HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1978-06-07, Page 4Established 1876
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James Roy, Artistic Director„of
the. Blyth Summer Festival is
pleased to s announce the'
Appointment of Jan Dutton as
Administrator, Eleanor Besly as
Publicity Director, and Gordon
McCall as guest director for the
1978 season. Anne Roy as
Associate Director and Bjarne
Christensen as Production.
Manager, also add their strength
to the team.
Administrator, Jan Dutton of
London has been appointed for
the year and will co-ordinate the
Blyth Centre for the Arts Winter
e programme, as well as administer
the Summer Festsival. Miss
Dutton has an extensive
background in art and will help to
expand the activities of the
Summer Festival.
Miss Besly is from Toronto and
has worked in the publicity
department of Ontario Place. •
Gord McCall, a native of
Dorchester, is a lecturer and
director at the theatre department
of Queen's. University and has
many productions to his credit on
the West Coast, He is currently
directing a play in Vancouver and
will begin rehearsals for. His Own
Boss by Keith Roulston in Blyth
on June 15th.
The Fes'tival is currently
promoting a pre-season subscrip-
tion campaign. Until the opening
date, July 7th, patrons may
purchase vouchers for four
admissions to the theatre at
substantial reductions from the
regular admission price.
Vouchers may be used
throughout the whole season,
providing reservations are made
in advance. A set of four tickets is
priced at $12.00 for adults, $10.00
for senior citizens and $8.00 for
children. The sets are available
from the Festival Box Office or
any of our ticket outlets.
BOY THESE LADIES CERTAINLY KNOW HOW TO
COOK UP A FINE MEAL Judging from the
expression on the face of Elizabeth Prescott of
Monkton, the lad.ies of Melville Presbyterian Church
in Brussels served quite a delicious meal when a
supper was held at the church on Wednesday night.
(Brussels Post Photo)
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•
9
FORWARD
A 'new book telling of 'Harold Vodden's
experience of blindness, of Chipper, his
Leader Dog, and of how they have worked
together to meet challenges joyfully.
Beautiful colour pictures by Harvey
McDowell. Interesting reading and an ideal
gift. Available for $5.00
Needlecraft Shoppe, Blyth
By Phone 523-9313
Mail Order: PTCL, Box 220, Blyth
ORDER NOW! YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS IT!
Cyr
4 — THE BRUSSELS POST, JUNE 7, 1978
Announce new
theatre staff
Sugar and Spice
by Bill Smiley
Some of the moSrrefreshing thoughts about
education I've read in many a day are
contained in a recent article in the Toronto
Star by ICE,. Franke, principal of a new
privato senior high school in Hogtown„
As he points out, .our educational system
today consists of people blaming'other people
for the slipping standards of education. The
universities point the dirty finger at the high
schools, the high schools at the elementary
schools, the elementary schools at the
parents. Only the poor bewildered parents
don't have anyone to point at. All they 'know is
that their educational tax bill goes up every
year and their kids don't seem to be learnin'
nuthin.
Mr. Franke would launch a holy war against
the present sludgy system, ."awar that must
be fought for our intellectual, spiritual, and
economic survival."
He would make French; English, and
mathematics compulsory subjects. Grammar
would be an integral part of any language
course. The compulsory French would not be
for the political reasons now attributed to its
study but because we cannot he called
"educated" without the knowledge, of a
foreign language.
How -right he is., I can well remember the
days when high schools offered Latin, French,
German, Spanish. Today, Latin has almost
disappeared,'•French and German arc'hanging
ottbv their toenails, and it is a very rare school
that offers Spanish.
And what does that say about our teachers?
I'd be 'greatly surprised if more than 10 per
cent of the teachers in Canada know more
than one language.
The man- wants a powerful stimulation in"
the arts from the federal government. He
says: "The soul is under nourished in our
schools, and the emotions are not addressed."
He's not far off.
For too many years there has been the
attitude, that only a talented few 'have an
ability for the arts.Any good teacher of drama,
music, dance, and . fine arts knows this is a lot
of hogwash. There can be a spark of artistic
fire in The most unlikely lump of a kid.
He'd 'push this litrther and have • every
province establish schools for the artistic elite,
as they do now for slow learners. the system'
has swung to the extent that it is now the
brightest and best who are neglected, who
whither on the vine in frustration and
boredom.
Mr. Franke would like to see a return front
mediocrity, which is now the standard, back to
the excellence which it once was.
But his article is not all just pie in the sky,
an airy-fairy repetitionof what most progres-
sive educators have been saying. He has some
practical suggestions.
One - of them is to cut the provincial .,
Rev. Londel
speaks to
Melville
Rev. Leslie Landel, minister of
Atwood Presbyterian Church was
the guest speaker at the June 2
meeting of Melville W.M.S. with
the ladies of Belgrave, Bluevale
and the other churches of Brus-
sels also in attendance.
Miss Landel, who spent two
years in Kenya with C.U.S.O.
before attending Knox College in
Toronto, was introduced by Mrs.
Ken Innes. "Her theme was
"Forgiveness" and she stressed
the importance of its being a part
of everyone's life. Interest was
added by an audience
participation exercise with discus-
sion and summarization.
Mrs. Gerald Gibson was in
charge of the meeting. The
devotional period. was taken by
Mrs. Alex Steiss who read the
lesson and Mrs. Joseph Marten
who offered prayer.
A short mUscial *gram con-
sisted of vocal duets by Peggy
Gibson and Michelle McCutcheon
and piano solos by Donelda Stiles
of Stratford.
Classified Ads pay dividends.
governing apparatus in hall. As he points out,
a move of the government, in Ontario at least,
"merely shifted, its top civil servants into the
newly created positions •of directors and
superintendents. Their enormous salaries
n ow come out of the pocket of the local
home-owners." That argument has a hole in
it, but he's o n the right track.
He claims that "a 75 per cent reduction in
administrative jobs would not make the
slightest dent in the 'quality' of education."
And he adds that the wall-to-wall, air-con-
ditioned palaces of these administrators
should be rented out to somebody who can,
allbrd them. Right on,- Franke baby.
He suggests that boards' of education are
'little more than a nuisance, that they have
grown into small empires, that "schools
should be run by schools, not by a bom-bastic
outside apparatus." I'll buy that. There's so
much paperwork involved that teachers will
often give up on a good and valid project
rather than wade through it.
He thinks teachers and principals should be
carefully examined before they are hired, and
should be ruthlessly fired when they don't do
an excellent. job, Fair enough. Industry does
it. Most teachers and principalS give it their
best shot, but they might give a little more if
,they were less secure.
Mr Franke would eliminate faculties of
education. He says\the universit ics should be,
the judges of those who have mastered their'
subject. I don't agree:there. Universities are
far too impersonal to know a brilliant
academic who would make a lousy teacher,
from a less-brilliant type who would make a
fine one.
But he has a good idea for training teachers.
After doing away 'with teachers' colleges, he
would select young teachers from among the
best university graduateS, put . them in a
school on nominal pay for a year, with half a
teaching load. This would be an excellent
training for the aspiring teacher, .wouldn't
cost a fortune, and would provide jobs.
He feels the same about training students
for specific industrial jobs. He thinks industry
should train its own people, as they do in
1-2urope. Again, I must agree. A first-rate
apprenticeship system would give Canada the
large pool of skilled workers we don't have
now, one of the factors that keeps us in the
role of hewers of wood and drawers of water.
He'd like to make it a 'privilege to go to
school, not a duty. He doesn't say what he'd
do with all the thousands who don't want to
go.
The man isn't the only one crying in the
wildernes's for an improvement in our sludgy,
apathetic, bureaucratic educational -system.
But he says it trenchantly, and I hope he goes
on yelling.