within a village, on its outskirts or a
few kilometres away. It is still the
community’s school.
These new emigrants to our area,
in escaping the hustle and bustle of
the city life, have found that they can
work from home or commute to
larger centres. They have also found
they can shop and do business in
villages like Brussels and have their
children educated at Grey.
Armand Roth,
Grey Central PS ARC Rep.
Letters to the editor
People puzzled over proposal
THE EDITOR,
Huron politicians may have shot themselves in the foot as a result of
Warden Dykstra’s performance at the February 9 meeting of the Avon
Maitland District School Board.
Not only have they lost rural votes by suggesting that a school like Grey
close over an urban school, but they may end up driving business away from
Brussels if the Board follows through with its plan to ship half of the
enrolment of Grey into Elma, since the municipal trustees insist parents tend
to do business where their children go to school.
Also of interest, the same politicians don’t really value the Brussels Fall
Fair or recreational facilities in Brussels. I doubt if we will see Elma or
Wallace kids marching in our September parade.
Unwittingly, our politicians have now sanctioned a school board process to
rip families and friends apart – the same people they claim to represent. As
the saying goes, stupid is as stupid does.
Armond Roth
Grey Central P.S. ARC Rep.
THE EDITOR,
Saturday, Feb. 20 I made time and
went to the Legion-sponsored
Speaking Contest at Blyth Memorial
Hall. There was a wonderfully
responsive audience of about 130
people made up of contestants and
their family and friends.
I just went along because Crystal
Taylor mentioned it to me. It is
always a good thing for others in the
community to be able to support our
youth. Reluctantly, I left early
before the event ended as I had
another engagement. The speeches
were thought-provoking and
entertaining. Each speaker deserves
praise.
Once again, I would like to give a
tip of the hat to the Legion Auxiliary
ladies who did so much to make the
event occur with dignity. They even
treated the children to juice and
cookies at break time.
I hope I can go again next year
and that more people of the village
will be out to support these children.
Janis Vodden, Blyth.
A tip of the hat to Legion Ladies
Have Huron politicians
shot themselves in the foot?
WHAT ARE ASTHMA
TRIGGERS?
Asthma triggers are allergens and
irritants that can create breathing
problems when people with asthma
are exposed to them. Common
triggers include:
• Pollens including tree pollen,
grass pollen and ragweed
• Cigarette smoke
• Dust and dust mites
• Pets and other animals
• Food allergies
• Weather and air pollution
• Cold air and high humidity