HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-01-27, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1988.
New HCBE chairman shows compassion, humour
JOHN JEWITT
continue to meet the demands of a
growing Ontario the industry must
attract greater numbers of young
women and men, from all courses
of study, to take up careers in the
Industry.’’
We must do our part to ensure
that the people in the Huron
County education system are
aware of the potential areas such as
this. Earlier this month 1 attended
along with other members of the
Board and Huron teaching profes
sionals, a conference in Stratford
on the topic of AIDS. The social
ethical and educational implica
tions of this deadly disease were
discussed.
Since then a number of people
have expressed an interst in
establishing an advisory commit
tee to help this Board develop a
policy to deal with the problem of
AIDS. I believe it is necessary for
us to proceed in this way so that
when the problem does confront us
we can deal with the issue in a
humane, compassionate and effec
tive manner. We must be very
careful that we are not overly
influenced by the myths which
abound about this dreadful di
sease.
It seems to me that education is
moving quickly in attempting to
meet the needs of certain groups.
The Director, in his report to us
today, has identified 14 projects in
which we have become involved
within the last three years, each of
them targeted at groups with
specific needs. Ten years ago many
of these projects would have been
the responsibility of some other
agency, but in the changing role of
education, each has become a
priority for the Huron Board of
Education.
In the near future it will be
necessary for this Board to decide
how much an emphasis we wish to
put on adult and continuing
education, ties to business and
Industryand various other ongoing
programs. As noted by one trustee,
the carrot has been dangled by
both senior levels of government to
get these programs started.
It is noted in the Directors report
today that there is potential for
much growth in these areas; and
also that expansion may become a
high-cost item in our future.
The Huron County Board of
Education has recognized the
need, recognized the potential,
and are aware thattheremaybe
local costs involved. The question
we will have to answer soon is: “Is
this our responsibility?’’
When attempting to look ahead
and identify issues we must keep in
mind the two groups of people to
whom we are responsible. First,
the students: we must ensure that
the students in Huron County
receive an appropriate education,
one that will fully equip them to
compete favourably with students
from other areas. This becomes
more difficult every year, when you
consider the facilities w hich are
available in our larger areas. I
believe, however, that we are still
able to achieve this goal through
the combined efforts of our
employees of our young people.
We are truly blest with many
bright, motivated, and capable
young people.
Secondly, we are also re spon
sible to the ratepayers of Huron
County. I believe that although the
recession which the country faced
in the not too distant past is behind
us for the present, many sectors of
ou r local economy have not enjoyed
the recovery. We must keep this in
mind and ensure that the dollars
spent on education are spent
wisely.
In closing I would like to share
some humourous rules for teachers
as recorded in the Glengarry News,
1872:
1. Each teacher will bring a bucket
of water and a scuttle of coal for the
day’s session.
2. Teachers each day will fill lamps,
clean chimneys and trim wicks.
3. Make your pens, carefully - you
may whittle nibs to the individual
tastes of the students.
4. Men teachers may take one
evening each week for-courting
purposes, ortwoeveningsaweek if
they go to church regularly.
5. Every teacher should lay aside
from each pay a goodly sum of his
earnings for his benefit during his
declining years so he will not
become a burden on society.
Thank you.
John Jewitt of RR 1, Londes-
boro, who was acclaimed last
month as the new chairman of the
Huron County Board of Education
chaired his first full meeting at the
regular session of the Board in
Clinton on Monday, Jan. 11.
Mr. Jewitt and the new vice-
chairman of the Board, Joan Van
den Broek of Saltford, brought a
fresh new openness to the first
meeting of the new year, leading a
very active debate in several major
issues facing the board,
Following the meeting, several
spectators remarked that it was a
pleasant change toactually wit
ness the Board in debate, rather
than just have it rubber-stamping
committee decisions in open ses
sion, as has been the case so often
in the past.
A highlight of Mr. Jewitt’s first
session was the delivery of his
Inaugural Address, included here
in its entirety:
With each new year, we have a
tradition of taking a look back at our
past experiences, and a look
forward to some of the issues we
expect to be dealing with over the
next year.
While looking to the past, we can
take pride in the accomplishments
of this board in many areas. Some
which come to mind are the
separate school funding issue; the
improvements in our relations with
Board employee groups; our em-
Ph asis on improvements in our
communication procedures; and
Blvth United Church
an increase in the use of co-opera
tive education in our system and of
the ties to Business and Industry
program.
While it is important to look
backwards to see where we have
been, it is more important for us to
look ahead and prepare ourselves
for the many issues which will be
facing us in the coming year.
Today we are greeted with the
issueofhowmuchtimewewish our
young people to spend in French
instruction. We must weigh the
benefits against the costs of an
expanded program, and I am sure
we will make an acceptable
decision.
A meeting is scheduled later this
month to begin to develop a race
and ethnocultural policy for school
boards. We can fool ourselves by
saying this is not an issue in Huron
County, but I believe if we want to
be honest we can all recognize
areas where we should be concern
ed.
Early in the new year the
Ministry of Housing has scheduled
a promotion in Toronto in an
attempt to attract young people
into the building industry. 1
received some information on this
promotion and the following state
ment caught my attention: “The
building industry is Ontario’s
largest employer. Over the next 10
years the industry is facing an
expected retirement rate of 50 per
cent among skilled workers.
If it is to remain productive and
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Jonah's tale told
Rev. Ramirez chose as his
sermon’s title “Seek ye first the
kingdom of God’ ’. Hebasedhis
thoughts on the story of Jonah - as
told in Jonah 3: 1 -5. He said that
Jonah didn’t want to go and preach
to the gentile city of Nivavah. He
was so happy to have escaped from
what God had told him to do that he
went to sleep in the boat in spite of
the storm. Later he admitted that
he had disobeyed God and was
willing to drown rather than see all
the sailors on the ship perish.
He said that after God had saved
him, Jonah went reluctantly to tell
the people ot Nivavah to repent. He
Rev. Ramirez closed his sermon
with the wish that we might open
wasn’t even happy when they
listened and did repent and were
not destroyed.
“From the story of Jonah we can
learn’’ he said “that man’s will
may seem to prevail and we are apt
to think when we see so much
suffering especially in the third
world countries - that God doesn’t
care - but He still rules the
universe.’’
“Human love only extends to
people we know and care about -
but God’s mercy extends to
everyone,’’ he said.
our eyes and see beyond the needs
of our own immediate part of the
world.%
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