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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-01-30, Page 3Students of Nancy Maclntyre's kindergarten class at Lucknow Central Public School were interested in Wendy Sloat's leader dog, Chip who visited the school January 23. Wendy spoke to all of the school's students at an assembly about her life as a bundperson,' her work as a rehabilitation teacher for blind people and her leader dog, Chip. [Photo by Sharon Dietz) Leader dog works for Wendy Wendy Stoat likes to be independent. Blind since birth she chose to attend school in her community/so she could live at home rather than attending a school for the blind. She has• a degree in sociology from Wilfrid Laurier University and works as a rehabilitation teacher for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in Water- loo, Wellington, Grey, Bruce and Dufferin counties. Since 1979 Wendy's mobility has increased significently because she has a leader dog working for her. Chip, her gold labrador retriever was specially trained as a leader dog at the school for Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester, Michigan. Chip has been with Wendy for three years and is her third leader dog. Wendy finds that she has the opportun- ity to meet more people "since she has a leader dog because people are more willing to approach blind people and talk with them if they have a dog than a white cane. People are apprehensive about approaching a blind person because they don't know what to say. The dog breaks the ice, she says; because most people like dogs and can make conversation about Chip to get acquainted with Wendy. Wendy was in Lucknow to speak with the students at Lucknow Central Public School on January 23. She answered questions about being blind and about working with a leader dog and the children were very interested in her lifestyle and how Chip performs. Wendy says she is more confident since she has a leader dog. She points out a dog is not for everyone who is blind especially the sick or elderly because a dog requires exercise and care, love and attention. Some people think .a . dog is a machine says Wendy and really, she laughs, a dog is not unlike adopting a child. In her work as a rehabilitation teacher Wendy comes into .the home to teach braille, life skills, crafts and almost any- thing a blind person may have difficulty learning to do because they can't see: She works with senior citizens who have lost their sight later on in life as well as young diabetics who have lost their sight, and people with more than one handicap. She enjoys her work and finds it very rewarding. Lucknow Sendnelt;Wedraday, January 30, 1985 --Page .3 Committee promotes tourism Bruce County .Council has approved the formation of a new committee to help promote industrial development and tour- ism in the lakeshore area. The Bruce Economic Assessment Planning and Devel- opment •Committee is an amalgamation bf two organizations, the Bruce Economic Development Committee and the Joint Manpower Assessment Committee. Kincardine reeve Barbara Fisher urged county council to form, the new committee in order to continue the work already begun by the Joint Manpower Assessment Committee whose mandate is to expire in February. Fisher said the new committee is expected to begin work by February 27 and will have a one year mandate. The new committee has been expanded to include 10 municipalities in the Bruce Nuclear Power Development (BNPD) area which are affected by the increasing number ,of layoffs at BNPD. In addition to the 10 municipalities the committee will also have representation from Ontario Hydro, the Bruce Energy Centre's development corporation, Reso- lute Development Corporation and trade. unions associated with BNPD. The committee will be funded by a $20,000 budget with 40 per of the money provided by a federal government grant, 20 per cent from the provincial government and 10 per cent from the county. The remaining 30 per cent will be paid by the municipalities. Fisher estimated Kincardine's share will be 51,400, or seven per cent. Develop .immersion criteria... *from page 1 middle immersion in grade 5 in the county towns. Reasons to support the recommendation that no extension of the French program occur at this time include the fact that core French grades 3 8 in Huron County schools is already greater than the provincial average. Grade 7 french time was doubled from 20 to 40 minutes a day in September, 1983 and grade 8 French time was similarily doubled in September, 1984. All secondary schools' are required to take one French credit since September, 1984. As well, additional grants do not pay the total cost of any extensions of the French schedule. The report states it would be unwise to establish a pilot program or joint Huron County Board of Education/Huron -. Perth Roman Catholic Separate School Board program that could. not be open to all children in Huron County. Pilot projects are in reality a method of starting a permanent program since they are seldom. terminated. ' Additional reasons are classroom space across the county in the elementary schools is unlikely to be available for more than 6 - 8 classes now or in the immediate future; the . cost of portable classrooms would add $4,000 rental plus associated maintenance per class per year; the geography. of Huron County does not lend itself to the establish- ment of centralized programs with the transportation system that would be required; other programs including Family Studies and Industrial Arts, computer studies. tech programs, outdooreducation and music are also requesting a share of the time and resources of the educational system. The establishment of a late immersion program in the grade 7 and 8 classes in the county towns would permit the students to ride secondary school buses. to the elementary school where the program is offered in the area. The program would be 50 per cent immersion including the French language and other subjects in French. English component would include English language, mathematics, science and family studies and industrial arts where applicable. Classes would be split grade 7 8 class which could become a grade 7 and grade 8 class if numbers increase. Approximate start up costs the first year for this program would be S12,000 for texts, $4,800 for library materials and $80,000 for twq teachers. This cost assumes half the staff could be accomplish- ed within the existing complement. This cost\ is before grants available from the Ministry of Education are deducted. The report recommends the criteria to be considered for the establishment of French immersion classes includetransportation only be provided by existing school bus routes; no class will be established with less than 24 or continued with an enrol- ment of less than 20 pupils; extraordinary costs above the amount of the grants available for a French immersion program may not be provided by. the Huron County Board of Education (i.e. the Huron county taxpayer) in excess of .theamount approved for a regular classroom; teacher recruit- ment for an immersion classroom will not take place when it would require the termination of the contract of a teacher presently in the system' and kindergarten enrolment must be 24 or greater to begin a class. Hospital construction changes spark board debate ........... •fmm page 1 day, he said. If there was any dispute it should have surfaced"at the following job site meeting. but it didn't. Vair also said the administrator was simply carrying out instructions given him at the October meeting, when the board met in -camera with both the architect and contractor, to push ahead with the project. She added she was sorry Kuyvenhoven, who was away on a business trip at the time, could not be at that. meeting. Two other board members, John Schenk and Robert Middleton, however echoed Kuyvenhoven's concerns. "What concerns me is we lost alterna'- tives somewhere along the way," said Schenk, who is also a member of the property committee. "We had one meeting and had a range of alternatives and by the second meeting Januar r^'we had lost the alternatives. We lost the options because of the way things developed." Middleton added that the design chang- es to the roof were made "to accommodate the contractor as much as anything," since earlier delays in the project meant the contractor would have been unable to pour the roof slab until spring. Dr. Hanlon, who argued that the additional $1,100 it is costing to replace the slab roof with a conventional flat roof is negligible on a $2 million project, pressed Kuyvenhoven to answer the question whether the hospital is not better off to have gone ahead rather than having the job shut down over the winter, but he never got a direct answer. Kuyvenhoven agreed that the concrete slab, which was intended to serve as the floor for a second storey to be added" at some later date, could be added when needed, but noted it will cost more at that time. He and Hayes also disagreed over whether the hospital had received a refund on the missing concrete, with one answering no and the other yes. When board member Shirley Garniss askedfor clarification, Hayes said the contractor had allowed an 58,900 credit for the concrete. Kuyvenhoven questioned whether anyone could pour an 8,000 square foot floor pf three inch reinforced concrete for 59,000. "I'd tike to see that person," he declared. "He could do a lot of work around here." In the end the matter was never really resolved. Hayes insisted he was ju's"T' carrying out the board's instructions from the October meeting, while Schenk said his recollection of what had been decided at that meeting was slightly different. He noted there was nothing in the minutes of the meeting about that discussion, suggesting perhaps the board was "too• careless about making proper resolutions so we'll have proper records. We're talking thousands of dollars here. Hayes, who serves as secretary tothe board. agreed. The debate over the building project was the major item to surface at the meeting, which was the first board meeting to be open to all members of the public. The meeting was held in the RNA Training Centre instead of the regular board room to accommodate an anticipated large audi- ence, however only half a dozen people took advantage of the opportunity to watch the board in action. In other business at the meeting, Hayes read a letter indicating the hospital can expect to receiye about 514,000 from an estate in whiCh it has been named co -beneficiary. " He also read a letter from the Morris Township cout►cil nominating Garniss to ' continue as its representative on the board. Reporting for the finance and audit committee, Alex Graham told the board the hospital has accumulated a surplus of about $346,000 during the current fiscal year boosting its working capital to more than $1.1 million, including a donation from Huron County toward the building project. He also reported the fund raising campaign has achieved over 70 per cent of its objective, with the total standing at more than 5285,000 as of December 31. Mary Lou Thompson, chairman of the public relations committee, outlined a brochure describing services offered at the hospital, with the ,board voting to order 5,000 copies of the brochure at a cost of about $600. In response to a question about the hospital pharmacy, Hayes said it is currently being operated by a nurse and a . pharmacy technician until the hospital is able to hire a new pharmacist. He said they are qualified to dispense drugs, although not to advise medical staff of potential problems with conflicting drugs. ij He said the hospital • had received one application in response to its advertise- ments for a pharmacist, but. applicant had not yet followed up the letter. The next regular meeting of the board will be held February 20.